Law and legislation

FEATURE: With cuckooing – the exploitation of vulnerable people by drug gangs who take over their home – not currently classified by the Home Office as a specific crime, the true scale of the problem in the UK remains unclear; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to North-West Regional County Lines Co-ordinator DI Adam Norton, and Intelligence Analyst and PhD candidate Ruth Lewin, about the nature of the crime, and what more can be done to identify and improve support for victims while also strengthening enforcement.

FEATURE: In the second article in a new chapter of The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly explores the role of policing within the wider criminal justice system, including the craft of policing, the importance and impact of discretion, and policing's relationship with the Crown Prosecution Service.

FEATURE: The EU’s Terrorist Content Online Regulation came into effect in June 2022, and included a requirement for media platforms and host service providers (HSPs) to take down terrorist content within an hour of receiving a removal order from a ‘competent authority’; but a new report suggests that a lack of technical expertise and awareness leaves many smaller HSPs struggling to comply with the Regulation, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explains.

OPINION: Several commissions have advocated for the devolution of policing and justice to Wales, but the move doesn’t currently feature in the Labour Government’s plans; Bangor University Law Lecturer Stephen Clear, and Chaynee Hodgetts, a Barrister and Honorary Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, argue that despite the challenges, starting the process of devolution represents an opportunity for the Government to bring about meaningful change.

INTERVIEW: Policing Insight’s recent ‘Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing’ report drew on 34 interviews with operational leaders and experts to examine how police use facial recognition (FR) around the world, and the key debates about the technology; as part of that project, James Sweetland interviewed Dr Nessa Lynch, Matheson Lecturer in Law, Innovation and Technology at University College Cork, about the risk and regulation of FR – and in this article, we share more from that insightful conversation.

OPINION: A series of recent high-profile stabbing incidents in Australia has prompted increased concerns from communities and calls for politicians to act against knife crime; but Macquarie University lecturers Dr Vince Hurley and Dr Alex Simpson argue that, despite public fears, when it comes to knife crime Australia compares favourably with countries such as the UK and Canada.

OPINION: Although Australia is taking a prominent role in protecting those under the age of 16 from the dangers of social media, the debate around the criminal age of responsibility has seen some states push for those 10 and over to be punished for their crimes; Australian Strategic Policy Institute Fellow Anna Alexander argues this inconsistency around age and vulnerability highlights contradictions in the country’s policies, and that a whole-of-government approach is essential to protect at-risk youth.

ANALYSIS: The increase in drug-related extreme violence and the scale of drug seizures across Europe suggest Mexican and South American cartels already view the EU as the ideal location for expansion; former DEA Special Agent Michael Brown, Global Director of Counter-Narcotics Technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, believes steps can be taken by European governments and law enforcement to thwart that expansion – but will require political will, increased co-operation, and better use of technology.

FEATURE: The murder of Wolverhampton teenager Ronan Kanda in 2022 highlighted a serious issue around illegal online knife sales in the UK; speaking at the recent Police Superintendents’ Association conference, Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead on knife crime, explored the threat posed by irresponsible retailers and third-party sellers – and how the police aim to tackle it, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

ANALYSIS: The recent signing of an EU convention on artificial intelligence (AI) brought the full implementation of the EU AI Act a step closer; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, exceptions to the regulations called for by European police chiefs have been agreed in principle by legislators, and should reflect the need to respect the confidentiality of sensitive operational data.

FEATURE: In the first in a new chapter in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly sets out the key issues for this chapter – how our criminal justice system works, why it works the way that it does, is it fulfilling its purposes, and why that matters for student police officers.

OPINION: Senior Lecturer in Policing at Edgehill University Owen West reflects on the nature of the recent riots and their impact on legislation. He says the early signs are the new government is planning to adopt its predecessor's ‘bad law’ around minor protests.

ANALYSIS: Animal cruelty is recognised in the US as both a potential predictor of intimate partner violence, and as a way to perpetrate that violence; research by Professor Lynn Addington of the American University found that intimate partner violence incidents involving animal cruelty are more likely to end with an arrest, reiterating the importance of expanding intimate partner violence protection laws to include pets, and the need for strong partnerships between police and humane law enforcement departments.

FEATURE: The widespread UK public disorder fuelled by online hate and misinformation in the wake of the murder of three young girls led to the jailing of a number of people for stirring up racial hatred in online messages; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the HATEDEMICS initiative which uses artificial intelligence to hamper the spread of hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories.

OPINION: Amid concerns that the recent riots in the UK were fuelled by misinformation spread on social media, some have questioned whether the Online Safety Act passed last year needs to be revisited; however, Associate Professor Dr Olivia Brown and Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Alicia Cork of the University of Bath argue that with parts of the Act not due to come into effect until late 2024, the effectiveness of the legislation won’t be fully understood until it has been tested in another situation like the recent riots.

FEATURE: Crimes in the metaverse may be taking place in a virtual reality, but their impact can be felt in the real world; Griffith University Lecturer Dr Ausma Bernot, Lecturer Dr Kai Lin of the University of Technology Sydney, Charles Sturt University Lecturer Dr Milind Tiwari, and Assistant Lecturer You Zhou of Monash University, explore what ‘metacrimes’ are, and what steps can be taken to tackle them.

OPINION: The New Zealand Government is continuing its crackdown on gangs, with a new specialist National Gang Unit and a ban on wearing gang patches in public among measures set out in planned legislation; but Auckland University of Technology Associate Professor Antje Deckert, and University of Melbourne Professor Juan Tauri, argue the proposals ignore research evidence that such policies are likely to backfire.

ANAYLSIS: A review of stalking in London, carried out by the city’s Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman, describes the response to victims as “woefully inadequate” and calls for legislative reform, increased awareness and training, and updated protocols from police chiefs and prosecutors to improve criminal justice outcomes and support for victims across England and Wales, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The Protect Duty under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft bill, known as Martyn’s Law, was drawn up in response to the death of Martyn Hett and 21 other innocent victims of the Manchester Arena terrorist attacks, and was one of the key topics discussed at the recent Counter-Terror Expo in London, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: At the recent Counter-Terror Expo in London, Commander Dominic Murphy of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Command set out the continuing challenges facing the countries counter-terror policing efforts, and the crucial role played by officers and staff in tackling a range of “diverse and unpredictable” threats, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

OPINION: Already a criminal offence in the UK and parts of Australia, coercive control in intimate relationships looks set to be crimimalized in Canada under legislation making its way through the Senate; but PhD student Eden Hoffer and Professor Nadine Wathen of Western University, Ontario, argue that – because of the nature of the criminal justice system, and gender-neutral policies – criminalizing coercive control could also criminalize more women victim-survivors of intimate partner violence.

REPORT LAUNCH: Policing Insight launches a new thematic report – Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing. The report aims to be a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about facial recognition; with contributions from 34 expert stakeholders from around the world, we explain the technology and highlight the big debates around its use.

OPINION: The pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses in the US and around the world have prompted fresh debates around policing, public order and people’s right to protest; Jess Reia, Assistant Professor of Data Science at the University of Virginia, argues that decisions over what constitutes urban disorder often target the most disadvantaged communities, and that deploying big data under the guise of enforcing public order can backfire.

ANALYSIS: With the ongoing fentanyl crisis claiming hundreds of lives ever day in North America, a new class of synthetic opioids – nitazenes – is causing real concern both in the US and more widely, including the UK, Canada and Australia; former Ottawa Police Service Chief Vernon White takes a closer look at the background to both the growth of fentanyl, the emergence of nitazenes, and the steps countries are taking to tackle the threat.