Topical issues

ANALYSIS: With two court cases now underway in relation to fatal attacks at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, and the Metropolitan Police’s public order lead highlighting that officers at the event are increasingly being drawn into stewarding rather than policing roles, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone looks at continuing concerns around the location and increased crowd numbers attending the event, and warns of the growing risk of a public safety disaster unless changes are made.

FEATURE: Decisions around national policing currently require a national collaboration agreement to be signed by 103 signatories, including chief constables and police and crime commissioners; but with national and transnational threats increasing, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Gavin Stephen believes this 60-year model of policing is failing to keep pace, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

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INTERVIEW: As the first National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for artificial intelligence (AI), National Crime Agency Director Alex Murray has a unique insight into how this tech is changing policing; he spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the “brilliant work” developing police facial recognition in England and Wales, the dangers of deepfake evidence undermining the criminal justice system, and challenged “doomsters” who criticise an “overhyped version” of genuine police AI.

ANALYSIS: While the potential benefits of perpetrator programmes in reducing domestic and sexual violence have been recognised for some time, a new report by researchers at Australia’s Monash University highlights the need for better measurement of why some programmes prove more effective than others, and the factors that can influence male offender engagement, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With much of the discussions around police recruitment and student officers focused on entry routes, early leavers and inexperience, University of South Wales Policing Lecturer Jack Moss argues that it’s time for a more meaningful and accurate measure of success or otherwise of the Policing Education Qualifications Framework, as well as greater recognition for the efforts and achievements of student officers themselves.

FEATURE: In the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer, Bedfordshire Police launched its Blue Bell network to support victims and witnesses of sexual misconduct within the force, and empower officers and staff to speak out; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Bedfordshire Detective Chief Superintendent Zara Brown about the success of the initiative, tackling the “epidemic” of violence against women and girls, and the interest in the scheme from other forces and agencies.

INTERVIEW: Andy Cooke QPM DL has served as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary since April 2022, leading the body responsible for inspecting police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in the first of a two-part interview with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, Mr Cooke described the criminal justice system as “the most bureaucratic and the slowest that I’ve ever seen it”, explained why “just saying ‘institutional racism’ isn’t going to change anything”, and shared his concerns that the Police Race Action Plan is “taking an awfully long time to come to fruition”.

ANALYSIS: As forces tackled the recent serious disorder in England and Northern Ireland, ‘two-tier policing’ was put forward as a principal cause of the anger, a claim dismissed by senior police chiefs and the Government; but as some politicians and commentators – including former officers – continue to insist two-tier policing is a reality, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett explores the validity of the claim, and how the service should respond.

FEATURE: The murder of Wolverhampton teenager Ronan Kanda in 2022 highlighted a serious issue around illegal online knife sales in the UK; speaking at the recent Police Superintendents’ Association conference, Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead on knife crime, explored the threat posed by irresponsible retailers and third-party sellers – and how the police aim to tackle it, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

OPINION: As Thames Valley Police’s decision to expand its public scrutiny panels to include oversight of officers’ use of force video footage brings the issue of scrutiny back into the media, Montell Neufville, police ethics advisor and Chair of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police Scrutiny Panel overseeing road police and armed police across the three counties, sets out five key reasons why he believes oversight and accountability are crucial to effective policing.

ANALYSIS: In the last in a series of four articles, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood explores the case for transformational leadership in policing, the differing approaches to leadership training in the UK and Canada, and offers his own practical tips for police leadership development.

INTERVIEW: This week West Midlands Police moved out of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services’ (HMICFRS) ‘Engage’ phase (commonly known as special measures) in record time, after response times improved dramatically, arrest rates doubled, and the force had the largest drop in crime across England and Wales; Chief Constable Guildford told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons the successes – which will now be used as an HMICFRS ‘masterclass’ – were the result of a huge team effort.

INNOVATION: A new independent report shows that retail crime reporting platform Auror saved New Zealand Police nearly 170,000 hours of officer time over a 12-month period – but direct-to-police retail crime reporting systems are becoming more common all over the world, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: The latest survey of victims of crime in England and Wales found that 70% lack confidence that reporting a crime will lead to justice, with 40% of those who reported a crime dissatisfied with police response, and almost half (46%) saying they were not kept regularly informed by police about their investigation – prompting warnings from Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove that “victims deserve better”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explores the options and opportunities for introducing a risk matrix for AI policies in police departments that can ensure transparency, accountability, and public trust.

ANALYSIS: The recent signing of an EU convention on artificial intelligence (AI) brought the full implementation of the EU AI Act a step closer; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, exceptions to the regulations called for by European police chiefs have been agreed in principle by legislators, and should reflect the need to respect the confidentiality of sensitive operational data.

FEATURE: In the first in a new chapter in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly sets out the key issues for this chapter – how our criminal justice system works, why it works the way that it does, is it fulfilling its purposes, and why that matters for student police officers.

FEATURE: The early release of 2,000 prisoners in England and Wales sparked a furore in the media which pointed to a criminal justice system on its knees, but many of those within the system know it has long been failing victims, witnesses and defendants; despite the challenges, Leicestershire Chief Constable Rob Nixon, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Criminal Justice, told delegates at the recent Police Superintendents’ Association conference that there is cause for optimism, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: Former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner and National Police Chief’s Council Lead for Counter-Terrorism Policing Neil Basu QPM is one of the country’s most outspoken former senior cops; in the final part of a series of interviews with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he discussed institutional racism – what chief constables really think about this contentious label, the “utterly ineffective and utterly ignored” Police Race Action Plan, and why taking on neo-Nazi group National Action was one of his “proudest moments” in policing.

ANALYSIS: A recent article in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography shared the personal experiences of a senior police officer (‘Phil Corkhill’, a pseudonym) rejoining their force from a College of Policing secondment during Covid-19, and highlighted how leaders often conform to authoritarian and potentially damaging leadership approaches; in this article, University of Portsmouth Criminology Professor Dr Sarah Charman (who co-authored the original piece) explores the issues around prevailing management cultures and the ‘appearance over substance’ concerns of ‘leadership theatre’.

ANALYSIS: Speaking during the widespread UK disorder over the summer, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer referred to a ‘standing army’ of public order trained police officers ready to deal with future incidents; but Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Met Police public order specialist, says shift patterns, the loss of experienced officers and the costs of kit and training mean public order resources are under significant strain – although there are options to improve the policing response.

OPINION: The recent disorder and political violence across the UK has seen increased levels of fear among many migrant communities, as well as reduced access to services and support networks; Liverpool John Moores University Policing Lecturer James Williams believes that policing has an important role to play in reassuring those communities, as well as building relationships and improving engagement with marginalised groups.

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