UK Police Force Research Articles

Estimating the total prevalence of PTSD among the UK police force: Formal comment on Stevelink et al. (2020).

Two recent surveys have reported widely differing prevalence rates for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within the U.K. police force. Stevelink et al. (2020) reported a rate of 3.9% whereas a survey conducted for the charity Police Care UK reported a rate of 20.6%. In this comment we discuss how definitions and methodological factors can impact prevalence rates. We consider a number of possible reasons for the discrepancy between the surveys, and conclude that it is most likely a method artefact. Stevelink et al.’s survey reported the prevalence of recent-onset DSM-IV PTSD only, whereas the Police Care UK survey reported the total ICD-11 PTSD and Complex PTSD prevalence, regardless of when in the person’s career the traumatic events occurred. Analysing the Police Care UK data using Stevelink et al.’s procedures produced practically identical prevalence rates, suggesting that the discrepancy was apparent rather than real.

When Things Turn Sour: A Network Event Study of Organized Crime Violence

Abstract Objective This study examines the mechanisms underpinning the emergence of violence among individuals in the organized crime milieu. Methods Relying on criminal event data recorded by a UK Police Force, we apply a longitudinal network approach to study violent interactions among offenders. The data span the period from 2000 to 2016 and include 6,234 offenders and 23,513 organized crime-related events. Instead of aggregating these data over time, we use a relational event-based approach to take into consideration the order of events. We employ an actor-oriented framework to model offenders’ victim choices in 156 violent events in the OC milieu. Results We find that the choice of offenders to target a particular victim is strongly affected by their mutual history. A violent act is often preceded by a previous act of violence, both in the form of repeated violence and reciprocated violence. We show that violence is strongly associated with prior co-offending turning sour. We uncover a strong effect for previous harassment as a retaliation cum escalation mechanism. Finally, we find evidence of conflicts within organized crime groups and of violence being directed to offenders with the same ethnic background. Conclusions Relational effects on victimization are consistently stronger than the effects of individual characteristics. Therefore, from a policy perspective, we believe that relational red flags (or risk factors) should play a more central role. A focus on harassment could be valuable in the development of an early intervention strategy.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the fatigue and shift working risk management strategy for UK home office police forces: a pilot study

PurposeTo evaluate the effectiveness of a fatigue-management training and sleep health promotion intervention in a sample of officers from UK Home Office Police Forces.Design/methodology/approachUsing a pre- and post-design we exposed 50 officers from selected UK police forces to a fatigue-management training intervention. Pre- and post-intervention data collection included wrist actigraphy, a physiological and objective measure of sleep quantity and quality, as well as surveys including the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) instrument, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5).FindingsWe found the training significantly increased sleep quantity by 25 min per 24-h period, from 6.9 h to 7.3 h (f = 9.2; df = 519; p = 0.003), and improved sleep quality scores from 84% before the intervention, to 87% after the training (f = 10.6; df = 519; p = 0.001).Research limitations/implicationsContinued research is necessary to guide nationwide implementation of fatigue-management and sleep health promotion programs.Practical implicationsOur findings show that a fatigue-management training resulted in a significant and meaningful increase in sleep among police officers.Originality/valueThis is the first piece of research to emerge from a full population survey (response rate 16.6%) of the UK police service exploring issues of sleep and fatigue.

Relationships between demographic and behavioural factors and spatial behaviour in missing persons’ cases

To date, limited systematic focus has been directed to examining factors that influence the spatial behaviour of missing people. Accordingly, this study examined whether demographic and behavioural factors were related to distance between missing and found locations in 16,454 archival cases of missing reports from two UK police forces. Findings from ordinal regressions showed that children were more likely to be found at further distances if they were deemed to be at high or medium risk of coming to harm but less likely to be located further away when victims of a violent attack. Adults were more likely to be found at further distances if planning behaviours were present (e.g. had taken their passport), but less likely to if they were above the age of 65 years or suffering from abuse. Findings indicate the role of age, planning and vulnerability on travel when missing. Implications for search strategies and directions for future research are considered.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on missing person reports

