OPINION: The use of discriminatory or derogatory language about people with disabilities can cause significant damage to an individual’s confidence, and undermine any team ethic; Disabled Police Association President Simon Nelson explores the importance of addressing the use of such language (whether deliberate or innocuous), and the need for a proportionate response to mistakes that encourages progress.

analysis: A new report from the Police Foundation highlights the growing tide of online child sexual abuse, with a 400% increase in victims reporting offences over the past four years; but report authors Michael Skidmore and Beth Aitkenhead believe that with a greater focus on prevention, prioritisation on serious harm and investment in people and technology, that tide can be turned around.

OPINION: Policing is well aware of the performance and procedural justice scrutiny it faces in its external relationships; but Detective Chief Inspector Alisa Wilson of Lancashire Constabulary, who retires from policing this week after 21 years in the service, believes that a stronger leadership commitment to wellbeing and internal procedural justice, reinforced by the new Police Covenant, could truly change policing culture.

INNOVATION: The Government is currently piloting an algorithmic transparency standard across the public sector, with the aim of improving openness and public trust in the use of technology; a new research study has highlighted the potential benefits for policing of adhering to the standard, including greater public confidence, the sharing of best practice and reduced costs, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: Seventeen years ago this month the UK faced its first ‘critical’ threat level following a series of terrorist attacks in London that prompted significant changes to the country’s counter-terrorism operations; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks back at the events of July 2005, and considers whether the appointment of former counter-terror chief Sir Mark Rowley as Metropolitan Police Commissioner could improve collaboration and co-operation between the security services and police.

OPINION: The wellbeing of police officers and staff has been a growing cause for concern in the wake of a series of challenges, including austerity cuts putting pressure on police numbers, and the impact of Covid on workloads, welfare, and the relationship with the public; James Scott, CEO & Co-Founder of the Thrive app, believes technology could and should play a greater role in the wellbeing and engagement of officers and staff.

ANALYSIS: The UK’s access to Horizon Europe’s research and innovation programme funding as an associate member – and with it the ability to undertake pioneering research into policing and security that has delivered real benefits to UK law enforcement – appears to be increasingly under threat, thanks to ongoing political wrangles over the Northern Ireland post-Brexit border arrangements, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recently launched its new Police Encounter Panels (PEPs) to provide feedback on the use of force by officers and build closer relationships with the community; MPS Inspector Zed Asghar spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the aim of the PEPs, and how virtual reality technology was offering Panel members greater insight into the difficult decisions officers face.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of next week’s London Policing College workshop on tackling violence against women and girls, and the lessons learned from Operation Soteria Bluestone, workshop facilitator Parm Sandhu (a former Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent who specialised in VAWG) talked to Policing Insight about improving the sharing of best practice, the need to identify cost-neutral measures, and the internal police cultures that still need to be overcome.

INTERVIEW: In the second part of his interview with Policing Insight, Superintendents’ Association President Paul Fotheringham spoke to Keith Potter about the structural and operational challenges facing the rank, the pressures on measuring and improving performance, and the importance of focusing on wellbeing and good leadership.

FEATURE: New research has recommended that police forces in England and Wales should improve their awareness and responses to gambling-related harms after identifying custody suites as the ideal ‘gatekeepers’ to challenge the narratives about the nature of gambling-related crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.  

OPINION: Recent campaigns have led to longer sentences for those who assault emergency services workers, but a new report from Transform Justice analyses why such sanctions are not working; Transform Justice Director Penelope Gibbs believes better support for staff, improved training and alternative responses to those in mental health crisis may be more effective.

FEATURE: With the need for greater focus on the ‘voice of the victim’ and ‘voice of the child’ having been highlighted both in serious case reviews and legislation, the National Policing Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP) is researching how those victim experiences can be better recognised, gathered, and used in investigations and to shape policing services, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: The recently published Police Race Action Plan has prompted more discussion around the issues of racial disparity and institutional racism in UK policing; but for Dr Kul Verma, a former officer and now a leadership coach and diversity and inclusion adviser, attempts to address issues around race in policing will be doomed to fail without brave conversations based on evidence rather than opinion.

OPINION: The introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act in the UK recognised children who witness or experience domestic violence and abuse (DVA) as victims for the first time; but Dr Jade Levell of the University of Bristol, author of 'Boys, Childhood Domestic Abuse, and Gang Involvement', believes boy child survivors of DVA remain largely overlooked, at least until they come under closer scrutiny of the criminal justice system as members of gangs.

LONG READ: The police use of ‘no suspicion’ searches in England and Wales continues to prompt controversy and lengthy debate; independent policing consultant Geoff Monaghan, and former Metropolitan Police detective, takes a detailed look at the background to the power, the conditions for its use, and why the terms ‘no suspicion’ and ‘suspicionless’ are potentially in themselves inappropriate.

FEATURE: Independent custody visitors (ICVs) have helped to ensure fairer and more effective justice in the UK since independent public scrutiny was first recommended in the Scarman Report; recent surveys of the role and effectiveness of ICVs carried out by the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) underline the importance of the role, the challenges ICVs face, and potential improvements, as CJA Senior Policy Officer Hannah Pittaway explains.

ANALYSIS: The concept of ‘institutional racism’, particularly in relation to UK policing, has been a controversial one for many years, with conflicting views on both the definition itself, and how the service should tackle the issue; Policing Insight Academic Editor Carina O’Reilly explores the implications of institutional racism, why some are so reluctant to acknowledge its existence, and how the new NPCC Police Race Action Plan could herald significant changes.

INTERVIEW: The extensive and in some cases excessive searches of victims’ mobile phones and medical records in rape and serious sexual assault cases have reportedly prompted many victims to withdraw from the prosecution process; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to UK Information Commissioner John Edwards about his report published today, which sets out new parameters and guidelines on the gathering and use of digital evidence from victims.

OPINION: As the sequel to one of the world’s greatest action movies hits the big screen, Acting Superintendent Stephen Lenney of Devon and Cornwall Police considers what law enforcement can learn from the Top Gun franchise, and why focusing on noise, rather than the object causing it, can create problems for both plane spotting and policing.

INTERVIEW: Former College of Policing CEO Mike Cunningham QPM started his policing career at Lancashire Constabulary in 1987, becoming Assistant Chief Constable in 2005, before joining the not-for-profit Skills for Justice in 2021 to support the professional development of officers and staff in policing; Policing Insight caught up with him to hear about his latest work, including the Inspire Justice Awards, which will launch next month.

ANALYSIS: As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lessons that need to be learned in relation to protecting public spaces from terror attack, and the important balance between community security and the rights of individual citizens.

OPINION: With two high-profile recent reports identifying the capacity, capability and organisational issues facing policing, it’s evident that more effective collaborations with industry partners will be essential to meet the challenges of digital transformation, as former chief police officer Paul Kennedy and Adrian Leer, Managing Director of Triad Group Plc, explain.

FEATURE: The risks around the use of anti-harm suits to prevent custody detainees from ripping material for self-harming have been highlighted in the UK both by inspectorates and the College of Policing; now a new pilot is underway in Dyfed-Powys to identify alternatives to the suits, as well as establish greater consistency around their use, as Ashley Bertie, CEO of the Independent Custody Visiting Association explains.