Policing Insight’s Post

Cityforum’s Transforming Police Public Contact roundtable that took place earlier this year saw representatives from policing, government, academia and industry follow up from the 2023 event to once again debate the key issues around police public contact; this article by Nick Gargan, based on his report of the roundtable, brings together the key contributions and perspectives from the event. ❝People generally contact the police when they are in crisis, when they need help and when they are vulnerable. Not meeting the expectations of the public in how their call is answered and responded to, has a significant effect on public confidence.❞ ❝Repeat callers were not being routinely identified during the last round of inspections, which can lead to incidents being dealt with in silos with the consequence that patterns of behaviour and repeat victimisation are not addressed.❞ ❝Against this complex national landscape, policing makes a plea to industry: ‘We need your support. Collaborate with us: but we’re looking for national consistency and scalability. Help us avoid local islands of incompatibility, which are confusing to the public and undermining of our wider approach.’❞ ❝We’re also ensuring that evidence drives activity to improve efficiency. We’ve seen pilots from our colleagues in the digital public contact community, which have made huge progress, but there is more to do.❞ ❝We need industry to commit to working with policing (and the public) to provide value for money, supplying tech and systems that we can use in a lawful, ethical, and scalable way, which are accessible to all, with sustainability but also flexibility built in.❞ ❝Being able to use our IT to seamlessly pass information to other forces would be an ideal. Lots of forces use the same command and control system, yet they aren’t connected, creating a situation comparable to us all trying to share info through our phones but not having Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to be able to do this.❞ ❝Technology should be an enabler for us and with the right mindset, able to facilitate progress and positive change. But we do depend on industry for that. If we can all work in partnership, improvements will be a natural conclusion.❞ ❝Prioritising spending in areas which meet our strategic objectives, getting the best value from our contracting for goods and services, and identifying and implementing more efficient ways of working are the key to achieving more for less.❞ ❝Something is still, most definitely, creaking. But there are signs of hope. Policing is undoubtedly working to achieve greater co-ordination and coherence at a national level and there is undoubted effort to reduce the fragmentation of silo working.❞ https://lnkd.in/eDvs7u_3 #lawenforcement #policing #police #contactmanagement

Already a criminal offence in the UK and parts of Australia, coercive control in intimate relationships looks set to be criminalized in Canada under legislation making its way through the Senate; but PhD student Eden Hoffer and Professor Nadine Wathen of Western University, Ontario, argue that – because of the nature of the criminal justice system, and gender-neutral policies – criminalizing coercive control could also criminalize more women victim-survivors of intimate partner violence. ❝At first blush, the prospect of criminalizing coercive control seems positive. Through the creation and implementation of a uniform response, criminalization would indicate coercive control is being taken seriously by authorities.❞ ❝Women who are victims or survivors of intimate partner violence have detailed how mandatory charging policies have been weaponized against them by their violent partners.❞ ❝A significant concern regarding criminalizing coercive control is that women’s protective behaviours – especially when it comes to their children – could be used against them by abusers, in concert with the patriarchal criminal justice system, to portray women as offenders.❞ https://lnkd.in/eG5BuydH #lawenforcement #policing #police #crime #domesticabuse #coercivecontrol

