Policy

FEATURE: A review of the New South Wales Police response to those in mental health crisis has recommended that the force switch to the Right Care, Right Person model pioneered in the UK, after identifying that a law enforcement presence can often be an “escalating factor” for those experiencing a mental health crisis, while the over-reliance on a police response can increase risks and stretch resources, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

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.

ANALYSIS: The final report of Australia’s Missing and murdered First Nations women and children inquiry has found that widespread racist attitudes across Australian policing, together with inadequate and delayed responses to reports of crimes, have led to a lack of trust among First Nations women in reporting domestic violence and other crimes – although several forces have now embarked on programmes to rebuild and improve the relationship with First Nations communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: The latest police workforce data for England and Wales shows the roller coaster ride for resources during the 2010 to 2024 Conservative-led governments, with numbers dropping sharply followed by a rapid but partial with the Uplift after 2019; in this second of three articles, Ian Wiggett looks at the current workforce mix across England and Wales, and the recruitment and retention challenges.

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.

INNOVATION: Social media contacts with police forces soared during the disorder in England and Northern Ireland in the summer of 2024; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass looks at the role digi desks played during the crisis, and examines how useful they are for day-to-day operations.

ANALYSIS: In the second of two articles on the community intelligence-led policing methodology (CILPM), Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, looks at how CILPM can help to tackle some of the existing key policing challenges, and why the current focus on community and neighbourhood policing make it the ideal time to adopt the new methodology.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: We have sold out Building Bridges at Blue - Canada’s first in-person Evidence-Based Policing Conference taking place November 7 & 8, 2024, at the iconic Blue Mountain Resort, in Collingwood, Ontario. This event is drawing attendees from post secondary institutions, police agencies and industry stakeholders across Canada.

FEATURE: Despite a growing move to delay post-incident officer interviews for at least 48 hours after an event, new research presented at last month’s Global Evidence-Based Policing Conference shows the better recall and increased accuracy of more immediate interviews; Griffith University Associate Professor Justin Ready, who led the research, also highlighted the benefits and challenges of incorporating body-word video footage into interviews, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: With policing and public interactions increasingly filmed and shared online, and new force-led initiatives allowing the public to view video footage and critique the actions of officers in often testing circumstances, former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher fears that policing is increasingly being drawn into a focus on how officers ‘perform’ rather than delivering outcomes for the public.

OPINION: A ruling by the British Columbia Supreme Court has cleared the way for Surrey Police Service to take over from the RCMP as the force of jurisdiction from next month; Royal Roads University Associate Lecturer Dr Bryce Casavant believes the Federal Government support for the move to municipal policing in Surrey could see other communities around Canada follow suit.

ANALYSIS: With a renewed government focus on neighbourhood and community policing in the UK, Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, sets out the potential of community intelligence-led policing methodology in improving intelligence gathering and rebuilding public trust and confidence, in the first of a two-part series.

FEATURE: After its introduction by Humberside Police, the mental health policing approach Right Care, Right Person has been rolled out nationally in England and Wales; but a new announcement from New Zealand Police – a four-phase plan to reduce mental health demand on frontline officers and encourage health partners to take more of a lead – suggests it’s changing international practice too, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

ANALYSIS: The work of the West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee has been recognised as pioneering in England and Wales, but until now the impact of its activities had not been fully assessed; Northumbria University Professor Marion Oswald, Senior Research Associate at the Alan Turing Institute and Chair of the Committee, outlines the findings of a new report which evaluates that activity, and suggests steps to improve outcomes both for the West Midlands Police and other forces looking to follow suit.

FEATURE: Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned that “unprecedented strain” on policing is leaving it “dangerously stretched”, and that systems for holding officers to account don’t always meet the “common-sense test”; delivering the Police Foundation’s 2024 John Harris Memorial Lecture, he also claimed that the Met’s budget is “heading off a cliff”, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: Closer collaboration with social agencies on homelessness, a mindset shift within policing to overcome barriers to change, and the continuing expansion of co-response models were among the key messages from police chiefs, public safety experts and community advocates at the recent Safety of Our Cities conference in Ontario, Canada, as Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood reports.

FEATURE: While ‘precision policing’ has become an essential element of the turnaround plans for the Met as well as a focus for other forces, Policing Insight’s Rory Geoghegan, a former officer and founder of The Public Safety Foundation, examines how precision approaches – against a backdrop of falling stop and search rates and an emphasis on ‘positive outcomes’ – could see this policing tool become ineffective as a general crime deterrent.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass examines the proliferation of law enforcement across the UK, Australia, the US and Canada preparing to send UAVs out to view incidents before personnel can reach them on the ground, and examines the advantages and criticisms of the approach.

OPINION: With the number of victims of human trafficking and modern slavery continuing to increase, Professor Darren K. Stocker of Cape Cod Community College argues that law enforcement could benefit from applying a sociological-based model towards tackling human trafficking.

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.

FEATURE: A new joint criminology and policing degree offered by Monash University and Victoria Police sees students complete two years of university-based study and a final year at the force’s Glen Waverley Academy, with the aim of equipping young officers with more skills and knowledge, improving recruitment diversity and retention, and providing longer-term career opportunities for recruits, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With a new diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) strategy – developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing – on the horizon for forces in England and Wales, Derbyshire Chief Constable Rachel Swann, the NPCC lead on DEI, recently told senior officers that it’s time to stop seeing DEI as an extra and to realise that it’s key to restoring public trust and confidence, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: In the second of a two-part interview, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke QPM DL told Policing Insight’s James Sweetland that the Inspectorate should play a role in picking chief constables as he and his team “know more about policing than police and crime commissioners”; he also explained why the Inspectorate needs new powers, and how a £13 million funding boost could pay for an artificial intelligence “early warning system” to identify forces at risk of going into special measures.

OPINION: The recently announced Neighbourhood Policing Pathway and the Government’s commitment to 13,000 new neighbourhood ‘officers’ for England and Wales is both light on detail and a reworking of an old approach – one which could be much more effectively replaced by learning lessons from the successful community responder models in place in the United States, argues Senior Policing Lecturer and former chief superintendent Owen West.