Opinion

LONG READ: The riots that affected many English cities last summer following the Southport murders highlighted the increasing difficulty for policing globally in responding to social media disinformation; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend, a communications specialist, looks at the challenges that have faced police in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US in the response to digital communications, as well as efforts to use online platforms to better engage communities and build trust.

OPINION: Twenty years ago this week, UK policing faced one of its largest planned operational challenges – the G8 summit in Scotland – as well the 7/7 suicide bombings in London; in this second article, Policing Insight contributor Graham Wettone – then an experienced sergeant on the Metropolitan Police Public Order Intelligence Unit – describes the training and deployment of intelligence and evidence gathering teams during the summit, and the devastating impact of the London attacks.

OPINION: Twenty years ago this week, UK policing faced one of its largest planned operational challenges – the G8 summit in Scotland – as well the 7/7 suicide bombings in London, the most devastating terrorist attack since the Lockerbie bombing; two of Policing Insight’s regular contributors, Martin Gallagher and Graham Wettone, were involved in the response to these events, and in this first of two articles, Martin shares his memories and experiences of policing the G8.

OPINION: New research suggests that Australians living in rural areas are more likely to support tougher penalties for crime than those in the cities; Caitlan Davey, Dr Kyle Mulrooney and Dr Sue Watt explain the reasons behind this divide, the implications for policing and the criminal justice system, and what can be done to address it.

OPINION: Baroness Casey’s recent report into grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation (CSE) in England and Wales made 12 recommendations, including a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation; but Aisha K Gill, Professor of Criminology at the University of Bristol, warns that, with none of the previous independent inquiry’s 20 recommendations fully implemented, identifying and rectifying the failures of police and local authorities remains crucial to securing justice for the victims of CSE.

OPINION: The proposed Strong Borders Act, a bill currently before the Canadian Parliament, includes measures that will enable police to obtain information about an individual’s online activity by obtaining a warrant on a lower standard of reasonable suspicion of a crime, instead of probable cause; Thompson Rivers University Professor of Law Robert Diab argues that the new powers will turn tech companies such as Google, Apple, Shaw and Telus into agents of the state.

OPINION: US President Donald Trump has declared himself as “the most police president in the history of America”; but Liverpool John Moores University Policing Lecturer James Williams argues that the administration’s latest legislative measures and approaches to immigration look set to undermine efforts to build trust with many communities across the US, and ultimately make the job of a US police tougher than ever.

OPINION: While the recent Government Spending Review left many chief constables, forces and police and crime commissioners in England and Wales saying the increase in police spending wasn’t enough, University of Leeds Professor of Crime Science Graham Farrell argues that more money and more officers doesn’t always lead to a fall in crime, with crime prevention and reducing crime opportunities by working with businesses, suppliers and manufacturers often a more effective approach.

ANALYSIS: A recent court ruling on the routine use of in-custody strip searches of four teenage girls in youth detention found that the warrantless, standardless routine strip search of teenage prisoners is unreasonable, as is any law that authorizes it; Monika Lemke, PhD Candidate at Canada’s York University, believes the ruling importantly recognizes the goal of minimizing the use of strip searches in every context they are employed, and could have wider implications for Canadian policing generally.

OPINION: The recent publication of the UK’s new National Policing Digital Strategy 2025-2030 is a welcome development, argues Sharad Rathi, Global Operations Director of HCLTech, but policing will need more than the promise of new institutions if it is to deliver on the strategy’s ambitions – particularly in the current financial climate.

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.

ANALYSIS: After nearly two decades of focus, discussion and research, mental health and wellbeing among British police officers and staff shows little improvement; Professor Emma Williams and Associate Professor Sarah-Jane Lennie of the Centre of Excellence for Equities in Uniformed Public Services argue that, juxtaposed with the persistent and challenging issues related to police recruitment, retention, presenteeism and long-term sickness, the evidence suggests a growing mental health crisis within British policing.

