Police forces

OPINION: From protestors declaring their support for Palestine Action on placards, to comedians and campaigners being questioned and charged over online posts, and politicians scoring populist points both here and internationally, officers have found themselves in the centre of the free speech debate and accused of policing words – a situation which former officer and now Leeds Trinity University Policing Lecturer Adam Stokes believes requires meaningful government support through less talk and more actions.

FEATURE: The recently published Queensland Police Service (QPS) Commissioner’s 100-day review has highlighted a force facing “significant mission creep” as officers perform roles outside their core remit, leaving many suffering from fatigue and burnout; the review also puts forward 65 recommendations providing a “fundamental opportunity” for QPS to reaffirm its core purpose and build a “resilient, responsive, and community-focused policing organisation”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The 9/11 attacks on the US, which took place 24 years ago this week, were both a shocking series of events on a horrific scale, and a moment which changed the course of world history; Policing Insight’s Andrew Stainforth looks back at the initial response from UK policing and political leaders to those terrorist atrocities, and what it meant for the country both in the immediate aftermath and the longer term.

OPINION: With the changing nature of terrorist threats and the proscription of Palestine Action, former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher, now an author, journalist and terrorism expert, looks at what is potentially emerging as a new ‘Fifth Wave’ of global terrorism, its relationship with crime, and the possible impact of branding criminal organisations as terrorist groups.

FEATURE: A trauma peer support (TPS) programme originally launched for officers and staff working in detention areas across the Metropolitan Police has seen more than 3,000 employees trained to deliver support to colleagues, and could now be expanded into other policing roles within the Met as well as to other forces, as former officer and TPS trainer Russell Hughes explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: The murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020 sparked global calls for racial justice and ignited a wave of police oversight reform across the US; but five years on, Hansel Alejandro Aguilar, public sociologist, former police officer, and Adjunct Professor at George Mason University, warns that civilian oversight of law enforcement in the US is now dying – but meaningful change can still emerge when residents organize, officials listen, and structures are preserved.

OPINION: The creation of an FBI legal attaché post in Wellington, New Zealand in July was hailed by the US as a way to counter “some of the most important global issues” such as the threat from China, as well as boosting regional crime operations; but University of Tasmania Policing Lecturer Dr Nick Evans warns that the move could in fact threaten existing policing partnerships that Australia and New Zealand have with China, forcing officers to engage in new levels of diplomacy to maintain cordial relations.

INNOVATION: A new report from Europol which offers practical guidance on tackling artificial intelligence (AI) bias in law enforcement is calling for more regular training for personnel “to deepen their understanding of AI technologies”, routine and regular multi-stakeholder reviews of AI models, and more consistent frameworks around their use, to combat the dangers of AI bias – particularly in areas such as predictive policing – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: With an increasing focus on the impact of organisational stress on police officers, University of Cambridge researcher Dr Susannah Hickie explored the perceptions of Police Service of Northern Ireland officers of the formal mental health support available to them, and found that many viewed such provision as inaccessible, highlighting issues such as the repercussions of seeking support, the associated stigma, and a ‘tick-box’ culture as the main barriers.

ANALYSIS: While concerns around the rise in Canada’s fentanyl use have focused on a rise in deaths and drug-related disorders, new research by Associate Professors Dr Marta-Marika Urbanik (University of Alberta), Dr Katharina Maier (University of Winnipeg), Dr Matthew Valasik (University of Alabama), and Wilfrid Laurier University Assistant Professor Dr Carolyn Greene, has highlighted the issue of drug gangs exploiting vulnerable people’s homes in Thunder Bay, Ontario, driving up homelessness and violence.

ANALYSIS: Despite the Uplift recruitment programme, research suggests the public feel police are still less visible and less responsive, and the Government has now pledged a further 13,000 neighbourhood police officers by 2029; in the last in this current series of articles on workforce development, Ian Wiggett looks at the availability of the workforce, the way it is deployed, and why ultimately what will matter is whether the public notices the difference.

OPINION: In the latest in a regular series of articles from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson, the APCC joint lead on local policing, sets out what PCCs are now doing to drive action against anti-social behaviour, a crime experienced by more than one in 10 people at least weekly – often with a significant and long-lasting impact – as well as being a gateway to other criminality.

