Topical issues

Opinion: When Lincolnshire Police's annual Drink Drive campaigns failed to have an impact on the public and the media and with drink and drug driving on the rise, the force took the step of naming those charged to reignite interest and dissuade future offending. But was this the right approach? Cate Moore, Independent Chair Lincolnshire Police Ethics Panel, explores the issues.

ANALYSIS: There was a sense at this year’s Police ICT Summit 2018 was that there was much to celebrate about the progress police ICT has made in the last few years, but there is still much to do. The ambition and the commitment are there, but are the police service and the public on board?

ANALYSIS: CoPaCC's thematic report 'Police ICT: User perspectives' revealed users had similar perceptions of their ICT, but there were wide variations in terms of levels of satisfaction. Ian Wiggett takes a closer look at the findings of the survey to discover why. 

ANALYSIS: Police targets have been the subject of considerable criticism, not least for their unintended consequences. Alex Sutherland of RAND Europe and Matthew Davies explore the case of first time entrants to the youth justice system.

LIVEBLOG: Policing Insight's Live Blog of the Police ICT Summit 2018, organised by the Police ICT Company and the National Police Technology Council.

Analysis: The police use of social media has seen a massive surge in recent years and has given forces, teams and individuals the opportunity to engage with their local communities and beyond in a way never before experienced. It hasn’t always been been a smooth road and there have been some complications engendered by the open and public nature of the medium, says Cheshire Police's Neil Dewson-Smyth who looks at how forces can improve their performance.

OPINION: As the New Year begins, yet another scandal has emerged involving potential Scottish government interference with the operation of Police Scotland. Nick McKerrell of Glasgow Caledonian University warns that the crisis in Scottish policing is a structural one - and that without an examination of those structural causes, these crises cannot be resolved.

ANALYSIS: The latest CoPaCC thematic report 'Police ICT: User perspectives' was published recently. The report provides a unique insight into the views of the frontline on the provision of ICT in their force, based on CoPaCC's national survey. Bernard Rix, CoPaCC Chief Executive, takes a look at user responses to Question 2 (of eleven).

ANALYSIS: The Police Foundation's in-depth, five year exploration of local policing, Police Effectiveness in a Changing World, has recently come to an end. Here, Andy Higgins of the Foundation explores the key themes that have emerged from the study.

OPINION: The effects of austerity mean that the pace of innovation in policing may be slowing - but the demand for it is not. In the first of a series, serving officer Gareth Stubbs looks at technology in policing, and argues that innovation isn't a luxury, but a necessity, and one that requires real investment.

ANALYSIS: Despite the widely acknowledged benefits of working in cross-force collaborations, there remain many obstacles to effective collaborative endeavours between forces. Dr Xavier L”Hoiry of Sheffield University explores the obstacles and proposes ways of overcoming them.

OPINION: Can 'Alexa' and other similar devices help forces manage demand?  Rob Flanagan, former police officer and now Innovation Manager for Lancashire Constabulary, believes they can as his force is poised to launch an Amazon app that taps into Alexa's potential.

ANALYSIS: The latest CoPaCC thematic report 'Police ICT: User perspectives' was published recently. Following a survey of police officers from 44 police forces, the report provides a unique insight into the views of the frontline on the provision of ICT in their force. Bernard Rix, CoPaCC Chief Executive, takes a look at user responses to Question 1 of the survey, and identifies some potential "quick wins" for forces and suppliers.

BOOK REVIEW: A new book, 'What Matters in Policing,' by Maurice Punch, Auke van Dijk and Frank Hoogewoning, argues that the complexity of modern policing needs a new, comprehensive way of defining what is really important in policing, and how police leadership needs to adapt. Policing Insight's editor Carina O'Reilly reviews the book.

LONG READ: Has the pendulum swung too far towards leadership in policing at the expense of management? Serving officer Jim Gale argues that it has, and that this presents real long-term reputational and strategic risks to the service.

ANALYSIS: Report Watch summarises the main findings of reports that impact on policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders and media reaction. Here we take a look at HMICFRS' PEEL Police legitimacy 2017 which provides a national overview report based on inspections carried out from April to July 2017. Overall, forces' legitimacy is improving, but there remain concerns over disparities in stop and search.

OPINION: Newly-retired chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Steve White, says the service is still in need of radical reform. Here, he suggests a way to drive change.

ANALYSIS: The recent NCA report on County Lines highlighted the disturbing trend of children being targeted to work for drugs' gangs. In the second of two articles, highlighting those children most at risk and the work underway to tackle the problem, Tina Orr-Munro interviews Andy Passingham and Paul Maslin, co-founders of www.safeguardinghub.com and experienced police officers specialising in safeguarding.

INSIGHT: Recording footage is the easy step, what comes next is much harder. All that data must be securely stored and managed – that's where digital asset and evidence management systems come into play. In this article from the CoPaCC thematic report 'Body-worn Video in Policing', Stephen Roberts looks at how police forces are meeting the challenge.

ANALYSIS: Body-worn video is one of the most significant emerging technologies in policing, but robust analysis of its effects has been limited. Elizabeth Linos, Joanne Reinhard, Simon Ruda and Michael Sanders of the Behavioural Insights Team report the results of a large-scale randomised control trial in one UK police force.

ANALYSIS: The recent National Crime Agency report on County Lines highlighted the disturbing trend of children being targeted to work for drugs' gangs. In the first of two articles, examining the nature of County Lines, Tina Orr-Munro interviews Andy Passingham and Paul Maslin, co-founders of www.safeguardinghub.com and experienced police officers specialising in safeguarding.

Opinion: Smart data analysis technology has existed for many years so why haven't forces made the most of it? Clare Elford, Managing Director of Clue which provides investigative software, explores the challenges faced by forces and offers a solution.

2017 Review: It's been an eventful year at the academic end of policing, particularly for the College of Policing. Carina O'Reilly, Editor of Policing Insight, reviews the year's events and looks forward to 2018.

OPINION: Northamptonshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold says PCCs are best placed to deliver real transformation across the entire public sector.