Training/learning/development

FEATURE: In the last article in this series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly looks at the future challenges and trends facing the criminal justice system – from pressure on resources for both policing and their partners, to the issues of legitimacy, the changing nature of crime, and the transformative effect of technology – and considers how these will impact on the role of new police officers.

INNOVATION: Northumbria Police has become the first force in England and Wales to recruit officers from all entry routes directly onto the neighbourhood policing pathway in an effort to widen workforce skillsets, support the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, and get “the right people in the right roles”, as Northumbria’s Assistant Chief Officer Joscelin Lawson explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: The story of the Special Air Service (SAS), entertainingly told (with some creative licence) in the BBC SAS Rogue Heroes drama series, highlights the impact of embracing the unorthodox and encouraging innovative and analytical ideals when traditional approaches are not succeeding; Jonathan Jackson, Associate Professor of Policing and Investigation at Leeds Trinity University, believes policing in the UK would do well to learn from those approaches in tackling some of the current complex challenges.

FEATURE: More than 140 potential chief officers in England and Wales have now passed through the College of Policing’s Executive Leaders Programme, the replacement for the Strategic Command Course, where activities include placements at non-policing organisations; the reformed process has seen a rise in women taking the course, but is far from hitting one of its main aims, as Ian Weinfass reports.

FEATURE: A new Professionalising Investigations Programme launched by the College of Policing (CoP) is now being trialled by 13 forces across England and Wales, with a view to improving outcomes for victims, introducing national first-line supervisor standards, and equipping sergeants and police staff with enhanced skills, as CoP Crime & Criminal Justice Delivery lead Chief Superintendent Jamie Daniels told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: With the policing landscape changing “faster than ever”, Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) Learning and Development lead David Bamber, and Dr Sean Bell, Lecturer in Policing Organisation and Practice at the Open University, explain why the two organisations are working together to introduce a “fully accredited, recognised and validated programme in professional practice” for PFEW reps to ensure they have the skills required to take on a role that is “becoming more challenging”.

INNOVATION: The College of Policing’s Chief Superintendent Jamie Daniels is calling on police forces across England and Wales to put forward investigations highlighting best practice and innovation as part of a College initiative to create a “national investigation bank” that will improve learning and outcomes while also recognising the stand-out work of officers, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A report by the London Drugs Commission has called for the policing of cannabis to switch from the Misuse of Drugs Act to the newer Psychoactive Substances Act, enabling police to target production and supply of while not penalising its possession; but the report authors but the authors also argue that any immediate further liberalisation of the law would be “unjustifiable and irresponsible”, as it would carry too great a risk, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Essex Police’s Commercial Vehicle Unit (CVU) is staffed by officers who have completed specialist training to qualify as transport managers and HGV drivers, enabling the team to engage more effectively with the industry – which has helped to significantly reduce the number of killed and seriously injured collisions involving lorries, as CVU Sergeant Dearsley told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A Home Office-commissioned evaluation of the UK police use of naloxone highlights that not only is the opioid overdose reversal medication a potential life-saver, but its wider carriage by officers could help to build more trust and stronger relationships with drug-using communities – if challenges can be addressed around training and data collection, collaboration with healthcare agencies on handover and aftercare, and officers’ own stigma around drug users, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: With this week’s official launch of the Neighbourhood Policing Programme (NPP) career pathway across England and Wales, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Chief Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, Head of Uniformed Policing at the College of Policing, about the reasons for introducing the NPP, the make-up of the training modules, and what the new programme aims to achieve.

FEATURE: In the latest article in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly examines the issue of youth justice, including the background to the current system, the development of the child-first approach, and the importance of the debate around rehabilitation, diversion, punishment, and deterrence.

OPINION: With a growing drive in Australia for a co-responder rather than police-first response to those in mental health crisis, University of Melbourne Research Officer Dr Panos Karanikolas, and La Trobe University’s Dr Chris Maylea and Hamilton Kennedy, explore what works better and where, with research suggesting people with lived experience of mental health issues want more than ambulances replacing the police as crisis responders.

INTERVIEW: In this final instalment of Policing Insight’s series dedicated to chemically concealed cocaine, Chris Dalby spoke with Gary Goldberg, a veteran chemist who spent 36 years with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) specializing in chemically concealed narcotics; he offers critical insights into the evolving strategies of traffickers, practical frontline detection methods, and actionable recommendations to equip policing and customs personnel in their fight against this increasingly prevalent threat.

FEATURE: A new report from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research exploring efforts to implement anti-racist strategies in UK policing and the wider public sector highlights persistent institutional racism, resistance to organisational change, and defensive attitudes among officers as some of the key barriers to reform, with training and minority recruitment drives labelled as “shallow and tokenistic”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Leadership, knowledge and application are the fundamentals to continuous education and training across all policing fields, essential to keep updated on best practices, legal changes and evolving community needs. The Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies (LCAPS) offers a comprehensive learning portfolio featuring academic policing programs designed to equip police professionals with the essential skills needed to apply to the everchanging complex challenges of modern policing.

FEATURE: With evidence-based policing (EBP) now a strong focus for many law enforcement agencies, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood looks at the 10 benchmarks for the approach set out by Dr Cynthia Lum, a former police officer and now Professor of Criminology at George Mason University – and one of the foremost authorities on EBP – during her presentation at the last Building Bridges at Blue Conference.

FEATURE: In the wake of the cyberattack on Marks & Spencer – one of several targeting British retailers in recent months – Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lesson that can be learned, and how organisations in both the private and public sector will need to move towards new forms of mitigating risk and ensuring resilience to protect against similar threats in the future.

FEATURE: In the latest article in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the development of restorative justice, including the aims and principles behind the approach, the expansion of its implementation, and the evidence around its use.

FEATURE: A new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan launched by the Peel Police Service Board, which includes measures around new recruitment approaches, cultural competency training, and strengthening community relationships, aims to make Peel Regional Police “the most progressive, innovative and inclusive police service in Canada”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Police forces across England and Wales have been urged by Chief Constable Rob Carden, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Digital, Data and Technology Co-ordination Committee, to “embrace technology in a way we’ve never done before”, to ensure they can play their part in delivering the Government’s “very ambitious” Safer Streets Mission, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: Having spent more than 20 years advising and supporting police forces and stakeholders in the UK on how to bring meaningful change to police-community relations, Montell Neufville, Chair of the Joint Protective Services (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire Police) Scrutiny Panel and a National Advisory Group member of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, shares his top tips on the steps police and crime commissioners and mayors can take to improve trust between forces and the communities they serve.

FEATURE: In the latest article in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the development and role of the probation service in England and Wales, including the challenges around balancing encouraging desistance with managing the risk to the public; responsibilities ranging from pre-sentence reports to supervising offenders on licence and statutory duties under the Victims’ Code; and the importance of partnership working.

OPINION: New South Wales Supreme Court recently found a police officer guilty of the manslaughter of a 95-year-old care home resident, who died a week after being Tasered by the officer; Deakin University Criminology Lecturer Dr Emma Ryan believes the case represents a watershed moment in the debates around police use of force, what the public expects of police, and how courts choose to reinforce those expectations.