Topical issues

FEATURE: The findings of the Manchester Arena Inquiry, which examined in detail one of the UK’s worst terrorist attacks, highlights a range of failures leading up to the bombing attack, and in the emergency services’ response; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth argues that in the wake of the Inquiry, the counter-terrorism community must look to learn the key lessons of the past, while recognising and addressing the threats both of today and the future.

FEATURE: Grand Junction is a gateway city to the mountains and canyons of Colorado and Utah, but its rural isolation also contributes to a suicide rate more than double the national average; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Grand Junction PD Detective Kristine Gregory about the launch of the department's Co-Responder Unit, which teams up officers with clinicians to improve the response to those in mental health crisis, and deliver better long-term outcomes.

FEATURE: The Casey Review highlighted issues of “institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia” in the Met, and sent a message to the service more widely about the need to address these and other issues; at a recent Birmingham City University online panel, current and former police officers joined academics to discuss the implications of the Review, with several emphasising the need to focus on the challenges rather than the terminology, as Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: With the recent announcement by the Met Police that they will only attend mental health 999 calls where there is an “immediate threat to life”, the issue of the emergency service response to those in mental health crisis in the UK is once again under the spotlight; former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher looks at the history of ‘care in the community’, and argues that it should be mental health professionals – not police – who take the lead role in that response.

FEATURE: A photographic approach to enabling young people to talk about their community – part of a series of studies on policing ‘seldom-heard groups’ published by Police Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and the Scottish Police Authority – has offered a fresh perspective and greater insight into one of Scotland’s more deprived communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Recent high-profile disruptive protests by climate activists in Australia have led to rapid changes in legislation, with new laws and amendments to existing acts being introduced in some cases in as little as 24 hours; but University of South Australia Senior Law Lecturer Dr Sarah Moulds warns that such swift lawmaking can lead to poorly designed, unconstitutional and widely opposed legislation.

OPINION: Although there can still be a stigma around the issues of disability and neurodiversity, for Met Police DC Daley Jones, co-chair of the ADHD Alliance, his diagnosis in his 30s with ADHD and Dyspraxia was a liberating moment; here he talks about his own experiences, and the opportunities and options available that can help achieve a ‘fair and level playing field’ for those with neurodiverse conditions and disabilities.

RESEARCH: A new landmark academic study presents a definitive assessment of the performance of multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), measures that monitor around 88,000 offenders in England and Wales; Dr Natalie Mann, who led the study, spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the striking findings provided by the research, the professional messages it sends, and a personal motivation behind the work.

FEATURE: Evidence-based policing is increasingly used to prevent crime and pursue offenders, but an innovative Cumbria Police approach is assessing student officers’ workloads and wellbeing through a crime harm index – with results including a reduction in resignations and a greater support for those early in their careers, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports

FEATURE: With environmental crime highlighted as a key organised crime threat in Europol’s Serious Organised Crime Threat Report (SOCTA), the new EU PERIVALLON project will use AI-based tools to tackle the crime; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, any law enforcement use of such technology will need to abide by the risk criteria set out in the proposed European Artificial Intelligence Act – the first law of its kind by a major regulator.

FEATURE: With the new Forensic Science Code of Practice coming into force later this year, policing has a chance to boost standards across its forensics functions; but as a panel at the recent Digital Forensic Forum argued, meeting these stringent requirements is only possible if policing leaders are willing to step up their interest in forensics and push for cultural change, reports Policing Insight’s James Sweetland.

OPINION: A series of recent cases in New Zealand has seen offenders under the age of 25 given home detention despite being found guilty of sexual assault, on the basis that were too young to fully understand the consequences of what they were doing; University of Canterbury Associate Professor Debra Wilson believes these and other cases underline the need for the country’s Sentencing Act to be reformed.

FEATURE: A report into the policing of care-experienced and LGBTQI+ young people in Scotland – part of a series of studies on policing ‘seldom-heard groups’ published by Police Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and the Scottish Police Authority – has recommended changes to police training, declaring being care experienced as a ‘protected characteristic’, and adopting a ‘policing with empathy’ approach, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

FEATURE: New research from the Australian Institute of Criminology presents shocking findings on the level of domestic violence among members of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs); with higher rates of violence and lower conviction rates, it’s a complex challenge for police officers in New South Wales to solve, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to former police officer Damian Barrow, now Programme Delivery Manager at data aggregation and automation specialists Synalogik, about the 4Ps approach, the prospect of AI revolutionising organised crime, and the need for greater accessibility to a wider range of datasets.

ANALYSIS: Reports of ‘deaths following police contact’ often include instances of individuals being restrained, but for anyone suffering from Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD), such an approach can prove fatal; former Kent Police Sergeant Darren Moor outlines the key indicators of ABD, the steps officers can take to ensure medical support is available, and what to do if restraint is unavoidable.

OPINION: Advances in technology are emerging at incredible speed, but policing is not always keeping pace with the new tech available – or the potential that it offers forces; Mark Preston, Policing Vertical Lead at ICT specialists Tisski, a Node4 company, believes that if forces can overcome budget constraints and their inherent resistance to change, there are significant benefits to be realised from digital transformation in policing.

FEATURE: The final report of the Commission on Crime and Gambling-Related Harms has called for reforms and a stronger commitment at a political level to address crime and other harms, a message echoed by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, which argues that crime linked to problem gambling must be tackled with the “same urgency and focus as other addictions”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

LONG READ: In February, leading police officers were joined by law enforcement stakeholders, suppliers and academics for a one-day round table on transforming police public contact, organised by policy advice and strategic development organisation Cityforum; in this report – based on contributions made at the round table – independent policing consultant Nick Gargan, who chaired one of the event sessions, explores the key issues including addressing public expectations, the increasing shift to digital channels, and the options for improving service delivery.

FEATURE: Several European countries have experienced the devastating effects of often low-tech fatal terrorist attacks on public spaces such as shopping malls, concert halls and city squares; now a new EU-funded project involving police, public safety stakeholders and the private sector aims to develop innovative security measures using artificial intelligence (AI) and integrated technologies to make public spaces more secure, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

OPINION: In January this year, four years after the suicide of Vancouver Police Constable Nicole Chan following her devastating experiences of bullying and harassment at work, a coroner’s inquest delivered 12 recommendations highlighting severe systemic issues within the Department; University Canada West Associate Professor Jason Walker argues that this latest example of the toxic side of cop culture and the ‘blue wall’ of silence is more evidence of the need for a lawmakers’ response to preventable violence at work.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

ANALYSIS: When the Government announced its intention to recruit an additional 20,000 officers in under four years, there were many who doubted it could be done, but the target has been surpassed by some way; with headcount grown by 20,951 from the November 2019 baseline, and only one force – the Metropolitan Police – failing to recruit its allocation, Ian Wiggett takes a deeper look at what all this means for the service.