Policy and practice

FEATURE: The launch in March of the Police Foundation’s influential Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was heralded by many as an opportunity to rethink and reset some of the key policing parameters, aims and approaches; ahead of next month’s conference focusing on the Review, Canterbury Centre for Policing Research Director Dr Martin O’Neill revisits some of those recommendations, and considers a few of the important questions that will be debated over the two days.

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’.

FEATURE: Data is widely recognised as a key enabler in policing’s digital transformation, but the quality of that data is crucial, especially when it comes to location; Phill Ridley of 1Spatial, Durham Chief Constable Jo Farrell, and Teresa Ashforth, PND Data Quality & Standards Lead at the Home Office, highlight the benefits that can be achieved through the use of UPRNs, and the steps that all forces can take to improve their data quality.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The National Police Chiefs' Council Disability in Policing Conference, supported by Policing Insight, is a unique opportunity improve equality and inclusion for one of the largest protected groups in policing. Register today for the event taking place 28th-29th September at the Holiday Inn Coventry.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of this week’s London Policing College workshop on policing public protest in Germany, keynote speaker Dr Bernd Bürger of the Bavarian Police Institute of Further Education spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the importance of communication and negotiation in handling demonstrations, the need for officers and commanders to have expertise and experience, and the benefits of establishing full-time public order policing units.

FEATURE: With more than 240,000 legitimate firearms holders among New Zealand’s five million population, and a large hunting community, previous attempts to tighten firearms licensing have been met with long and loud opposition; but plans for a new gun registry to target firearms criminality have gathered pace in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, and will come into effect next year, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With policing seemingly under continuous pressure – financial, political and public – it’s clear that to deliver the best possible service, parts of the job need rethinking, and others a radical overhaul; Iain Donnelly, a former officer and now author, podcaster and policing technical consultant, suggests 10 “relatively quick” fixes which also highlight the need for more common sense in UK policing, especially among senior leaders.

ANALYSIS: With police budgets under pressure as countries around the world face the prospect of recession, and the worsening economic situation likely to drive an increase in crime, the relationship between policing and the private sector will be more important than ever; Policing Insight’s Michael Hardiman, a former economist with Australia’s Victoria Police, looks at the challenges posed by the economic pressures, and opportunities arising from them.

FEATURE: A new mental health project launched by Cambridgeshire Constabulary to identify frontline detectives suffering from compassion fatigue has found that significant numbers are at ‘high risk’ and will be offered tailored support and treatment, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: This week sees a unique workshop focusing on cyber policing challenges hosted by India’s National Forensic Sciences University, with input, expertise and best practice shared by the UK’s London Policing College and the Royal Thai Police Cadet Academy, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: With an increasing array of contact channels and growing complexity of calls, emergency service control rooms are facing a “data tsunami”; the solution, says David Jackson, Director of Business Engagement at the Police Digital Service, is the increased use of technology to identify relevant and useful data, and to monitor the impact of potentially traumatic contact on call handlers, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr-Munro reports.

ANALYSIS: The ground-breaking Operation Soteria-Bluestone initiative seeks to improve the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences, and has highlighted the impact on those investigating such cases; Research Fellows Richard Harding and Dr Arun Sondhi, and Dr Emma Williams (Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships), of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning, look at the early findings in relation to learning, wellbeing and officer burnout, and the important role of the organisational environment.

INTERVIEW: With a career combining operational policing and complex investigation with academia, Dr Tracey Green recently took up her post as CEO of the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency with greater insight than most into the demands facing law enforcement; she spoke to Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter about the Agency’s work on immediate and long-term policing challenges, the importance of sharing good practice, and the benefits of collaboration between police and academics.

ANALYSIS: New Zealand Police’s Understanding Policing Delivery programme represents a new approach to delivering on fairness and equity; Deputy Chief Executive Mark Evans, chair of the Governance Group guiding this work, explains more about the programme and how working with senior community representatives, experienced academics and local researchers aims to deliver evidence-based insights and opportunities with wide-ranging support – including from frontline Police staff.

INTERVIEW: Restorative justice (RJ) has been long been recognised as a potentially effective alternative to traditional criminal justice processes in many countries, but adoption of the approach has been much slower in the US; one keen advocate is Durham PD Chief Patrice Andrews, who spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the benefits of RJ, its role in reducing crime, and the support among officers for this and other diversionary tools.

OPINION: Policing is well aware of the performance and procedural justice scrutiny it faces in its external relationships; but Detective Chief Inspector Alisa Wilson of Lancashire Constabulary, who retires from policing this week after 21 years in the service, believes that a stronger leadership commitment to wellbeing and internal procedural justice, reinforced by the new Police Covenant, could truly change policing culture.

FEATURE: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recently launched its new Police Encounter Panels (PEPs) to provide feedback on the use of force by officers and build closer relationships with the community; MPS Inspector Zed Asghar spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the aim of the PEPs, and how virtual reality technology was offering Panel members greater insight into the difficult decisions officers face.

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FEATURE: Almost a third of women experiencing the menopause consider quitting their jobs because of the severity of their symptoms, yet employers including police forces have been slow to offer support and advice; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons looks at the efforts within Thames Valley Police to address those issues and ensure that its growing female workforce have the support they need.

OPINION: Despite the high murder rate in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, few cases ever make it to the courts; Dr Douglas Lucas Kivoi of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis believes that poor evidence gathering, police negligence and recklessness, a lack of forensic capability and claims of police involvement in extra-judicial killings are among the reasons behind the failure to solve so many murders, and sets out some key steps to address the issues.

INTERVIEW: In the second part of his interview with Policing Insight, Superintendents’ Association President Paul Fotheringham spoke to Keith Potter about the structural and operational challenges facing the rank, the pressures on measuring and improving performance, and the importance of focusing on wellbeing and good leadership.

INNOVATION: A start-up project pioneered by four UK universities is using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify patterns of tech-facilitated coercive control sent by perpetrators through text messages; researchers believe the project, which recently received a £115,000 funding boost from the Home Office, could develop an AI tool that will encourage more victims of domestic abuse and coercive control to come forward, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

FEATURE: Several UK police forces have pushed ahead with pilot schemes and the wider roll out of opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone for frontline officers, despite opposition from some staff associations; now a new report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has called for increased support and training for officers as part of a ‘national joined-up approach’ to its use, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: Recent campaigns have led to longer sentences for those who assault emergency services workers, but a new report from Transform Justice analyses why such sanctions are not working; Transform Justice Director Penelope Gibbs believes better support for staff, improved training and alternative responses to those in mental health crisis may be more effective.