Policing Vision 2025

FEATURE: The ongoing debate about degree requirements for UK policing recruits took a new turn recently, when Home Secretary Suella Braverman told forces to keep open a route into the profession that didn’t involve a degree; former officer turned policing lecturer Tom Andrews, and branch Federation Secretary Jon Carter-Lang – regular sparring partners in the degree debate – sat down together to consider a potential ‘best of both worlds’ alternative entry pathway.

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.

INNOVATION: With the continuing proliferation of technology and digital innovation across society, Tom Weeks, Technical Director of Informed Solutions, explores the importance of data science, standards, and citizen trust as drivers for sustainable policing success in a rapidly evolving digital world.

ANALYSIS: Despite increasingly sophisticated security measures, vehicle theft in the UK is back on the rise – much of it involving cars stolen by international organised crime groups; West Midlands PC Andrew Lavanchy looks at the scale and changing nature of vehicle theft, and what steps policing could take to combat the car thieves.

FEATURE: With police legitimacy being challenged and examined more than ever, the law enforcement use of technology and data is also coming under close scrutiny; information and intelligence management expert Giles Herdale, and former NPCC ethics lead Dave Lewis, look at some of the key debates around these issues, which were up for discussion at the recent Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) live event.

OPINION: The requirement for UK police recruits to either be graduates or achieve a degree as part of their training is still a subject of much debate; but University of Sunderland lecturers Dr Jerry Pearson and Adrian Smiles – both former serving officers – believe one area of the PEQF that needs to be addressed is delivering a degree qualification which recognises the skills and experience of those serving officers who are currently non-graduates.

OPINION: Modernisation and digital transformation are at the heart of creating a police service capable of protecting communities against future threats; policing adviser and former deputy chief constable Paul Kennedy, and James Cottam of IT recruitment specialists Futures, believe the key to delivering the fast, versatile and responsive transformation required is through a hybrid, collaborative approach to building teams with the necessary skills and expertise.

UK PCC ELECTIONS 2021: As the dust slowly settles on the 2021 police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections, and those in post start to implement their manifestos, Professor Peter Joyce (Wrexham Glyndŵr University) and Dr Wendy Laverick (University of Hull) take a closer look at the election process – who fought on what issues, how the parties fared, the profiles of those now in office, and what the challenges will be for PCCs going forwards.

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.

INNOVATION: The National Enabling Programmes (NEP) have been working with UK police forces to provide new technology over the past four years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has provided fresh impetus to the transformation, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: The lack of interoperability between police systems wastes taxpayers’ money and reduces effectiveness, says Coeus Software CEO Simon Hall. So how can police ICT escape from the silos of legacy systems?

Analysis: This May, in England and Wales, the public will go to the polls to elect their local Police and Crime Commissioner. Professor Peter Joyce and Dr Wendy Laverick examine the lessons to be learnt from the previous two elections in 2012 and 2016 and what prospective candidates are likely to focus on in 2020.

opinion: CEO of PoliceBox Simon Hall examines how adopting a 'cloud first' approach will enable the police service to fulfil ambitious goals outlined in Policing Vision 2025.

Analysis: There have been nine reports and reviews of forensic science over the past decade, highlighting numerous problems. The latest House of Lord's report has described the quality and delivery of forensic provision as "inadequate". Keith Potter explores the ongoing issues facing this sector and what needs to change.

INSIGHT: The Police Foundation's recent report, Data-driven Policing and Public Value, highlights the fundamental importance of data to service delivery. Catherine Levin explores the findings of the report, including the benefits of identifying common areas of interest around data between police and fire.

OPINION: The emergence of County Lines demonstrates that criminals can operate beyond their usual geographical limits. However, police ICT struggles to do the same. Richard Helson, Customer Relationship Director at Chorus Intelligence calls for police to improve their agility by integrating better on a force-to-force basis.

OPINION: "Technology is changing fast and it’s essential that we keep a handle on the police ICT user experience, so we can better understand the challenges facing users and look for solutions" says Ch. Supt. Paul Griffiths, Vice President of the Police Superintendents Association in his foreword to the CoPaCC Police ICT: User Perspectives 2018 report.

Opinion: Giles Herdale, co-chair of the Independent Digital Ethics Panel for Policing (IDEPP), explains the importance of ethics in digital policing and the role of the panel in ensuring forces factor ethics into their digital policing programmes from the outset.

OPINION: The strain on police efficiencies is greater than ever, with one of its key contributory factors - siloed data - potentially costing police officers up to 28 days of productivity a year. Coeus Software’s CEO Simon Hall explores the effect of this and how the latest cloud and mobile technology developments, changing software procurement practices and wider digitisation in policing can help the frontline.

OPINION: NPCC Lead on Digital Policing Steve Kavanagh says that with the right IT, police officers and staff should see data as a powerful tool, but how can this be achieved? MASS Head of Law Enforcement Business Development Chris Bacon offers a sustainable way forward.

Analysis: The recently-published ICT Strategy, drawn up by the National Police Technology Council (NPTC), contains 26 principles designed to guide forces through their approach to ICT. But, when 43 police forces in England and Wales have 2,000 separate ICT systems, can it succeed?

Analysis: England and Wales' Policing Vision 2025 and Scotland's Policing 2026 outline where the police service sees itself, both north and south of the border, in ten years time. Former Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett assesses both strategies and considers whether ambition can be turned into reality.

OPINION: The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' (APCC) ‘Policing Vision 2025’ sets out a vision of transformational change across the whole of policing. Dr Stephen Brookes, Senior Fellow in Public Policy and Leadership at the University of Manchester, outlines the key leadership questions that will shape policing over the course of the next ten years.

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.