Police management

INTERVIEW: The UK’s first counter-terrorism (CT) graduate scheme officially launched earlier this year, with new officers set to enter CT roles with the Met Police within just two years; in the first of a two-part series, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s CT Command, and Police Now CEO Kurtis Christoforides, to understand more about this innovative new approach.

OPINION: The New Zealand Government is continuing its crackdown on gangs, with a new specialist National Gang Unit and a ban on wearing gang patches in public among measures set out in planned legislation; but Auckland University of Technology Associate Professor Antje Deckert, and University of Melbourne Professor Juan Tauri, argue the proposals ignore research evidence that such policies are likely to backfire.

ANAYLSIS: A review of stalking in London, carried out by the city’s Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman, describes the response to victims as “woefully inadequate” and calls for legislative reform, increased awareness and training, and updated protocols from police chiefs and prosecutors to improve criminal justice outcomes and support for victims across England and Wales, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: With the police response to those in mental health crisis coming increasingly under focus, Brunel University’s Amy Everitt, and Dr Cody Porter and Dr Paul Gavin from UWE Bristol, highlight the key elements of a new multi-agency training approach held at Brunel University earlier this year, providing real-world immersive scenarios as well as expert insight for frontline emergency responders.

INTERVIEW: A new campaign by the Naturewatch Foundation is highlighting the link between those who abuse animals and their use of violence against people; former detective inspector Mark Randell the charity’s Campaign Manager, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need for training for officers and prosecutors around that link, and the organisation’s efforts to encourage data sharing and raise awareness of the need to consider animal cruelty when investigating other cases.

ANALYSIS: While the annual cost of policing in Canada approaches $20 billion, violent crime and homicide rates have increased significantly; University of Ottawa Professor Emeritus Irvin Waller, and Carleton University PhD candidate Jeffrey Bradley, argue that programs tackling risk factors give a better return on investment, pointing to the success of such schemes in the UK and US as indicators of what can be achieved.

INNOVATION: With the opportunities offered to policing by artificial intelligence (AI) a key conversation at the recent Cumberland Lodge Police Conference, Martin Taylor, Deputy Chief Executive of Content Guru, explores the potential for AI to enhance the delivery of services by policing, and the importance of reframing and redefining the debate around this new technology.

OPINION: With the proliferation of mobile phone and CCTV footage capturing physical and sometimes violent confrontations between officers and suspects, former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher fears that, unless the service and the wider criminal justice system can underline the importance of public co-operation with the police – and explain that in certain circumstances such confrontations are necessary and inevitable – the British model of policing by consent could soon disappear.

INNOVATION: From advanced surveillance and data analytics to facial recognition and collars that can detect ‘anti-predation’ behaviour in farm animals sparked by the actions of livestock thieves, a recent online roundtable involving policing, academic and farming stakeholders highlighted the importance of agricultural technology – coupled with traditional policing methods – in tackling rural crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Policing Insight’s recent ‘Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing’ report drew on 34 interviews with operational leaders and experts to examine how facial recognition (FR) is being used by police around the world, and the key debates about the technology; as part of the project, James Sweetland interviewed Lindsey Chiswick, Metropolitan Police Director of Intelligence and National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead on FR, about the British approach, and in this article we share more of that insightful conversation.

INNOVATION: For more than 40 years the UK’s renowned Cumberland Lodge policing conference has convened an influential, cross-sector gathering of speakers and delegates to stimulate fresh thinking on key issues in policing; in this article, the Police Foundation’s Ruth Halkon and Andy Higgins present the highlights from this year’s event.

ANALYSIS: Police Foundation Senior Associate Fellow Gavin Hales believes the change of UK government arguably offers the best opportunity in years for a revised police funding formula to be implemented – but also warns that such changes won’t address wide inequalities in funding, the balance between government and council tax precept revenues, or whether overall resources are sufficient.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explains why he believes that police departments should avoid labelling AI transcription of body cam footage as report writing.

INNOVATION: New technology using artificial intelligence to extract data from mobile phones is being used by Northamptonshire Police to enable officers to be “digitally advanced”, improve investigations, and save hundreds of officer hours in court, as Sgt Jason Cullum, the force’s Head of Innovation, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: After three years as the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Child Protection Abuse and Investigation, earlier this month former Merseyside Deputy Chief Constable Ian Critchley took up a new role at the College of Policing; in this article he looks back over his time in post, highlights the continuing efforts of police and partners to protect children from abuse, and calls on governments to take action to tackle what has become a ‘public health crisis’.

OPINION: Having been elected as President of Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales earlier this month, Supt Nick Smart sets out some of the challenges facing officers in the superintending ranks – particularly around morale and wellbeing – and how the Association is aiming to shape reforms that will benefit the rank as well as the communities they serve.

INTERVIEW: With less than nine months until funding for the national programme to improve outcomes for Black people interacting with and working in policing in England and Wales comes to an end, Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to Abimbola Johnson, chair of its Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board, about its “glacial” progress and future prospects.

FEATURE: As a new UK Labour Government embarks on delivering the police and criminal justice policies and pledges contained within its manifesto, former chief superintendent Dr Stephen Brookes, now a leadership expert and Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Manchester, sets out the opportunities and benefits of a “brave, bold and balanced” approach to leadership that could establish the policing agenda for 2030 and beyond.

ANALYSIS: The State of Policing: Annual Assessment 2023, published by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke, has found that the failure of forces in England and Wales to “get the basics right” is continuing to damage trust and confidence in the service, while “unacceptably high” workloads, significant levels of inexperience among officers, and an “outdated and unfair” funding formula are adding to the policing challenges, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: Those most at risk from extreme weather events are often the most vulnerable in society, but a new campaign by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is urging emergency services including police to take preventative steps to ensure those in vulnerable groups do not fall victim to ‘natural disasters’, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: An audit of youth offending in Queensland has revealed a 65% increase in the number of serious repeat offenders since 2018, and has highlighted the importance of government stability in responding to young offending, as well as the need for a culture change in Queensland Police Service’s approach to the issue, as crucial steps in preventing further increases, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Given the complex nature of policing, the diversity communities policed, the range of partner agencies and the multiple sources of records and information, creating accurate data for modelling new systems and scenarios without using real-world cases can present a major challenge; data and geospatial intelligence specialist Ian Oldfield, who spent more than 28 years as a police officer, explains the importance and benefits of synthetic police data.

FEATURE: The latest United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report highlights record levels of cannabis and cocaine use – with an accompanying rise in violence – and the increased agility of traffickers who are expanding their criminal activities into areas such as wildlife trafficking, illegal resource extraction and money laundering, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: At the recent Counter-Terror Expo in London, Commander Dominic Murphy of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Command set out the continuing challenges facing the countries counter-terror policing efforts, and the crucial role played by officers and staff in tackling a range of “diverse and unpredictable” threats, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.