Police forces

LONG READ: Can history help tackle current policing issues? Devon and Cornwall Police Superintendent Jim Gale examines how the police service's rich heritage can support today's police leaders in maintaining the centuries-old 'social contract' between police and public.

OPINION: The issue of disclosure has made its way into the public domain, thanks to the collapse of high-profile trials. Mark Bedding, a former police officer now with Chorus Intelligence, argues that many police officers already have access to the technology they need to make disclosure simpler.

INSIGHT: Cheshire Police is one of three forces trialling different intervention models for stalking. Syreeta Lund reports onthe groundbreaking work of the Integrated Anti-Stalking Unit.

OPINION: As Israel joins the Netherlands and Canada in legalising medicinal cannabis, serving officer Martin Gallagher warns that there are significant and largely unexplored potential consequences of legalisation - not least, the future for organised crime groups currently operating in the cannabis trade.

NEWS: The New Year Honours lists for 2019 recognise the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom. Many congratulations to those in and associated with policing who have been recognised this year...

ANALYSIS: The drone-related shutdown at Gatwick has exposed fault lines in the multi-agency threat and risk assessment prioritisation processes at UK airports. Andrew Staniforth, Board Member and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence & Organised Crime Research (CENTRIC), takes a look at the implications...

2018 REVIEW: As 2018 draws to a close, Policing Insight's editorial team highlight some of their favourite articles from the past year and set them as FREE access for all our readers to enjoy during the holiday period

Interview: Police users have been complaining for years about the fact that systems can’t talk to each other: it’s also been a recurring complaint in Policing Insight’s police ICT user survey. Now a group of suppliers have come forward to say that things don’t need to be this way and the solution is surprisingly simple. Here, Policing Insight talks to one of them, Clare Elford, Managing Director of Clue which supplies investigation case management software to many forces and other organisations.

Opinion: Cuts to vital local community services have put the police service under increasing pressure as it attempts to plug the gaps. Firesouls CEO Dan Ebanks says the Social Value Act 2018 may provide the answer to getting more resources into local organisations that, in turn, would alleviate some of those pressures.

INSIGHT: The College of Policing states officers and staff reporting concerns about a colleague should be fully supported through the process, but for one individual who ‘blew the whistle’ the reality was very different. Here is their story.

Analysis: Devon and Cornwall Police Inspector John Shuttleworth shares the lessons learnt from Operation Fardel, the force's response to a national telephone scam, and recommends ways to help close the gap in the police service's response to this fraud.

FREE ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from Lancashire Constabulary and West Mercia Police as subscribers to Policing Insight. They now have FREE access to Policing Insight with the start of new organisation wide subscriptions for the two forces. Policing Insight is also available FREE to officers and staff in many UK forces and in other police and criminal justice organisations with an organisation wide subscription - read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

Insight: According to the RSPB, there were 68 confirmed incidents of 'raptor persecution' in 2017, but only four prosecutions. Bedfordshire Police Superintendent Nick Lyall, who has recently taken over as chair of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group, outlines his aims for the Group and the challenges of policing crimes relating to birds of prey. 

Opinion: Since 2013, Thames Valley Police has supported over 300 academic programmes of study by its staff. The force has now launched its first academic research journal. Its creator, Superintendent Katy Barrow-Grint, explains how the Journal came into being and the impact she is hoping it will have. 

Analysis: Fraud accounts for a third of reported crime in England and Wales yet the number of cases investigated and prosecuted is tiny compared to the volume. As the Police Foundation publishes its latest research on improving the police response to fraud victims, Ian Dyson, Commissioner for the City of London Police which leads nationally on fraud, says things are changing.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series, summarises the findings of a report by HMICFRS’ Policing and Mental Health Report, Picking Up the Pieces, published last month (Nov 27). We look at the impact on policing, recommendations as well as stakeholder and media reactions.

ANALYSIS: Vast, viable and virtual: cyberspace is a new continent that cybercriminals are only just beginning to exploit. Policing Insight contributor and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC Andrew Staniforth explores the areas most at risk and the need for unprecedented cooperation to combat cybercrime.

OPINION: Austerity has caused deep harm to policing and it may take a generation to repair it. Former Chief Superintendent John Sutherland surveys the damage.

ANALYSIS: The road to police fire governance is a bumpy one as the last few weeks has demonstrated. With one PCC restarting, two stopping and two others mired in controversy, what may have seemed like a good idea to some is not winning any new fans. In her latest update of the Policing Insight series looking at PCCs and fire governance, Catherine Levin reports on the ups and downs of the last few weeks.

Analysis: Reticence towards the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) is understandable, says Dr Dominic Wood, Head of the School of Law, Criminal Justice and Computing at Canterbury Christ Church University, but it is also an opportunity for the police service to 'reassert its professional voice and standing in society'. He explains why.

FREE ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from New Zealand Police - the first police force outside the UK to subscribe to Policing Insight. They now have FREE access to Policing Insight with the start of a new organisation wide subscription. Policing Insight is also available FREE to officers and staff in many UK forces and in other police and criminal justice organisations with an organisation wide subscription - read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

LONG READ: With the contraction of police budgets, neighbourhood policing has come under pressure in many areas. However, new College of Policing guidelines suggest it may yet stage a recovery. Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation describes a day with one of South Yorkshire's neighbourhood policing teams, and what it signals about the future of neighbourhood policing.

INTERVIEW: New Zealand's crime rate has decreased drastically in recent years after the police commissioner shifted the focus from prosecution to prevention. Mary Calam, a senior expert in McKinsey’s London office, and Roland Dillon, an associate partner in McKinsey's Melbourne office, interviewed New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush on how the force achieved this remarkable transformation.

ANALYSIS: A new organised crime strategy was launched by the government in early November. However, Anna Sergi, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Essex, warns that seeing organised crime as a national security threat is a poor way of understanding its social and economic roots.