Topical issues

Analysis: Professor Karl Roberts is a Consultant on Health Security, Law Enforcement and Policing for the World Health Organisation. In an exclusive article for Policing Insight, he examines the different roles police may have during a pandemic and the challenges this creates alongside some suggested approaches to developing the police response.

INSIGHT: Despite some concerns around availability of personal protective equipment and staffing levels, it is currently business as usual for operational policing, senior officers leading the policing response to the Coronavirus told a Home Affairs Select Committee today (March 18).

Opinion: A new report highlights that Australia’s illicit drug use is rising. Despite policymakers’ best efforts, the country needs to be honest and open to new ideas, says Dr John Coyne, Head of Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

Analysis: The likely impact of the Coronavirus on crime and policing is, as yet, unknown. Policing commentator Ben Twomey explores some of the issues the UK criminal justice system may have to consider in the coming days, weeks and months.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE WINNERS: Operation Limelight, a huge multi-agency operation led by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to prevent girls and young women from becoming victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, was awarded Highly Commended in the World Class Policing Awards, sponsored by Accenture. In the eighth of twelve articles focused on the award-winning nominations, Keith Potter examines the initiative which led to the signing of a historic intelligence-sharing Proclamation of Interagency Support for investigations between UK and US Law Enforcement.

Analysis: The Coronavirus crisis will test the capacity and capability of all emergency service first responders. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth looks at the pressures facing police leaders in the coming months and how effective collaboration with the military will be vital to managing the response to Covid-19.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the recent inspection by the HMICFRS on Counter Terrorism Policing and the police's contribution to the Government's Prevent Programme.

OPINION: Policing Insight's Publisher, Bernard Rix, provides his personal perspective on the national, regional and international policing challenges that tackling Coronavirus will bring, and invites those others with policing insight on Coronavirus, wherever they may be in the world, to get in touch.

Analysis: It was entirely inevitable that cybercriminals would take advantage of the current public health emergency but, says Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth, their actions have surprised even the most hardened cyber security professionals.

Opinion: In his second blog reflecting on his six-year tenure as Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Tony Porter gives an update on the progress of the National Surveillance Camera Strategy launched in March 2017.

Analysis: Until recently, cyber digital skills vital for police investigations were not formally recognised. The Institute of Cyber Digital Investigation Professionals (ICDIP) aims to change that. Senior Project Advisor Detective Inspector Alan Martin and Cyber Digital Career Pathways Project Team Leader Fiona Paterson explain the importance of the ICDIP in recognising the specialist knowledge, skills and professional status of those involved in cyber and digital investigations.

Analysis: In the aftermath of the Streatham terrorist attack, the UK Government announced emergency legislation would be introduced to end the early release of individuals who have committed terror offences. Alan Greene, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Birmingham, discusses the Government's decision against the complex backdrop of human rights and retrospective justice.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises Crest Advisory's independent research into British Muslims' attitudes towards policing, extremism and the Prevent programme.

ANALYSIS : The violent language of drill music has caused controversy, with police demanding censorship and pursuing injunctions. But do we really understand how drill music is received? Dr. Paul McFarlane (pictured right) and Dr. Bennett Kleinberg (pictured left) from the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London discuss how machine learning and scientific evidence can help the police and policymakers better understand the complexity of the lyrical content of drill music and how it's consumed.

Analysis: In a series of short blogs, Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter reflects on the last six years and what the future holds for the world of camera surveillance as his commission comes to an end.

INTERVIEW: Dr Holger Nitsch, from the Police Department of the University of Applied Sciences for Public Service in Bavaria, explains to Policing Insight the unique research and innovation collaborations between German and UK police forces to tackle the twin threats of cybercrime and terrorism.    

Analysis: Across the globe homicide rates are falling, whilst in the UK they continue to rise. Professor Ian Hamilton, Professor Alex Stevens and Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director of Release, the UK centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law, discuss whether this increase is drug related or due to more complex societal factors.

Analysis: Jennifer Cobbina, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, discusses whether the recruitment of a more diverse workforce would bring an end to police brutality against black citizens in the US, or whether the answer lies in the remoulding of a more appropriate police culture.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE WINNERS: The Durham Community Peer Mentor Project, which recruits volunteers to mentor 'high-impact' users of the emergency services, was awarded 'highly commended' at the recent inaugural World Class Policing Awards sponsored by Accenture. In the seventh of twelve articles focusing on the award-winning nominations, Keith Potter takes a closer look at this pioneering project.

INSIGHT: Drug and alcohol misuse often fuel crime and, as such, many Police and Crime Commissioners are working to reduce the harm it causes to individuals and communities. The latest edition of PCCs Making a Difference highlights the breadth of work taking place to address alcohol and drug dependency and break the cycle of re-offending.

OPINION: With increased police funding providing opportunities for real change, CIPFA Chief Executive Rob Whiteman CBE argues that policing should be high on the agenda of the forthcoming royal commission on criminal justice system promised by the government.

Analysis: With the use of artificial intelligence in policing on the rise, Karen Richmond, doctoral researcher at the University of Strathclyde examines whether utilising this type of technology in relation to DNA extraction is progress or a step too far.

New Series: In our continuing series aimed at supporting the new police degree entry recruits, Policing Insight's Academic Editor Carina O'Reilly explores the experimental approach to evidence based-policing, how it ranks different types of research and what this means for policing.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the National Digital Policing Strategy 2020-2030 which was officially launched at this year's Police ICT Summit. The Strategy sets out a new digital ambition for UK policing.