Neighbourhood/community policing

INTERVIEW: Metropolitan Police Commander Dr Alison Heydari is the UK’s most senior black female officer, leading for the force on neighbourhood policing and nationally on out-of-court disposals; in the first in a two-part interview, she spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the importance for leaders of listening to staff, the need to recognise and praise work done well, and the vital role of resilience in coping with change.

FEATURE: While many law enforcement organisations around the world are facing challenges over legitimacy and community confidence, a new survey of Ireland’s An Garda Síochána has revealed increased public trust levels in the force of more than 90%, and a widespread belief that the organisation is well-managed and effective at tackling crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: In this latest article in a series on 21st century community engagement, Intensive Engagement Managing Director Richard James (a former police territorial commander), Stephen Carr, Transformation Strategy Lead for the Home Office, and Police Foundation Research Director Andy Higgins build on the findings of the recent Strategic Review of Policing to explore local policing and leadership through the themes of people, problems and places.

OPINION: While law enforcement has increasingly acknowledged that improving trust and building relationships with communities are key to successful policing, the skills necessary to establish those relationships are often overlooked in police training or dismissed as ‘common sense’; former Arlington County Master Police Officer Dimitrios Mastoras argues that structured training for officers in building relationships with stakeholders could deliver significant benefits for both policing and the public.

FEATURE: Edmonton Police Service are leading on a partnership approach to providing a wide range of support services for individuals coming into regular contact with frontline officers, a programme which has seen significant reductions in police contact and criminal behaviour post-intervention, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in a shooting in Liverpool has highlighted the city’s continuing struggle with gangs, guns and violent crime; Dr Robert Hesketh, Policing Studies lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, believes a continuing pattern of social exclusion and poverty is leading to organised crime and violence on Merseyside and elsewhere, but that preventative policing could be a step towards solving the problems.

INTERVIEW: Having policed the city for more than 30 years, San Antonio Police Department Assistant Chief Karen Falks has seen huge changes to the community and the policing role; she talked to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the importance of open data in gaining public trust, the challenges of the ever-changing criminal landscape, and the millennial view of policing careers.

INTERVIEW: It’s rare – if not unique – that a chief officer gets to build a sizeable new police department from scratch, setting out their vision, choosing their team, and implementing the latest processes and technologies; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Chief Norm Lipinski of Canada’s new Surrey Police Service about the combination of community focus and business acumen that he believes can build ‘a top-tier organization’.

ANALYSIS: With public services under increasing pressure, leaders need to refresh their thinking on harnessing the considerable untapped resources in every community; in the second in a series of articles, Intensive Engagement’s Richard James (a former police territorial commander), Citizens in Policing specialist Dr Iain Britton, and Jayne Pascoe (Neighbourhood Watch Network) suggest there is no shortage of support available – but can leaders turn the key to unlock this resource?

ANALYSIS: Purposeful community engagement is now widely recognised and recommended as a crucial step in delivering social change, including policies around crime reduction, preventing radicalisation, and building trust and confidence in policing; in the first of a series of articles, Intensive Engagement’s Richard James (a former police territorial commander) and Associate Professor Dr Tim Curtis explore the essential processes needed to create focused, sustainable and effective community engagement.

ANALYSIS: The UK has seen inward migration for several decades, and the growing refugee crises around the world suggest the number of foreign nationals residing in the country will continue to rise; James Williams, Policing Studies Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, believes police forces in England and Wales could and should be doing more to communicate and engage with the UK’s foreign national community.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Demands have grown but tackling them is so complex that it is undermining common-sense policing, West Midlands Chief Constable Sir David Thompson QPM tells Policing Insight and PolicingTV Publisher Bernard Rix who met Sir David for a walk-and-talk as part of his Policing Friendship Tour across the British Isles and around the world, meeting people across the spectrum of policing.

ANALYSIS: Last week, the Home Secretary announced that volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be authorised to carry Taser, but is it the right move and will it happen? Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: Boulder PD Chief Maris Herold has a wealth of policing experience, including at the forefront of significant reform; she spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the holistic governance approach, the importance of involving communities and other agencies in tackling gun crime, and why police departments need to focus more strongly on prevention rather than reaction.

OPINION: Proactive policing strategies can be key tools in tackling crimes that blight neighbourhoods – but over-used or applied in isolation, they can do severe damage to community relations; Andrew Trevino, a Detective Investigator with San Antonio PD and passionate advocate for proactive policing, looks at some of the main proactive strategies employed by US forces, and shares his own experiences of why respect is an equally essential part of the officer toolkit.

ANALYSIS: The police recognition of and response to honour-based abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation, while well intentioned, regularly fails to provide adequate support for victims; Jennifer Holton, Citizens in Policing Manager for Wiltshire Police, draws on her own experience and research into the issues (including her Master’s thesis) to highlight key challenges and opportunities for change.

LONG READ: The use of naloxone by officers to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses is being trialled by several UK forces, having saved hundreds of lives in the US and Canada, and debates are ongoing in Australia and New Zealand – but not everyone believes it’s the best way forward; Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro takes an in-depth look at the impact the medication can have, how and where it is being used, and the barriers to a wider roll-out.

OPINION: Québec is currently experiencing its second province-wide pandemic curfew, introduced at the end of December in response to the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant; but for Brandon University’s Professor Christopher Schneider, the new restrictions bring with them a dangerous expansion in police discretionary powers that could lead to the inconsistent and unfair application of enforcement.

INTERVIEW: When the citizens of Queen Creek, Arizona voted in favour of establishing a new police department, experienced Chief of Police Randy Brice was given the job of creating the organisation; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the challenges of recruiting during Covid, to a tight deadline, while ensuring the town’s community has a strong voice in the mission, values and vision of its new PD.

FEATURE: San Diego Police Department regularly held 170 community meetings every month to encourage public engagement, but when the pandemic arrived, citizen contact moved from face-to-face to online; now the force is hoping a new web-based survey approach will increase public reach and ensure the department’s policing priorities reflect those of the community, as Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend reports.

OPINION: While there was a familiar ring to much of the UK Government’s recently unveiled ‘Beating Crime Plan’, continuing pressure on resources (both human financial) means delivering a new-look local policing approach is still a major challenge; Steve Ainsworth, Executive Director of NEC Software Solutions UK, believes technology can lead to more effective targeting of offences and offenders, and give young-in-service officers the vital knowledge they need to succeed.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: West Mercia Police Community Support Officer Aidan Goundry believes introducing a limited promotion framework for PCSOs could help forces to retain experience and local engagement; he’s also preparing to embark on an international charity project delivering ambulances to The Gambia, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix during a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

opinion: Promoting a single equality cause as overtly as this week's pictures of the LGBT rainbow emblem on police liveried vehicles could inadvertently discriminate against other protected groups, argues Evan Morris, Vice Chairman of the National Association of Police Fire and Crime Panels

ANALYSIS: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and remain worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Professors Richard Rosenfeld and David Klinger of the University of Missouri, St. Louis outline how tackling three key issues – subduing the pandemic, redoubling smart policing tactics and implementing police reform – could provide a three-pronged strategy for reducing violent crime.