Crime

FEATURE: Dr John Coyne, head of ASPI’s Northern Australia Strategic Policy Centre and strategic policing and law enforcement program, outlines the role of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in an ever-changing geo-political environment.

OPINION: The latest Internet Watch Foundation report highlighted an exponential rise in online child sexual abuse; former Chief Constable and NPCC child protection lead Simon Bailey, now Chair of the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, believes that tech companies hold the key to improving protection for children, but are leaving them at risk as they focus on chasing profits.

ANALYSIS: As an Irish organised crime group worth more than a billion dollars has made headlines after the US Government offered a $5 million reward for their capture, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen takes a look at how we can tackle the biggest and most sophisticated criminal entities.

OPINION: The EU’s recently agreed Digital Services Act and the UK Government’s Online Safety Bill are the latest attempts to target illegal online content, particularly on social media platforms; but Dr Greig Paul of the University of Strathclyde believes that the struggles to balance moderation with free speech, and the sheer scale of social media, means that such efforts are unlikely to succeed.

ANALYSIS: With business, security and many other aspects of everyday life increasingly reliant on software, the frequency of attacks on the software supply chain – and their potential impact – is growing; Sarah Sloan, Palo Alto Networks’ Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for ANZ, looks at what more Australia could be doing to tackle the software security threat.

ANALYSIS: As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lessons that need to be learned in relation to protecting public spaces from terror attack, and the important balance between community security and the rights of individual citizens.

HOME OFFICE SURVEY: The Home Office is keen to understand frontline responses to domestic abuse involving children – the perceptions, experiences and training of police responding to these types of incidents – as police called to the scene have a critical role in identifying children experiencing domestic abuse. If you are are a police officer in England & Wales, please take a few minutes to complete this short survey.

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 financial crime consultant Richard Gould about enabling financial investigators to “cause mayhem in the criminal community”, the ongoing challenge of trade-based money laundering, and why the decision to discontinue some the UK’s international law enforcement projects was so misguided.

ANALYSIS: Acknowledged as a potentially influential document in shaping UK law enforcement for the future, the Police Foundation’s recently published final report on the Strategic Review of Policing also recommended major changes in tackling organised crime (OC) going forwards; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen considers some of the report’s key points on OC.

LONG READ: Recent years have seen renewed efforts from the UK criminal justice system to tackle domestic abuse and violence against women and girls; but for Robert Wells, founder of Domestic Abuse Business Support (DABS), while the greater focus is welcome, the gender bias across society and in the criminal justice approach to domestic abuse and violence is leaving male victims unrecognised, unsupported and at risk.

ANALYSIS: Following Canada’s legalisation of cannabis, some cities are now looking to decriminalise personal possession of all illegal drugs, as a public health-driven response to the country’s opioid overdose crisis; Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at the background to the proposals, the qualified support from police chiefs such as Toronto’s James Ramer, and how the drug enforcement landscape is shifting.

LONG READ: A research collaboration between Forensic Analytics and criminal justice consultancy Crest Advisory is exploring the role of technology in the criminal exploitation of children by ‘county lines’ gangs; in this first long-read article from the research, Joe Caluori and Beth Mooney consider what law enforcement agencies can learn from the early use of tech by county lines operators.

ANALYSIS: As new footage continues to highlight horrific images of the devastation wrought by the Russian military in Ukraine, preparations are already underway to ensure that war criminals can be prosecuted post-conflict; Policing Insight contributor Gareth Bryon, and former police detective and war crime investigator Howard Tucker, consider the challenges facing those trying to build a case, and the processes involved.

FEATURE: The latest report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse has highlighted a “large and growing gap” between the estimated prevalence of child sexual abuse in England and Wales and the official recorded figures, as well as “significant” regional variations in both child protection plans and the levels of offences recorded by police, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter 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 criminologist and author Professor Dick Hobbs about the impossibility of eradicating organised crime, the importance of localised knowledge in understanding criminal activity, and whether the term ‘organised crime’ really has any value.

LONG READ: The recent Strategic Review of Policing called for those facing a charge for drugs possession to be ‘consistently diverted toward a social intervention and away from the criminal justice system’; independent consultant Geoff Monaghan takes a closer look at what the recommendation means, and considers whether this represents a new route or well-worn track for drug misusing offenders.

ANALYSIS: As recent terrorist attacks in Israel have increased tensions again in the region, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks back at the first incident of exported terrorism from the UK – the 2003 bombing of Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv – and considers how such events have shaped the country’s counter-terror stance and response to home-grown terrorism.

ANALYSIS: A new survey of UK counter-fraud teams has highlighted a surging crime generating huge volumes of data, with specialists struggling to secure investment in technology and recruit staff; but despite the challenges, the report also points to pockets of best practice and opportunities to improve prevention, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: Despite travel restrictions imposed during Covid – and with the war in Ukraine now sparking a refugee exodus – criminal networks smuggling people into Europe increased their activity in 2021 after several years of declining figures, according to the latest Europol Migrant Smuggling Centre Report; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen looks at the report and highlights its key findings.

ANALYSIS: The New York Police Department and Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, are caught on the horns of a dilemma – how to tackle the city’s spiralling gun crime while controlling the community resentment created by years of overzealous law enforcement; Policing Insight contributors Gareth Bryon and Dr Dorothy Moses Schulz explore the strategies that Mr Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell will use to re-balance public safety concerns.

ANALYSIS: Often overlooked, unrecognised and under-reported, the violent abuse experienced by some mothers at the hands of their adult children is often exacerbated by gendered expectations around caring and parenting, and requires understanding and long-term support, as Anglia Ruskin University PhD Candidate Thien Trang Nguyen Phan explains.

ANALYSIS: A recent operation backed by Europol and Eurojust saw police arrest more than 100 organised crime suspects in Latvia and Lithuania, and close down a scam call centre operation generating millions of euros; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the operation itself, and how European collaborations are playing a vital role in tackling financial crime and large-scale money laundering.

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 Steve Hone, former National Crime Agency (NCA) Regional Manager for North America, Canada and the Caribbean and now an independent serious and organised crime consultant, about Afghanistan, targeting crack, and the importance of covert human intelligence sources.

FEATURE: Five years after the Westminster Bridge attack in which PC Keith Palmer and four members of the public died, a new review by Lord Toby Harris into London’s preparedness and ability to respond to potential terror attacks has found “very substantial progress” – but warns against complacency, and highlights the damaging impact of austerity and funding cuts on counter-terror policing and wider partnership networks, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.