Police effectiveness

Interview: The COVID-19 crisis has impacted upon police forces across the world. Vice Dean of the Police College of the Republic of Croatia Assistant Professor Ruža Karlović tells Policing Insight how the active engagement in community policing research and innovation with European police partners has supported the organisation and delivery of COVID-19 emergency measures to local communities.

Analysis: The Covid-19 outbreak has brought collaboration between agencies sharply into focus. Ian Blackhurst, Executive Director Safety at Northgate Public Services, sets out how the police and partners can connect better to ensure safer communities and lessen the chance of victims falling through the net.

Analysis: Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth examines how Police Scotland is tackling online child sexual exploitation during the Covid-19 lockdown alongside the wider challenges of combating the tens of thousands of websites hosting child abuse images.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises a report by Europol on how Covid-19 will shape serious and organised crime landscape in the EU beyond the pandemic.

Analysis: Senior Business Manager at Frazer-Nash Consultancy Martin Soltau says that current discussions among chief constables about the future of police air support represent a rare and significant opportunity to transform a service that is exceptionally valuable – and extremely complex.

Analysis: USA: Covid-19 has presented law enforcement with huge challenges, but Dr. Joseph A. Cortez, Associate Professor at the University of Southern California and Lieutenant at the Santa Monica Police Department, argues it is also an unprecedented opportunity to switch off 'auto-pilot' and use the lessons learnt to help re-shape the future of policing.

Opinion: As retired police officers are asked to consider returning to their force to help police the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, policing commentator Mark Brown discusses how the UK could develop a resilient and effective policing model able to cope in times of crisis.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises a report by Europol on how criminals are profiteering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Opinion: Figures show 64 per cent of short-term prisoners in the UK re-offend. Director of Operational Safety at Northgate Public Services Steve Ainsworth examines how better information sharing between the police and the probation service has the power to reduce re-offending rates and make communities safer.

Opinion: Data is the 'oxygen' of decision-making and is potentially at its most powerful when it integrated with other data. Former Deputy Chief Constable and now strategic adviser on digital policing transformation Paul Kennedy and Managing Director of Microsoft software development company Black Marble Robert Hogg explore how forces can better integrate their data sets to improve outcomes.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises a report by Policy Exchange: Policing a Pandemic - The challenges of maintaining law and order during the Coronavirus response.

Analysis: Professor Karl Roberts is a Consultant on Health Security, Law Enforcement and Policing for the World Health Organisation. In an exclusive article for Policing Insight, he examines the different roles police may have during a pandemic and the challenges this creates alongside some suggested approaches to developing the police response.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the recent inspection by the HMICFRS on Counter Terrorism Policing and the police's contribution to the Government's Prevent Programme.

Opinion: In his second blog reflecting on his six-year tenure as Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Tony Porter gives an update on the progress of the National Surveillance Camera Strategy launched in March 2017.

Analysis: With the use of artificial intelligence in policing on the rise, Karen Richmond, doctoral researcher at the University of Strathclyde examines whether utilising this type of technology in relation to DNA extraction is progress or a step too far.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the recent PEEL Spotlight publication - Diverging under pressure - which provides an overview of the 2018/19 PEEL inspections alongside emerging themes for police forces in England and Wales.

Interview: As cyber crime activity continues to rise across Europe, former Chief Inspector of the Croatian Police Jelena Levak explains to Policing Insight the cyber security challenges for policing, and the impact upon law enforcement agencies in Croatia and across the European Member States.

Interview: The globalisation of crime is impacting on law enforcement agencies across the world. Dr Borislav Mavrov from the European Institute in Bulgaria shares with Policing Insight the challenges faced by Bulgarian agencies, what measures are being taken and how UK policing can help.

Analysis: This May, in England and Wales, the public will go to the polls to elect their local Police and Crime Commissioner. Professor Peter Joyce and Dr Wendy Laverick examine the lessons to be learnt from the previous two elections in 2012 and 2016 and what prospective candidates are likely to focus on in 2020.

Opinion: With police forces across the UK now faced with the task of recruiting an additional 20,000 officers, Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth says the service should seize the opportunity to recruit more creative thinkers for the benefit of policing.

Analysis: Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures reveal areas of the North are becoming violent crime hot spots. Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth argues the rise cannot be entirely attributed to 'county lines' and a major rethink is needed on how forces tackle violent crime locally.

analysis: With ransomware attacks on the rise, Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth examines how the cyber threat is expected to evolve in 2020 and how police and partner agencies face increasing challenges in protecting their data from both cyber criminals and their own staff.

Opinion: The hacking of the MPS's social media account by two teenagers has been widely reported in the UK. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth examines this growing threat and the latest innovations collaboratively developed to combat cyber crime.

Analysis: Professor Peter Joyce and Dr Wendy Laverick explore how hate crime has evolved since the Second World War, the impact of the more recent rise of far right extremism and the challenges facing policing in the current political climate.