Topical issues

OPINION: Québec is currently experiencing its second province-wide pandemic curfew, introduced at the end of December in response to the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant; but for Brandon University’s Professor Christopher Schneider, the new restrictions bring with them a dangerous expansion in police discretionary powers that could lead to the inconsistent and unfair application of enforcement.

ANALYSIS: The recent siege in a synagogue in Texas highlighted once again that terrorists increasingly view places of worship as legitimate and accessible targets; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports on a new EU operational briefing published this week, providing guidance for law enforcement, faith leaders and their communities on improving protection at places of worship.

OPINION: A significant proportion of the 800,000 people detained in police custody in 2019 were children and young people, but Transform Justice Research and Policy Lead Fionnuala Ratcliffe believes that such detentions often lead to unreliable evidence and long-term damage to police legitimacy, and suggests alternatives such as voluntary attendance and out-of-court disposals could prove more effective.

OPINION: Police forces both in the UK and internationally are increasingly equipping officers with overdose reversal medication such as naloxone, in an effort to cut the catastrophic numbers of drug-related deaths; drugs policing expert Ben Twomey, who wrote the policy for the first force in the UK to carry the medication, writes about what it means for the war on drugs.

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: With America facing a continuing surge in violent crime, the Council on Criminal Justice established its Violent Crime Working Group, bringing together 16 leaders from law enforcement, public health, academia and community initiatives to identify solutions to the growth in violence; below is the Group’s 10-point, evidence-backed, short-term action plan to reverse the trend and promote peace in the streets.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Registration has opened for the 2022 BAPCO Conference & Exhibition, taking place at the Coventry Building Society Arena, 8-9 March of this year.

FEATURE: The latest Africa Organised Crime Index published by the EU-funded ENACT organisation reveals that criminal groups across the continent adapted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the illicit activities of state actors and the growth in trafficking of both people and cocaine represent major challenges, as Policing Insight’s Chris Allen reports.

FEATURE: The latest report on the policing of the pandemic in the UK has suggested expanding the ‘4Es’ approach to other law enforcement activities, investing the additional capability from Operation Uplift into neighbourhood policing, and improving national co-ordination and workforce planning, as some of the key lessons from Covid policing; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons takes a closer look at the report.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Former Cambridgeshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Alan Baldwin (centre-right in picture) believes clearing the vetting backlogs and attracting the right people into policing – including increased recruitment of under-represented groups – are essential steps for the future of the service in the UK, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

FEATURE: The use of learning analytics to measure, collect and analyse data from police learners – with a view to optimising programmes and improving the development environment – could revolutionise policing learning, as Dr Matthew Jones and Prof Bart Rienties of the Open University explain in this latest in a series of articles on police CPD.

ANALYSIS: While banking and financial transactions move increasingly towards digital platforms, criminals are resurrecting a more traditional fraud – bank check theft – to build bitcoin profits and steal identities, as Georgia State University Criminology and Criminal Justice Professor David Maimon explains.

OPINION: A new collection of essays published by Polamk, the Finnish Police University College, provides an insight into policing innovation, and the disruptive thinking and fresh approaches necessary to overcome some of the barriers to change; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth, a long-term Polamk collaborator, believes the collection is essential reading for police leaders and innovators worldwide.

FEATURE: Continuing a new series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the challenges around policing a diverse society, including the issue of institutional racism, the police use of stop and search, and the implications of the latest rulings in relation to hate crimes and free speech.

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: With online communication – and social media in particular – highlighting society’s growing prevalence of abuse and the incitement to hatred and violence, the UK’s proposed Online Safety Bill has been welcomed by many as a step towards tackling big tech’s ‘land of the lawless’; Policing Insight contributor Gareth Bryon looks at the background to the Bill, and some of the measures set to be introduced in 2022.

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 Dr Amber Phillips, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, about the mafia, asset confiscation, and the importance of grassroots initiatives when tackling organised crime.

FEATURE: NZ Police has paused introduction of live automated facial recognition technology (FRT) after researchers highlighted concerns over accuracy, the disproportionate impact on the Māori community, and legal and ethical issues; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons spoke to researchers and the force about the report’s recommendations, and what they mean for the police use of FRT.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: While UK policing has faced major challenges as a result of COVID-19, the innovative ICT responses to the pandemic from police forces, government and the private sector have driven change that will deliver benefits for years to come, as VMware Chief Technology Officer Joseph Langford explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

ANALYSIS: Politically motivated crime has been recognised as an issue needing specific attention for more than a century, but with multiple agencies now active in the sector, co-ordinating that response can be difficult; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the challenges presented by politically motivated crimes, and the importance of differentiating between extremism and terrorism.

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: Police Now’s first Frontline Leadership Programme (FLP) launched in September, and – with applications already now open for the third cohort – in December the organisation ran an online Women in Leadership event to support the application process; Policing Insight spoke to the three officers on the event panel about the challenges facing women in policing, the work of Police Now, and how the FLP could help to change the culture of policing.

INNOVATION: Four years ago Dubai Police launched its first Smart Police Station (SPS) driven by artificial intelligence (AI), as part of the force’s wider Strategic Plan for the use of AI: Dr Jorge Román and Khalifa Al Room of Dubai Police explain the reasoning behind the development of the SPS, how it works, and the impact it has already had on interaction between the police and the community.

END OF YEAR REVIEW: For many, 2021 – like 2020 before it – was a year to forget, as Covid combined with other challenges to leave policing on the back foot; but behind the headlines there were some real achievements, so let’s take the positives – for policing and Policing Insight – into 2022, and see if we can rewrite some of that negative narrative.