Topical issues

INTERVIEW: The New Blue fellowship programme in the US is looking to empower “forward-thinking” front-line officers with the skills, awareness and support to develop innovative solutions around engagement and public trust that can address issues identified in the communities they serve, as programme Executive Director Kristin Daley explained to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend.

FEATURE: The Environment Agency has launched a new Economic Crime Unit which will work with police and revenue and customs in England to tackle organised waste crime including the dumping, burning and illegal shipping of waste, as well as the operation of illegal waste sites – a market estimated to cost the country £1billion a year, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: As the UK, Europe and the US all prepare for parliamentary elections this year, and with increasing calls for legislation to target hate speech, Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth looks at the new project using AI-based technologies to equip NGOs, civil service organisations, public authorities and others with the skills and awareness to tackle online hate speech and disinformation.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in policing, Chief Philip Lukens looks at the potential benefits that AI solutions can deliver in relation to accreditation and performance – including a master training schedule, an AI-assisted tool to review and update policy, and an automated compliance checker – all of which can save time and resources, increase reliability, and boost trust and confidence.

OPINION: Former Scottish police officer Graham Goulden, now a police trainer, believes that recent examples of street violence highlight the need for action rather than words, and points to the success of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit’s long-term violence prevention approach – using a combination of enforcement, collaboration and community involvement – as an effective strategy moving forwards.

OPINION: Policing’s growing focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, and fears that officers will be increasingly dragged into adjudicating “abusive spats” online under Scotland’s new Hate Crime Act, are the latest example of a wider debate that needs to be had, argues former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher – one which considers what the police are really for, and the danger that policing’s key purpose is being sidelined in favour of diversity.

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OPINION: Algorithms are used to predict the risk of criminal behaviour, drug use and reoffending in a number of countries (as well as being employed widely outside the criminal justice sector); but Associate Professor Tatiana Dancy of the University of Melbourne argues that decisions should only be taken – and penalties applied – on the basis of behaviour, not other physical, mental or social characteristics fed into predictive tools.

FEATURE: A recent joint report by inspectorates across the criminal justice system in England and Wales warns that police forces will need to recruit almost 20,000 more officers as increasing numbers of resignations – particularly among inexperienced and under pressure Uplift recruits – continue to drive the growing attrition rate, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: With heightened tensions over conflict in the Middle East, and significant increases in hate crime in the UK, new National Police Chaplain Matt Hopley believes police chaplains have a vital role to play not only in supporting officers, staff and volunteers, but in providing a valuable conduit between policing and communities, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: The use of DNA to solve crimes and identify offenders has been a key tool for policing for almost 40 years; now the growing use of forensic genetic genealogy – also known as investigative genetic genealogy – has the potential to be a similar game changer in investigating cold cases, as Policing Insight’s Vernon White reports.

FEATURE: University of Portsmouth Policing Lecturer David Knowles and Teaching Fellow Claire Smith visited a number of further education colleges near the city to encourage students to apply for the University’s professional policing degree; as well as learning the best ways to engage young people, they also identified some important digital communications lessons for policing.

FEATURE: GardaSAFE, the new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system rolled out by An Garda Síochána, has been described by senior officers as “far and away better” than previous systems, and praised for delivering “continuous improvement”; but a recent report raised concerns that a review of the system was not able to monitor live calls because of data privacy fears, an approach which the review team described as “retrograde and risk averse”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With terrorists increasingly exploiting the vulnerabilities of public spaces in urban settings – such as event venues, shopping centres and other crowded places – Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of PRECRISIS, a European partnership of subject matter experts looking to improve protection of those spaces through the use of integrated and innovative technology.

INNOVATION: Smart devices have revolutionised the way many people interact, but they can also be used to facilitate a wide range of abuse; Andi Brown, criminologist and Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Lecturer at Monash University, argues that there are several steps that could be taken to design safety features that empower victim-survivors, instead of exposing them to risk.

INTERVIEW: In this second half of a two-part interview, City of London Police Temporary Commissioner Peter O’Doherty spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the challenges posed by fraud and cybercrime, the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and a national approach to new technology, and why the Police Service of Northern Ireland data breach has implications for all forces.

FEATURE: In the latest in the new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the left realism crime perspective, including the 'square of crime', the need for greater understanding of the complexity of crime, and the ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ approach pioneered by New Labour.

FEATURE: Among the less visible effects of a decade of UK police funding cuts is the loss of spaces where officers can rest, eat, and talk to each other, a loss that could increase the risks of personal and professional isolation, and damage officer wellbeing; a new study led by Dr Carina O’Reilly (University of Lincoln), Nick Kealey (Liverpool John Moores University) and Dr Sean Bell (Open University) will look at how the provision of rest spaces has changed, and the impact on police officers and their wellbeing – and you can get involved.

OPINION: The NPCC’s Children & Young Persons Policing Strategy will aim to create “a culture of child-centred policing”, but too often police and other agencies overlook the impact of homelessness on young people’s vulnerability; Met Police Chief Inspector Dr Andy Briers, who has devoted most of his career to working with at-risk young people, sets out some of the challenges and opportunities for policing to improve support for homeless youngsters and divert them away from the criminal justice system.

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FEATURE: A recent report by the UK’s cross-party Home Affairs Committee has warned that policing the continuing Israel-Gaza protest is pulling resources away from areas such as neighbourhood and response policing and is damaging officer wellbeing, with MPs urging the Government to take steps to address the issues of both police resourcing and hate crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: In the second in a series of articles exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in policing, Chief Philip Lukens looks at how wearable sensors and AI can enhance the physical and mental health of law enforcement professionals, echoing the NASA model to ensure that officers are not “compromised by cheap and inadequate healthcare”.

FEATURE: A recent survey of An Garda Síochána officers and staff highlighted concerns around training, a lack of performance culture, and poor change management, while at a Policing Authority meeting discussing the report, Commissioner Drew Harris told Authority members that 27% of the force’s staff had applied to transfer ahead of a new bill which would remove their Civil Service status, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Police forces in England and Wales are regularly assessed to see how well they meet demand and provide public service; Jon Freegard, Principal Consultant (Workforce Planning) at Skills for Justice, explores how these assessment cycles work, and how workforce planning and leadership development efforts are graded.