INNOVATION: With forces in England and Wales facing surging demand from domestic abuse victims, Kent Police embarked on a randomised control trial of a new rapid video response (RVR) to victims; Stacey Rothwell, Network Director for England’s Eastern Region of seven forces, explains the methodology behind the trial, and the key findings – including greater victim satisfaction, faster police response times and a 50% increase in arrests – which have led Kent to a force-wide introduction of RVR.

Feature: As UK policing’s lead on trauma-informed practice, Lancashire’s Supt Justin Srivastava outlined county and country-wide efforts to establish the new approach to reducing violence at a recent public health policing conference; but those taking part in the session reiterated that responsibility to end patterns of chronic violence should not fall on the shoulders of police forces alone, as Policing Insight’s Martin Buhagiar reports.

ANALYSIS: Calls to address the crisis of public confidence in British policing have become increasingly insistent, with many recognising that technology has a vital role to play in facilitating change; Andy Higgins, Research Director of the Police Foundation, outlines the organisation’s new project to examine how technology can build confidence and improve police-public interactions in the digital age.

INNOVATION: The latest cohort of recruits to Merseyside Police will be wearing wrist bands that monitor their stress and strain levels as well as sleep patterns, as part of a six-month pilot project focusing on police welfare; Dr Carol Cox, Head of Policing at Liverpool John Moores University, is leading the research team, and spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the aims of the pilot, overcoming the associated challenges, and the potential of wearable technology going forwards.

OPINION: The new senior command team announced by recently appointed Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley includes evidence-based policing pioneer Professor Lawrence Sherman as the force’s first Chief Scientific Officer; Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews believes the appointment heralds a clear commitment by the Met – and British policing more widely – to research-informed practice.

ANALYSIS: A new report has highlighted the disadvantages faced by those who are neurodivergent in their dealing with the police, courts, prisons and the wider criminal justice system, and has called for more training for frontline workers in understanding the effect on behaviour of conditions such as ADHD, learning difficulties and acquired brain injury, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Regaining public trust in policing, and equipping new recruits with the necessary skills and expertise as quickly as possible, were among the key challenges for UK police leaders identified by policing academic Professor Colin Rogers and Essex Chief Constable BJ Harrington during a leadership debate at the recent London Policing College International Conference, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: New research has highlighted the need for a fresh approach to the risk assessment and management of registered sex offenders (RSOs), based on rapport rather than traditional investigative interviewing techniques; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Dr Leona Mydlowski about her review findings, the recommendations for a rethink of training, and why the focus should move from previous offences to what RSOs need to prevent future reoffending.

FEATURE: Improving mental health and wellbeing for police, as well as the response to those in mental health crisis, is a key concern for law enforcement globally; Jacqueline Durand, Acting Director (Strategy) at the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA), looks at what is being done in both countries to support officers, as well as efforts to respond collaboratively with paramedics and mental health to those community members in crisis.

OPINION: This month saw the appointment of a new Commissioner and Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police Service, the UK’s biggest police force; Martyn Underhill, a former Met police officer who served as Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012-2021, believes the new leadership team will have to make some swift and fairly radical changes to address the key challenges affecting public confidence and performance in the force.

INTERVIEW: With police officers across the country facing unprecedented pressure and demand, Thames Valley Police is looking to support its frontline by introducing a Behavioural Science Unit; Policing Insight’s Martin Buhagiar spoke to Superintendent Felicity Parker about the scale of the project and how it could reshape UK policing in the future.

ANALYSIS: While there is much talk about ethics in policing, to date it would appear there has been less consideration of how to apply ethical decision-making to practical policing problems; Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Paine and Dr Hannah Maslen of Thames Valley Police outline a new approach by the force which aims to do just that.

OPINION: A year on from taking up her appointment as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead in tackling violence against women and girls, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth reflects on UK policing’s efforts and achievements over the past 12 months, and the plans for continued progress going forwards.

FEATURE: The latest HM Inspectorate review of call handling at Police Scotland – a function that’s been the subject of five reports since the tragic deaths of two members of the public in 2015 – has highlighted impressive progress in the service’s contact model, but has called for better links with other public sector agencies to ease the response burden on policing, as Policing Insight’s Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The challenges of digital forensic examinations, and the backlog caused by a combination of limited capacity and capability in policing, and the exponential rise in devices requiring examination, have long been a concern for forces, the inspectorate and other stakeholders; Paul Kennedy, of the Accelerating Growth in Policing programme, and Richard Cockerill, Digital Forensics specialist for CACI, believe closer partnership between policing and the private sector could be the key to meeting those challenges.

ANALYSIS: Long-established in America, the focused deterrence approach to tackling violent crime has in some instances reduced offences by a third, but has had limited trials in the UK; now a £6 million pilot project involving four English police forces as well as partner agencies and violence reduction units has been launched to evaluate the potential of the initiative, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: As successful private sector organisations look to develop customer service models built on a rapid and efficient response, UK policing is finding itself struggling with delays in service, lengthy backlogs, and in some cases no response at all; Devon and Cornwall Acting Superintendent Stephen Lenney argues that by changing to a ‘today’s policing today’ approach, forces could improve service, reduce costs and waste, and increase public confidence.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Presented by the Australian and New Zealand Police Commissioners and supported by Policing Insight as Global Media Partner, this 2-day ANZPAA Police Conference 2022 (PC22) will demonstrate how innovation can be used to ‘navigate the next generation of policing’.

FEATURE: The launch in March of the Police Foundation’s influential Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was heralded by many as an opportunity to rethink and reset some of the key policing parameters, aims and approaches; ahead of next month’s conference focusing on the Review, Canterbury Centre for Policing Research Director Dr Martin O’Neill revisits some of those recommendations, and considers a few of the important questions that will be debated over the two days.

OPINION: Among the many reasons given for the ‘unacceptable’ levels of police detections of acquisitive crime in England and Wales, effective investigative technology (or the lack of it) has a key part to play; Iain Donnelly, a former digital investigations and intelligence force lead and now advisor to technology companies working with policing, believes a lack of understanding among senior leaders, a default of dealing with large corporates, and the overfocus on digital forensics are among the key issues.

ANALYSIS: With public services under increasing pressure, leaders need to refresh their thinking on harnessing the considerable untapped resources in every community; in the second in a series of articles, Intensive Engagement’s Richard James (a former police territorial commander), Citizens in Policing specialist Dr Iain Britton, and Jayne Pascoe (Neighbourhood Watch Network) suggest there is no shortage of support available – but can leaders turn the key to unlock this resource?

ANALYSIS: While the latest US drone strike highlighted the continuing physical global terrorist threat, extremist organisations are increasingly launching their own websites to spread their views and propaganda, and recruit new members; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the online threat posed by terrorists, and the work of Tech Against Terrorism to try and counter that threat.

ANALYSIS: The ground-breaking Operation Soteria-Bluestone initiative seeks to improve the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences, and has highlighted the impact on those investigating such cases; Research Fellows Richard Harding and Dr Arun Sondhi, and Dr Emma Williams (Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships), of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning, look at the early findings in relation to learning, wellbeing and officer burnout, and the important role of the organisational environment.

INTERVIEW: With a career combining operational policing and complex investigation with academia, Dr Tracey Green recently took up her post as CEO of the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency with greater insight than most into the demands facing law enforcement; she spoke to Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter about the Agency’s work on immediate and long-term policing challenges, the importance of sharing good practice, and the benefits of collaboration between police and academics.