Technology and equipment

OPINION: One high-profile element of the UK Government’s proposals on police reform is the introduction of a ‘licence to practise’ for officers; police ethics advisor Montell Neufville argues that, with a ‘four P’s’ approach – based on promote, praise, prevent and punish – and a tiered accountability framework, the license to practice for police could become a license to trust for the public.

FEATURE: The increase in online Holocaust denial and disinformation, alongside the social media surge in both antisemitic and anti-Islamic language, have prompted concerns that such digital hate speech can fuel criminal acts in the real world; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the scale of online antisemitic hate crime and the work of the European Observatory of Online Hate.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says GenAI-related child exploitation increased 6,345% in the US from 2024 to 2025. One alarming trend is the use of GenAI to general deepfake child sexual abuse materials. SS8 helps detect and investigate these images by combining EXIF metadata analysis, third party detection solutions like wasitAI, lawful intelligence data, and more, but standardized legal definitions and technological guardrails are necessary as well.

ANALYSIS: The UK Government’s recently published white paper on police reform included proposals for a Senior National Co-ordinator for public order policing, to be based in the new National Police Service; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist, explores the proposals outlined in the paper, as well as setting out the need for a wider review of approaches to public order policing as part of the reform process.

INTERVIEW: With the growth of online hate speech and disinformation, and its role in fuelling real-world criminal activity, tackling the damaging digital narratives has become a priority for many organisations and jurisdictions; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Paula Gomila Marqués, who contributes to the implementation, stakeholder engagement, and dissemination activities of the European Union’s HATEDEMICS project, which seeks to address the intersection of online hate speech and disinformation.

INNOVATION: A new Wellbeing and Trauma Resilience Programme launched by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) – with funding secured from external sources – is focusing on stepping into the “proactive space” around wellbeing support, with group EMDR therapy, peer support groups, a new app, and psychoeducation for new recruits at the PSNI Police College among the range of measures that are already proving successful, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: The role played by artificial intelligence (AI) in the decision by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans – a move which led to the retirement of Chief Constable Craig Guildford – highlighted concerns about the police use of AI; organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson applies the latest research framework on the risks AI poses to civic institutions to assess the West Midlands Police case (in an article that itself contains analysis generated by Claude Opus 4.5 AI).

OPINION: In the wake of last week’s UK Government white paper on police reform, Emily Spurrell, Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), explains that while PCCs welcome modernisation of the service, the APCC has concerns over the accountability of policing – and particularly the new National Police Service – under the reform plans, as well as the risks of stifling local innovation, and the need to safeguard the future of victim and crime prevention services pioneered by PCCs.

FEATURE: A report capturing key insights, challenges, and priorities identified during a roundtable on intelligence and serious and organised crime (SOC) – featuring officers and intelligence leads from more than 30 UK forces alongside regional organised crime units and overseas partners – is calling for intelligence to be repositioned as the “strategic engine” in the fight against SOC, and sets out steps to build capacity and embed an intelligence-led culture, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in policing and the criminal justice system is gathering pace, and is being presented by some as ‘miracle tonic’; ahead of this week’s Beyond Bureaucracy 2026 free online conference exploring practical examples of what AI is working in the criminal justice system (and what’s not), Tamara Polajnar, CEO of event hosts herEthical AI, sets out some key points around AI fallacies, practical frameworks for development and procurement, and a checklist of questions to pose to vendors.

FEATURE: A new rural and wildlife crime policing strategy for England and Wales incorporates the ‘4Ps’ approach of prevent, pursue, protect and prepare to tackle criminal activity, alongside increased police powers, greater co-operation and better use of technology, with a particular focus on the actions of organised crime groups that are blighting rural communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A recent report drawn from a series of Canadian roundtables focusing on the governance and use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the country’s police highlights the importance of the public helping to shape the use of AI by law enforcement, and the need for a “coherent, democratic framework” enabling AI to play a “legitimate, constrained” role in policing – without drifting towards a surveillance state and also avoiding “paralysing bureaucracy”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Following the publication this week of the police reform proposals for England and Wales, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at how community and neighbourhood policing can remain a key focus for law enforcement throughout restructuring processes, and how similar reforms in The Netherlands and the work of the European KOBAN project can provide insights for UK policing.

OPINION: Following the publication on Monday of the long-awaited white paper on reform for policing in England and Wales, Police Superintendents’ Association President, Supt Nick Smart, shares his initial response to the Government’s proposals – highlighting both the challenges and opportunities – and urges the Home Secretary to work more closely with officers in developing a service that is fit for the future.

FEATURE: The UK Government’s long-awaited white paper on police reform in England and Wales, published today, sets out proposals for the creation of a new National Police Service with responsibility for serious and organised crime, counter-terrorism and setting national standards, a move away from the 43-force model to fewer regional forces, the introduction of a ‘licence to practise’ for officers, and powers for the Home Secretary to sack under-preforming chief constables, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

FEATURE: A new report into the impact of ‘Gen Z’ and ‘Gen Alpha’ on the criminal landscape is warning that, with the use of technology by digital natives of coming generations reshaping crime itself, the gap between younger people’s experience the world and how authorities try to police it will only widen, meaning law enforcement will need to evolve just as fast, or “risk irrelevance”, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ANALYSIS: As UK policing continues to wait expectantly for a new white paper, in the second of two articles on police reform organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson takes a closer look at other elements of the ‘Performance Paradox’ – including the technology trap, and the case for national capability – and sets out 10 provocations to challenge conventional reform thinking, in the hope that policing achieve real and sustainable change for victims and officers.

FEATURE: The latest report from Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre is warning that criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and people trafficking are now more agile than ever and operate in scalable, structured, global networks, with the exploitation of digital tools and social media alongside a growing willingness to use violence all increasingly parts of the criminals’ armoury, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Wildlife and environmental crime is surging, but with Australia’s unique wildlife species, high extinction rates, and policing challenges relating to its size and remote areas, understanding of its impact is limited; a new study by Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Isabelle Onley, Research Program Manager Katie Smith, Law Lecturer Dr Kellie Toole, and Director Professor Phill Cassey, of Adelaide University’s Wildlife Crime Research Hub, has led to the creation of the country’s first national database of wildlife and environmental crime, as well as four reforms that could help to tackle the problem.

FEATURE: The Government’s recently announced new strategy for tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) calls for the issue to become a “defining measure of policing standards and trust”, with plans to use tactics already deployed in the fight against organised crime and terrorism to address VAWG, alongside new technology and laws; but campaign groups and service providers have already voiced fears over the funding to implement the strategy, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Retrospective Facial Recognition has become an essential investigative technology for law enforcement and government agencies. But how will systems keep pace over the next few years to deal with the ever-increasing quantity of data sources and the use of technology modify or hide identities?

ANALYSIS: Policing in the UK is currently waiting expectantly for the soon-to-be-published police reform white paper; in the first of a two-part article on reform – and why bigger isn’t better, culture trumps structure, and technology won’t save us without transformation – organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson explores the performance myths that need to be dispelled, the real story from the PEEL assessment data, and why Positive Deviance methodology could be crucial for police reform.

FEATURE: The UK Government’s new Road Safety Strategy includes tougher enforcement measures, better use of data to address root causes of collisions, deaths and injuries, and the launch of a new Roads Policing Innovation Programme; but it stops short of introducing the progressive licences and tighter restrictions on new and young drivers that many campaigners had called for, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes both increasingly exploited by criminals and dishonest actors, and offers significant opportunities for law enforcement, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores the latest European efforts to leverage AI in the fight against the growing levels of disinformation – much of which can lead to actions and events requiring a policing response.