INNOVATION: Northumbria Police has become the first force in England and Wales to recruit officers from all entry routes directly onto the neighbourhood policing pathway in an effort to widen workforce skillsets, support the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, and get “the right people in the right roles”, as Northumbria’s Assistant Chief Officer Joscelin Lawson explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ANALYSIS: A new report into the performance of An Garda Síochána has highlighted the roll out of a new operating model as the “most significant change” to the structure of the force in its history, and has praised achievements in roads policing, tackling drugs and community engagement; but the report warns that persistent recruitment and retention difficulties, a lack of resources and inadequate IT remain key challenges to the performance of An Garda Síochána, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With recent advice to New Zealand Associate Minister of Police Casey Costello that the country is “losing the fight” against organised crime, efforts to control the trade in illegal guns will be crucial in limiting gang activity; University of Waikato Professor of Law Alexander Gillespie argues that another buy-back of all guns that should be on the country’s register by the end of August 2028, and adopting the UN protocol on the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms and ammunition, are steps the country needs to take.

ANALYSIS: The latest police workforce data for England and Wales shows that over the last five years, forces have recruited the equivalent of 44% of the current officer strength, but the equivalent of 31% have left; in the second in this new series of articles on workforce development, Ian Wiggett looks at the effect on levels of experience and skills, the high levels of young in service resignations, and how politicians’ fixation on officer numbers has resulted in little attention being paid to the effect on the ground.

ANALYSIS: Reflecting on a turbulent 12 months for UK policing, Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, examines some of the key challenges and how the community intelligence-led policing methodology could help forces and officers to address those issues.

FEATURE: A new report from Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons into how the UK policing response to modern slavery has changed over the past 10 years warns that the Whitehall rhetoric and political focus on organised immigration crime has left forces under resourced and officers with ‘one hand tied behind their backs’ in the fight against modern slavery – despite the significant impact on victims and the economy – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Operation Yellow Card, an innovative scheme launched by Cambridgeshire Police and local football clubs to tackle youth offending at matches, has already significantly reduced reoffending among youngsters and could soon be rolled out across other forces, as scheme founder and Cambridgeshire PC Mike Price – the Dedicated Football Officer (DFO) for Peterborough United – explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: County lines drug dealing was defined in the UK by the National Crime Agency in 2015, and has evolved considerably over the last 10 years, with some believing the term itself is now outdated; University of Liverpool Graduate Teaching Fellow and PhD Candidate Jenna Carr, a former county lines caseworker, argues that the evidence of the past decade suggests policing-led crackdowns on county lines are largely ineffective, and that public health and addressing the demand for drugs should be the priority.

OPINION: Tensions between Russia and NATO are reaching new levels, but any conflict is likely to take place in the “grey zone of modern warfare”, argues Paul Goldenberg, Chief Advisor with Rutgers University Miller Police Center, with the sabotage of critical infrastructure, drone incursions and information warfare all tactics that will mean police – particularly those in Nordic countries – have a vital role to play in ensuring national security and stability as well as protecting democracy.

ANALYSIS: The latest police workforce data for England and Wales shows that while successive governments have promised more funding and additional officers, the total police workforce still remains smaller than at its previous peak 15 years ago; in the first in this new series of articles on workforce development, Ian Wiggett looks at the changes in size and make-up of the police workforce over the past year – the first under a Labour Government since 2010.

OPINION: With the policing focus in London inevitably drawn towards next week’s Notting Hill Carnival, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone – a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist who was involved in the policing of Carnival for 28 years – looks at the challenges of the event, the fears around public safety and the pressures of funding, and considers what would be the price to pay for a safer and more financially stable Carnival.

FEATURE: British Transport Police (BTP) is believed to the first force in the UK to recruit police officers specifically to work part time, in an effort to both increase the representation of women and meet the force’s business needs more effectively; BTP Director of People and Culture Rachael Etebar told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that while the approach had seemed to shock some people, the first round of recruitment had attracted a cohort of higher quality, more mature candidates.