Research

FEATURE: A new report from the Financial Action Task Force explores the financial drivers behind the “heinous” crime of online child sexual exploitation, with the increasing prevalence of live-streamed sexual abuse of children and the financial sexual extortion of children creating millions of embarrassed and vulnerable young victims around the world every year, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

FEATURE: A new report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse into the latest trends in child sexual abuse (CSA) offences in England and Wales has highlighted record levels of charges for CSA and long delays in court cases, but also significant geographical variations in data recording and trends that suggest the response to sexually abused children “depends on where they live”, prompting calls for a Government-led national prevalence survey to establish the true scale of the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: A new Winston Churchill Trust report exploring the international policing responses to cybercrime, written by Queensland Police Service Detective Chief Inspector Michael Newman, has highlighted a range of learning opportunities and practical takeaways around prevention, detection, investigation, and capability to improve Australia’s law enforcement efforts to target cybercriminals, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: New research from the Youth Endowment Fund exploring how violence affects children and young people in England and Wales highlights “shocking disproportionality” across sectors such as youth justice and policing, and sets out five steps the Government should take – including around stop and search and diversion away from the criminal justice system – to address the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

INTERVIEW: Tecnalia, the largest centre of applied research and technological development in Spain and a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance, is a partner in the NOTIONES project, a European network bringing police agencies together to improve the capacity and capability of intelligence functions; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Tecnalia Project Manager Olatz Ibáñez about the organisation’s work with the NOTIONES network, and the benefits and challenges of participating in European security research and innovation projects.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

ANALYSIS: When it comes to research and services for victims of adolescent domestic abuse (ADA), those aged under 16 are often overlooked by policies that focus on the adult domestic abuse (DA) agenda; Gloucestershire Deputy Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint and City St George’s, University of London Senior Researcher Dr Ruth Weir spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about new efforts to identify the scale and nature of the problem, and encouraging police forces to use technology to extract ADA data.

FEATURE: Earlier this year more than 40 academics and police practitioners gathered at Canterbury Christ Church University’s Centre for Policing Research (CCPR) to explore both the strategic importance of wellbeing and the practical steps being taken to support officers and staff in frontline and specialist roles, as Policing Insight’s Dr Carina O’Reilly reports.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

ANALYSIS: Investigative genetic genealogy is being used by police forces around the world to identify both the discovered remains of unknown individuals, and to track down those responsible for murders and other violent crimes; in this edited version of her Churchill Fellowship report, Dr Emma Tilley of the University of Staffordshire looks at the use of investigative genetic genealogy in police investigations around the world, the benefits and challenges it offers, and how can UK policing can implement this new technique.

ANALYSIS: With illicit drug use increasing by 20% over the past decade, University of York Honorary Fellow and Associate Professor Ian Hamilton looks at the scale of the harm done by drugs around the world, the changing trends in supply and demand, and calls for a “complete shift” in the way governments and societies recognise and respond to what has become a global threat.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

ANALYSIS: Every day, police officers endure experiences that most people can’t even imagine – violence, tragedy, and life-or-death emotionally fuelled decisions – but what happens when the weight of that trauma becomes too much to bear? PhD researcher Lucy Davies of the Open University’s Centre of Policing Research & Learning (CPRL) explores how unprocessed trauma can quietly erode judgement, fuel emotion dysregulation and, in some cases, lead to the very misconduct that undermines public trust.

FEATURE: A recent report published by Peel Police Service Board and drawn from a series of community consultations has highlighted a range of steps that the Service can take to address “systemic” challenges around governance, discrimination and racism, including better training on cultural sensitivities and bias, greater diversity within the Service, and improved recognition and reporting mechanisms for hate crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Sexual Risk Orders (SROs) can help to reduce sexual harm by offenders by more than 80%, but a lack understanding about their effectiveness and how they can and should be used has led to an inconsistent approach from forces across England and Wales; new research by Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Dan Whitten highlights the potential benefits of greater use of SROs in tackling sexual violence against women and girls, and the steps forces can take to maximise those benefits.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

INNOVATION: Inspired by ‘café scientifiques’, the team from the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) have been working with forces across England and Wales to hold a series of ‘evidence cafés’ – informal gatherings designed to increases two-way dialogue between academics and practitioners and explore how research findings relate to real-world policing practices – as the CPRL’s Dr Keely Duddin, Kendal Wright, Frances Wright and Dr Nicky Miller explain.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts.

OPINION: Birmingham University Associate Professor Dr Tara Lai Quinlan argues that the disproportionate policing in England and Wales of people of colour – particularly children – and other under-represented groups can be challenged and changed through active bureaucratic representation, where officers from such under-represented groups are empowered to ensure that institutional policies and practices benefit their communities of origin, either at group or individual levels.