OPINION: Degree level entry to the police is a hugely controversial issue for many serving officers, who feel that the proposals undermine them - but is this fair? Serving officer Dan Reynolds examines the Police Educational Qualifications Framework and what it offers for those already in the force.
OPINION: At a time when police are facing significant organisational change, it's increasingly important that rank and file officers are engaged with this process. Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University makes the case for listening more closely to officers - and backs @West_Response's call for the introduction of a front line impact assessment.
OPINION: Surveillance cameras have proliferated in recent years, leading the government to establish a commissioner responsible for overseeing their governance. Prof. William Webster examines the Commissioner's new strategy for surveillance - and warns that any regulatory framework needs to be able to keep up with a rapid pace of change.
OPINION: What do we think of when we think of police leadership? Serving officer Gareth Stubbs warns that traditional perceptions of how leaders look and behave may no longer be fit for purpose given the challenges facing policing.
NEWS: The Metropolitan Police is likely to face as much as £400 million in fresh budget cuts this year. Martin Hoscik of Mayorwatch talks to Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey about the scale of the cuts and the "essential" changes right across the force.
OPINION: If academia is serious about working with the police, does it need to make its research outputs more useful to those who might use them? Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University makes the case for integrating practitioners into the process of research at every level.
OPINION: Is policing losing a sense of its past? As a military historian who has worked closely with the US and UK military, and who has also had insight into UK policing, Dr Jill S. Russell is convinced of the value an ‘official history’ approach would bring to policing research, professional development, and policy.
ANALYSIS: The Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland have set out their strategy for policing in Scotland over the next ten years - Policing 2026. Independent researcher Kath Murray analyses the strategy and what it really means in the long term for policing in Scotland.
OPINION: With the Police and Crime Act 2017 receiving Royal Assent and the new statutory duty for the emergency services to collaborate coming into force in April, the Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service hails the opportunities for the fire and rescue services to develop closer and stronger partnerships with policing
OPINION: Policing is being asked to move in two different directions at once: to grapple with geographically mobile crime, and to deal with increasingly complex issues requiring complex local solutions. Rick Muir of the Police Foundation makes a powerful case for deeper collaboration between agencies to tackle the challenges ahead.
OPINION: Taking on a 45,000-strong organisation, with a budget of more than £2.5 billion would stretch the most seasoned corporate executive - and the Met faces some serious challenges in the years ahead. Nick Alston of Anglia Ruskin University's Policing Institute for the Eastern Region warns that the role may be too demanding for any senior officer.
OPINION: Cressida Dick has today been appointed as the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, replacing outgoing Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe. Chief Superintendent John Sutherland takes an insider's look at what will be waiting in the new Commissioner's in-tray.
OPINION: With the announcement today of Cressida Dick as the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Rory Geoghegan of the Centre for Public Safety offers an account of the four major challenges facing the new Commissioner and the Met in the years ahead.
ANALYSIS: DCC Louisa Rolfe oversees West Midlands Police's WMP2020 change programme that features 33 individual projects designed to make the force more agile when fighting crime and more accessible to the public. Here, she explains how the force's innovative collaboration with Accenture is progressing.
ANALYSIS: Last week the Police Foundation published its latest paper, A Natural Experiment in Neighbourhood Policing, from its Police Effectiveness in a Changing World project. Andy Higgins of the Foundation outlines the ramifications for neighbourhood policing, as the Foundation launches its new research project to explore its future.
OPINION: Research by the PSAEW into public protection units (PPUs) in police forces across England and Wales explored how cultural attitudes are creating difficulties for the recruitment, retention, morale and effectiveness of PPU. Gavin Thomas of the PSAEW argues that a change in police culture from blame to learning could help to overcome many of these difficulties.
14th February 2017
NEWS: Armed police should face less suspicion and be trusted more, said Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe today in his final set-piece speech delivered at the Royal United Services Institute. Hogan-Howe, who retires later this month, also made a pointed case for the budget of the Metropolitan Police to be maintained. Here we reproduce the full text of Hogan-Howe's address.
OPINION: Increased demand and the push to professionalisation can have a human cost. Police blogger and serving officer 'Nathan Constable' says the number of officers considering leaving the job is higher than he can ever remember - but explains why he's personally decided to stay in the service.
ANALYSIS: Should policing become a 'profession'? What does that mean for serving officers and their sense of themselves as professionals? Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University and Dr Ian Hesketh, Senior Advisor to the College of Policing, unpick the College's radical mission to professionalise the police service.
ANALYSIS: Earlier this week, the Reform Think Tank published a new report examining the public-sector workforce of the future. Here, Reform's Alexander Hitchcock and Emilie Sundorph examine the implications of this report for policing.
OPINION: A recent Accenture survey of 165 technology leaders within police, justice and intelligence agencies found that financial constraints, increased citizen expectations, and the need to modernise operations are driving the increasing use of digital technologies. James Slessor of Accenture unpacks the results of the survey, and outlines some of the groundbreaking directions public safety agencies are exploring.
