Topical issues

Opinion: It's 15 years since the 7/7 bombings took place in London. Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth looks back at the atrocity and the immediate aftermath, and how it shaped counter-terrorism policing.

INTERVIEW: Canada’s vast landscape and diverse cultures and communities bring with them their own unique policing challenges. In the first half of a two-part interview, Bill Moore, the former head of the country’s police leaders’ association and a veteran officer with a 31-year career, provides an insight into the key issues for Canadian policing.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In this article taken from a series by the UCL Jill Dando Institute focusing on crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Gloria Laycock OBE analyses the crime statistics on distraction burglaries and discusses how this type of crime is set to increase during lockdown.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic Dr Michael Frith from the UCL Jill Dando Institute discusses residential burglaries and how lockdown restrictions have forced offenders to change their tactics.

ANALYSIS: Following the publication of the Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation of the UAE arrangements for combating illicit finance, Deloitte Middle East’s Public Safety leader, Andrew Morley, makes the case for going after the proceeds of crime and identifies the key elements of an effective framework for doing so.

Analysis: The militarisation of police departments in the United States has been a feature of domestic law enforcement since 2001. Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology at Emmanuel College Tom Nolan examines the impact of this approach on civil disorder.

OPINION: With the Coronavirus dramatically accelerating discussions around digitising police legacy systems, Ben Austen of technology consultancy Tisski outlines some of the main benefits – for both the police and the public – of improving cloud-based digital evidence and forensic case management systems.

OPINION: The disproportionate use of stop and search is often a result of either conscious or unconscious bias, and can undermine relations between police and communities. Police ethics adviser Montell Neufville examines the dangers of dismissing disproportionality, and how officers can challenge those arguments.

ANALYSIS: The recently announced review of police and crime commissioners could see an expansion of their role, a raised profile, and a 'potentially explosive' review of their relationship with chief constables, as Ben Twomey, Head of Policy and Research at the National Youth Advocacy Service explains.

OPINION: The debate around institutional racism in policing has led to polarised, entrenched views; anger and frustration on social media; a lack of clear guidance and leadership; and a mistrust of cops and communities. Former police officer and blogger Cate Moore urges all involved to take a step back, listen and engage – to keep calm and stop carrying on – in an effort to find the way forward.

Analysis: Thames Valley Police Superintendent and WeCops team member Katy Barrow-Grint summarises the latest WeCops debate on the impact of COVID-19 on police mental health, wellbeing and fatigue. The debate reached an audience of 3.8 million on Twitter – the largest so far.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises HMICFRS inspection of police forces' call-handling and contact management centres in 2018/19

ANALYSIS: The fatal shooting of a New Zealand police officer and wounding of his colleague has reignited the debate on arming the police. Dr. Ross Hendy, Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, discusses the impact and attitudes towards routinely arming the police.

OPINION: With increasing attacks and abuse on the streets, vilification online and a seeming lack of support from some politicians, the sense of a growing anti-police sentiment – added to the frustration many officers already felt – is damaging officer welfare. Owen West believes it's time for the NPCC to take the lead in promoting public service, preventing a siege mentality, and protecting officers and staff.

OPINION: As the prospects of a negotiated Brexit agreement diminish, Dr Paul Swallow, Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University's School of Law, Criminal Justice and Policing, outlines why he believes a no-deal Brexit will inevitably weaken the UK’s position on international security.

ANALYSIS: The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for all sectors of policing. David Page, a former police officer who specialised in intelligence and counter-terrorism (CT), and who is now a university lecturer and consultant, explores the impact of the pandemic on CT.

Announcement: Given the global pandemic, the World Class Policing Awards team regret to announce that the hugely successful World Class Policing Awards will now be postponed until 2021.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Dr Rick Brown and Amelia Hickman from the Australian Institute of Criminology consider how online gambling can be a precursor to offending behaviours such as fraud and domestic violence and how this risk has increased during lockdown.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor's overview of the state of policing in England and Wales in 2019/20 including the policing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANALYSIS: Recent events in the United States have led to calls for more training and credentialing to reduce the use of excessive force by police. Dr. Leana Bouffard of Iowa State University and Dr. Gaylene Armstrong of the University of Nebraska provide five reasons why police officers should be encouraged to pursue a college degree so they are better equipped to lead much-needed reform.

Opinion: Paul Griffiths, President of the Police Superintendents' Association, says the police service's recruitment drive in England and Wales is a 'generational opportunity' to improve diversity, but only if we do things differently.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Dr Ben Stickle, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Middle Tennessee State University, explores the trend of 'porch piracy' in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic and how agencies have responded to this.

OPINION: The Emergency Services Network (ESN), the replacement for the UK police radio communications system, has been beset by delays and rising costs. Evan Morris MBE, vice chair of the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels (NAPFCP) and chair of Cheshire Police and Crime Panel, calls on crime panels to challenge their Police and Crime Commissioners over the impact this has had on budgets.

OPINION: The current pandemic has forced many industries to address questions of flexible working as a matter of some urgency. But for many in policing, flexible working is hampered by complex business needs as well as structural and cultural issues. Here, Sgt Caroline Hay and Dr Emma Williams present a @wecops Twitter debate on the issues.