Police management

Opinion: The arrest of one of the world’s most wanted alleged drugs lords has sparked debate around strategies to best tackle organised crime and minimise the harm caused to communities; Dr John Coyne, Head of Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, explains the need for a more nuanced approach, rather than simply decapitating OC groups.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The disruptive events of 2020 present new pathways for public sector organisations to accelerate the progress they’ve already made in advancing their digital ambitions. But first they need to overcome legacy challenges to achieve a single view of their citizens and start small to harness innovation.

Insight: The Police Code of Ethics applies equally to all areas of policing and data should not be considered in isolation as a different topic, argues the NPCC lead on ethics; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons explains his views and those of others seeking to embed transparency around data use in police decision-making.

ANALYSIS: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Professors Jerry Ratcliffe and Evan Sorg – both former police officers – argue that effective use of foot patrol could be the key to re-engaging with communities and reducing violence.

Insight: Cumbria’s use of Microsoft Teams has snowballed during the coronavirus pandemic and UK lockdown; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons looks at some of the innovative uses of the system, and how public engagement and officer satisfaction levels have benefited.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from City of London 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.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The Police Foundation’s 2021 annual conference, running online from 23rd to 25th February, will explore what kind of skills and capabilities police officers and staff will require as we approach the middle of the twenty first century.

Analysis: A layered co-governance framework that co-ordinates police experience, social science expertise and the public perspective is the ideal structure for the implementation of automated facial recognition systems, and as such is urgently required, argues Isabella Duan, Laidlaw Scholar at University College London.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Frontline Fulfilment is a collaborative event between the emergency services and education sectors, highlighting the opportunities for a ‘people-first’ future by exploring both common concerns and potential shared solutions; Mightify CEO Tom Wheelhouse explains the thinking behind next week’s free event, and what it aims to achieve.

FEATURE: The Coronavirus pandemic has put huge pressures on the criminal justice system, and could have an impact on the courts and policing for many years to come; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons looks at two recent reports that both warn of critical risks and the need for a radical overhaul.

FEATURE: Against a backdrop of unprecedented rising violence in 2020 – with murders across the biggest 65 cities in the US increasing collectively by a third – Professor Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer, launched the Violence Reduction Project; in this first in a series of essays from practitioners, experts and academics, he highlights the aims of the Project, and the need for urgent action.

Analysis: Amid concerns that rising levels of large scale VAT fraud now represent a national security threat, Andrew Staniforth examines how new working arrangements between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Europol will be vital in ensuring that essential information sharing mechanisms are in place for effective investigations.

INSIGHT: In an increasingly digital world, the role of forensic linguistics will be crucial to law enforcement as an aid to correctly identifying text authors and voices, so investment in research and awareness raising among police officers and the judiciary, are vital to its success. Georgina Heydon outlines how this powerful, yet little known, tool can be integrated into investigations.

OPINION: Scholars and practitioners have debated the extent to which terrorism and organised crime form a nexus. Serving officer Martin Gallagher examines the evidence - and concludes that, regardless of the overlap, the criminal justice system needs to be alive to the distinction in motivations between serious and organised criminals, and those engaged in terrorist activities.

OPINION: Paul Odle, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic & Belief group and a serving Metropolitan Police officer, believes that while current unconscious bias training is not fit for purpose, it should be updated and amended, not abandoned.

ANALYSIS: Devon and Cornwall Police recently announced a scheme to pay volunteer special constables an enhanced allowance for completing a minimum number of hours; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett explores whether this could be the first step towards establishing a paid policing reserve, and how other services ensure they can call on vital added experience in times of greatest need.

OPINION: Police officers in schools across the US play an important role in safety and security, as well as often helping to mentor students; but a police-run scheme in Florida, which uses students’ school performance and behaviour to indicate potential future criminals under the guise of intelligence-led policing, risks pushing young people into the criminal justice system, warns Associate Professor Chris Curran.

Australia Day Honours: We are pleased to publish and recognise the policing and criminal justice recipients of the 2021 Australia Day Honours. The team at Policing Insight offer our congratulations and thank all the recipients for their service and contribution to their communities, particularly in these challenging times.

FEATURE: The UK Biometrics Commissioner has highlighted variations between forces in the retention of DNA, software inadequacies in the fight against terrorism, and missed opportunities for the international exchange of samples that may have put the public at greater risk of crime, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: The coronavirus pandemic has called for an extraordinary response from law enforcement; but Dr Wendy Laverick and Professor Peter Joyce believe the increasing politicisation of policing during the pandemic, the sidelining of PCCs and introduction of tougher powers could threaten police legitimacy once the crisis is over.

OPINION: Lie detector tests such as polygraphs, which use an individual’s anxiety levels to indicate the veracity of their statements, have been criticised as ‘theoretically weak’ and unreliable; but new methods which rely on the asymmetry in responses from liars and truth-tellers could be the way forward, as University of Portsmouth Senior Teaching Fellow Cody Porter explains.

ANALYSIS: Former senior police officer Richard James of community engagement specialists Intensive Engagement shares the company’s methodology on working with communities to reduce crime, and how the approach can be applied to a range of other social issues.

INNOVATION: Recent serious public disorder in Brussels, and the much-covered riots in Washington DC, highlighted the dangers facing police when they are overwhelmed by unexpected public violence; a new virtual reality platform providing immersive simulation of real-world public places could offer police and security agencies the best possible preparation for such events, reports Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

INNOVATION: A £55m police-led cyber security system designed to detect attacks and protect businesses and organisations is now being rolled out nationally after a successful pilot in north-east England; Policing Insight's Sarah Gibbons reports on Police CyberAlarm