Policy and practice

FEATURE: For Professor Betsy Stanko, co-lead of Operation Soteria Bluestone, policing’s “corporate culture” needs to change; during an event hosted at New Scotland Yard, she called for a new mindset that sees forces learn the right lessons about how they handle rape and serious sexual offences, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

ANALYSIS: Robust performance measurement practices are instrumental in demonstrating police accountability, transparency and improvement, all key steps to strengthening public confidence in policing; but a new RAND Europe study of international approaches has highlighted both the dangers of disjointed police performance measurement, and innovative approaches from law enforcement around the world, as RAND analyst Emma Zürcher explains.

ANALYSIS: The consequences of labelling – both for citizens and for police – can be significant, particularly in relation to officers’ own perception of their role as guardians or a ‘warrior mindset’; Matthew Wood, a police constable with Toronto Police Service and part-time professor at the Seneca College School of Public Safety, explores these issues in relation to the ‘grey zone’ of law enforcement, the importance of police discretion, and what steps can be taken to improve policing outcomes.

FEATURE: With tomorrow marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, Dr Sarah Jane Fox of the University of Leicester Law School explores the history and significance behind the date, the continuing need to fund the campaign to tackle VAWG nationally and globally, and the frightening death toll of female victims likely to lose their lives between now and Christmas.

FEATURE: Artificial intelligence was a major item on the agenda at this month’s Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and National Police Chiefs’ Council Partnership Summit, where a panel including Policing Minister Chris Philp, National Police Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Paul Taylor, West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor Alison Lowe, and Professor Marion Oswald of the Alan Turing Institute explored how this technology will transform policing, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: An autism passport scheme flags specific issues for individuals – both things that can help interaction, and things that can cause anxiety or stress – on the Guernsey Police records management system, raising real-time warnings and markers for control room operators and responding officers and improving outcomes for all involved, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: South Africa is facing continued growth in violent crime, and reconfigured policing strategies designed to tackle the problem seem to have had little success; Stellenbosch University’s Dr Guy Lamb argues that a more collaborative approach from police working with local communities, and the proper funding and implementation of the country’s Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, would be the most effective way forward.

OPINION: With policing facing an expanding array of increasingly complex crime challenges, there is huge potential for digital transformation to help forces tackle that burden; Charlotte Hails, Justice & Policing Lead for Virgin Media O2 Business, argues that closer partnerships between policing and the private sector could help to overcome some of the existing constraints, and unlock the operational efficiencies that can enable forces to thrive.

FEATURE: The importance of forensics in police investigations cannot be overstated, and their increasingly crucial role has been one of the driving forces behind the recent launch of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Code of Practice; the role of forensics, and the understanding and implications of the new Code, were the key topics for discussion in a recent @WeCops online chat, hosted by Thames Valley Police Head of Forensics Kay Hannam, and Head of Forensic Accreditation, Caroline Rust.

FEATURE: After a tumultuous week in UK policing – one which saw tensions between the Met and national politicians dominate the headlines, followed by the eventual departure of Home Secretary Suella Braverman – Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley joined the Institute for Government to set out his plans to keep reform of the country’s largest police force on track, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

LONG READ: The difficulties policing faces around the scale and complexity of digital data are widely acknowledged, but what about the potential for new technology to overcome some of those challenges? In the second in a series of five features looking at the police use of data, Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at some of the ways new tech – including automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning – are being employed in both investigative and preventative approaches.

FEATURE: A new report by a cross-party committee of UK MPs has described the need for policing to “repair its culture” in the face of increasingly complex demands and failures that have damaged confidence in the service as a “turning point for the police”, amid warnings that “marginal changes” will not be enough to improve services and rebuild public trust, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The UK’s neighbourhood policing focus has dwindled significantly over the past decade, as forces enduring funding cuts redirected resources towards response policing and emerging complex threats; University of East London Policing Professor John Coxhead argues that although the Uplift recruitment programme has led to an increase in the workforce, pledges to recruit a new wave of neighbourhood officers will see forces facing fresh challenges around building teams from scratch, and gaining the trust and confidence of communities.

