Police management

INTERVIEW: Warwickshire OPCC are to fund 11 road safety organisations as part of a major strategy to reduce casualties following a 160 per cent increase in road this year. Warwickshire PCC Philip Seccombe explains how the strategy will work and Annette Lloyd who runs The Honest Truth tells Policing Insight why her organisation was chosen.

Opinion: Between 2015 and 2017, the cost of organised crime to Australia increased exponentially to $36 billion. Based on the figures, Dr John Coyne from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute argues the current 'Whac-a-Mole' policing approach to tackling the problem isn't working.

analysis: Independent police and crime panel members are generally younger, more diverse, better skilled and more representative of their communities. In his fourth paper, based on his research into police and crime panels, Dr Roy Bailey evaluates the effectiveness of independent panel members.

ANALYSIS : With extreme weather and Brexit dominating the headlines, it might seem sensible for emergency planners to advise people on what to do in a crisis. But when Police Scotland did just that with their #grabbag tweet, it got all the wrong kind of attention. Dan Slee, co-founder of comms2point0, examines the fallout.

NEWS: Last month, the Police Foundation launched the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales. As phase one of the review goes live, the Foundation has announced the first Call for Evidence. Director Rick Muir invites those involved in policing to come forward with their ideas and evidence to help shape the police service of the future.

Opinion: The high-profile case of a 15 year-old convicted of trying to build a bomb has highlighted the importance of early intervention to combat extremism, via the Government's Prevent strategy. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth outlines the tension between free speech and trust in the classroom and the importance of preventing the ever-increasing radicalisation of young people.

Innovation: Domestic homicides in the UK have reached a five-year high. Lucy McDonald, SafeLives’ Programme Lead for Scotland, highlights the organisation's groundbreaking work with Police Scotland to train its officers to recognise the early warning signs of domestic abuse and safeguard victims earlier.

FEATURE: Each week, in the lead up to the inaugural World Class Policing Awards sponsored by Accenture in November, Policing Insight will be publishing details of the 54 finalists. This week, the outstanding nominations include a police cadet scheme for adults with learning difficulties, a new mobile fingerprint reader, a drink awareness project in Australia and many more.

OPINION: The number of rapes reported has soared but convictions are at an all-time low. Ian Wiggett highlights the challenges of a Crown Prosecution Service under pressure, growing demands of disclosure in a digital world and police forces struggling with demand and a shortage of resources.

Analysis: Following the publication of her research into Intimate Partner Homicides, Dr Jane Monckton-Smith outlines the eight stages of escalation that result in an Intimate Partner Homicide, demonstrating this is a highly predictable crime and debunking the traditional "crime of passion" narrative that often surrounds it.

ANALYSIS: The Whaley Bridge crisis could have been a disaster - but strong communications work by the emergency services helped keep a community together. Dan Slee, co-founder of comms2point0, looks at the social media effort to show where it all went right.

analysis: In the third of five papers on Police and Crime Panels, Dr Roy Bailey examines the panel's legal powers and how it handles complaints against Police and Crime Commissioners whilst trying to strike a balance between support and scrutiny.

FREE ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and from Suffolk Constabulary, who now have FREE access to Policing Insight with the start of new organisation wide subscriptions. Policing Insight is now available FREE to officers and staff in many UK forces and in other police and criminal justice organisations - read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

World Class Policing Awards: From missing people to reducing offending to fulfilling potential in the work place and fast-tracking detectives –  Policing Insight is delighted to publish a series of six weekly articles highlighting the 54 finalists for the inaugural World Class Policing Awards. We present the first nine in alphabetical order.

Opinion: Home Secretary Priti Patel recently announced section 60 Stop and Search powers would be relaxed to make the process quicker and more effective. Stop and Search Lead and Chair of Bedfordshire Community Scrutiny Panel Montell Neufville questions this approach along with other 'myths' surrounding stop and search.

INTERVIEW: As terrorists continue to hijack social media to recruit and spread propaganda, cyber terrorism expert Professor Stuart Macdonald tells Policing Insight how terrorists are exploiting smaller platforms and the continuing challenges social media companies face in removing online terrorist content.

Opinion: In a deeply personal account, Australian-based nurse and Mental Health Champion Melissa Gole talks honestly and openly about the impact of living with her partner, a police officer who suffered PTSD after a counter-terror incident, and what helped her through the experience.

Interview: In the first of an exclusive two-part interview, newly-retired Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher tells Policing Insight why race has to be a priority for policing and why, as a 28-year career detective, he’s backing direct entry detective schemes.

insight: UK police forces are unable to access the European Commission's Internal Security Fund - Police (ISF-P) which promotes safety and security in the EU, but Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth explains there are other ways for forces to be involved in its vital work.

OPINION: Machine learning has tremendous possibilities for the police. However, badly used, it could be as controversial as Stop and Search. Paul McFarlane, Senior Teaching Fellow in Security and Crime Science at UCL, argues that the police must avoid 'black box' systems to be accountable for the decisions that algorithms suggest.

interview: A new company has been launched by three UK former senior officers which delivers training in British community policing techniques to police forces around the world. Policing Insight spoke to one of its directors, former Northumbria Police ACC Timothy Shilston, about the international appetite for British policing models.

insight: When examining police suicides, accurate data is hard to come by in the UK and other countries, making it difficult to understand the scale of the problem, but Mightify's Tom Wheelhouse says it's time to take trauma more seriously which means offering support from day one of a person's policing career.

Announcement: Following rigorous judging of over 100 UK and overseas entries to the inaugural World Class Policing Awards, the shortlist of nominations has now been finalised! See if your force has made the final cut.

NEWS: All forces in England and Wales have received national guidance on the menopause after 44% of female officers surveyed revealed they considered quitting because of their symptoms. The move follows considerable efforts by many including the Menopause Doctor Dr Louise Newson who highlighted the importance of this issue for the service in her March 2018 interview with Policing Insight.