Police forces

INTERVIEW: While many police organisations and leaders struggle to use social media effectively, Northamptonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley regularly engages in Twitter exchanges with the wider public, while also vlogging to his own staff; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Mr Adderley about his online profile, his efforts to ensure openness, and why he believes good leaders need to ‘keep their hand in’.

FEATURE: The most recent @WeCops Twitter chat focused on domestic abuse and the impact of COVID-19, exploring issue around how the pandemic has changed the reporting and response, how partners and support agencies have coped, and what lessons police have learned; Thames Valley Police Superintendent and WeCops team member Katy Barrow-Grint pulls together the key points from the debate.

ANALYSIS: As a tumultuous 2020 draws to a close, Katherine Van Gurp, Chief Executive Officer of the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency, explores how some of the main changes and shifting trends of recent times have collided with the pressures of the present, and what this may mean for policing and wider society moving forwards.

OPINION: Being a police officer was Sam Smith’s dream job, but when his mental health began to suffer as a result of his career choice, the lack of resilience training and minimal support meant the dream turned sour; now the former Hertfordshire PC has launched the Green Ribbon Policing campaign, calling for a mandatory national standard for mental health within policing.

FEATURE: New research highlights 'massive inequalities’ in the UK murder rates for different ethnic communities, with homicide levels more than 20 times higher per 100,000 of the population among some black age groups, compared to the white community; now researchers are calling for closer scrutiny of the figures to enable forces to tackle racial disparity more effectively, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson looks at the problems the force faces around diversity and discrimination, the effects of unionisation, concerns over militarisation of the RCMP, and fears over the wider erosion of police independence, in the second part of his interview with Policing Insight.

OPINION: The digital data trail each of us leaves online is commonly used by commercial organisations to target marketing and sales efforts; but as Dr Roberto Musotto, a Research Fellow at Western Australia’s Edith Cowan University explains, ‘social network analysis’ could be a crucial tool in enabling judges and jurors to assess the value of evidence in complex cases.

OPINION: Only 3% of the estimated 3.8 million UK fraud offences in 2019 resulted in a prosecution, and the pandemic has presented fraudsters with the perfect climate to carry out more crimes; Waheed Saleem, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner in the West Midlands, believes an overhaul of fraud reporting and a new coordinated policing response are crucial to fighting the fraudsters.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Policing is under pressure to be become trusted, ethical and digital savvy whilst criminal investigations become more complex with increasing volumes of digital evidence. Andrew Martin of Cellebrite, presents a new report "Envisioning a New Framework for Investigations" and highlights the digital transformation at Leicestershire Police.

FEATURE: Speaking at the recent London Policing College’s Police in the time of Pandemic conference, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Martin Hewitt outlined the sometimes ‘tense and difficult’ relationship between police and the UK Government during the COVID-19 crisis, and praised the efforts of officers and staff; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: London Policing College’s recent Policing in the Time of Pandemic conference included a focus on COVID-19’s impact on domestic abuse and harmful practices; Polly Harrar, founder of The Sharan Project and Joint Chair of the London Harmful Practices Working Group, highlights the key messages from the workshops held ahead of the conference, and the lessons for policing moving forwards.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from Warwickshire Police, who now have FREE access with the start of a new organisation wide subscription. They join a community of officers and staff from many other UK and international police forces with an interest in progressive policing. Read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

OPINION: Tackling the county lines drug trade and protecting vulnerable youngsters exploited by dealers is a challenge for many UK forces, and was the key focus for the @WeCops Twitter chat at the end of November; in this article @WeCops Dr Emma Williams brings together the main points from the debate.

Job advertisement: Police Lecturer vacancies at Babcock International for their new flagship contract partnering with several Higher Education Institutes across London to deliver the new Metropolitan Police Service Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) framework.

INTERVIEW: A 24/7 digital contact management system being pioneered by Surrey Police could improve relations with reluctant to engage communities and strengthen neighbourhood policing; Chief Constable Gavin Stephens tells Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons how the digital approach could help to rebuild public trust.

FEATURE: It’s been a tough year for policing – and for communities generally – around the world, but as Christmas approaches, the police family are digging deep to help each other as well as those less fortunate; Australian-based nurse and mental health champion Melissa Gole highlights some of the many fundraising efforts that those within policing can support this festive season.

INTERVIEW: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is an iconic law enforcement agency, instantly recognisable and internationally renowned, but in recent years the force has faced more testing times and controversies than most; in this two-part interview, former RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson talks to Policing Insight about the challenges facing the Mounties.

FEATURE: Police Rewired, the volunteer civic-tech community behind the annual policing hackathon Hack the Police, ran a new event this year – Hack Hate; organisation co-founder Lewis Westbury explains a bit more about Police Rewired, and how the hackathon against hate worked.

OPINION: The police response to domestic abuse can traumatise victims for a second time, as the push to secure a prosecution leaves them feeling powerless and ignored; Professor Dawn Moore of Canada’s Carleton University warns that women can be as fearful of police as they are of their abusers.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports on a new EU border security and surveillance system which could see unmanned, automated robots becoming the eyes and ears of a new Fortress Europe

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: On Tuesday 15th December at 11am EST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET, NICE will be hosting a Global Digital Transformation of Policing and Criminal Justice Virtual Roundtable. It will be joined by senior Police and Criminal Justice representatives from the UK and the US who will each provide insight into their digital transformation journeys, during this free-to-attend event.

FEATURE: The pandemic lockdown may have led to a drop in many categories of crime, but it also introduced the right conditions for a significant increase in the risk of online radicalisation at a time when, as Met Police DAC Lucy D’Orsi explained, UK counter-terror investigations are already at their highest level; Policing Insight’s Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

OPINION: The COVID-19 pandemic has put even more women at risk of domestic abuse, but addressing the crime only as a ‘women’s issue’ risks blaming the victim and ignoring the actions of the offender; Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens believes that to stop the cycle of reoffending it's essential to start working with perpetrators.

INTERVIEW: With a force area covering 2.5 million square kilometres – the world's largest non-federated jurisdiction – Western Australia Police face unique challenges, and enforcing COVID-19 restrictions was certainly one of them; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to WA Deputy Commissioner Gary Dreibergs about the pioneering, police-led app that made all the difference.