Topical issues

ANALYSIS: Attitudes towards and the treatment of mental health in the Australian police have changed over the years. However, after 20,000 police and emergency workers responded 'Answering the Call', the first national survey of mental health in this sector, former UK police officer and now Research Fellow at Western Sydney University Alan Beckley says the police still have a long way to go.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Ian Russell, Head of UK Emergency Services at SCC, invites you to the first annual SCC Public Safety Roadshow taking place on 31st January, 12th February and 14th February. You will be given exclusive access to some of the most impactful technologies available to enhance and simplify operational policing. Put the dates in your diary, and book your place today.

Opinion: People are policing's greatest asset, but former officer and now CEO of Mightify Tom Wheelhouse argues the service must be more creative and look for better ways to prevent 'the double whammy of capability and cost walking out of the door'.

ANALYSIS: Though the number of recorded crimes is rising, the proportion of those crimes that are detected is falling. Professor Marian FitzGerald of the University of Kent explores the figures.

Opinion: When freelance mental health consultant and writer Toni joined a night shift in December, she found officers suffering 'frustration fatigue' and a job that 'curates and nurtures' poor mental health. However, she argues that solely promoting resilience is not the solution.

OPINION: The issue of disclosure has made its way into the public domain, thanks to the collapse of high-profile trials. Mark Bedding, a former police officer now with Chorus Intelligence, argues that many police officers already have access to the technology they need to make disclosure simpler.

Analysis: Following a number of suicides, Canada's police leaders are increasingly recognising the need to offer its frontline staff 'a continuum of support and services' throughout their career. PwC Director of Public Safety and Justice Tara Macpherson examines what progress is being made on this.

OPINION: As Israel joins the Netherlands and Canada in legalising medicinal cannabis, serving officer Martin Gallagher warns that there are significant and largely unexplored potential consequences of legalisation - not least, the future for organised crime groups currently operating in the cannabis trade.

Interview: Mental ill health still carries a stigma and officers and staff, reluctant to admit they might be struggling, often don't know where to turn. Policing Insight speaks to Judith Broug, the co-founder of the App Backup Buddy, about the barriers to seeking support and how Backup Buddy can help.

Comment: Policing Insight contributor and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC Andrew Staniforth outlines an initiative to help law enforcement agencies tackle online content that inspires radicalisation.

Opinion: Following a two-year battle with the Ministry of Justice for the release of a report into digital courts, Director of Transform Justice Penelope Gibbs says not all the risks highlighted in that report have been mitigated.

Interview: Police users have been complaining for years about the fact that systems can’t talk to each other: it’s also been a recurring complaint in Policing Insight’s police ICT user survey. Now a group of suppliers have come forward to say that things don’t need to be this way and the solution is surprisingly simple. Here, Policing Insight talks to one of them, Clare Elford, Managing Director of Clue which supplies investigation case management software to many forces and other organisations.

INSIGHT: The College of Policing states officers and staff reporting concerns about a colleague should be fully supported through the process, but for one individual who ‘blew the whistle’ the reality was very different. Here is their story.

Analysis: The police service has faced a prolonged period of unprecedented cuts. Visiting Professor in Criminology at the University of Glyndŵr Peter Joyce and Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University Dr Wendy Laverick argue that this level of austerity risks undermining police legitimacy.

Opinion: Since 2013, Thames Valley Police has supported over 300 academic programmes of study by its staff. The force has now launched its first academic research journal. Its creator, Superintendent Katy Barrow-Grint, explains how the Journal came into being and the impact she is hoping it will have. 

Analysis: Fraud accounts for a third of reported crime in England and Wales yet the number of cases investigated and prosecuted is tiny compared to the volume. As the Police Foundation publishes its latest research on improving the police response to fraud victims, Ian Dyson, Commissioner for the City of London Police which leads nationally on fraud, says things are changing.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series, summarises the findings of a report by HMICFRS’ Policing and Mental Health Report, Picking Up the Pieces, published last month (Nov 27). We look at the impact on policing, recommendations as well as stakeholder and media reactions.

ANALYSIS: Vast, viable and virtual: cyberspace is a new continent that cybercriminals are only just beginning to exploit. Policing Insight contributor and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC Andrew Staniforth explores the areas most at risk and the need for unprecedented cooperation to combat cybercrime.

Analysis: As the Government's assessment of its future security partnership with the EU is published, Peter Joyce, Visiting Professor in Criminology at the University of Glyndŵr and Dr Wendy Laverick, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University, examine new crime trends, current EU crime-fighting tools and how Brexit impacts our ability to fight these new crime forms.

Analysis: Former police officer and Police Federation Secretary Tony Barton has seen first hand the devastating effects policing can have on mental health. Now a consultant and trainer in mental health first aid, Tony explores the stigma still surrounding mental ill-health and the role managers play in promoting an honest and open conversation.

NEWS: As Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) moves to a national system next year, National ANPR Lead Chief Constable Charlie Hall QPM tells this year’s ANPR conference that consistency is key to maintaining the integrity of the new National ANPR System (NAS) and to deflecting inevitable challenges.

OPINION: Austerity has caused deep harm to policing and it may take a generation to repair it. Former Chief Superintendent John Sutherland surveys the damage.

ANALYSIS: The road to police fire governance is a bumpy one as the last few weeks has demonstrated. With one PCC restarting, two stopping and two others mired in controversy, what may have seemed like a good idea to some is not winning any new fans. In her latest update of the Policing Insight series looking at PCCs and fire governance, Catherine Levin reports on the ups and downs of the last few weeks.

Analysis: Reticence towards the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) is understandable, says Dr Dominic Wood, Head of the School of Law, Criminal Justice and Computing at Canterbury Christ Church University, but it is also an opportunity for the police service to 'reassert its professional voice and standing in society'. He explains why.