Police forces

ANALYSIS: Police Foundation Senior Associate Fellow Gavin Hales believes the change of UK government arguably offers the best opportunity in years for a revised police funding formula to be implemented – but also warns that such changes won’t address wide inequalities in funding, the balance between government and council tax precept revenues, or whether overall resources are sufficient.

INNOVATION: New technology using artificial intelligence to extract data from mobile phones is being used by Northamptonshire Police to enable officers to be “digitally advanced”, improve investigations, and save hundreds of officer hours in court, as Sgt Jason Cullum, the force’s Head of Innovation, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: Operation First Light, the global police operation led by INTERPOL, secured impressive results, freezing more than 6,700 bank accounts and seizing assets worth $257 million; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, while the operational achievements deserve praise, the scale of this criminal endeavour highlights the continuing success of scammers who combine hi-tech channels with appeals to the most basic of human emotions.

INTERVIEW: With less than nine months until funding for the national programme to improve outcomes for Black people interacting with and working in policing in England and Wales comes to an end, Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to Abimbola Johnson, chair of its Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board, about its “glacial” progress and future prospects.

FEATURE: An audit of youth offending in Queensland has revealed a 65% increase in the number of serious repeat offenders since 2018, and has highlighted the importance of government stability in responding to young offending, as well as the need for a culture change in Queensland Police Service’s approach to the issue, as crucial steps in preventing further increases, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Given the complex nature of policing, the diversity communities policed, the range of partner agencies and the multiple sources of records and information, creating accurate data for modelling new systems and scenarios without using real-world cases can present a major challenge; data and geospatial intelligence specialist Ian Oldfield, who spent more than 28 years as a police officer, explains the importance and benefits of synthetic police data.

FEATURE: At the recent Counter-Terror Expo in London, Commander Dominic Murphy of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Command set out the continuing challenges facing the countries counter-terror policing efforts, and the crucial role played by officers and staff in tackling a range of “diverse and unpredictable” threats, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INNOVATION: While special constables and volunteers are a well-established part of British policing, many won’t be aware of their cyber equivalent; Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke to the National Police Chiefs’ Council team co-ordinating the network of Cyber Digital Specials and Volunteers across England and Wales, including an exclusive interview with a cyber volunteer active today.

FEATURE: A new UK report by the Society of Editors, the Crime Reporters Association and the Media Lawyers Association has called on the police and press to work on rebuilding their “broken” relationship for the benefit of transparency, trust and confidence, while also warning that social media posts which often dominate high-profile investigations and court cases are in danger of being “weaponised”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics due to get underway from next week, police and security forces across the city and the country remain on high alert to prevent any possible terror attack; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the challenges they face, how previous attacks have shaped the current security response, and the difficult balance between security and the spirit of the Games.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the recent successful operation by European law enforcement agencies working with colleagues in the US to take down multiple platforms used to disseminate terrorist propaganda, and explores the ongoing efforts of Europol to target those spreading terrorist content online.

INTERVIEW: In his first interview in the role, Chair of the City of London Police Authority Board Tijs Broeke spoke about his goals for the force, how a shocking homophobic attack encouraged him to get involved in policing as a special constable, and why politicians focusing on wokeness in policing are “wasting their time”, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

INSIGHT: Policing Insight’s James Sweetland joined officers and staff from the Metropolitan Police for a live facial recognition deployment, to gain a better understanding of the operational benefits and challenges as well as the public response to this new technology.

ANALYSIS: New research undertaken in Cleveland Police into police pursuits has highlighted how forces could target their stretched resources more effectively, and potentially improve training on local and rural roads, as well as indicating opportunities for police to work with manufacturers and other partners to make better use of technology in preventing pursuits, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The recent Counter-Terror Expo in London saw Commander Dom Murphy of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Command reiterate the vital role played by communities and community policing in defeating the terrorist threat; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores the key messages from Cmdr Murphy, and the wider focus on the community model and the ‘golden thread’ of intelligence that is crucial in the UK’s fight against terrorism.

OPINION: The recent dismissal of former Northamptonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley for gross misconduct prompted many comments from officers and staff who felt let down by his actions; but former Scottish police officer Graham Goulden, now an active bystander trainer, believes it’s important for officers to recognise the need for loyalty to communities, rather than simply blind loyalty to colleagues.

ANALYSIS: In the second in a series of four articles, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood looks more closely at why culture matters in policing, and how traits such as solidarity, suspicion, intolerance, and excitement seeking can damage public confidence, while others including conservatism, cynicism, and policing’s ‘masculine ethos’ can create barriers to reform.

OPINION: Protest in Kenya has often been criminalised, leading to brutal police crackdowns as seen in recent protests against the cost of living in Kenya, and an attempt by the government to introduce new taxes, where police responded with live bullets and teargas, reportedly leaving more than a dozen people killed and hundreds injured; Dr Kamau Wairuri, who has studied the policing of protests in Kenya, explains what contributes to the violence witnessed during public demonstrations.

INTERVIEW: Former Scottish Lord Advocate Lady Elish Angiolini KC is chair of the eponymous inquiry into the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens; in this exclusive interview with Policing Insight she talks to James Sweetland about the inquiry’s review of Couzens’ offending history, including historic indecent exposure investigations that were “doomed to fail”, “apathy and disinterest” from investigating officers, and flawed vetting processes that failed to pick up critical red flags.

OPINION: National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, believes facial recognition (FR) has the potential to be a game-changer for crime fighting; in this article – which appears as the foreword to Policing Insight’s latest thematic report, Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing – he highlights the potential benefits of FR, and the pledges from UK policing to ensure such technology is used ethically, transparently and responsibly.

OPINION: While scams may have traditionally been viewed as mainly opportunistic offences of consumer fraud, Deloitte fraud and intelligence specialist Paul Curwell and Nicholas McTaggart, financial crime consultant and former Australian Federal Police national co-ordinator, warn that increasingly sophisticated and AI-based scams are being used to raise funds for terrorist organisations and transnational serious and organised crime groups, and need a more co-ordinated global response.

FEATURE: Military services details, favourite places, and engagement with support groups are among the details of armed forces veterans entered on a new database under the Forcer Protocol, an approach pioneered by Greater Manchester Police to improve the search outcomes for veterans reported missing, as GMP’s Chief Inspector Mark Mangnall explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the latest opportunities for police researchers and innovators under the Horizon Europe programme, which includes funding specifically to explore the ability to mitigate new threats and to adapt investigation strategies in the ‘Internet of Things’ era.

INTERVIEW: Having had her own battles with anxiety and mental health, Police Scotland’s Sgt Laura Gibson embarked on a Churchill Fellowship study to explore the efforts made by law enforcement agencies in the US to better prepare recruits for the psychological impact of the job, as well as to understand more about why officers do take their own lives – lessons she believes could have real benefits in the UK, as she told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.