Topical issues

FEATURE: A new personal safety training programme which focuses on scenario-based learning and decision-making to reduce police injuries and the use of force has been developed in a ‘pracademic’ partnership between the College of Policing and Loughborough University; the package is now being rolled out to officers across England and Wales after a successful pilot with Avon and Somerset Police, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons report

FEATURE: With the rapid increase in the number of teenage terror suspects detained in the UK, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores the work of the EU’s INDEED project, which uses evidence-based approaches to evaluate initiatives to prevent and counter violent extremism, including a new definition of evidence-based policing that incorporates community values and perspectives into decision-making processes.

FEATURE: A new joint criminology and policing degree offered by Monash University and Victoria Police sees students complete two years of university-based study and a final year at the force’s Glen Waverley Academy, with the aim of equipping young officers with more skills and knowledge, improving recruitment diversity and retention, and providing longer-term career opportunities for recruits, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With a new diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) strategy – developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing – on the horizon for forces in England and Wales, Derbyshire Chief Constable Rachel Swann, the NPCC lead on DEI, recently told senior officers that it’s time to stop seeing DEI as an extra and to realise that it’s key to restoring public trust and confidence, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: In the second of a two-part interview, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke QPM DL told Policing Insight’s James Sweetland that the Inspectorate should play a role in picking chief constables as he and his team “know more about policing than police and crime commissioners”; he also explained why the Inspectorate needs new powers, and how a £13 million funding boost could pay for an artificial intelligence “early warning system” to identify forces at risk of going into special measures.

OPINION: The recently announced Neighbourhood Policing Pathway and the Government’s commitment to 13,000 new neighbourhood ‘officers’ for England and Wales is both light on detail and a reworking of an old approach – one which could be much more effectively replaced by learning lessons from the successful community responder models in place in the United States, argues Senior Policing Lecturer and former chief superintendent Owen West.

FEATURE: A recent report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services into activism and impartiality in policing has found that senior officers regularly face undue political pressure to influence operational issues, while a lack of guidance on impartiality, forces’ failures to respond to media inaccuracies, and inconsistencies around dealing with non-crime hate incidents are all damaging the perception of policing, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With the role of women in terrorist organisations and activities an increasingly debated subject, a new EU research funding stream will give organisations including police forces the opportunity to enhance the understanding and motivation of women and girls for supporting extremist ideologies, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

ANALYSIS: Gun homicides in Philadelphia surged during the covid years, but so far in 2024 fatal shootings are down by almost 40%; Carla Lewandowski and John A. Shjarback, Associate Professors of Criminal Justice at Rowan University, argue that while there is no single explanation for the drop, new police crime fighting strategies and leadership, a return to post-covid ‘near normalcy’ for policing and criminal justice, and wider national crime trends have all played a part.

ANALYSIS: With two court cases now underway in relation to fatal attacks at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, and the Metropolitan Police’s public order lead highlighting that officers at the event are increasingly being drawn into stewarding rather than policing roles, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone looks at continuing concerns around the location and increased crowd numbers attending the event, and warns of the growing risk of a public safety disaster unless changes are made.

FEATURE: Decisions around national policing currently require a national collaboration agreement to be signed by 103 signatories, including chief constables and police and crime commissioners; but with national and transnational threats increasing, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Gavin Stephen believes this 60-year model of policing is failing to keep pace, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

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INTERVIEW: As the first National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for artificial intelligence (AI), National Crime Agency Director Alex Murray has a unique insight into how this tech is changing policing; he spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the “brilliant work” developing police facial recognition in England and Wales, the dangers of deepfake evidence undermining the criminal justice system, and challenged “doomsters” who criticise an “overhyped version” of genuine police AI.

ANALYSIS: While the potential benefits of perpetrator programmes in reducing domestic and sexual violence have been recognised for some time, a new report by researchers at Australia’s Monash University highlights the need for better measurement of why some programmes prove more effective than others, and the factors that can influence male offender engagement, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With much of the discussions around police recruitment and student officers focused on entry routes, early leavers and inexperience, University of South Wales Policing Lecturer Jack Moss argues that it’s time for a more meaningful and accurate measure of success or otherwise of the Policing Education Qualifications Framework, as well as greater recognition for the efforts and achievements of student officers themselves.

FEATURE: In the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer, Bedfordshire Police launched its Blue Bell network to support victims and witnesses of sexual misconduct within the force, and empower officers and staff to speak out; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Bedfordshire Detective Chief Superintendent Zara Brown about the success of the initiative, tackling the “epidemic” of violence against women and girls, and the interest in the scheme from other forces and agencies.

INTERVIEW: Andy Cooke QPM DL has served as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary since April 2022, leading the body responsible for inspecting police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in the first of a two-part interview with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, Mr Cooke described the criminal justice system as “the most bureaucratic and the slowest that I’ve ever seen it”, explained why “just saying ‘institutional racism’ isn’t going to change anything”, and shared his concerns that the Police Race Action Plan is “taking an awfully long time to come to fruition”.

ANALYSIS: As forces tackled the recent serious disorder in England and Northern Ireland, ‘two-tier policing’ was put forward as a principal cause of the anger, a claim dismissed by senior police chiefs and the Government; but as some politicians and commentators – including former officers – continue to insist two-tier policing is a reality, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett explores the validity of the claim, and how the service should respond.

FEATURE: The murder of Wolverhampton teenager Ronan Kanda in 2022 highlighted a serious issue around illegal online knife sales in the UK; speaking at the recent Police Superintendents’ Association conference, Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead on knife crime, explored the threat posed by irresponsible retailers and third-party sellers – and how the police aim to tackle it, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

OPINION: As Thames Valley Police’s decision to expand its public scrutiny panels to include oversight of officers’ use of force video footage brings the issue of scrutiny back into the media, Montell Neufville, police ethics advisor and Chair of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police Scrutiny Panel overseeing road police and armed police across the three counties, sets out five key reasons why he believes oversight and accountability are crucial to effective policing.

ANALYSIS: In the last in a series of four articles, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood explores the case for transformational leadership in policing, the differing approaches to leadership training in the UK and Canada, and offers his own practical tips for police leadership development.

INTERVIEW: This week West Midlands Police moved out of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services’ (HMICFRS) ‘Engage’ phase (commonly known as special measures) in record time, after response times improved dramatically, arrest rates doubled, and the force had the largest drop in crime across England and Wales; Chief Constable Guildford told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons the successes – which will now be used as an HMICFRS ‘masterclass’ – were the result of a huge team effort.

INNOVATION: A new independent report shows that retail crime reporting platform Auror saved New Zealand Police nearly 170,000 hours of officer time over a 12-month period – but direct-to-police retail crime reporting systems are becoming more common all over the world, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: The latest survey of victims of crime in England and Wales found that 70% lack confidence that reporting a crime will lead to justice, with 40% of those who reported a crime dissatisfied with police response, and almost half (46%) saying they were not kept regularly informed by police about their investigation – prompting warnings from Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove that “victims deserve better”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.