Police forces

INTERVIEW: Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, steps down in April after a four-year term leading the organisation through one of the most difficult times in UK policing: in this second of a two-part interview with strategy and business transformation leader Raj Singh, he spoke about a range of issues including the arrival of a new government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, responding to Covid, and the challenges to be faced by the NPCC and its Chair Designate, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, over next four years.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Mark Nuttall, Director of Risk Solutions at Thomson Reuters, about his early investigations into crystal meth and GHB dealing, the geopolitical challenges of tackling organised crime, and how successful criminals increasingly act and operate like business CEOs.

FEATURE: Covid-19 had a considerable impact on a wide range of criminal activity, including dramatically changing the terrorism landscape; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the research around how the pandemic pushed terrorist activity increasingly online, the way in which extremist organisations continue to exploit online platforms, and the regulatory reforms intended to tackle that threat.

INTERVIEW: West Midlands Chief Superintendent Harvi Khatkar was the first woman of colour to reach the superintending ranks in her force – and as Vice-President of the Police Superintendents' Association (PSA), she is the first to hold a national office in the PSA; in the first of a two-part interview with Policing Insight’s Keith Potter, she spoke about the concerns around misogyny and wider policing culture highlighted during her recent Home Affairs Committee appearance.

ANALYSIS: While the vast majority of members of diaspora communities emigrate to start a better life or flee a traumatic existence, for some the intersection between criminality and terrorism in their country of origin can re-emerge and have serious implications for life in their new home nations – and the law enforcement agencies that police them – as former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher explains.

ANALYSIS: In the wake of recent corruption and misconduct scandals in UK policing, the issue of vetting failures has been highlighted as an enabler for bad actors entering and remaining in the police service; but as Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett reports, while more resources and new approaches to risk can partly alleviate the problem, a much wider review of recruitment, training and standards is required.

INTERVIEW: Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, steps down in April after completing his four-year term leading the organisation through one of the most difficult times in UK policing: in this first of a two-part interview, he spoke to strategy and business transformation leader Raj Singh about what drives him, the challenges of leadership, the role of the NPCC, and what the future holds for the organisation.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff at Tasmania Police, Forensic Science Service Tasmania, Tasmania State Emergency Service and Tasmania Fire Service who now have FREE access with the start of a new organisation wide subscription purchased by the Tasmania Department of Police, Fire & Emergency Management. They join a community of officers and staff from many other UK and international police and emergency services organisations with an interest in progressive policing. Read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

FEATURE: To better support policing’s evolution to the changing state of the climate and deal with emergency management, the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) recently spoke to Dr Jarrett Blaustein, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, as ANZPAA Policy and Research Officer Rhiannon Van Vliet explains.

FEATURE: After the recent bruising inspectorate assessment of digital forensics across England and Wales, the development of a new fingerprint capability – rolling out in the East Midlands from next month – offers a more positive story; this new digital tool, developed through Transforming Forensics, could speed up investigations, improve standards, and show the value of collaboration, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

INTERVIEW: Police forces globally must embrace new technologies to remain at the cutting edge of gathering, processing and prioritising intelligence; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Det Supt Brian Hanna of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and Graham Kissock, PSNI’s Head of International Programmes, about developing the force’s intelligence capabilities through participation in a new pan-European network of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

FEATURE: Out-of-court disposals (OOCDs) and diversionary interventions can keep people out of the criminal justice system, and reduce pressures on police, courts and prisons, but the approach is inconsistent and can lack funding; ahead of the introduction of a new two-tier OOCD framework, Meg Jones, Director of social justice charity Cranstoun, looks at what the changes will mean, what works well, and the challenges facing the approach.

LONG READ: The Home Secretary’s recent call for a review of entry methods into UK policing is the latest twist in the policing degree debate; Nottingham Trent University lecturers Georg Tangen and Phil Rudkin, both former police officers, argue that the consensus of evidence to date shows policing does benefit from a degree level of education, and that the ‘loudest dissenters’ of the degree programme may be representative of the most criticised policing cultures and attitudes.

OPINION: Five US police officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols were part of an elite Memphis PD crime suppression unit; University of South Carolina Professors Ian T. Adams and Seth Stoughton believe that such specialist units set up to aggressively target crime fighting have a problematic history, often becoming another source of violence in already victimized communities.

LONG READ: Despite four decades of recognition of the challenges a policing career poses to officers’ mental health and wellbeing, police organisations still seem to struggle to deliver an effective response for their workforce; new research by Policing Insight’s Dr Alan Beckley and colleagues at the University of Technology Sydney highlights the nature and scale of those challenges, and will explore what interventions work best.

OPINION: With incidents of police misconduct ranging from inappropriate to criminal behaviour seemingly dominating the headlines, policing culture is increasingly under the microscope; former officer and Policing Lecturer Derek Flint looks at the issue of ‘psychological safety’, and the importance of leaders creating a ‘positive and productive version’ of safety that enables poor behaviour to be challenged effectively.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Sheelagh Brady, Co-founder and Chief Security Analyst at SAR Consultancy, about hooliganism in the West Balkans, working for the UN in Nigeria, and the need to understand the motivation of organised criminals.

FEATURE: Continuing the latest series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the issue of policing in popular culture – from the earliest historical depictions to the growth of police procedurals, contemporary representations and reality TV – and examines not only how those representations reflect the relationship between society and policing, but how they can shape it.

ANALYSIS: Predictive hotspot policing has been heralded by some as the way to do more with less and secure better outcomes, but others have questioned its effectiveness and the dangers of reinforcing bias; Criminology Lecturer Dr Daniel Marciniak, a key speaker at the recent Policing in the Age of the Machine conference, looks at the learning from existing research into predictive policing, and where the approach goes from here.

INNOVATION: With terrorism moving increasingly online, the use of steganography – embedding potentially dangerous data inside seemingly innocent files – is becoming a growing concern for law enforcement; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at this new technology being adopted by terrorist organisations, and the efforts being made to counter their activity.

INTERVIEW: The Canadian Police Knowledge Network has teamed up with human trafficking education and support charity Timea’s Cause to offer 100,000 officers across the country access to survivor-led training first rolled out by Peel Regional Police; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to organisation founder and trafficking survivor Timea Nagy about her own experiences, why this training is different, and the impact it could have nationally and globally.

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FEATURE: The latest report into use of force by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has recommended reconsidering the issuing of firearms to all officers, and restricting the use of Tasers; but the Police Federation has warned that such moves would lead to more officers being attacked and injured, particularly with the continuing terrorist threat, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent arrest of leading Cosa Nostra figure Matteo Messina Denaro, and the significant fall in organised crime killings, could suggest that the Italian mafia is on the retreat; but University of Milan Assistant Professor Gianmarco Daniele believes that the continuing threats to local politicians, and the growing scale, number and geographical distribution of asset seizures, indicate that the mafia is simply changing the way it works.