Innovation

FEATURE: Research recently published by domestic abuse and violence against women, girls and children (VAWG/C) specialist Judith Vickress, founder of community interest company RiTA (Rural Initiatives Tackling Abuse), is calling for policymakers and agencies to recognise the “paradox of community” that often means rural domestic violence is "invisible", and to ensure a co-ordinated approach that structures responses around rural reality is incorporated into efforts to tackle VAWG/C, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The increased potential for the misuse of drone to threaten public safety has long been recognised; the range of measures introduced by the United States – both in terms of counter-drone technology, training, and new legislation – to protect fans and teams at this year’s World Cup offer lessons for nations around the world, and will be further developed to amplify protective measures for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INTERVIEW: Sex work liaison officers (SWLOs) exist in fewer than one in four forces in England and Wales, but a new study evaluating approaches to violence against sex workers in Gwent highlights the “transformative” nature of the role; University of the West of England Assistant Professor Duncan McPhee, who led the team carrying out the research, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how SWLOs can restore the “trust deficit” between police and sex workers, and why the role should be formalised across forces.

INNOVATION: In the first of three articles exploring data-driven policing and artificial intelligence (AI), Wilfrid Laurier University Assistant Professor Dr Oliver R. Stoetzer highlights the importance of investing in both technological capability and personnel, the need for greater digital literacy across the workforce, and why the real challenge of technological development for law enforcement may be less about whether it will influence policing and more about how deliberately and effectively services prepare for that reality.

INTERVIEW: Police forces need to ensure that evidence-based policing approaches – including independent academic evaluation and a clear decision framework – are applied to new technology projects, says Hertfordshire Constabulary ACC Dr Nick Caveney, Policing Chair of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research & Learning, to enable forces to “stop early, learn transparently, and reinvest wisely” when innovation is not delivering the desired results, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: An Adult Sex Work Referrals Hub created as part of Operation Pluto is partnering with the Changing Lives charity to source intelligence anonymously from sex workers that can enable police forces across England and Wales to identify and disrupt offenders, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The combination of the Government’s police reform proposals and the Crime and Policing Act 2026 mean that modernisation of policing in England and Wales is now essential and inevitable, says former South Wales Police detective and intelligence expert Steve Dodd, who argues that the changes should ensure neighbourhood policing becomes an integrated rather than isolated element of the uniform role, alongside the implementation of a community intelligence-led policing methodology.

FEATURE: While politicians and the media have focused on the political rhetoric of ‘smashing the gangs’ and ‘stopping the boats’ to tackle the continuing problem of cross-Channel illegal immigration, a new round of EU grants – open to police, academics, charities and the private sector in the UK – are on offer for innovative solutions to dismantle and disrupt criminal networks, their ringleaders and enablers behind criminal activities including people and drug trafficking, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INTERVIEW: Question prompts driven by artificial intelligence (AI) could offer real-time assistance to investigative interviewers and enhance child interview quality, according to a pilot study, but also risk officers’ over-reliance on the new technology; Liisa Järvilehto, a clinical forensic psychologist at Helsinki University Hospital and PhD candidate at Åbo Akademi University, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that the ambitious goals around the use of AI in interviewing needed a balance of enthusiasm and care.

INNOVATION: Hate crime investigations are among the most complex and emotionally charged cases for officers, with more than half of cases ending due to victim attrition; Metropolitan Police Inspector Craig Went highlights the results of a new ‘secondary reassurance contact’ approach, developed with colleague DCI Dan Whitten, in which a relatively small change in process is leading to a significant reduction in victim withdrawals.

INTERVIEW: Following on from the recent Police Interview Summit organised by interview tools and software specialists Davidhorn, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to company CEO Børge Hansen about the value of closer collaboration and understanding between police and suppliers, the importance of developing investigative interviewing skills through an officer’s career, and why forces should look beyond upfront technology costs to recognise the long-term operational benefits of technology investment.