In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explores how this new technology can be used to improve officers’ decision-making in particularly complex and stressful situations such as the use of force. ❝By using AI to monitor, alert, and intervene in officers’ decisions, latent inference budgeting can help officers achieve optimal outcomes, while reducing the risks of fatigue, stress, and burnout.❞ ❝The consequences of police officers’ decisions can have significant impacts on their own safety, wellbeing, and reputation, as well as on the public trust, legitimacy, and accountability of the police force.❞ ❝Training models can help officers to identify and correct their cognitive biases, heuristics, and limitations, by providing them with alternative scenarios, outcomes, and explanations.❞ ❝AI technologies can create a paradox of perfection, where the use of AI gadgets and widgets can raise the standards and demands for police officers to perform flawlessly, while ignoring the human factors and limitations that may hinder their performance.❞ ❝Latent inference budgeting aims to identify and manage the factors that can deplete or exhaust the budget of cognitive resources – and the sub-optimal choices that can result from it – by using AI to monitor, alert, and intervene in officers’ decisions.❞ ❝Use of force can also be one of the most stressful and uncertain decisions that police officers have to make, as it can involve complex and dynamic situations where the information is incomplete, conflicting, or changing, and the time and resources are limited.❞ ❝AI can intervene in officers’ use of force decisions by creating an interrupter that will act, influence or modify the actions, outcomes or consequences, such as terminating the use of force, activating back-up, or notifying the supervisor.❞ ❝One possible direction for further research is to explore how latent inference budgeting can be integrated with existing or emerging frameworks and programs that aim to improve the officers’ use of force decisions and de-escalation skills.❞ ❝By combining latent inference budgeting with these programs, we could create a comprehensive and holistic approach to improving officers’ use of force decisions and de-escalation skills, and ultimately, to enhancing police-civilian interactions and relations.❞ https://lnkd.in/eBJP9fFN View the whole series 'Application of AI in policing' here: https://lnkd.in/e7GgAwNm #lawenforcement #policing #police #technology #artificialintelligence

A new study by the UK’s Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre suggests that when it comes to what the public want from its police service, while tackling crime is important, people are more focused on how policing is conducted and its relationships with the communities it serves, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports. ❝We need to develop better ways of understanding and measuring the process-based and relational values of responsive, fairness and respectful and engaged interactions that the public hold most dear.❞ - What do the public want from police? Towards a minimum policing standard report ❝When asked, people say police should prioritise crimes such as sexual offending and serious violence. However, the way they judge the police is based on how officers behave, particularly in relation to ‘low-level’ crimes.❞ - What do the public want from police? Towards a minimum policing standard report ❝When asked to come up with a list of things the police should simply be able to do, at least under normal circumstances, people focused primarily on how policing is conducted, and on the relationship between police and public.❞ [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/e2xyNjTa #lawenforcement #policing #police #research #communitypolicing

Metropolitan Police live facial recognition (LFR) deployment: The strategy going forward for the use of LFR Policing Insight's James Sweetland was invited to the first deployment by the Metropolitan Police of live facial recognition (LFR) in Ealing, London. In another clip from the post briefing interview, Chief Supt Sean Wilson and Inspector Crystal Govers discuss their thoughts on the strategy for LFR going forward including targeting areas of gang violence, violence around drugs and robberies, using LFR as a proactive tool. 📓 Read more about the Policing Insight’s behind the scenes access in the subscriber report, Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing: https://lnkd.in/eamYfBrk 📄 or in the subscriber article about the deployment: https://lnkd.in/eGCAjhgf 📄 Find out more about the report in the open access report launch article: https://lnkd.in/e5Jc_Ueh #lawenforcement #policing #police #facialrecognition #technology

Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the recent successful operation by European law enforcement agencies working with colleagues in the US to take down multiple platforms used to disseminate terrorist propaganda, and explores the ongoing efforts of Europol to target those spreading terrorist content online. ❝The servers were used to disseminate worldwide propaganda and messages capable of inciting terrorism in at least 30 languages.❞ ❝The EU IRU detects and investigates malicious content on the internet and in social media, and recognises that terrorist use of the internet and social media has increased enormously over the course of recent years.❞ ❝These websites enable terrorist organisations and violent extremists to bypass the enhanced moderation and content removal efforts of mainstream online service providers, allowing them to maintain a persistent online presence.❞ [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/dZ9Fezyn #lawenforcement #policing #police

In the last in this current series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly looks at how victims experience the criminal justice system, the myths around ‘deserving’ and ‘underserving’ victims, and how restorative justice can give victims a greater voice in the justice process. ❝Victims are often somewhat forgotten throughout the criminal justice process. Our adversarial approach to justice in the UK, where the Crown mounts a prosecution against an alleged offender, means victims play very little formal role.❞ ❝Many victims experience crime more than once. It is estimated that around 20% of the population are repeat victims – meaning that they are victims of crime on two or more separate occasions within a time period.❞ ❝Some victims of rape are still treated as ‘deserving’ because of the way that they dressed. The pervasive nature of these rape myths means even today they have been identified in police responses to victims reporting rape.❞ ❝There is room for a more human approach to those who have experienced crimes. Police officers are the gateway to the criminal justice system – a supportive police response can transform victims’ experience of reporting crime.❞ [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/dDNv7JZM #lawenforcement #policing #police #criminology #criminaljustice #victims

