Police management

INNOVATION: As forces across England and Wales strive to hit ambitious recruitment targets, they also face the challenge of new recruits now outnumbering more experienced officers’ Paul Roberts, Head of Product Strategy and Innovation, Public Safety at NEC Software Solutions; believes new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics could play a vital role in upskilling new recruits as quickly as possible.

FEATURE: Continuing the latest series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the issue of plurality in policing, from the earliest days of the ‘New Police’ to the latest law enforcement and social control roles carried out by the state as well as private and third-sector organisations, and underlines the importance for policing of recognising the opportunities and dangers presented by non-police actors.

OPINION: In his last article before retiring from Sussex Police (and from his role as President of the Disabled Police Association) next month, Superintendent Simon Nelson urges colleagues to continue supporting diversity in policing and fulfil the potential of creating a better history for others.

INTERVIEW: Policing in the US and elsewhere is facing new and complex challenges around issues such as community trust, leadership, and recruitment and retention; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to former police chief Kathleen O’Toole and policing consultant Bob Peirce about their new book, which draws in part on their experiences of working on Northern Ireland’s Patten Commission to suggest solutions for the crises facing policing in today’s divided communities.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Dr Christopher Dowling, Research Manager at the Australian Institute of Criminology, about measures to block organised crime offenders from the legitimate economy, holistic efforts to tackle organised crime, and the latest research on tackling outlaw motorcycle gangs.

ANALYSIS: The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to bring significant changes to policing tools and techniques; Dr Jonathan Jackson and Ronald Winch of Birmingham City University argue that, as legislation lags behind the pace of technological development across society, policing needs to urgently develop and implement ethical and safe systems of governance to protect the model of policing by consent.

ANALYSIS: One of the outcomes of the pandemic has been a quiet revolution in the way people seek to report crime; a survey by technical consulting firm BMT found that the public are increasingly willing to use digital contact channels to communicate with police, but need more information about the right routes to use, and reassurances over the response they will receive, as Justice and Security Business Unit Lead Christian Ellis explains.

INTERVIEW: As police forces around the world struggle to meet the growing demand of emergency calls related to people’s mental health problems, Austin Police Department in Texas has introduced a clinician-based ‘mental health crisis’ option for 911 callers which has improved the service to the public, cut use of force and arrest rates, and enabled officers to prioritise the response to crime, as Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend reports.

OPINION: The recent Inspectorate report of police forces in England and Wales highlighted further concerns around vetting, misconduct and misogyny, focusing much of the blame on vetting teams and professional standards departments; but Dr John McDaniel, Senior Lecturer in Policing and Criminal Justice at the University of Wolverhampton, argues that a political tolerance to misconduct and misogyny, and a lack of action by police and crime commissioners, have contributed significantly to the problem.

OPINION: The inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing has highlighted a number of failures in UK emergency services interoperability in responding to the terrorist attack; Psychology Lecturer Dr Nicola Power of the University of Lancaster believes research around the psychology of group decision making can explain some of those failures, and could help to avoid repeat problems in the future.

FEATURE: Leading police researcher Professor Tom Kirchmaier recently urged police chiefs to “rethink” their stance on double crewing to protect officers and provide a better public service, while improving response times to have a “significant” impact on detection and clearance rates, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Challenges around recruitment and workforce strength are affecting policing around the world, but there’s often less focus on keeping hold of good officers; Greater Manchester Police Chief Inspector Mike Russell spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the force’s new ‘Stay Interview’ initiative which has significantly improved retention rates as well as improving the support available to officers.

OPINION: The ever-complex nature of policing continues to highlight the need for sharing and analysing data, with interoperability crucial to successful technological development; Sebastian Uhlig, Managing Consultant of Informed Solutions, explores the key ingredients required to ensure that digital transformation is accelerated and de-risked to improve the working lives of police officers, and enhance their service to the public.

FEATURE: Australia’s Queensland Police, like many other forces around the world, deal with worrying levels of domestic violence on a daily basis, with many incidents carried out by repeat offenders; but the introduction of a simple text messaging initiative to remind those subject to protection orders about the behaviour conditions they are required to follow has seen a significant drop in repeat offences and an associated reduction in costs, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: This month’s report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services highlighted significant issues around the vetting of police officers – both new recruits and those already in service; as HMICFRS begins publishing individual force inspections on the same topic, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone looks at the concerns highlighted by the original report, the recommendations for improvement, and what the service should be doing to protect policing and the public against potential misconduct and corruption.

ANALYSIS: This month’s ANZPAA Conference offered another opportunity to learn more about brain fingerprinting, and the potential for its use in law enforcement investigations and deception detection; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the background to this cutting-edge technology, research on its operational performance to date, and how it could benefit policing and criminal justice systems moving forwards.

OPINION: A series of high-profile cases in the UK have highlighted issues around the disproportionate use of force and stop and search, and the impact on confidence in policing among many in black communities; Dr Clare Torrible, Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Bristol, believes a recent Court of Appeal ruling around reasonable use of force by officers could be crucial in restoring that confidence.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Policing performance has never been under the microscope as much as it is now. There are some police forces that have been placed under special measures by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). In reviewing these findings, we can identify common themes in each of the areas in which policing is still considered to be underperforming.

FEATURE: The challenges around tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) have been the subject of intense public, political and policing debate in recent months, following a number of high-profile incidents and alarming statistics; Policing Lecturer Dr Anna Hopkins reports on a recent Open University conference which drew together police, politicians, practitioners and academics to address some of the key issues and consider ways forward.

ANALYSIS: Three years ago, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the ambitious Uplift plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers by April 2023, and despite significant political upheaval since, the Government remains ‘determined’ to keep to its pledge; in the last of this current series on UK police workforce structure, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett assesses whether that target will be met, and what comes next.

LONG READ: The emergency services response to the flooding in Australia’s Northern Rivers region, which began in February and remains ongoing, has been subject to close scrutiny and two major independent inquiries; Policing Insight’s Alan Beckley examines some of the key findings and recommendations from the two inquiry reports, and considers their implications for policing in the region.

INTERVIEW: When the UK Disabled Police Association (DPA) was launched 10 years ago, disability was still not considered a protected characteristic in policing; Supt Simon Nelson, who steps down as President of the DPA after eight years in post when he retires from policing next month, believes the situation has now significantly improved – but as he explained to Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro, there’s still much more to be done.

FEATURE: Law enforcement globally faces similar challenges around officers numbers, diversity and community engagement, yet the crucial contribution of policing volunteers – and the relatively untapped potential – is often overlooked; Dr Iain Britton of the University of Northampton’s Institute for Public Safety, Crime and Justice reports on recent global gatherings of volunteer policing leaders and academics in the UK, and plans to improve the international sharing of evidence and best practice.

ANALYSIS: As the conversation turns again to probable funding cuts to UK public services, Open University Visiting Fellow Justin Partridge and University of Southampton lecturer Fatema Zaghloul examine whether increased and sustained austerity will lead to a greater willingness to collaborate and assist in driving efficiencies, or if collaboration will become another casualty of austerity as hard-pressed organisations simply retrench their focus to internal matters?