OPINION: The Government has set out clear ambitions to save police officers in England and Wales six million hours through technology, and invest in AI to cut the Crown Court backlog that’s predicted to hit 100,000 cases by November 2027; Alex Lowe of public safety technology experts Axon argues that those aims are two ends of the same solution – a digital thread running from the first 999 call to the final verdict – which needs to be treated as a whole-system approach to justice technology.

OPINION: Implicit bias training has become the default policy response to disproportionate use of force, but evidence suggests it changes knowledge, not behaviour; organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson looks to an unexpected source – the world of professional poker – for a more effective approach, grounded in neuroscience rather than sociology.

FEATURE: A groundbreaking multi-agency Women’s Safety Unit in West Yorkshire, based on a partnership between the county’s Combined Authority, Violence Reduction Partnership and West Yorkshire Police, has cut rape investigation times by 40%, reduced the number of cases lost as a result of victim disengagement, and is “turning the tide on trust and confidence” with a satisfaction rate of more than 85% for domestic abuse victims with policing, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The cybersecurity governance now in place in the NHS has been prompted by a series of painful catalysts, but the end result is a mandatory assessment framework open to public inspection; independent researcher and governance adviser Vsevolod Shabad argues that policing in the UK has plenty to learn from the NHS experience, as well as the opportunity through partnership with government to build something better.

INNOVATION: The fully automated Trauma Tracker system launched by Avon and Somerset Police will enable line managers and wellbeing professionals to proactively manage workforce exposure to trauma, as well as giving officers and staff regular updates on the possible impact that traumatic incidents may have on their wellbeing, as Inspector Stuart King explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Last year’s National Police Chiefs’ Council Innovation and Digital Summit and the subsequent proposals in the Government’s police reform white paper have put the development of technology firmly in focus for UK policing; Policing Insight’s Martin Buhagiar spoke to Humberside Chief Constable Chris Todd, Chair of the National Police Data and Analytics Board, about the tech opportunities offered by the planned reforms, the growing enthusiasm for better exploitation of data, and the need for intuitive solutions.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the findings of a recent study that highlights the role that conspiracy theories spread online play in driving extremist beliefs, and explores some of the subjects to be discussed and organisations involved in next month’s Terrorism and Social Media Conference.

OPINION: As debates continues about the Met Police’s use of the AI-based Palantir system to covertly identify corruption and misconduct among officers, Leeds Trinity University Policing Lecturer Adam Stokes, a former police officer, argues that one question which needs to be asked is not whether the algorithm can be trusted when it comes to supervision, but why the humans could not be.

OPINION: The ‘local to national’ UK police reform proposals offer a revolution of idealism, says former South Wales Police detective Steve Dodd, a subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, who argues that the community intelligence-led policing methodology approach – offering enhanced visibility across local police areas and promoting increased intelligence gathering – could create the profound change needed to deliver crime prevention through community-led intelligence.

NEW REPORT: A new Police Digital Experience Survey, carried out by Policing Insight with the backing of stakeholders including the NPCC, Police Federation and Home Office, is highlighting calls from officers and staff for increased integration of police IT, improved training, and greater user input into the design of systems, amid concerns that current technology provisions are harming performance as well as damaging both the service delivered to the public and the wellbeing of users.

OPINION: The future communications for the UK’s emergency services should not be a choice between TETRA or broadband, argues Ian Waddell Vice-President of International Managed & Support Services at Motorola Solutions, but both and more, with a hybrid solution that combines the best of tried and trusted capabilities with the latest technologies of today.

INTERVIEW: Following the launch of the UK’s National Knife Crime Centre (NKCC), Commander Stephen Clayman, the officer leading the centre, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the role of the NKCC, efforts to “join up the dots” to tackle the sale and importation of knives, and the need to improve both data collection and understanding around knife crime.

OPINION: In the final part of the series of articles exploring UK policing’s software landscape, organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson looks at the challenges and opportunities offered by policing’s largest technology supplier – Microsoft – and questions whether policing’s relationship with the US tech giant needs to be significantly restructured as part of modernisation and reform process.