Taiwan’s police forces are known for their professionalism and expertise, particularly in areas such as terrorism, cybercrime and human trafficking; but China’s continuing successful efforts to block Taiwan’s membership of Interpol weakens the organisation and sends the wrong political signals – a situation which Dr John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes needs to be addressed at INTERPOL’s next General Assembly in Glasgow in November. ❝Abroad, the National Police Agency (NPA) actively engages in international efforts against terrorism, cybercrime, human trafficking and drug smuggling. Little wonder that Taiwan has some of the lowest rates of crime in the world. Despite this success, Taiwanese nationals are still victims of crime at home and abroad, and some are involved in transnational organised crime. The NPA’s absence from Interpol restricts the region’s capacity to effectively combat such activities.❞ ❝Jurgen Stock, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and the member states in Interpol who oppose Taiwan’s participation have seemingly forgotten that the organisation is about police co-operation. Its focus is on sharing information and intelligence and connecting police forces – not countries.❞ ❝Taiwan’s inclusion would give better protection to victims and enhance international efforts to prevent and prosecute crimes against humanity. Its exclusion allows transnational crime networks to operate across borders and exploit gaps in international co-operation.❞ https://lnkd.in/d4gpJccR #lawenforcement #policing #police

In his first interview in the role, Chair of the City of London Police Authority Board Tijs Broeke spoke about his goals for the force, how a shocking homophobic attack encouraged him to get involved in policing as a special constable, and why politicians focusing on wokeness in policing are “wasting their time”, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports. ❝Suddenly, we’re in a little side street and these people start shouting homophobic abuse, kicking us and then running after us. My friend fell and I had to help him. It was really nasty.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board ❝As Chair of the Authority Board, yes, it’s about scrutinising, making sure the police do what they promised, asking the difficult questions and making you think differently as a police leader. But I do that from a position of personally really believing in policing.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board ❝It needs people to work better together to co-ordinate shared data and information. And local police forces should take tackling fraud more seriously – they don’t always do this.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board ❝For me, mapping the trends we see, understanding where you need to make interventions, and then linking that to your workforce planning is crucial.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board ❝They [former Home Secretary Suella Braverman] asked the inspectorate to do a review about woke policing and it came back saying it was nonsense. So, they were just wasting their time. They should have just looked at the fundamentals rather than things like that.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board ❝It’s really important that the police both avoid being defensive, but equally are proud of what they do, and of their men and women working on the ground.❞ - Tijs Broeke, Chair, City of London Police Authority Board [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/dnS9niQ6 #lawenforcement #policing #police Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC)

Police in the UK have little discretion to resolve cases involving hate speech with an out-of-court sanction, although an evaluation of this approach recorded reduced reoffending and successful completion rates; Penelope Gibbs, Director of campaign group Transform Justice, believes education of those committing one-off hate speech crimes could be much more effective than court fines, and could reassure victims that such behaviour wouldn’t be repeated. ❝Most people from minoritised communities have been subject to at least some racist remarks in their life. Most don’t report them to the police most of the time. They may not know that the racist remarks constitute a crime, or not want to criminalise the person who made them.❞ ❝The police and some others have long advocated that some instances of hate crime, like racist remarks, would be more effectively dealt with out of court, whether by rehabilitative programmes or by restorative justice.❞ ❝Getting people to do the programme is far more effective than paying a court fine. The evaluation found that course participants had a pretty low rate of reoffending and most realised that their behaviour was unacceptable.❞ https://lnkd.in/dBBm29hm #lawenforcement #policing #police #crime #hatespeech #criminaljustice