Weekly academic research summary
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: In the final part of our extended interview series with Professor Laurence Sherman, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland sought the views of the Metropolitan Police Chief Scientific Officer on misconduct, making tough choices, and how artificial intelligence and live facial recognition might transform the nation’s largest police force.
OPINION: CANADA: As calls for ‘defund the police’ switch to ‘refund the police’ in priority areas, Dr N Zoe Hilton, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr Sandy Jung, Professor of Psychology at MacEwan University, argue that police-researcher partnerships are needed now more than ever, and could be particularly beneficial in developing and implementing the assessment tools to tackle intimate partner violence and coercive control.
INTERVIEW: In the third part of our extended interview with Professor Lawrence Sherman, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with the Met’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) about the controversial topic of stop and search and the force’s new ‘precision’ approach to tackling violent crime on the streets of London.
ANALYSIS: Recent reviews of the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade have described both organisations as ‘institutionally misogynist’; Professor Catherine Durose of the University of Liverpool, and University of Birmingham Professor Emerita Vivien Lowndes, explain how new research on proposals for forces to classify misogyny as a hate crime has highlighted that officers struggle to identify or empathise with female victims of crime, and with the emotional complexities of misogynistic offending.
FEATURE: In the fifth in a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores sociological theories for explaining crime, including the pioneering work of the Chicago School, which examined the effects of social disorganisation on crime – an approach which still has real relevance to the role of community policing today.
ANALYSIS: Police engagement in UK schools suffered a significant reduction in funding and resources during the austerity era; but University of Portsmouth Policing Lecturer David Knowles, a former police officer, believes that recent trials of his Your Choice Matters engagement exercise highlight the potential for reducing vulnerability to knife crime and hate crime among young people.
INTERVIEW: Widely regarded as the founder of evidence-based policing, Professor Lawrence Sherman is one of the world’s most influential policing experts; in the first article in a four-part interview series, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with Professor Sherman about his innovative work as the Metropolitan Police’s first Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) tackling some of the biggest problems facing the force.
ANALYSIS: New research by Dr Jackie Alexander and Professor Sarah Charman at the University of Portsmouth has highlighted gender disparity in the temporary promotions process in UK policing, which they believe is likely to have as great an impact on gender advancement as the proverbial ‘glass ceiling’; but with forces and the Government “at best ignorant of, and at worst disinterested in” these areas of gender bias, they argue that little will be done to address the disproportionality unless data is collated and examined in more detail to understand the scale of the disparity.
INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to University of Bath Professor Felia Allum, Chair of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Standing Group on Organised Crime, about talking to the mafia, the role of women in crime, and why the best way to tackle organised crime is by addressing poverty and lack of opportunity.
INTERVIEW: As cybersecurity threats persist, Dr Reza Montasari, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Threats at the Cyber Threats Research Centre at Swansea University, spoke to Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth about the dangers to law enforcement agencies and public sector authorities, and how new approaches to cyber security and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms present opportunities to transform policing.
ANALYSIS: Defined as an offence committed by insiders (including employees and managers) who abuse their position for personal gain, policing – as with all organisations – suffers instances of insider fraud, but the impact of such crimes can be significant; recent UK research by Dr Rasha Kassem, Senior Lecturer at Aston University, highlights the wide variety of offences – ranging from the sale of data to sexual exploitation and commercial conflicts of interest – and suggests steps that the service can take to tackle the issue.
ANALYSIS: Confidential informers play a significant role in police investigations around the world, but there are also recognised risks of informers committing ‘treachery’ – either intentionally feeding officers false information, or revealing their identity to a third person; new research by Sgt David Younan and Crime Analyst Sarah Harmer – both of London Police Service, Ontario – examines the instances of treachery by Service informants over a two-decade period, and suggests evidence-based approaches that policing can implement to minimize the risks.
ANALYSIS: Early identification and support for those experiencing domestic abuse can be crucial in helping to reduce the risk of negative outcomes; a new study undertaken by Swansea University Research Officers Dr Natasha Kennedy and Amrita Bandyopadhyay suggests that linking police safeguarding data with healthcare records could identify people at high risk of domestic abuse, and enable health professionals to refer victims earlier to support services.
ANALYSIS: UK police leaders and inspectorates have frequently highlighted the importance of neighbourhood policing, and community engagement is a crucial element to that approach; University of Northampton Associate Professor Dr Tim Curtis, Executive Director of Intensive Engagement, discusses his latest research which surveyed the neighbourhood policing skills of 150 police officers and PCSOs, and how effectively those skills are applied to a real-world policing scenario.
INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to fraud and financial crime consultant Gerald Doyle about researching the true scale of waste crime, the changing focus of organised crime from drugs to finance, and why asset recovery may be the best way to target organised crime’s ever-evolving business model.
FEATURE: The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows that while public perceptions of policing overall remain strongly positive, high-profile controversies and ‘gross failings’ in police behaviour in other countries – coupled with a fall in support for the ‘public sector brand generally’ – has prompted a dip in public trust and confidence in NZ Police, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.