INTERVIEW: Sectarianism in Scotland remains a largely hidden problem, only usually hitting the headlines when tied to football violence or tensions at religious parades, but it’s an issue that policing has to confront on a regular basis; Policing Insight’s Martin Gallagher spoke to subject specialists Dr Michael Rosie of the University of Edinburgh and Professor Mark Boyle of Ireland’s Maynooth University about the background to Scottish sectarianism, what more could be done to tackle the issue, and what challenges it holds for policing in Scotland in the future.

ANALYSIS: A long-term approach to using technology, data analysis and information sharing to deliver significant reductions in gun violence in New Jersey has been hailed as the “tipping point in a new era of law enforcement” and is already being adopted and adapted by police and authorities in others states across the US, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recent adoption of the Right Care, Right Person approach to mental health responses by police forces across England and Wales has reignited the debate around policing’s role in such incidents; but as Research Fellow Dr Claire Warrington of the University of York explains, the issue has also highlighted the vulnerability of the police workforce to mental ill-health, and what can be done to meet those challenges.

ANALYSIS: Although Australia maintains a low ranking in the Global Terrorism Index, a shifting focus from jihadist actors to homegrown terrorists, coupled with a surge in terrorism investigations among minors, suggests that radicalisation among disaffected and troubled teenagers is a growing problem – one which, if ignored, could lead to disaster, warns Australian Strategic Policy Institute visiting fellow William Frangia.

ANALYSIS: The UK Government’s efforts to influence policing’s operational response to protests have reached new levels in recent months, and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s comments on the issue would appear to have prompted her sacking; but Wrexham University’s Professor Peter Joyce and Dr Wendy Laverick of Hull University argue that policing independence in relation to protests has been threatened by Conservative governments for some time, and that a fundamental rethink of governance arrangements may be the only long-term answer.

INTERVIEW: In 2020, as Leicestershire Police prepared to greatly increase its officer numbers as part of the Uplift recruitment programme, leaders within the force set about trying to change attitudes, consideration of and delivery of training through the creation of the Team Leicestershire Academy; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to its head Sarah Taylor, and Chief Constable Rob Nixon, about the force’s new methods.

OPINION: Approaches and initiatives that improve police engagement with communities are acknowledged by many in policing as delivering real and long-term benefits, but when it comes to resourcing, are often regarded as ‘nice to haves’ rather than necessary; however, University of Portsmouth Policing Lecturer David Knowles – a specialist in engagement during his 30-year policing career – argues that such engagement is essential in building trust and confidence as well as tackling all levels of crime.

ANALYSIS: A new study from Crest Advisory on the impact of devolving justice approaches to local areas has highlighted the positive outcomes of initiatives aimed at reducing reoffending and supporting specific vulnerable groups in four case study areas, with particular success for “whole-system approaches” delivered under police and crime commissioner and mayoral protocols, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With the Metropolitan Police having come under significant pressure over the past week to ban the planned pro-Palestinian protest in the capital tomorrow (Armistice Day), Edge Hill University Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order specialist, argues that history suggests prohibiting the march is likely to result in widespread violence, with dialogue and facilitation of a peaceful demonstration a much-preferred alternative.

FEATURE: As the parliamentary debates around the legislation set out in the King’s Speech – including a new Victims and Prisoners Bill – got underway, Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove outlined to House of Lords’ colleagues the results of the latest victims experiences survey which underline high levels of dissatisfaction with the police and criminal justice system, and a reluctance to report crimes in the future, as Policing Insight’s Thomas James reports.

FEATURE: With the law enforcement use of artificial intelligence (AI) advancing quickly in the UK and internationally, the National Police Chiefs’ Council recently published a new Covenant for Using AI in Policing; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the main principles in the document, and the wider guidance around the ethical, proportionate and transparent use of AI across criminal justice sectors.