Emergency planning

FEATURE: South Yorkshire Police’s Exercise Oak Apple is working with schools and other organisations to improve lockdown practice in response to on-premises knife crime incidents; Sergeant Simon Kirkham spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how the programme came about, the work that has been done so far, and the potential to roll out the scheme more widely to forces across England and Wales.

FEATURE: With the frequency and severity of wildfires increasing across Europe, a series of innovative new projects has been launched to strengthen wildfire management and readiness, offering valuable guidance to fire services, other first responders, and police and fire commissioners alike, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: The recent wildfires sweeping across Southern California highlight the importance of efficient and effective disaster management; in the wake of this tragedy, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the latest European initiative to harness the benefits of drone technology to provide disaster management agencies and first responders including police with up-to-date and accurate information that can improve resilience, response and recovery in the face of such catastrophes.

FEATURE: With law enforcement playing a vital role in the planning, preparation and response to major disasters, the increasing number of catastrophic weather events – such as the recent devastating flooding in Spain – have highlighted the challenges authorities face in relation to vulnerable victims; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth takes a closer look at the UN’s Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which identifies those vulnerable groups most at risk, and the steps that need to be taken to address that risk.

ANALYSIS: Since January 2024, emergency support to tackle the impact of extreme weather, such as wildfires and landslides, has been requested 29 times via the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM). Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on the findings of the CORE project, led by a unique pan-European consortium of partners, to improve our understanding of the current emergency response to disasters and the role aerial imagery systems play in combatting them.

FEATURE: Large-scale events such as the annual Eurovision Song Contest are a key part of the modern cultural fabric, and require complex co-ordination to overcome traditional and emerging threats; Dr Rebecca Phythian and Dr Michael Smith of Edge Hill University researched the multi-agency approaches to the Eurovision events in Liverpool and Malmö, interviewing partners including police, local authorities and event organisers to identify key learning for future events.

OPINION: Against a backdrop of rapid technological advancement, societal change, and the need for continuous improvement, Canterbury Christ Church University Senior Lecturer in Policing, Dr David Lydon, argues that incorporating futurists into policing could redefine approaches to public safety, enhance community trust, and empower police personnel to navigate the future operating environment with confidence and foresight.

FEATURE: Those most at risk from extreme weather events are often the most vulnerable in society, but a new campaign by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is urging emergency services including police to take preventative steps to ensure those in vulnerable groups do not fall victim to ‘natural disasters’, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: With police and other emergency services on the front line of responses to major disasters, the potential to reduce risk and improve preparedness offers significant benefits; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the findings and lessons learned from the CORE project, a comparative analysis of major incidents including terrorist attack and natural disasters.

FEATURE: University of Tasmania Professor of Criminology Rob White has warned that police officers are currently ill-equipped to deal with the demands of climate change and its associated crimes, and will face exhaustion and extended trauma unless operational approaches are significantly overhauled and more extensive collaborations with other agencies are introduced, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Drowning in the UK accounts for more accidental fatalities annually than fire deaths in the home or cycling deaths on the road, and in many of these incidents the police are the first responders on scene; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the UK’s Drowning Prevention Strategy, the police response, and the work of the RNLI and others in reducing deaths in and around water.

FEATURE: Natural disasters can have a huge impact on communities in any location, but the response from police and emergency services in rural areas can be particularly stretched because of the lack of resources; Dr Jessica Peterson of Southern Oregon University believes law enforcement agencies could gain significant benefits from partnering with academic institutions to improve their preparedness, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

WEBINAR PROMOTION: To save lives and better serve the public, police forces need to receive and share information with internal teams, partners, neighboring agencies and their communities as quickly and efficiently as possible. A global pandemic, social unrest and tightening budgets have exacerbated this need, making it vital for forces to adapt now. Join Hexagon’s Klaus Dalgaard on a webinar to learn how improving collaboration and real-time data sharing can help police forces.

FEATURE: As the impact of climate change on policing continues to be discussed around the world, the UK’s recently updated National Risk Register has highlighted some of the key threats to safety and security, including environmental risks; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at one of those threats – flooding – in more detail, and explores the policing and emergency services planned response, as well as EU research in reducing disaster risk.

FEATURE: The consequences of climate change are increasingly recognised as a growing concern for policing and community safety, and were the subject of a recent @WeCops Twitter Chat; in this article Dr David Lydon of Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), who hosted the chat, reflects on the conversations and comments during the discussion, providing a narrative of the anonymised views and opinions of those taking part.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth takes a look at the UK's new National Risk Register, the most open and transparent Register to date, and considers the implications for policing and other emergency services of the increased focus on partnership approaches.

FEATURE: With the ongoing war in Ukraine highlighting the importance of the co-operation between defence, security and policing organisations in protecting critical infrastructure, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the latest EU research funding call for projects that can strengthen protection and resilience.

FEATURE: To better support policing’s evolution to the changing state of the climate and deal with emergency management, the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) recently spoke to Dr Jarrett Blaustein, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, as ANZPAA Policy and Research Officer Rhiannon Van Vliet explains.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Fortem International, an award-winning tradeshow organiser are proud to see the successful Natural Disasters Expo return to it’s new location of the Messe Frankfurt on the 11th & 12th October 2023. The show is the World’s leading event series for the management and mitigation of natural disaster and has already taken over Singapore, California and Miami and is making its debut in Germany.

FEATURE: With the increasing range, reach and frequency of international crises and disasters, countries around the world are looking to ensure the right measures are in place to strengthen their resilience; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the key themes and principles of the latest UK Resilience Framework, and the emphasis on local responses to national threats and events.

LONG READ: The emergency services response to the flooding in Australia’s Northern Rivers region, which began in February and remains ongoing, has been subject to close scrutiny and two major independent inquiries; Policing Insight’s Alan Beckley examines some of the key findings and recommendations from the two inquiry reports, and considers their implications for policing in the region.