Policy and practice

ANALYSIS: DNA and other biometric samples are retained in the UK under clear regulations and an overarching legal framework; but as Post-Doctoral Researcher Karen Richmond of the University of Copenhagen explains, misaligned legislation between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, means that more than one million samples are being illegally retained – leaving police personnel who enrol those subject onto databases open to litigation.

OPINION: 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, Professor Michael Fortner of City University of New York explores the political limitations of the ‘causal story’ attached to #defund and why a blended reform approach rather than the moral clarity of police abolition will save more lives.

FEATURE: Wales has been a pioneering country in its public-health approach to policing, but now a multi-agency initiative is aiming to create a truly trauma-informed nation that understands and recognises the impact of adverse childhood experiences, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

OPINION: The recent announcement that the Home Office is considering new police performance measures for forces in England and Wales drew a strong negative response from the service; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett, a former member of the NPCC Performance Management Committee and national lead for continuous improvement, outlines the key concerns around league tables and the inevitable targets that follow, and suggests an alternative approach.

FEATURE: A six-month secondment to Police Scotland enabled two Vietnamese officers to support the force’s work targeting organised crime groups involved in trafficking people into the country from Vietnam; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons spoke to Detective Superintendent Fil Capaldi, Police Scotland’s lead for modern slavery and human trafficking, about the ‘lawfully audacious and exploratory approach’.

FEATURE: A new Social Media Management & Engagement Framework has been launched by the Police Digital Service, to enable forces to meet nationally agreed strategy standards on consistency and engagement, with the potential for using digital channels for both emergency and non-emergency contact, as Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and gun violence remains worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Dr Maria (Maki) Haberfeld of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice argues that improving national standards in law enforcement and taking politics out of policing would be much more effective in reducing violence than defunding the police.

OPINION: In his latest article in relation to the Strategic Review of Policing, Police Foundation Director Dr Rick Muir sets out the key steps needed for an effective crime prevention strategy – including a ‘duty to prevent crime’ on the private sector, a national agency working with big tech to tackle online crime, and Cabinet Office ownership and leadership.

INNOVATION: With increasing pressure on policing restricting opportunities for research and innovation, a new EU funding programme – to which UK forces still have access – could offer fresh avenues for transformation and change that will enable law enforcement to tackle existing and emerging threats, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: A unique collaboration between the UK’s Joint International Policing Hub (JIPH) and the People’s Police Academy in Vietnam has led to a lasting legacy for Vietnamese police training in tackling human trafficking; DI Mark O’Donoghue of the JIPH spoke to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons about the project.

OPINION: At a time when relationships between police and some communities are under growing strain, and in an era when law enforcement is encouraged to engage more positively through social media, there is always a danger that police forces themselves become the ‘fake news’; when that happens it’s important to address the problem quickly and effectively, explains Yael Bar tur, digital communications expert and former NYPD Director of Social Media.

OPINION: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and gun violence remains worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, DeVone Boggan, CEO of Advance Peace, explains why investing in ‘Violence Interrupters’ – reformed gun offenders operating as mediators, de-escalation experts and violence interventionists – has the real potential to drive change in gun-impacted communities.

INNOVATION: With the first round of security projects funded by the S-TRIG programme now presented publicly, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the advantages of the early stage funding competition, and the success of Project Artifact, a screening and detection system that received a £30,000 grant through the process.

OPINION: The guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd should be the catalyst for fundamental change in US policing, believes Professor Temitope Oriola, who argues that – with 17 disciplinary complaints against him – the fact that Chauvin was still a serving officer suggests the system is broken.

OPINION: Policing, like much of the public sector, is based on a legacy structure, with leaders progressing through the ranks; but Devon and Cornwall Chief Inspector Steve Lenney wonders what would happen if visionary private-sector leaders saw an opportunity to deliver improved policing services and make a profit?

OPINION: News that the Home Office is considering reintroducing league tables for the performance of police forces in England and Wales against six key crime types was criticised last week by police leaders and staff associations; Former chief superintendent Owen West shares some of his own experiences of the negative impact of police targets, and why they can have a damaging effect on community relations.

OPINION: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Nick Selby, former Director of Cyber Intelligence and Investigations for NYPD, sets out why funding mental health teams staffed by clinicians and cops would be a smarter way to reduce violence and deaths.

ANALYSIS: Many people – including police officers – base their ability to detect liars on faulty logic, false promises and unreliable cues; Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Paine, and University of Portsmouth Teaching Fellow Cody Porter, expose some of the myths around lie detection, and highlight the latest evidence-based approaches to identifying the truth.

ANALYSIS: More than a year after Sir Craig Mackey submitted his review of UK serious organised crime, last month the Government published an ‘Executive Summary’ only, adding that plans to tackle SOC would now come under the Integrated Security Review; Policing Insight's Ian Wiggett reports on the challenges, concerns and lack of detail in the fight against organised crime.

Insight: A new multi-partner approach to sharing data has been adopted in Thames Valley to help tackle the scourge of violence; Governed by a principle of no 'misuse' of data, whilst ensuring there is no 'missed use' of data, the project aims to direct early intervention and prevention strategies, explains its head, DCI Lewis Prescott-Mayling.

INNOVATION: The ‘ad-hoc development’ of technology and communications has compromised the law enforcement efforts of South Australia Police; but force CIO Hamish Cameron believes issuing mobile phones to all officers and staff will deliver a ‘step change in the technology’ for SAPOL, as Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.  

OPINION: The findings of the recent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report have been called into question by a number of campaign and community groups; but police ethics advisor Montell Neufville believes that among the recommendations are some important messages for prospective PCCs and mayors on public scrutiny and police-community relations.

ANALYSIS: Vulnerability is increasingly important to operational policing - but how can these complex narratives be best embedded in police education? Jennifer Norman and Dr Emma Williams of the Open University discuss the development of an interdisciplinary approach.

FEATURE: Continuing a new series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the key issue of ‘What is policing?’ In this article she looks at a range of models that have been used to try to represent or modify how policing works in different countries, and also examines the leading contemporary model of Evidence-Based Policing.