Technology and equipment

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: From crime scene information capture and leadership training to evidential management and case file preparation, wellbeing and mental health support, KIM Software Solutions delivers on a wide range of priorities to help save law enforcement time and deliver better outcomes, as Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass reports.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Find out about the Axon Roadshow, coming to the UK for the first time, and Axon Innovate UK – our exciting events this September for those in public safety organisations. Learn more details and find registration links to secure your spot.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Learn how West Midlands Police, one of the largest police forces in the UK, invested in Axon’s advanced ecosystem of policing technology to create a more efficient, better-equipped force.

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.

INNOVATION: In a new three-part series exploring how technology will shape policing over the coming decades, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports on Police Futures, a new publication from the UK’s Police Chief Scientific Adviser, which tries to move beyond science fiction and look towards what policing might really become.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Oliver Ledgard, Government and Public Safety Strategy Director, EMEA at Zebra Technologies shares his thoughts on some of the trends shaping critical comms today as well as discussing his predictions for the public safety sector in the coming years.

INNOVATION: Effective communications systems are crucial in ensuring timely and reliable service delivery for the police and others in the public sector; Richard Evans, Chief Technology Officer at Cinos, believes modern unified communications solutions such as cloud-based voice platforms can offer secure and efficient communications across multiple devices, as well as enhancing agency collaboration and co-ordination, improving contact with the public, and strengthening resilience.

INTERVIEW: In 2021, the UK Government announced Project ADDER – a new pilot programme combining disruption of criminal gangs selling drugs with a renewed focus on recovery; two years on, Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner believes it’s made a real difference to communities in his area, as he told Policing Insight’s James Sweetland.

INNOVATION: While technology advances have driven efficiencies in many areas of policing, frontline officers often still find themselves manually inputting licence plates, driving licence numbers, and a range of other identification checks; Oliver Ledgard of Zebra Technologies believes the public safety sector is missing an opportunity to further increase efficiency and connectivity through the use of modern optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

FEATURE: As the expansion of the metaverse and the rapid development of AI create the potential for significant increases in the grooming and online sexual abuse of children, Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is leading efforts to force tech giants and social media platforms to take much more effective measures to prevent the online sexual exploitation of youngsters, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The public contact report that arose from Cityforum’s round table on the subject earlier this year highlighted the importance of collaboration between policing and private industry on introducing of new technology into the sector; Martin Taylor of cloud communications specialists Content Guru believes such partnerships are crucial if policing is to maximise the benefits of tech advances in an area that’s a top priority for the public.