Technology and equipment

OPINION: In September 2022, Sir Mark Rowley came back into policing after some time away from the job at the end of a 30-year career, to take up one of the UK’s toughest roles as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, who served in the Met Police for 30 years, looks back over Sir Mark’s first year in post, and delivers an annual appraisal of how well the Commissioner has performed against his stated objectives.

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FEATURE: Drones are increasingly a vital tool in policing, playing an important role in areas of search and surveillance; but with concerns highlighted around the manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems in China, and the increasing use of drones by criminal gangs, law enforcement must ensure that the risks around the procurement and deployment of drone and counter-drone technologies are acknowledged and understood, says Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

ANALYSIS: HM inspectors recently highlighted the concern that poor data gathering and analysis is affecting police performance management in England and Wales; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass looks at the issues involved and puts the spotlight on two of the forces that are getting things right.

OPINION: The police use of live facial recognition (LFR) regularly comes under scrutiny because of privacy, accuracy and surveillance concerns; but Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation, and Law at Brunel University, argues that rather than banning LFR, more effective regulation of its use would address concerns while enhancing public safety.

INNOVATION: The difficulties in securing evidence – particularly from digital devices – for offences relating to violence against women and girls are often cited as a contributing factor for the worryingly low reporting, detection and conviction rates; police technology advisor Paul Kennedy and technology CEO Simon Franc believe cloud-based ‘software-as-a-service’ platforms which enable victims to upload evidence via an app could improve detection and conviction rates will freeing up police resources.

ANALYSIS: Government, industry, law enforcement and many other parts of civil society have been attempting to harness and leverage the potential benefits of burgeoning AI; but as Mercedes Page, Senior Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) explains, in recent weeks the dark web has become a breeding ground for a new generation of AI tools designed to cater to a cybercriminal’s every illicit need.

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INNOVATION: Gloucestershire Constabulary no longer needs to take rape victims’ phones from them for data analysis; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass hears how this new approach has improved the service and experience for victims, while also saving police time and money.

ANALYSIS: An inspection report into policing’s contribution in England and Wales to the prevention of homicide has highlighted a range of concerns in some forces including a lack of oversight by chief officers, a shortage of analysts, a “misplaced confidence” in the ability to link precursor incidents, and an inadequate allocation of resources to manage the most dangerous people that represents a “failure to protect the public”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Earlier this month WeCops – ‘the Twitter home of continuous professional development for policing’ – held its latest Tweet chat event focusing on communications, hosted by West Mercia Chief Constable and NPCC comms lead Pippa Mills; WeCops’ Sgt Kerri Monaghan looks at the key points and comments made during the discussion, and highlights some of the potential learning that resulted from the chat.

INTERVIEW: As cybersecurity threats persist, Dr Reza Montasari, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Threats at the Cyber Threats Research Centre at Swansea University, spoke to Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth about the dangers to law enforcement agencies and public sector authorities, and how new approaches to cyber security and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms present opportunities to transform policing.

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FEATURE: Just a year after completing the Multi-Agency Gold Incident Command Course (MAGIC), David Marshall found himself leading the multi-agency response for a significant major incident; here he reflects on the steps he took as Gold Commander, how the MAGIC training and Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles proved vital in shaping and delivering that response, and the lessons learned from the experience.

ANALYSIS: Early identification and support for those experiencing domestic abuse can be crucial in helping to reduce the risk of negative outcomes; a new study undertaken by Swansea University Research Officers Dr Natasha Kennedy and Amrita Bandyopadhyay suggests that linking police safeguarding data with healthcare records could identify people at high risk of domestic abuse, and enable health professionals to refer victims earlier to support services.

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FEATURE: A crime prevention approach implemented by Essex Police used spatial analytics to focus on ‘places not people’ and incorporated hotspot policing to reduce offending by 40%; with the initiative now viewed as ‘business as usual’ within the force, the Home Office has directed other forces to ensure surge funding to tackle violence is focused on a similar hotspot approach, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: A recent decision by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to allow retailers to use live facial recognition (LFR) to tackle shoplifters has come under criticism amid claims the authority was influenced by the Home Office and a private supplier; Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation, and Law at Brunel University, believes the ICO’s decision is erroneous and lacks transparency, and that private entities should carry out the same equality impact assessments as law enforcement to ensure the responsible use of LFR.

INNOVATION: Police Futures, a new publication from the UK’s Police Chief Scientific Adviser, moves beyond science fiction to consider how technology will shape policing over the coming decades; in the last of a three-part series exploring the report, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland looks at the findings around more advanced technologies – specifically, how neural interfaces might change how policing works in the future.

OPINION: Metropolitan Police Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer Darren Scates recently completed his two-year tenure as Chair of the UK’s National Police Technology Council; in this article he looks back at the significant and rapid changes during that period, and looks ahead at the opportunities for innovation facing policing, both in the short and longer term.

ANALYSIS: Various sectors of criminal justice systems around the world are increasing their use of artificial intelligence (AI), but AI has played a key part in offender assessment decisions in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and other countries for more than 20 years, with little or no transparency or independent inspection of the algorithms involved, as University of Surrey Professor Melissa Hamilton and Professor Pamela Ugwudike of the University of Southampton explain.

INNOVATION: Police Futures, a new publication from the UK’s Police Chief Scientific Adviser, moves beyond science fiction to consider how technology will shape policing over the coming decades; in the second in a three-part series exploring the report, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland digs deeper into ‘sensing technology’, highlighted as one of the key developments for law enforcement of the future.

FEATURE: A recent report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services into the effectiveness of UK police firearms deployment has highlighted shortcomings in the training and selection of firearms commanders, a lack of shared learning and force collaboration, and the need for greater chief officer involvement in communication processes, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Three years after the death of George Floyd, the latest report by the US Justice Department in to policing in Minneapolis features a raft of worrying findings, including discrimination against Black people and Native Americans, and routine use of excessive force; but Arizona State University Associate Professor Rashad Shabazz believes the report also demonstrates that rather than being an aberration, such misconduct is part of how policing was historically intended to be in the US.