Crime

FEATURE: The latest report on the MDMA drugs market, published by Europol and the European Union Drugs Agency, points to increased European production with significant health and environmental impacts, as well as EU criminal gangs reversing traditional cocaine routes to export MDMA to South America and Asia – in some cases bartering their product for other drugs – as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: An independent review into regulating online pornography, undertaken by Conservative Peer Baroness Bertin, is calling for illegal online content to be given a renewed priority by police and the criminal justice system, to help reduce violence against women and girls as well as gain a better understanding of the links to domestic violence, toxic masculinity, and the mental health crisis among young people, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: A new report exposes the financial mechanisms that are enabling the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children on a global scale, as well as highlighting that financial institutions, tech companies and online payment platforms are also profiting from this “grotesque marketplace”, as Deborah Fry, Professor of International Child Protection Research at the University of Edinburgh and Global Director of Data for Childlight, the Global Child Safety Institute, explains.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Ten years after a landmark report called for decisive police action on domestic abuse, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has risen by 37%, reaching what authorities now label “epidemic levels” across England and Wales. While underreporting remains a significant challenge, new technologies and initiatives—like embedded domestic abuse specialists and Digital Evidence Management systems (DEMs) —are being deployed to improve police responsiveness and prosecution outcomes.

ANALYSIS: An independent review of the South Australian domestic violence disclosure scheme (DVDS), delivered in partnership by Domestic and Family Violence Services and South Australia Police, has found applications to the scheme have more than doubled in six years, and it achieved a 99% satisfaction rate from applicants, with reviewers urging other jurisdictions looking to implement DVDS schemes or review existing ones to use the South Australian initiative as their model, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new report from the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme analysing police-recorded child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) highlights the scale of the crime, gaps in reporting, and threats that could contribute to further increases in CSAE, as well as legislation and other measures that could improve the police response, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: The global trade in illicit drugs is estimated to be worth at least half a trillion US dollars, much of which is laundered under the radar of law enforcement and the media; Bournemouth University Lecturer in Criminology Dr Mark Berry, and University of the West of Scotland Senior Lecturer Dr R.V. Gundur, take an in-depth look at money laundering in the drug trade, and explain why law enforcement and governments should be focusing on money as well as drugs.

FEATURE: A new report from the Financial Action Task Force explores the financial drivers behind the “heinous” crime of online child sexual exploitation, with the increasing prevalence of live-streamed sexual abuse of children and the financial sexual extortion of children creating millions of embarrassed and vulnerable young victims around the world every year, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Last month the Spanish Council of Ministers adopted draft legislation that could introduce punitive fines for tech companies who fail to correctly label artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content, in a bid to tackle ‘deepfakes’; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the aims of the bill, as well as the impact more widely of the European Union’s AI Act, which could have significant implications both for tech companies and for the police use of AI.

INNOVATION: Pilots of a new approach to domestic abuse response in Avon and Somerset, with police officers working with independent domestic violence advisors to visit victims more quickly after offences, have achieved more engagement and support referrals for victims and greater support for police action; Detective Inspector Matt Cable spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the success of the pilots to date, and hopes that the initiative can be rolled out more widely.

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FEATURE: A new report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse into the latest trends in child sexual abuse (CSA) offences in England and Wales has highlighted record levels of charges for CSA and long delays in court cases, but also significant geographical variations in data recording and trends that suggest the response to sexually abused children “depends on where they live”, prompting calls for a Government-led national prevalence survey to establish the true scale of the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: A new Winston Churchill Trust report exploring the international policing responses to cybercrime, written by Queensland Police Service Detective Chief Inspector Michael Newman, has highlighted a range of learning opportunities and practical takeaways around prevention, detection, investigation, and capability to improve Australia’s law enforcement efforts to target cybercriminals, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Europol’s recently published 2025 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) highlighted the evolving trends of SOC on the international stage; former South Wales Police detective Steve Dodd, a subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation and advocate of the community intelligence-led policing methodology, argues that the SOCTA also reinforces the key role that frontline officers and the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway have to play in tackling that SOC threat.

FEATURE: New research from the Youth Endowment Fund exploring how violence affects children and young people in England and Wales highlights “shocking disproportionality” across sectors such as youth justice and policing, and sets out five steps the Government should take – including around stop and search and diversion away from the criminal justice system – to address the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: With terrorist and extremist groups looking increasingly to online platforms as a way to radicalise internet users – particularly young people – the European Commission’s Prevention of Radicalisation Unit is working hard to counter their activities; in this second in a two-part interview, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Unit Policy Officer Friederike Wegener about the EC’s efforts to tackle the online terror threat, the role and impact of legislation, and the challenges of the future.

FEATURE: An evaluation of the UK Government-funded Project ADDER initiative has found that while the approach has led to more arrests of high-harm individuals, significant seizures of drugs and cash, and an increase in the number of users being referred to diversionary services through out-of-court disposals, a stronger focus on a ‘whole systems approach’ will be needed if the Project is to cut offending and reduce drug use, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: A new crime of ‘wage theft’ was established in New Zealand this month, but as the Act which introduced it was progressing through Parliament, it was clear MPs believed the police would be responsible for enforcing the legislation; Irene Nikoloudakis, PhD in Law Candidate at the University of Adelaide, believes that police are ill-equipped to investigate such offences, pointing instead to the Australian model of using the workplace regulator to undertake investigations and enforcement.

FEATURE: A recent UK conference on the management of sexual or violent offenders (MOSOVO) saw speakers call for a shift in focus to encouraging desistance from offending, rather than reacting to events, with the need for greater sharing of good practice and closer collaboration with partner agencies also high on the agenda, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: With terrorist and extremist groups looking increasingly to online platforms as a way to radicalise internet users – particularly young people – the European Commission’s Prevention of Radicalisation Unit is working hard to counter their activities; in this first in a two-part interview, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Unit Policy Officer Friederike Wegener about her work with the team, the priorities of her role, and the current online terrorist threat.

INTERVIEW: The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has launched new guidance on how forces and violence reduction units can adopt and implement the multi-agency focused deterrence (FD) approach to tackle serious violence, which international research shows has cut crime by an average 33%; the YEF’s Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how FD works, the guidance and ‘on the ground’ support offered by the YEF, and ongoing evaluations of the scheme in the UK.

ANALYSIS: The latest Europol Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA), published this month, highlights the changing face of organised crime, and emerging methods and tactics adopted by organised crime groups (OCGs) around the world; Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen looks at some of the key themes from the report, including the increasing use of technology by OCGs, the collaboration and co-operation between criminals, and how OCGs are operating on a business model.

INTERVIEW: With the continuing advances and availability of 3D printing technology, New Zealand Police National Intelligence Director Dan Wildy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the importance of the multi-disciplinary approaches being taken by the service in tackling a growing firearms threat favoured by organised crime groups, and the value of international collaboration.

OPINION: The UK Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls, but University of Liverpool Professor Barry Godfrey and University of Manchester Professor David Gadd argue that the current recency, frequency, gravity, and victim algorithm used to determine which offenders pose the greatest risk to women and girls is ineffective, and propose moving to determination using a life-course approach, which considers the type and pattern of offending as it develops over time.