Police forces

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix’s Policing Friendship Tour recently caught up with Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye, to walk and talk about the policing challenges facing the county including the disproportionality in the number of Black and Asian stabbing victims and offenders, the importance of stop and search – done properly and lawfully – and the task of tackling county lines drugs.

ANALYSIS: COVID-19 has seen fraudsters taking advantage of the pandemic economy, and Africa has not escaped the attentions of those intent on fraud; Research Associate Nataliya Mykhalchenko and Lecturer Jörg Wiegratz, both of the University of Leeds, set out some of the key findings from their latest research into the responses to fraud, and the major characteristics of anti-fraud measures, across 11 African countries.

ANALYSIS: The recent upsurge in gang membership and conflict in New Zealand has prompted a fresh focus on their criminal activity; but ahead of this week’s Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, Dr Jarrod Gilbert of the University of Canterbury warns that equating patched gangs with organised crime ignores the evidence, and will result in law enforcement and socio-economic approaches to gang issues that are unlikely to be effective.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix’s Policing Friendship Tour recently caught up with Ian Bell, CEO of the Police Digital Service (PDS), for a stroll around the urban landscape of Wembley; after 18 months of rapid technological change in policing and across the public sector – driven in large part by the pandemic – Mr Bell spoke about the challenges of COVID-19, the development of the PDS and the National Policing Digital Strategy, and the organisation’s aims and ambitions move forwards.

FEATURE: Targeting family violence and gender-driven crimes is a challenge for law enforcement around the world; ahead of next week’s Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, Lauren Callaway, Assistant Commissioner of Family Violence Command for Victoria Police, outlines some of the key steps taken by the force – both in its approach to crimes in the community, and in tackling issues within the organisation – to make people safer.

ANALYSIS: A network of programmes seek to provide pathways out of criminal behaviour for at-risk youth in New York City; Greg Berman, former Director of New York’s Center for Court Innovation, looks at both the challenges and the potential of the Cure Violence approach, and underlines the importance of empirical research in establishing if, why and how the various programmes achieve their aims.

FEATURE: From fake big-name brands to illegal livestock sources and sub-standard products that are a danger to public health, the illicit food and alcohol industry is big business that attracts organised crime; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen looks at the latest efforts from Europol and Interpol to tackle the problem, as well as the UK’s response.

OPINION: Last month Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the UK Government’s new ‘Beating Crime Plan’ – not in parliament or at a press launch, but in a Sunday newspaper column; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett examines the lack of consultation, paucity of new ideas and absence of additional funding in the plan, and considers whether tone and public perception have become much more important than evidence-based actions and initiatives.

OPINION: Until now, UK police IT systems have received much less attention from the public and the media than new technologies such as facial recognition and predictive policing, but recent problems have brought increased attention; Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou, Lecturer in Criminology and Ethics at the University of Essex, believes it’s time the spotlight was shone on the three big private technology companies behind these reportedly failing systems.

Insight: An offender desistance programme centred on taking a public health approach to policing suggests that it can reduce the risk of offending by 30% over a significant follow-up period which could have far-reaching benefits for how policing resources are used. Working with offenders rather than simply processing them was a key driver for the project, as Detective Superintendent Kevin Weir and Durham PCC's Policy and Commissioning Officer Stephanie Kilili report.

FEATURE: The forest wildfires which have swept large parts of Turkey, killing at least eight people and decimating wildlife, made the news headlines around the world: but there are fears that a return to pyro-terrorism rather than climate change could be the main factor behind these latest blazes, as PhD student Eray Arda Akartuna of UCL’s Dawes Centre for Future Crime reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: BAPCO has announced the conference programme for its 2021 annual Conference & Exhibition, supported by media partner Policing Insight and taking place 12-13 October in Coventry, UK

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix’s Policing Friendship Tour recently caught up with Andy Marsh, Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset, for a stroll around Bristol ahead of his retirement from the service in July; following a busy year for the Constabulary, which included the BLM protests and the Kill the Bill riots, Mr Marsh talked to Bernard about the challenges over the past 12 months, the changes during his 34 years in policing, and the work of the COPS charity.

FEATURE: After a turbulent 12 months for policing in the United States, it’s no surprise that President Joe Biden is working on – or has already implemented – a range of measures that will impact on law enforcement; Brady Kirkpatrick, owner and Editor-in-Chief of website Gun Made, highlights the key reforms already introduced by the Biden administration, and those likely to materialise in the coming weeks and months.

FEATURE: As a former Chief Constable of Lancashire and National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for wellbeing, Andy Rhodes understands the stresses and demands of policing, as well as the danger that the poorly managed introduction of new technology, and lack of ongoing and training and support, can add to rather than reduce those pressures; here he teams up with Me Learning’s Shirley Berry to highlight four key lessons for putting people first when embarking on digital transformation.

ANALYSIS: The transition of forensic science provision in England and Wales from the public to private sector has led to fears over the ability of commercial markets to influence forensic analysis and interpretation; in the second of two articles, Dr Karen Richmond of the University of Copenhagen highlights further concerns around the separation of tasks and the use of Streamlined Forensic Reports, as well as a potential path to progress for the forensic sector through the growth of digital.

OPINION: Drill and grime music has often been linked (rightly or otherwise) to urban gangs, with claims that lyrics and videos posted on social media are an incitement to violence; but Liverpool John Moores University Policing Studies graduate Gwen Jones argues that the use of Criminal Behaviour Orders to prevent artists recording or publishing new material has criminalised those musical genres, often without evidence of preventing crime.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The 2021 Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence Base Policing (ANZSEBP) Conference is taking place online on 17th August with the theme of "Policing Under Scrutiny: Leadership, Legitimacy and the Role of Evidence". ANZSEBP Vice President and Deputy Chief Executive: Insights and Deployment at New Zealand Police, Mark Evans invites delegates from around the world to attend.

ANALYSIS: The transition of forensic science provision in England and Wales from the public to private sector has led to fears over the ability of commercial markets to influence – and even distort – forensic analysis and interpretation, according to a new study; in the first of two articles, Dr Karen Richmond of the University of Copenhagen explains the background to the research, and highlights some of the key concerns of scientists including the loss of contextual information, case fragmentation, and the diminishing role of forensic practitioners.

FEATURE: Diversion schemes and out-of-court disposals for young adult offenders are recognised by police and PCCs as an essential rehabilitative alternative to prosecution, and will be vital in clearing post-Covid court backlogs, according to a new review by the Revolving Doors Agency – despite the limited research evidence to date around what works best in terms of current practice, as Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and remain worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, former NYPD Detective Sergeant Joseph Giacalone, now an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York, explains why solving cold cases could build community bridges, take more offenders off the street, and play a crucial part in reducing levels of violence.

ANALYSIS: As technology evolves, policing faces new challenges protecting the rule of law and victims online, while serving the online community; in Europol’s latest Spotlight position paper, Dr Mary Aiken, Professor of Forensic Cyberpsychology at the University of East London, and Dr Philipp Amann, Head of Expertise & Stakeholder Management at Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, explore these key challenges, and consider the question of where to draw the cyber blue line.

ANALYSIS: While many businesses and communities struggled to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic, COVID-19 also offered opportunities for fraudsters and cybercriminals to target both vulnerable individuals and financial support packages offered by governments around the world; Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth looks at some of the steps being taken – and the early successes – in the fight against COVID-19 fraud.

FEATURE: Continuing a new series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly takes a closer look at governance and accountability in UK policing – from local watch committees to the birth of the tripartite system, the introduction of PCCs, increasing politicisation, and the tension between independence and insight for those tasked with ensuring accountability.