Topical issues

FEATURE: In the latest in The Police Student series focusing on Community and Neighbourhood Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the background to partnership working in policing, the benefits such long-term relationships can bring, and the challenges – particularly around financial pressures – that can mean it’s often down to officers rather than organisations to build those trusting partnerships.

OPINION: The Canadian Government looks set to bring in a range of bail reforms as part of a new “tough on crime” agenda, which is likely to see more offenders remanded while awaiting trial; Canadian safety and security professional Vernon White says that while the measured approach to targeting bail reform at specific types of offences is welcomed, a wider range of measures – such as tougher release conditions, in-prison programmes and early interventions – could provide greater benefits in the fight against violent crime.

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INTERVIEW: Warwickshire Police’s digital transformation over the past eight years has seen them acknowledged as a leader in many areas of police technology, and particularly the use of AI; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to the force’s Director of Data, Strategy & Technology, Stephen Russell, about the potential for AI in policing, the importance of measured development rather than a rush to “go fast and first”, and how the lessons of managing people translate to managing AI apps and agents.

OPINION: As debates continues about the Met Police’s use of the AI-based Palantir system to covertly identify corruption and misconduct among officers, Leeds Trinity University Policing Lecturer Adam Stokes, a former police officer, argues that one question which needs to be asked is not whether the algorithm can be trusted when it comes to supervision, but why the humans could not be.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The National Vetting Symposium returns for 1st to 2nd June at the Crowne Plaza in Stratford upon Avon with the theme "Protecting the roots in shifting ground – Transitioning good practice whilst embracing change"

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime (OC), Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Former West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Dr David Wilson and now West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit lead for modern slavery and organised immigration crime (MSOIC), and a recognised expert in Chinese OC, about the reach of Chinese OC, the growth of state-sponsored crime, and the challenges of policing OC with a 43-force structure.

OPINION: The ‘local to national’ UK police reform proposals offer a revolution of idealism, says former South Wales Police detective Steve Dodd, a subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, who argues that the community intelligence-led policing methodology approach – offering enhanced visibility across local police areas and promoting increased intelligence gathering – could create the profound change needed to deliver crime prevention through community-led intelligence.

FEATURE: A report by Canada’s Auditor General into recruitment for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) highlights that despite application numbers exceeding targets, delays in processing has seen many would-be recruits drop out, and a lack of accurate data around the staffing gaps that need to be filled, leaving the RCMP short of more than 3,000 officers, which could impact police officer morale and wellness while increasing risks to public safety and national security, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly being used in law enforcement globally, University of Virginia Postdoctoral Research Fellow Maria Lungo and Associate Professor Steven Johnson explore how AI can lead to mistreatment of people because of technical flaws as well as misplaced human faith in the technology’s supposed objectivity.

INTERVIEW: Dr Joe Whittaker, Programme Director of the MA in Cyber Crime & Terrorism at Swansea University, spoke to Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth about his research into extremists’ use of the internet, the unintended consequences of the removal of terrorist content online, and the need for policing to recognise that while the internet is often integral to radicalisation, most terrorists and extremists are involved in offline physical networks that play an important role in the process.

OPINION: In the latest in a regular series of articles from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Emily Spurrell, APCC Chair and Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside, explores the developments in monitoring police performance already being introduced by the Home Office, highlighting that while performance frameworks and metrics are vital measures of service delivery to the public, getting the balance between national consistency and local flexibility is crucial.

INTERVIEW: With concerns over the rise in poor mental health in policing, new research by criminologist and former police officer Dr Mark Brain, now an Associate Lecturer at the University of the West of England, suggests that far from being a product of exposure to traumatic incidents, mental ill-health in policing is largely driven by organisational issues such as poor management of professional standards investigations and an ongoing organisational “machismo” culture, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ANALYSIS: Victim and witness statements can play a vital role in shaping an investigation, but new research from Dr Cody Porter of the University of the West of England and Dr Mircea Zloteanu of King’s College London suggest that the emotionality of witnesses can unintentionally mislead decision-makers including police officers, especially when filtered through unconscious gendered expectations.

OPINION: Youth offending in Victoria is rising, burglary is at record levels, and retail theft is the fastest-growing crime category, yet the prevailing response remains largely reactive; evidence from Victoria’s own prevention programs shows that upstream investment in youth justice produces measurable reductions in offending, says strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda – the harder question is whether the structural conditions exist to deliver it at scale.

FEATURE: A ‘deep dive’ review of the multi-agency safeguarding responses to county lines exploitation and serious youth violence has highlighted the “vast and complex landscape” around safeguarding children and young people, with fragmented strategies, gaps in legislation, and a reluctance among young-in-service police officers to undertake foot patrols all contributing to an ongoing “perfect storm” of continued child exploitation, as Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The Metropolitan Police’s recent use of Palantir AI to identify more than 600 officers involved in wrongdoing and corruption may have been successful in its aims, but has also proved controversial; police officer and ethics specialist Dr Richard Cockbain warns that while the approach may have achieved compliance benefits, addressing unethical behaviour is not the same as building ethical approaches, and the covert deployment of AI serves to undermine the trust of both the public and the workforce.

FEATURE: A new study into the wellbeing of disaster victim identification (DVI) officers has highlighted the “moral dissonance” experienced by staff that can contribute to stress and psychological strain, the continuing stigma of seeking help and support for their mental wellbeing, and the damaging impact that the media’s glamourisation of crime scene investigation can have on new DVI recruits whose expectations are far removed from the reality of deployment, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent Domestic Homicide Project report highlights that, for the third year running, suspected victim suicides following domestic abuse in England and Wales have overtaken the number of homicides involving current or previous partners; Policing Lecturer Lee Curran, of the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, explores the vital role police officers have to play in recognising the links between domestic abuse and suicide, and the potential for early intervention.

FEATURE: At INTERPOL’s annual Heads of National Central Bureaux Conference last month, one of the most insightful updates was on the results of Operation Thunder, the operation to intercept and seize illegally traded wildlife and forestry commodities across the global supply chain, and identify, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of this month’s American Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, American University Associate Professor Dr Janice Iwama spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about her research into how peer support programmes are designed and delivered in practice, the need to view them as part of wider organisational culture, and why such initiatives require ongoing attention to training and support.

OPINION: The future communications for the UK’s emergency services should not be a choice between TETRA or broadband, argues Ian Waddell Vice-President of International Managed & Support Services at Motorola Solutions, but both and more, with a hybrid solution that combines the best of tried and trusted capabilities with the latest technologies of today.

INTERVIEW: Forces across England and Wales need to give a greater priority to vehicle theft and recognise it as often a key component in organised crime, says Surrey Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Grahame, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on vehicle crime, who spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the growing focus on ports to target the many stolen cars and parts shipped overseas, and the need to collaborate more closely with industry and technology partners.

OPINION: With proposed policing reform in England and Wales indicating a move towards a combination of a national police service, regional forces and local policing areas, Capgemini Director Jamie Robinson explores the experiences of the Dutch transition from regional police forces to the Dutch National Police in 2013, and considers what lessons there could be from the Netherlands for the UK’s reform process.