Please click on the links below to view previous features:
The
Need for Information-led Policing
SPSS' Robert Martin explores the latest developments in the use of
data across UK and European police forces.
Controversy
often surrounds Home Secretary Jacqui Smith when speaking of the UK's
police force. However, she has stood by a decision to allocate £50
million to the police to spend on handheld devices such as PDAs. The PDAs
will allow officers more time in solving crime and helping the local community,
and less time at a desk in the station.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Tackling
Crime, Not Chasing Statistics
By
Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards
If
you judge Sussex Police by those league tables that certain newspapers
publish once a year, then the police force for which I'm responsible is
doing pretty well. If you judge us by the number of crimes that we solve,
then the numbers are looking very good indeed. They have improved dramatically
over the last couple of years - with more offenders being arrested, record
numbers of crimes being detected, and more offences being brought to justice
than ever before.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Making
Change Happen: The Flanagan Report
Ian
Blackhurst, Managing Director of Criminal Justice & Public Safety
at Northgate Public Services (pictured right), comments on policing in
the light of the Flanagan report: 'The final report of Sir Ronnie Flanagan's
review of policing was warmly welcomed by all of us committed to improving
public safety and community well-being. All those passionate about police
services and the fight against crime support his vision for modern policing
– ‘the right people in the right places at the right time, doing
the right things, in partnership, for the public.’
[Read
the Rest Here]
Protecting
Sensitive Information in a Digital Age
All
police officers work with sensitive information: the identities of confidential
informants, witness and expert reports. A complex investigation can easily
result in hundreds of thousands of pages of case documents later used
by prosecutors to prepare for and argue criminal cases, says Stephen Partridge,
business development manager, Adobe Systems.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Vehicle
& Equipment Tracking - Making it Work
Tom
O'Connor, Managing Director, DigiCore Ltd writes: A
major challenge for all fleet operators, whatever industry sector they
operate in, is how to manage drivers, vehicles and other mobile assets
when they are ‘out on the road’ and effectively out of sight.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Efficient
Crime Reporting is just a Phone Call Away
Made
famous by the acclaimed author, Bill Bryson, Des Moines in Iowa deals
with 55,000 police investigation reports a year. Now the Des Moines Police
Department has successfully boosted its crime reporting system by switching
to a completely automated dictation system.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Weapons
Detectors: What's Available on the Market?
As
the Prime Minister announced hand-held metal detectors would be introduced
in key areas to help beat knife and gun crime, Securizine takes a look
at what's currently available.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Getting
Ready for the UPSA Framework
1st
April 2007 marked the launch of the National Policing Improvement Agency
(NPIA) - a new government agency created to support Police forces and
improve the way they work across many areas of policing.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Face
Up to the Future
Chris
Cross QPM is a former senior oficer who now works for Aurora Computer
Services Ltd. Here he talks about how facial recognition is set to become
the third‚ forensic science in police investigations: In March 2006
I attended a one day conference at which a Deputy Chief Constable delivered,
in my opinion, a presentation that was for a man of his rank surprisingly
yet refreshingly frank in both the analysis of the effectiveness of current
policing and in what the public expect from their police.
[Read
the Rest Here]
Stores
'Make it Easy' for Shoplifters
A
new report revealing the habits of shoplifters has found that stores actually
make it easier for them to steal. Shoplifters across three continents
have been filmed by academic researchers for the first time as they recreated
their crimes.
[Read
it Here]
The Nature, Extent and Economic Impact of Fraud
in the UK
This
study was commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers' Economic
Crime Portfolio to meet the following objectives:
* to determine as accurately as possible the nature, extent, and cost
of fraud to the public and private sectors;
* to assess the availability and quality of existing evidence on fraud;
and
* to recommend appropriate strategies to facilitate the comprehensive
and consistent recording of data on fraud.
[Read
it Here]
i2's Analyst's Notebook Aids Investigation
The
murder of five women in Suffolk has prompted hundreds of calls to the
force resulting in thousands of pieces of information in a bid to track
down the killer or killers.
[Read
it Here]
Quality
Assurance and Risk Management
Few
events shake confidence in the criminal justice system as much as the
discovery of deficiencies leading to a miscarriage of justice. A series
of collapsed convictions in 1991 and 1992 provoked new thinking about
quality assurance and risk management.
