Technology and equipment

INNOVATION: Artificial intelligence, automation and machine learning offer significant opportunities for improving performance in policing; but in this first in a series of articles from Emerging Tech in Policing Week, Matthew Cheesman, Technology Consulting Manager for Accenture, argues that the key to their successful adoption and implementation will be ethics, transparency and governance.

OPINION: HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Gill Imery QPM, leaves her post tomorrow (1 April) after four years leading HMICS; Mrs Emery, who will be succeeded by Craig Naylor (currently Deputy Director of Investigations at the National Crime Agency), shared her reflections on the challenges and achievements for the Inspectorate and Police Scotland during a tumultuous period of policing globally.

FEATURE: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an increase in cybercrime and online fraud, and with it a new, complex scam involving dating sites and cryptocurrencies; PhD candidate and Research Fellow Carlo Handy Charles explains how organised crime has pioneered the sophisticated ‘pig-butchering’ scams.

INTERVIEW: A new early intervention system adopted by Dallas PD can highlight those officers who need more support and training to improve their performance; Deputy Chief Catrina Shead spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the system, as well as current recruitment challenges, and why experience and observation are as important as education.

ANALYSIS: With the electronic communications landscape changing significantly and quickly, existing legislation covering law enforcement electronic surveillance has struggled to keep pace; Analyst Dr Teagan Westendorf and specialist Jocelinn Kang, both of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, take a closer look at the country’s planned legislative reform around electronic surveillance, and why balancing security and liberty will be essential in any new law.

FEATURE: In his final State of Policing assessment, Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor – who leaves the HMICFRS at the end of this month – has praised the efforts of officers and staff, but highlighted significant concerns including the fragility of the 43-force model in England and Wales, the urgent need to restore public confidence, and compromises required between funding and public expectations, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Sir Jon Murphy, Professor of Advanced Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and former Chief Constable of Merseyside Police about the untapped academic resource in fighting organised crime, targeting criminal communications, and the challenges of technological change.

OPINION: As a global leader in online safety, Australia was the natural destination for European Commission delegates looking to learn more and share best practice around online regulation and child protection ahead of introducing new European legislation; Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, believes the visit marked a watershed moment of international collaboration in the fight against online child sexual exploitation.

ANALYSIS: As well as changing society, the Covid pandemic has changed crime, as the disarray caused by rapidly introduced polices at national and international levels has presented all sorts of opportunities for criminals; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen examines one particular growth area of illicit activity – the sale of counterfeit COVID-19 passports.

FEATURE: Examples of forensic entomology – the use of insects in criminal investigations – can be traced back to the 13th century, and today flies and other insects can help to identify everything from a murder victim’s use of ketamine or cocaine, to the chemicals used in pet poisonings; Forensic Biologist Paola Magni of Murdoch University in Western Australia explains the forensic insights we can already gain from flies, and what more we could learn.

ANALYSIS: Fraud is now the most common crime in England and Wales, costing the UK economy £137bn each year; in this article, Richard Hyde, Scott Corfe and Bill Anderson-Samways of the Social Market Foundation (SMF) examine the inadequacy of police resource dedicated to tackling the problem, and call on the Government to take a comprehensive ‘systems approach’ to tackling fraud, enacting reforms that can endure over decades.

FEATURE: With the Russian invasion of Ukraine once again highlighting the key role that social media and digital communications play in international state actions and legitimacy, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at a new European research project on the impact of online networks on politics and democracy, which could have significant implications for policing and the rule of law.

ANALYSIS: While the digital revolution has created new methods for criminals to sexually exploit and traffic people, it has also increased the ability of law enforcement and others to target offenders and protect those at risk; in this briefing paper Nicole Munns and Dr Gabriel Katz of Justice & Care, which rescues victims of slavery and human trafficking around the world, explore some of the challenges and opportunities offered by the growth of digital intelligence.

FEATURE: The final report of the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales calls for radical change and a fundamental redesign to create a service that can keep pace with the public safety demands of the 21st century; Police Foundation Director Rick Muir, who led the organisation’s work on the Review, sets out the key steps he believes the service needs to take to meet the capacity, capability and organisational challenges of the future.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Ian Broughton, a former detective sergeant and specialist drug advisor with London’s Metropolitan Police and now a drugs expert witness and trainer, about targeting drug gangs, deterring criminals, and the challenges police face with encryption.

FEATURE: KOPS – Keeping Our People Supported – is a new app launched by An Garda Síochána to provide around-the-clock support for officers and staff as well as the wider force family; Alison Keogh of the force’s Strategic Transformation Office talked to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons about the importance of making advice and support services accessible, anonymous, and relevant to a wide range of issues.

OPINION: For over a decade, public safety officials have recognised that the capacity to retain current highly trained staff and recruit next generation professionals is central to public service success; the University of Southampton’s Dr Fatema Zaghloul, and Justin Partridge of the University of Leeds, explore talent management in the public safety sector and reflect on previous endeavours to attract next generation professionals.

FEATURE: A Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was used by ACT officers in Canberra last week as part of the policing operation dealing with vaccine mandate protests, prompting a range of concerns and claims about the damage done by the device; composer, artist and sonic expert Lawrence English, a Research Fellow at Queensland’s Griffith University, explains the workings and limitations of LRADs.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in this series on continuing professional development (CPD), Dr Nicky Miller and Professor Jean Hartley of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) explore the integration of explicit and tacit knowledge into learning, and how taking the opportunities to blend both approaches can help to bridge the gap between knowing and doing in UK policing.

ANALYSIS: As investigations of poor behaviour by UK politicians and police highlight a perceived decline of standards in public life, efforts are underway across the EU to ensure that the use of artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies within security and law enforcement is compatible with upholding the seven principles of public life, as Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: Sir Michael Barber, Chair of the Strategic Review of Policing, has warned that the police’s ability to “do the basics” is being severely hampered by its role in responding to a range of “effectively social problems” such as mental health and missing persons – with confidence in police suffering as a result, as Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: Former Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy believes that many of the ‘reforms’ of policing over the past 20 years – including the introduction of PCCs and the College of Policing, and the closure of the Police Leadership College – have weakened the service’s ability to develop long-term strategies or a professional independent voice, and failed to address the deeply embedded issues of misogyny and racism in police culture.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Ian Davidson, a former detective superintendent with Derbyshire Police and now an independent researcher, about the importance of experience and understanding, the need for resources to back up strategies, and what we really know – or think we know – about organised crime.

OPINION: Severe injuries leading to significant bleeding – whether caused by criminal acts such as knife crime or terror attacks, or through accidents – can easily result in loss of life; but the availability of bleed control packs, and the training in how to use them, can enable the public to intervene and save lives, believes Reuben Gilmore, Sales Director at Aero Healthcare.