ANALYSIS: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass reveals how many candidates have applied for each of the top jobs in policing in England and Wales over the past three years, and finds out what the likes of HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Chair Donna Jones and others believe this shows about the state of the process.

OPINION: Recent suggestions that policing could use facial recognition more widely – including to check against the UK passport database to identify shoplifters – prompted an outcry from some MPs, academics and campaigners; but Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation and Law at London’s Brunel University, believes the benefit the tech delivers, public support, and existing safeguards mean campaigns to stop the police use of facial recognition are likely to fail.

FEATURE: This year’s Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) Conference attracted almost 600 delegates and more than 70 speakers from 17 countries, with a focus on exploring partnerships and collaborative working; ANZPAA CEO Dr Tracey Green reflects on the learning and outcomes from the two-day event, and how these can help to shape and improve policing moving forwards.

INTERVIEW: In September HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services confirmed that Cleveland Police was out of special measures for the first time in more than four years; Cleveland Chief Constable Mark Webster spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the turnaround process, the importance of engaging both staff and public, and what he hopes will be the long-term legacy for the force.

LONG READ: The role of police officers in schools is an often-controversial topic, with some viewing their presence as essential to help divert young people from a criminal future or protect them from being victims of crime, while others argue that police involvement risks criminalising young people – especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds; Policing Insight’s James Sweetland explores all sides of this contentious debate.

OPINION: The decision to implement a third, non-degree entry route into UK policing may already have been made, but University of Central Lancashire Policing Lecturer David Marshall believes the move to bypass the current degree entry routes will negatively impact on efforts to professionalise policing, create a two-tier service, and do little to address falling levels of trusts and confidence in the police.

FEATURE: Former Sussex Detective Chief Inspector Alison Eaton, now an international sexual and gender-based violence expert and trainer, is playing a key role in setting up SARC-style services for refugee and local community victims in Jordan, in a project which could become international best practice, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

LONG READ: Having previously considered some of the wider issues around policing’s approach to the exponential growth in volume and complexity of data sources for investigations and intelligence gathering, in this latest in a series of features on the police data challenge, Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at the concerns around staffing – from skills gaps and accreditation to leadership literacy and implementation.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Dr Jordan Nunan, former police officer, Senior Lecturer in Criminal at the University of Northampton, and National Co-ordinator for the National Police Chief’s Council’s Intelligence Practice Research Consortium, about the value of police-academic partnerships, the Achilles heel tactic, and the crucial role of human intelligence sources in tackling organised crime.

ANALYSIS: The Forensic Science Regulator Code of Practice, which sets out the standards for forensic science activities in crime investigations across England and Wales, came into force in October; while the Code will deliver greater consistency and quality across forensics in law enforcement, the implementation will also create challenges around accreditation, capacity and training for forces working towards compliance, as Richard Cockerill, Digital Forensic Laboratory Operations Director with technologists CACI, explains.

ANALYSIS: Robust performance measurement practices are instrumental in demonstrating police accountability, transparency and improvement, all key steps to strengthening public confidence in policing; but a new RAND Europe study of international approaches has highlighted both the dangers of disjointed police performance measurement, and innovative approaches from law enforcement around the world, as RAND analyst Emma Zürcher explains.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Now in it's sixth year, Women in Policing seeks to provide current and future leaders with the skills needed to correct this imbalance. The unique conference, supported by Policing Insight, explores the role of women in policing and offers practical advice and coaching on how to further develop your career in times of change. We will discuss together how we can manage the challenges of modern leadership and help ensure we don't lose momentum in recognising and rewarding female leaders in policing.

ANALYSIS: While the Baroness Casey Review was underway – a review which highlighted “toxic cultures” of sexism and racism in the force’s firearms unit – the National Police Chiefs’ Council commissioned its own UK-wide review of the role; Adrian James, Reader in Police Studies at Liverpool John Moores University and one of the authors of the subsequent report, says that similar issues around macho, sexist cultures and elitism are evident in police firearms teams across the country.

INTERVIEW: Despite widely acknowledged challenges facing policing in the UK, and the ongoing debate around entry routes into the profession, a career keeping communities safe from crime, disorder and terrorism remains an attractive proposition for many young people; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to final-year Professional Policing undergraduate Megan Collins-Dale about her choice of degree qualification, and how a recent internship in the US has helped her prepare for a future in policing and criminal justice in the UK.

FEATURE: The importance of forensics in police investigations cannot be overstated, and their increasingly crucial role has been one of the driving forces behind the recent launch of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Code of Practice; the role of forensics, and the understanding and implications of the new Code, were the key topics for discussion in a recent @WeCops online chat, hosted by Thames Valley Police Head of Forensics Kay Hannam, and Head of Forensic Accreditation, Caroline Rust.

FEATURE: A new report by a cross-party committee of UK MPs has described the need for policing to “repair its culture” in the face of increasingly complex demands and failures that have damaged confidence in the service as a “turning point for the police”, amid warnings that “marginal changes” will not be enough to improve services and rebuild public trust, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent adoption of the Right Care, Right Person approach to mental health responses by police forces across England and Wales has reignited the debate around policing’s role in such incidents; but as Research Fellow Dr Claire Warrington of the University of York explains, the issue has also highlighted the vulnerability of the police workforce to mental ill-health, and what can be done to meet those challenges.

ANALYSIS: The UK Government’s efforts to influence policing’s operational response to protests have reached new levels in recent months, and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s comments on the issue would appear to have prompted her sacking; but Wrexham University’s Professor Peter Joyce and Dr Wendy Laverick of Hull University argue that policing independence in relation to protests has been threatened by Conservative governments for some time, and that a fundamental rethink of governance arrangements may be the only long-term answer.

INTERVIEW: In 2020, as Leicestershire Police prepared to greatly increase its officer numbers as part of the Uplift recruitment programme, leaders within the force set about trying to change attitudes, consideration of and delivery of training through the creation of the Team Leicestershire Academy; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to its head Sarah Taylor, and Chief Constable Rob Nixon, about the force’s new methods.

FEATURE: As the parliamentary debates around the legislation set out in the King’s Speech – including a new Victims and Prisoners Bill – got underway, Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove outlined to House of Lords’ colleagues the results of the latest victims experiences survey which underline high levels of dissatisfaction with the police and criminal justice system, and a reluctance to report crimes in the future, as Policing Insight’s Thomas James reports.

OPINION: The final report into the long-running New South Wales (NSW) Police Suspect Targeted Management Plan – which targeted children and adults who the force believed could become repeat offenders – found the program to be ‘unreasonable, unjust, and oppressive’; NSW Police dropped the program having seen a draft copy of the report, and Dr Vicki Sentas, UNSW Sydney Senior Law Lecturer, argues that any replacement approach should take a lead from Indigenous community alternatives.

LONG READ: The exponential growth in data sources offers policing significant opportunities for investigating and intelligence gathering, but brings with it new obstacles around the scale, complexity and consistency of data; in the first in a series of five features looking at the police use of data, Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at some of those key challenges at a force and national level.

OPINION: Recent comments from Home Secretary Suella Braverman around the policing of the pro-Palestinian protests have once again called into question UK policing’s political independence; but former officer and University of Derby Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews argues that such independence has been largely illusionary in the past, and that a Royal Commission into policing is essential if such independence is to be guaranteed in the future.

ANALYSIS: The ongoing demonstrations across the UK prompted by the Israel-Gaza conflict have reignited the debate about the police response to public protest; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, whose 30-year policing career included many large public order events, takes a closer look at the legislation governing protests, the guidance officers receive around intervention, and why the decision not to arrest during a protest may be justice wisely delayed rather than denied.