Police efficiency

INNOVATION: While technology advances have driven efficiencies in many areas of policing, frontline officers often still find themselves manually inputting licence plates, driving licence numbers, and a range of other identification checks; Oliver Ledgard of Zebra Technologies believes the public safety sector is missing an opportunity to further increase efficiency and connectivity through the use of modern optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

OPINION: The public contact report that arose from Cityforum’s round table on the subject earlier this year highlighted the importance of collaboration between policing and private industry on introducing of new technology into the sector; Martin Taylor of cloud communications specialists Content Guru believes such partnerships are crucial if policing is to maximise the benefits of tech advances in an area that’s a top priority for the public.

OPINION: As the police service in the UK waits for the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body regarding the pay settlement for 2023-24, British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi sets out why it’s crucial that the underpayment of police must stop – and that government support is essential if a ‘positive’ settlement is confirmed.

FEATURE: Automated analytics are increasingly viewed as an essential tool for keeping the public safe from serious harm, but they also create serious risks; a new report from The Alan Turing Institute presents a framework to help policing – and the security services – deploy analytics in a way that protects both privacy and public safety, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

INTERVIEW: For more than 30 years, Victoria Police Senior Sergeant Dermot Avon has provided mental health support and mentoring for colleagues, having experienced his own struggles after witnessing traumatic incidents early in his career; with his efforts recognised in this months’ King’s Birthday Honours, he spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the improvements in mental health support across the force, and how officers can help their colleagues.

ANALYSIS: The pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development has prompted calls from some quarters for a pause in the sector’s expansion efforts; members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) technology sub-committee on AI – An Garda Síochána Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon, Tony Porter (Chief Privacy Officer, Corsight Ai), Netherlands Police AI expert Oscar Wijsman, US lawyer Don Zoufal, and IACP Communications and Technology Committee Chair Craig Allen – believe such calls reaffirm the need for law enforcement to take stock of the challenges presented and opportunities offered by the growth in AI.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: With policing facing significant challenges around growing volume and complexity of demand, effective collaboration between forces and with other agencies is moving higher up the agenda for delivering an effective service to the public; Hexagon Director Nick Chorley spoke to Policing Insight about the opportunities for successful collaboration, the barriers to implementation, and the drivers for change.

FEATURE: In his first State of Policing assessment report as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke has warned that public trust and confidence in policing is “hanging by a thread”, with the service having a “limited window of opportunity” in which to act; he also called for change to start from the top, and for more powers for the Inspectorate to be able to direct forces to rectify problems, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

LONG READ: In February, leading police officers were joined by law enforcement stakeholders, suppliers and academics for a one-day round table on transforming police public contact, organised by policy advice and strategic development organisation Cityforum; in this report – based on contributions made at the round table – independent policing consultant Nick Gargan, who chaired one of the event sessions, explores the key issues including addressing public expectations, the increasing shift to digital channels, and the options for improving service delivery.

INTERVIEW: With Warwickshire Police enjoying record officer numbers following the recent Uplift recruitment programme, and a strategic alliance with neighbouring West Mercia ending, the force took the decision to remodel its workforce and operations; Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the aims for performance improvements, and how the changes could future-proof the service to the public.

OPINION: This weekend’s coronation of HM King Charles III is likely to be the largest deployment in peace time of uniformed officers on the streets of London; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, who served in the Met Police for 30 years, looks at the challenges of the day – both for those policing the route, and for those maintaining public order and community safety away from the event – as well as the unique opportunity such an operation offers.

OPINION: With the growing prospect of the responsibility for large national IT programmes passing from the Home Office to policing, the way the service gets its technology looks set to change; Sharad Rathi, Operations Director and Public Sector lead at HCLTech, believes that how that technology is developed and delivered is at least as important as which public body is delivering it.

ANALYSIS: It’s long been argued that the police funding formula in England and Wales, which relies mainly on a combination of central government grant and locally set precept, is in need of reform, and fails to recognise the areas of greatest need; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks at the increasing dependence on the precept, the challenges around deprivation, and whether politicians are really willing to tackle a funding conundrum that has no comfortable fix.

FEATURE: Hampshire Constabulary’s new Policing PLUS entry route – which enables officers to join without a degree, and those on degree routes to transfer – has been hailed a “game changer” by the chief constable, while the police and crime commissioner believes it could “shape national plans”; but those opposed to moving away from mandatory degrees say returning to traditional police training is both regressive and nonsensical, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

INNOVATION: Policing faces some growing challenges around the volume and security of digital, and has been encouraged to migrate to the cloud as part of the UK Government’s Cloud First strategy; but police technology advisor Paul Kennedy, and Kate Steele, UKI Head of Public Services for Lenovo Infrastructure, believe an alternative approach focusing on infrastructure as a service could deliver greater efficiency and security as well as potential cost savings.

OPINION: Former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher argues that the ‘war on drugs’ has largely failed and is drawing to an inevitable close; but he also believes that concerted efforts to divert current drug barons away from criminality, as well as clearly articulated international guidance of where drug policies should now go, will be essential if police and society are to successfully move forward.

INNOVATION: A new set of simple digital tools used to arrange police interviews and organise officer appearances in court are now being rolled out to forces across England and Wales by the Police Digital Service; although still in the early stages, it’s been estimated that the Video Enabled Policing programme could save more than £60m a year and free officers up to handle more complex tasks, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: UK national policing targets and league tables – supposedly scrapped by the Government more than a decade ago – now look set to return; Police Federation of England and Wales National Board Member David Bamber, and University of Sunderland Policing Lecturer Adrian Smiles, explore the previous impact of a target-driven culture on policing and the public sector, and what the consequences could be for today’s service.

OPINION: Often overlooked as a concept or tagged on to other organisational functions such as HR, workforce planning should be recognised as a fundamental discipline for the health of a police force, and can provide solutions to the challenges of recruitment and retention and delivering preventative policing, as Jon Freegard of Skills for Justice explains.

FEATURE: As specialists and stakeholders from the UK public safety communications sector gather for this week’s BAPCO annual conference and exhibition, PoliceBox CEO Simon Hall highlights the importance of interoperability in police IT systems, and explores whether ‘Integration Platform as a Service’ products could finally provide the solution to greater co-operation and collaboration.

FEATURE: New research suggests that by 2026, one in every four people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse to work, study, shop and socialise; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at what this will mean for law enforcement, and how organisations such as INTERPOL are playing a key role in preparing policing for a very different beat.

FEATURE: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last week unveiled the outlines of a turnaround plan for the force based on “precise community crime fighting”, a new performance framework and new professional values; but just days after the ambitious plan was announced, the force was facing fresh controversy with the conviction of serial rapist PC David Carrick highlighting concerns over vetting, conduct and complaints, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: Hot-spot policing is widely regarded as a high-profile success of evidence-based policing; but recent trials in London suggest that cities which are already strongly policed see little impact on crime figures from adopting a hot-spot approach, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Recent commercial research in the US has highlighted the key role that technology could play in increasing public trust in policing; Kinana Hussain, Vice President of Product Management at Digi International, explains how connectivity solutions can keep law enforcement and first responders safe while increasing trust in the communities they serve.