Police management

Insight: Criminals prey on the elderly. Coinciding with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Katy Bourne, Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex looks at the scale of the problem in her force area and how Operation Signature is helping to protect the elderly from fraud.

Analysis: Policing Insight launches a unique ‘tracker’ and a series of special articles examining the progress of Police and Crime Commissioners as they assume joint governance over police and fire services in their areas. In the first of the series, Catherine Levin takes a look at the runners and riders and discovers that currently 'the east has it'.

Latest update: UPDATED 12TH AUGUST 2019: A regular series of articles and this useful tracker of the PCCs’ activity and progress. This update reflects the outcomes of the judicial reviews in Cambridgeshire and West Mercia. Gloucestershire were also informed that their business case would not be reviewed before the 2020 PCC elections.

ELECTION REACTION: Another in our series of exclusive articles following the result of the General Election. Eleven years ago, Leicestershire Police had one officer for every 430 citizens - it's one officer for every 599 citizens now. Simon Cole QPM, the force's Chief Constable, looks at the substantial financial challenge facing PCCs and Chiefs.

ELECTION REACTION: Continuing our series of exclusive articles following the result of the General Election, former Chief Constable Stuart Hyde suggests "now is the time to reach out, canvass and cajole, influence and inform, to seek some remedy to the lack of police funding"

Analysis: Recent events in London and Manchester have renewed the debate on extremism within the UK and how it should be dealt with. Dr Mark Roycroft, author of  Police Chiefs in the UK, Politicians, HR managers or Cops? (2017) examines the current approach to counter terrorism.

ELECTION REACTION: In the first of a series of exclusive articles following the result of the General Election, Dafydd Llywelyn, Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed Powys discusses the implications for the review of the police funding formula.

Opinion: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is planned to become legislation in the United Kingdom on 25 May, 2018. The UK government has confirmed that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will have no impact on the enactment of the GDPR within the UK. Robert de Souza, Associate Partner at Chaucer Digital which works with the Home Office, the NPCC, Police ICT Company as well as police forces, explores the implications of this decision. 

OPINION: Do scripts - and other similar prescriptive frameworks - undermine police officers' ability to think for themselves? Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University argues that officers need to be able to be human, and to make mistakes, and flags up CCCU's June conference on barriers to change.

Interview: Innovative work in Scotland has helped drastically drive down rates of violence, including knife crime. As England’s capital sees sharp increases in gun and knife crime, around 42 and 24 per cent,  according to recent figures released by the Metropolitan Police, can Scotland's experience shed light on how to tackle such a devastating crime? Will Linden, Acting Director at the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) which works with Police Scotland, speaks to Policing Insight.  

Interview: In our continuing series on Police and Crime Comissioners, Dyfed-Powys PCC Dafydd Llywelyn looks back on his first year in office.

OPINION: Some vulnerable individuals can contact the police disproportionately often. Supt. Andrea Barrow and Prof. Stuart Kirby of the University of Central Lancashire explain how Lancashire Constabulary has worked together with partners to set up Early Action Teams to deal with vulnerable callers.

ADVERTORIAL: Leading practitioners and academics from the policing world will gather at the University of Northampton across June 21st and 22nd for the Public Safety, Crime and Justice Conference 2017: Policing the 21st Century Landscape, which will feature keynote addresses from John Hageman of Interpol and Professor Peter Squires of the University of Brighton.

Analysis: With more and more forces opting to buy unmanned aerial vehicles or drones for air support, Ian Wiggett, a former ACC in Greater Manchester Police, examines their current usage and the implications for the National Police Air Support.

UK POLICE MEMORIAL: A transcript of Lord Stevens' speech to the Police Federation of England and Wales national conference 2017, calling for support for the new UK Police Memorial.

OPINION: Evidence-based policing is a focus of debate, including over what should count as evidence, and whether the Randomised Control Trial is over-valued. Prof. Kevin Morrell and Prof. Mark Learmonth of Durham University show how a limited definition of 'evidence' can damage understanding of the real world.

CONFERENCE: Are we on the cusp of a step change in policing? A two-day conference in Northampton is asking researchers, leaders, frontline officer and research-active practitioners to debate the issues. Supt Dave Hill, Programme Director for the East Midlands Police Academic Collaboration (EMPAC), explains the background.

NEWS: Our first look at the police and policing references in the Liberal Democratic Party's manifesto for the June 2017 General Election

NEWS: Our "quick turnaround" first look at the police and policing references in the Conservative Party's manifesto for the June 2017 General Election

Analysis: Last year's Police Federation of England and Wales' Health and Well being survey of its members revealed a mental health ticking time bomb. The association, representing officers up to the rank of inspector, says officers are at breaking point, so what is the service doing about it? 

ANALYSIS: Questioned at this week's Police Federation conference about spit guards, the Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott stated she was still "looking at the research, and coming to a considered view". Dr Matt Ashby, a former police officer and now lecturer in criminology at Nottingham Trent University, looks at the evidence currently available.

Opinion: In our continuing series, Policing Insight talks to Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl about his achievements and the challenges he faces as he completes the first year of his second term in office.

OPINION: Ahead of manifesto launches and the Police Federation conference this week, Policing Insight editor Carina O'Reilly (also a Labour councillor) takes a look at what we can expect from the parties on policing – and whether what they promise matters.

OPINION: How will ongoing police reforms affect the Special Constabulary? Could their future include further integration with regulars - including the use of Taser? Dr Iain Britton, Institute for Public Safety Crime and Justice, reflects on his attendance at the annual national conference of the Association of Special Constabulary Chief Officers’ (ASCCO).