[Read
it Here]
Clue
2 Investigative Software
Jonathan
Gahagan examines how forces are using Clue 2 investigative software. When
the Internal Investigations Unit (IIU) was set up by Gloucestershire Constabulary
in January 2001, the provision of a powerful database system was a top
priority.
[Read
it Here]
Search
And Recovery In The Marine Environment
Search and rescue operations on land are in most cases fairly straightforward
especially with the help of helicopters, sniffer dogs and the ever-ready
public to lend a hand when searching for lost objects or bodies. According
to Michael Colley, Project Manager of Gardline Environmental Ltd 'Working
in the marine environment is very different'.
[Read it Here]
The
IPLDP and the Met
Interview
with Inspector Tony Clark
Police probationer training is undergoing a radical transformation as
the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme goes live across
all forces in England and Wales, but nowhere has the change been more
dramatic than in the Metropolitan Police Service.
[Read it Here]
The
Changing
Face of Safety and Health Within the Police Service
The
emphasis on occupational safety and health is moving towards the health
aspect. This does not mean that we can ignore the physical aspects or
issues traditionally associated with safety such as slips, trips and falls,
particularly falls from height.
[Read it Here]
Paul
Webb - 'The
Aim Must be a Paperless Future'
Paul
Webb, DRS Senior Account Manager (Police sector), joined Surrey police
in 1975 where he spent six years on beat duties and CID attachments and
seven years on traffic policing. He now works for DRS helping to streamline
the task of capturing data from frontline policing applications and developing
a strategy for intelligent forms based processing and mobile data capture
within the Police environment.
[Read it Here]
Life
meets Art in TV Cop Series
In
its 1st March 2006 issue, Securizine reported that, ‘Hit TV cop series,
Life on Mars, set in 1973, demonstrates just how far the police service
has come on a number of levels.’ In a curious twist, it also demonstrates
how the art of noise suppression and audio forensics has progressed over
the past thirty years. Gordon Reid, managing director of Cedar Audio,
explains.
[Read it Here]
Improving
the Standard of Crime Recording
Crime
data is vital to the work of the Police service, Police authorities and
the Home Office, but there has always been considerable concern over the
accuracy of information. In an effort to combat this issue, the National
Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) implemented aims in 2002 to improve the
overall standard of crime recording in England and Wales, promoting greater
consistency between Police forces in the recording of crime
[Read it Here]
How
Much Has Officer Training Evolved?
YOU
only have to watch one episode of the BBC drama Life on Mars to see how
far modern policing has come in the last few decades.
[Read it Here]
How
will the recent Police and Justice Bill affect police performance?
The Police and Justice Bill introduces a range of measures designed by
the government to meet its objective of 'sustaining further improvements
in performance, at neighbourhood, BCU, force, national and international
levels.'
[Read it Here]
Police
Professional Standards Units Inspection Results Revealed
This
month, for the first time, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
published the results of its inspection of all police professional standards
units in England and Wales. Forces were judged against four criteria:
intelligence, prevention, enforcement and capacity/capability and graded
either excellent, good, fair or poor.
[Read it Here]
'Facial
Recognition' - Not Recognised by the Police Service?
'Change, increasing demands, financial constraints, - the service has
heard it all before, and it will continue to do so, but just how effectively
does it seek out and embrace technology to help it absorb and counter
the demands placed upon it' asks Nigel Clarke, who until April 2005 was
a Superintendent with Northamptonshire Police when he retired after 32
years service and is now actively involved with work linked to police
reform.
[Read
it Here]
• New Years Honours List.
How did the Force do?
[Read it Here]
Commons
Revolt Over Police Reorganisation
The Government faced stiff opposition in the Commons this week over plans
to restructure the police service, not least from its own backbenches.
Labour MP Paul Flynn kicked off the debate by saying reorganisation would
impede the police's ability to fight crime for next two years.
[Read it Here]
Developing
Procurement in the Police Service - Paul Davies, Director, PEPS
Paul
Davies is the recently appointed Director of the new centre for Procurement
Excellence in the Police Service - 'PEPS'. Paul trained as an electrical
engineer, then worked in procurement and logistics roles in Pepsico and
the Rank Group. He was Head of Procurement for NATS (National Air Traffic
Services), and over the last few years has worked in procurement consultancy
and interim management, latterly in the Home Office.
[Read it Here]