OPINION: With the UK Government recently announcing that the Vagrancy Act will be repealed by spring next year, Generation Rent Chief Executive Ben Twomey looks at the background to a 200-year-old piece of “outdated” legislation that is still used to criminalise some aspects of homelessness, and considers what may take its place.

OPINION: As part of US President Donald Trump’s framework for large deportations of undocumented immigrants, there has been a huge increase in 287(g) agreements allowing police to function as federal immigration officers, interviewing and detaining people before handing them over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); St Edward’s University Professor W. Carsten Andresen argues that many police forces have found such actions significantly undermine trust and public safety.

INNOVATION: When public sentiment – including trust in police – can shift overnight following a viral clip or local incident, the need for policing to be able to engage with and have an up-to-date grasp of local sentiments has never been stronger; Michael Simon, Chief Strategy Officer at Zencity and a speaker at this weekend’s Cumberland Lodge Police Conference, argues that harnessing the latest technology – rather than door-knocking and telephone surveys – can provide policing with a real-time, in-depth understanding of the ‘voice of the customer’.

INNOVATION: With police leaders facing traditional challenges alongside often unrelenting change and the development of new technology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice professors Dr Maria Haberfeld and Detective Corey Simpson outline the qualities and attributes that leaders of the future will need – including social intelligence, change intelligence, and artificial awareness intelligence.

OPINION: In the latest in a regular series of articles from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, Chair of the APCC, looks ahead to this week’s much-anticipated UK comprehensive spending review that will determine the funding available for large-scale police reform heralded by the Home Secretary, and underlines the crucial role that PCCs and deputy mayors will need to play in providing effective oversight of that reform.

ANALYSIS: With knife crime increasing in many countries, piecing together the forensic puzzle around stabbings can be key to the pursuit of justice, and stabbing simulations can play a vital role; new research by Associate Professor Paola Magni, Associate Professor Alasdair Dempsey, Adjunct Professor Ian Dadour, and PhD Candidate Stevie Ziogos, all of Perth’s Murdoch University, suggests that combining manual simulations with robotic and mechanical systems can bridge crucial gaps in crime scene reconstruction.

OPINION: Having played a key role in delivering the New Met for London cultural reform programme for the UK’s largest police force, Public Safety Tech Consultant Michael Calderaro-Tracey shares some insights into the importance of psychological safety, the dangers of trying to make a broken system work, and the need for continuous commitment to transformation in an environment where change is essential rather than optional.

OPINION: A lawsuit heard in the Supreme Court this month regarding “degrading and humiliating” unlawful strip searches carried out by New South Wales Police has again highlighted the issue of police sexism in Australia; Deakin University Associate Criminology Lecturer Dr Michael Cain argues that forces across the country are failing to learn from previous inquiries into sexism, and suggests that an independent police ombudsman to investigate complaints could be the best solution.

OPINION: Blended or hybrid radical ideologies that comprise seemingly separate beliefs are increasingly impacting younger audiences, and providing motivation for violent extremism; with misogynistic and anti-feminist views often overlapping these ideologies, Astrid Young, research intern at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, warns that Australia needs a targeted policy response to deter young people from extremism.

ANALYSIS: A recent case at the Supreme Court in New Zealand saw the conviction of a man for aggravated burglary overturned because the photo used to identify him – taken by a police officer during a routine traffic stop – was improperly obtained; University of Auckland Senior Law Lecturer Dr Alexandra Allen-Franks explains the reasoning behind the judgment, and what it may mean for policing in the future.

OPINION: In the latest in a regular series of articles and opinion pieces from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, Chair of the APCC, explores the continuing efforts to improve trust and confidence in policing and the culture within forces by tightening vetting and misconduct procedures.

OPINION: With the use of predictive policing driven by artificial intelligence (AI) becoming increasingly prevalent, University of Virginia Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Lungu argues that to address fears of overreach, bias, and a range of ethical concerns, government generally and law enforcement in particular should ensure that all data-driven tools are grounded in democratic values of due process, transparency and accountability.