Topical issues

FEATURE: While Operation Global Chain, the major international operation focused on human trafficking, resulted earlier this month in significant successes, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the ongoing challenges facing law enforcement across Europe in tackling a crime which is now reaching record levels in the UK.

INTERVIEW: Police forces need to ensure that evidence-based policing approaches – including independent academic evaluation and a clear decision framework – are applied to new technology projects, says Hertfordshire Constabulary ACC Dr Nick Caveney, Policing Chair of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research & Learning, to enable forces to “stop early, learn transparently, and reinvest wisely” when innovation is not delivering the desired results, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime (OC), Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Philip Matthews, a former senior law enforcement officer with more than 38 years’ experience of tackling drug trafficking, counter-corruption and anti-money laundering, about the missed opportunities to target OC and drug trafficking groups, the likelihood of more OC violence on UK streets, and the need to “control the ground” in drug enforcement operations.

OPINION: A growing legal blind spot in sexual offences law is creating a ‘hierarchy of justice’, where victims of image-based abuse are only protected if their experience fits narrow, outdated definitions of what counts as ‘intimate’, warns Dr Alishya Dhir, co-lead of the Law and Policy Stream at the Open University’s Centre for Protecting Women Online.

FEATURE: Europol’s latest Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) highlights the rapidly expanding cybercrime threat, and underlines the need for law enforcement agencies to harness technology, push for tighter regulations and work more closely with the private sector in order to deal with that threat, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The fictional assignments and adventures of James Bond sparked a lifelong interest in the workings of the real-life security and intelligence services for strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda; but a closer look at what it would mean to be ‘007’ today highlights that a changing threat landscape, the advances of technology, and the importance of accountability make for a very different role and world than has ever been occupied by Ian Fleming’s hero.

FEATURE: An Adult Sex Work Referrals Hub created as part of Operation Pluto is partnering with the Changing Lives charity to source intelligence anonymously from sex workers that can enable police forces across England and Wales to identify and disrupt offenders, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The combination of the Government’s police reform proposals and the Crime and Policing Act 2026 mean that modernisation of policing in England and Wales is now essential and inevitable, says former South Wales Police detective and intelligence expert Steve Dodd, who argues that the changes should ensure neighbourhood policing becomes an integrated rather than isolated element of the uniform role, alongside the implementation of a community intelligence-led policing methodology.

FEATURE: The latest report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) on AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) highlights an “alarming” rate of growth in imagery that is leaving investigators facing a “needle-in-a-haystack challenge”; the IWF is urging governments, tech companies and institutions not to waste the opportunity to act now on AI CSAM imagery, and that ignoring the risks would be “failing children and ourselves”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Domestic violence is widely acknowledged to be under-reported, but research by Australian Catholic University PhD Researcher Farjana Mahbuba highlights a significant problem of deep reluctance to contact the police among migrant women in Australia, where language barriers, fear of police, threats from partners, and issues around shame and stigma leave many victims of domestic and family violence suffering in silence.

FEATURE: While politicians and the media have focused on the political rhetoric of ‘smashing the gangs’ and ‘stopping the boats’ to tackle the continuing problem of cross-Channel illegal immigration, a new round of EU grants – open to police, academics, charities and the private sector in the UK – are on offer for innovative solutions to dismantle and disrupt criminal networks, their ringleaders and enablers behind criminal activities including people and drug trafficking, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INTERVIEW: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Nicole Simpson has been named the International Association of Women Police’s Officer of the Year, after demonstrating “exemplary leadership and investigative skills” in a series of high profile cases; she spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need to “think outside the box” and leave rank “at the door” when it comes to investigations, and the importance of instilling pride and confidence in young-in-service officers.

FEATURE: A new report from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre highlights the strong alignment between officers and the public on aspirations for policing in England and Wales; but with operating constraints reducing neighbourhood policing to a “Cinderella service”, it argues for more open and honest communication with the public, as well as a stronger focus on fixing relationships within policing, if trust and legitimacy are to be maintained, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

OPINION: With this week marking Men’s Health Week in the UK, and June dedicated as PTSD Awareness Month, Chartered Psychologist Dr Rachel Rogers explores some of the challenges and ongoing efforts to improve male police officers’ ability and willingness to access mental health support, and shares the personal experiences of three officers who were able to reach out to when their own mental health was suffering.

FEATURE: A report from the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency exploring the ‘megatrends’ facing policing over the next five years and beyond is warning that as demand for policing becomes increasingly fragmented and shaped by external forces, law enforcement agencies will need to limit the expansion of their roles for the benefit of both the public and the workforce, while also addressing skills gaps and improving community collaboration, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: On 29 June, Westminster Insight is bringing together policymakers, senior practitioners, commissioners, researchers, and voluntary sector leaders for a full-day conference examining what the strategy means in practice and how to implement it effectively and equitably.

OPINION: Former long-serving US police officer Keith Lazaron warns that the seeming increase in political influence demonstrated by some district attorneys can have a damaging impact on policing, as communities lose faith, law enforcement agencies lose morale and stability, and victims lose trust in a process where police and district attorneys are operating as ideological adversaries rather than accountable but co-operative partners.

FEATURE: A new study by researchers at Melbourne’s RMIT University, based on interviews with victim-survivors of sexual violence, has called for an independent, alternative investigative support service, training to improve officers’ interpersonal skills, and upgrades to rooms and facilities, after interviewees shared experiences of dismissive and victim-blaming officers, “disgusting” and “intimidating” interview rooms, and having to collate evidence related to the offence themselves, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent high-profile embezzlement conviction of former Scottish National Party Chief Executive Peter Murrell, and the investigation of his former wife, previous First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, prompted widespread media headlines and accusations of cover-ups from politicians; former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher believes the case also lays bare the challenging environment and criminal justice system barriers that Scottish officers now have to contend with.

OPINION: The police response to the murder of Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa has once again led to accusations of ‘two tier’ policing in the UK and prompted a review by police chiefs of the service’s anti-racism commitment; Dr John Coxhead, Visiting Professor of Policing at De Montfort and Loughborough Universities, argues that a “reset of common sense in policing” is required, to ensure officers get the basics right and deal with the crime in front of them, rather than being expected to address issues of social policy.

INNOVATION: As policing increasingly looks to leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) across a range of roles, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth highlights attempts at a European Union level to maximise the potential of the new technology in the community policing environment.

INTERVIEW: The Coalition for Canadian Police Excellence (CCPE) has published a white paper setting out the case for a National Centre for Police Excellence; CCPE President and former Toronto Deputy Chief Michael Federico spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the inquiries that prompted the work, the distinction between education and training at its heart, and the constitutional realities of building a national body in a province-led system.

OPINION: As the review of the Government’s reform proposals to reduce the number of police forces in England and Wales gets underway, there may be significant learning that can benefit policing from the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme that has taken place over the last few decades, says Craig Taylor, CTO of Phoenix Software, who sets out some of the key lessons from the LGR process.

INTERVIEW: Question prompts driven by artificial intelligence (AI) could offer real-time assistance to investigative interviewers and enhance child interview quality, according to a pilot study, but also risk officers’ over-reliance on the new technology; Liisa Järvilehto, a clinical forensic psychologist at Helsinki University Hospital and PhD candidate at Åbo Akademi University, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that the ambitious goals around the use of AI in interviewing needed a balance of enthusiasm and care.