Social media

FEATURE: The collaboration between the Australian Federal Police and FBI in using the AN0M app to break up organised crime networks has been hailed as a spectacular success; but Australian Strategic Policy Institute Dr Teagan Westendorf believes it’s important that the use of new police powers in such operations is transparent and fully understood, to maintain the public’s confidence and trust in law enforcement.

ANALYSIS: Hate crime can have a long-lasting and devastating effect on victims, but what about the impact on the wider community? New research by Monash University’s Researcher Chloe Keel, Prof Rebecca Wickes and lecturer Kathryn Benier found that ‘secondary exposure’ to hate crime could actually increase negative sentiments towards migrant groups and lead to more boundaries between sections of the community.

FEATURE: In 2014, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner became the world’s first online safety regulator; Julie Inman-Grant, who took up the Commissioner’s post in 2017, believes that the organisation’s model of protection, prevention, and proactive and systemic change – backed this year by new online safety legislation – has helped to create a successful blueprint that other countries are now looking to follow.

INNOVATION: With the national police recruitment uplift programme well underway, and many forces also looking to recruit additional officers on top of those identified by the Government, Hayley Wallis, Recruitment Marketing Lead at Lancashire Police, explains how the implementation of a flexible communications platform at the organisation has helped to drive recruitment.

INTERVIEW: As part of the process of compiling the recent CoPaCC Future Police Contact Management report produced in partnership with Salesforce, Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter spoke to PSNI ACC Alan Todd, the NPCC Lead for Contact Management, about the key issues facing policing in relation to public contact – from the increasingly complex nature of demand, to the growth of digital and expanding channel options, the continuing impact of the pandemic, and the long-term challenges and technological opportunities.

INTERVIEW: This week sees the Police Federation of England and Wales hold its annual conference online; ahead of the event, Vice-Chair Ché Donald spoke to Policing Insight’s Bernard Rix on the impact of the pandemic on policing – from the added strain on officer wellbeing and mental health, to trial by media and increasing diversity.

New report: With growing volumes of increasingly complex demand, police contact management was already facing significant challenges before the arrival of COVID-19; but a new report by CoPaCC highlights how forces have responded to more varied public channel choice, adopted and developed new technology, and adapted working practices and reporting structures to meet the challenges of both the increasing demand and the pandemic.

FEATURE: Justin Partridge, Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University Business School and Visiting Fellow at the Open University Centre for Policing Research and Learning, considers the major issues facing the policing of cybercrime ahead of the second session of the N8 Policing Research Partnership’s Policing Innovation Forum 2021: Partnering Up Against Cybercrime.

INTERVIEW: Advances in technology and the growing demand for digital communication have led to significant changes to police contact management, but the arrival of COVID-19 presented a whole new challenge; Superintendent Aimee Ramm, the National Product Owner for policing’s digital platform Single Online Home, explains how the development team met that challenge, and the continuing evolution of online reporting and contact prompted by the pandemic.

FEATURE: A new Social Media Management & Engagement Framework has been launched by the Police Digital Service, to enable forces to meet nationally agreed strategy standards on consistency and engagement, with the potential for using digital channels for both emergency and non-emergency contact, as Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: At a time when relationships between police and some communities are under growing strain, and in an era when law enforcement is encouraged to engage more positively through social media, there is always a danger that police forces themselves become the ‘fake news’; when that happens it’s important to address the problem quickly and effectively, explains Yael Bar tur, digital communications expert and former NYPD Director of Social Media.

OPINION: A more co-ordinated integration of cybercrime and terrorism is leading to the growth of cyber terrorism, warns Western Australia MP and counter-terrorism expert Dr Anne Aly – and more trained experts, extra resources and strong legislation are needed to tackle the terrorist exploitation of the internet.

OPINION: The guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd should be the catalyst for fundamental change in US policing, believes Professor Temitope Oriola, who argues that – with 17 disciplinary complaints against him – the fact that Chauvin was still a serving officer suggests the system is broken.

FEATURE: The various COVID-19 lockdowns have prompted criminal activity to move increasingly online, with illicit financial transactions following suit; ahead of next week’s We Fight Fraud online conference, Dr Nicola Harding outlines the findings of a new white paper which reveal how low-level criminal commerce is increasingly becoming part of the cashless society.

UK PCC ELECTIONS 2021: With just over two weeks until the police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales, Policing Insight’s in-depth coverage is underway; Policing Insight’s Publisher Bernard Rix takes a look at the likely open contests, safe seats, and those too close to call.

OPINION: The murder of Sarah Everard, and the review into the policing of the Clapham Common vigil, have highlighted key issues around police action in the UK and public confidence; London Policing College Director Rod Jarman, a former senior Met Police officer, explores some of those wider concerns, and outlines steps the service could take to promote reassurance and real change.

FEATURE: Just over a quarter of all UK police officers are response officers, but do those in this front-line role get the recognition, reassurance and support they need for taking on one of policing’s toughest challenges on a daily basis? Detective Chief Superintendent Una Jennings of South Yorkshire Police highlights the key themes and comments from the recent @WeCops Twitter chat on response policing.

OPINION: Frustrated at being unheard, and feeling – in the context of protest at least – they are losing the battle of public opinion, UK policing has been left to fight alone in a no-win situation; what happens next is crucial, says public order expert and former Chief Superintendent Owen West, and cannot be allowed to risk the covenant between police and communities.

ANALYSIS: While the UK, North America and Europe have taken steps to list violent far-right groups as terrorist organisations, Australia has been slower to make the same move; Analyst Dr Teagan Westendorf of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes it’s important to do so soon – and in a meaningful way – to enable police to tackle the threat.

OPINION: The COVID-19 crisis has reignited the debate around resilience and emergency preparedness in the UK; police officer and former army reservist Jonny Briggs believes the creation of a Civil Defence Service – a structure which already exists in many other countries – could provide invaluable support for the emergency services in times of crisis and high demand.

OPINION: Two years on from the horrific terrorist attack on a Christchurch mosque that left 51 people dead, Law Professor Alexander Gillespie looks at the advances in tackling racism, extremism and the terrorist threat in New Zealand, as well as the challenges that still need to be met.

FEATURE: Gender diversity in armed policing is under renewed focus at a national level, so it was timely for this topic to be the subject of a @WeCops debate earlier this year: Superintendent Andrea Quinton of the North West Armed Policing Collaboration and DCI Ops Pip Taylor, Tactical Firearms Commander for Sussex and Surrey Police, hosted the debate, and compiled this round-up from the evening’s key comments and questions.

ANALYSIS: When is it acceptable for off-duty officers and staff to engage in protests – and do they need permission to do so? This article by Dr Hannah Maslen, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University, and Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Paine, Head of Professional Standards at Thames Valley Police – republished from the latest TVP Journal – considers these and other key issues around the rights of officers and staff to engage in public protest.

OPINION: Digital information is now all pervasive in society, and effective gathering and collating of that information as evidence is a challenge for policing; senior policing advisor Dr Steve Watts, a former chief officer in the UK, believes more forces could be reaping the benefits of digital evidence management systems.