Topical issues

OPINION: Methamphetamine prices in New Zealand have recently fallen significantly, and a similar trend has been seen in Australia; Massey University’s Professor Chris Wilkins, Associate Professor Dr Marta Rychert, and Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr Robin van der Sanden argue that while competition, demand and enforcement may be factors, the most convincing explanation is the growing role played by Mexican cartels in the manufacture and supply of meth and other drugs.

FEATURE: As the European Commission (EC) unveils a new agenda to prevent and counter terrorism, which includes new practical tools for countering the radicalisation of minors, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth suggests that the EC would do well to learn some of the lessons from the implementation of the Prevent Strategy in the UK, including the statutory duties on all schools, colleges and universities to protect children and young adults in their care from adopting extremist and violent ideologies.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: To understand how criminal networks operate, intelligence needs to connect across cases, sources and time. Fragmented data, isolated tools and repeated manual effort make that difficult in practice. This article explores five structural blockers and how addressing them helps build a clearer, more complete and continuously evolving intelligence picture.

ANALYSIS: As policing in England and Wales continues to deal with frequent and often large-scale protest and counter-protest, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has highlighted the “grey area” in which officers now operate; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist, explains the current complex challenges around tactical and operational public order decisions, and the need for a clearer focus on ‘lawful’ rather than ‘peaceful’ protest.

INTERVIEW: Departing HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke spoke to Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass about his time in charge of scrutinising police forces, the “national disgrace” of court delays faced by victims, and why he believes the Government’s planned major reforms – including significant new powers for the inspectorate – are a once in a generation opportunity to make communities safer.

OPINION: Policing, like many other organisations, often relies on the ‘don’t do’ approach to communicating and educating ethics to its workforce, with a focus on the punishments and consequences of misconduct and poor behaviour; but Dr Eva Tsahuridu and Jo Kerr of Victoria Police Registration & Services Board argue that while ‘negative ethics’ have a role to play, ‘positive ethics’ that develop a ‘what to do approach’ to recognising ethical issues and making ethical judgements are just as important.

ANALYSIS: The UK’s recently published Policing and Media Charter, which comes just weeks after new College of Policing guidance on media and communications, is viewed by many as a much-needed reset of the relationship between police and the media; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend, a subject matter expert in police communications, spoke to Crime Reporters Association Chair Rebecca Camber and NPCC Chair Gavin Stephens about the background to the charter, its aims, and the practical difference it will make to that relationship.

OPINION: As transnational criminal networks grow in complexity and reach, the Australian Border Force is evolving from a traditional customs and immigration agency into a sophisticated intelligence-led law enforcement organisation; the results are already visible, says strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda, but the challenges ahead are formidable – and some of the most significant are not operational at all.

FEATURE: A second report into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by police in Canada, published by the University of British Columbia’s AI & Criminal Justice Initiative, highlights a lack of cohesion over governance arrangements for adoption and deployment of the new technology, and urges police to take a ‘steady, cautious approach’ that incorporates comprehensive standards, legal safeguards, robust independent oversight, and democratic accountability, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Until UK policing learns to look after its workforce better, the communities it serves will never really be safe, warns Graham Goulden, a former officer with a 30-year career and now a strong advocate for safe and supportive workplaces, who argues that the active bystander approach could help to change policing culture to provide the support that officers and staff need, and the service communities deserve.

FEATURE: A new report from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research into policing after lockdown and how to rebuild relationships with the “Covid generation” has urged police to introduce “poverty awareness training” for officers to provide a better understanding of inequality’s impact on youth-police relations, and develop stronger partnership and collaborative approaches, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Family violence protection orders can provide a vital safety net for victim-survivors in Australia, preventing further violence from occurring; but University of Melbourne Professor Heather Douglas and PhD Candidate Allanah Colley warn that the differing laws across Australian states can lead to a courts ‘quagmire’, and there is much more work to be done around police enforcement of breaches, culturally-responsive approaches, and support for victim-survivors.

INNOVATION: The latest report from the European Network Against Crime and Terrorism reveals that the UK continues to play a leading role in European Union security research, highlighting the potential for police leaders to work with other partners and stakeholders to access some of the €40 million funding to develop real-world initiatives in the fight against crime and terrorism, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Retail crime in the UK is rising fast, but efforts to tackle it are being held back by a lack of trust. Many retailers no longer believe reporting incidents leads to action, weakening the system. Rebuilding trust through better communication between retailers and policing is essential to improve reporting, strengthen intelligence and deliver better outcomes.

INNOVATION: A new frontline file management system rolled out by New Zealand Police is proving to be a “game changer” for the workforce, says Superintendent Blair Macdonald, cutting the backlog for case processing from two weeks to just four hours, and helping to increase public trust and confidence in the service, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Following the launch in England and Wales last year of the first phase of the neighbourhood policing programme training modules, a new tranche of training is now providing officers with the skills and knowledge to tackle serious and organised crime (SOC) in local communities; Chief Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, Head of Uniformed Policing at the College of Policing, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the local impact of SOC, and how the investment in officers will benefit communities.

OPINION: In the latest in a regular series of articles from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Matthew Barber, APCC Joint Lead on Serious Violence and PCC for the Thames Valley, highlights the continuing efforts of police and PCCs to tackle knife crime and the importance of partnerships and early intervention to change the culture of knife carrying, and urges the Government to ensure the momentum and progress made to date is not lost with the abolition of PCCs and ongoing police reform.

FEATURE: The latest European Overview of the 2025 Global Organized Crime Index, published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, recognises Europe’s increasing resilience against organised crime, but highlights the expansion and diversification of organised crime groups (OCGs) as among the key threats, particularly the potential recruitment of young and vulnerable people, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The latest report on the Police Covenant – the commitment introduced by the Government to ensure that current and former police officers, staff, and their families in England and Wales are supported and treated with fairness and respect – has highlighted significant developments including around health and wellbeing and suicide prevention, but has called for more to be done to ensure the police workforce is aware of the support available, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Independent researcher and governance adviser Vsevolod Shabad believes the language and internal communications architecture of British policing means that officers who highlight and escalate serious risk don’t always get the necessary response, and lack protection for their actions; with other high-risk professions having identified and addressed the same challenges, he looks at what policing can do restore the right for officers to speak clearly.

OPINION: The recently published Government White Paper on police reform once again highlights the importance of the ‘Peelian Principles’ for modern UK policing, while the same Principles have been regularly referenced over the years by inspectorates, inquiries and reviews; but University of Derby Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews argues that not only are the Principles unlikely to have been written by Peel and don’t bear up to scrutiny, but there are better models for underpinning the British policing model.

FEATURE: A recent survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology suggests that, as with more traditional forms of crime, members of the public overestimate the likelihood that they will be a victim of AI‑enabled crime; but while frequent users of AI-enabled technology must be encouraged to employ more protective behaviours, those reluctant to use it should be supported to do so safely and confidently, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: With both Europol and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime highlighting the threats posed by Eastern European and Balkans organised crime groups (OCGs) expanding further across the continent, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the efforts of the EU (through CEPOL), Europol, and international collaborations involving the UK’s National Crime Agency amongst others, to tackle these ‘High-Risk Criminal Networks’.

ANALYSIS: For more than 12 years, Toronto Police Service’s Neighbourhood Community Officer (NCO) program has been working to place officers directly within communities, build relationships, and focus on solving problems; since its launch, Dr Doug Thomson and Dr Emma Smith have been evaluating the successes and challenges of the NCO program – both from the perspective of the officers involved, and from the communities they work in and with – as Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood reports.