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant restrictions imposed by governments pose short- and long-term challenges for the police, especially within resource-intensive areas of policing such as missing persons. However, the novelty of the pandemic means little research focus has been directed at understanding these challenges and how they may be overcome. Using archival reports from six UK police forces, the current study examined the extent to which missing persons cases changed during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown. Using a non-experimental fixed design, differences in the characteristics of reports of both children and adults who went missing between March and May 2020 and the same time period in 2019 were examined. Findings suggest a substantial reduction in missing reports overall, but a shift in the proportions of types of cases reported. For example, there was a greater proportion of adults classified as high risk of harm during this period and a greater proportion of children who were deemed low risk, who were living in residential care, and who were not from a White British background. Although forces must consider the findings within their local context, the study has implications in terms of demand and allocation of police resources, as well as multi-agency working. Future research is discussed.

A New Generation of Police Officers: Experiences of Student Officers Undertaking the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship in One UK Police Force

Abstract The Policing Vision 2025 and 2030 outlined long-term strategies to ensure consistency and accreditation in those joining policing careers in England and Wales, standardizing the qualifications obtained by all new recruits. The Police Educational Qualifications Framework has since been designed to support this vision, enabling three new entry routes into policing, one being the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship. This resulted in policing becoming a graduate profession from 2020, which is argued to be a radical transformation for policing. This research conducted focus groups and thematic analysis with three cohorts of student police officers (N = 30) undertaking the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) at different stages of their programme in one police force. It unpicked motivations for joining the PCDA, their experiences so far and improvements for future workings of the programme. The disconnect between policing and academia was a key barrier, and students could not always utilize the academic teaching in practical policing settings.

Further evidence on the extent and time course of repeat missing incidents involving children: A research note

This study examines the extent and time course of repeat missing incidents involving children. Using data from one UK police force (n = 2,251), we find (1) that the majority (65%) of missing incidents are repeats, (2) that a small group of repeatedly missing children (n = 43; 6%) account for a sizable proportion of all missing incidents (n=739, 33%) and (3) that the likelihood of a child going missing repeatedly is elevated in the weeks immediately following a previous missing incident. The implications of our findings for future research and for the prevention of missing incidents are discussed.

‘It’s on my head’: Risk and accountability in public order policing

Heavy policing remains ‘a chronic feature of public order operations’ (Waddington PAJ (1994) Liberty and Order: Public Order Policing in a Capital City. London: UCL Press), both in the form of officer numbers and in the proportionality of tactics employed. This paper argues that at the heart of this lies the assessment of threat and risk and how police commanders perceive, predict and manage the potential for disorder. It reports on the findings of a mixed-methods study, combining data from observations of three separate public order events, with in-depth interviews of seven high-level, police public order commanders from five different UK police forces. Analysis suggests that commanders construe ‘risk’ in very broad terms, seeking to mitigate not only physical harm but also abstract consequences such as reputational damage and loss of public confidence. Structured models central to the task of threat and risk assessment give the appearance of a quantitative and objective process. However, the actual appraisal of threat and risk, both before and during public order operations, is almost entirely heuristic. Furthermore, the analysis suggests commanders’ decision-making is acutely affected by the pressure of accountability. It is argued that at a tacit level, their threat and risk assessments reflect this and a direct consequence is the deployment of additional police resources. At a time when the police service is under intense pressure to do more with less, this paper discusses how refining the assessment of threat and risk may prove to be a critical factor in the delivery of cost effective and proportionate public order policing.

Scoping the Need for a Tailored mHealth App to Improve Health and Well-being Behavioral Transformation in the Police: Exploring the Views of UK Police Workers via Web-Based Surveys and Client Meetings.

BackgroundPolice officers often work long, unsocial hours in a highly pressurized environment and may experience difficulties in managing their health and well-being. Their jobs can be highly stressful and feature unusual working hours and multiple shift patterns. When considering the policing environment of 2021, many roles that were previously the domain of warranted officers are now being carried out by nonwarranted police staff equivalents. These police staff roles are relatively new to policing but put staff under some of the same stresses as police officers. A UK police force requested help to investigate technologies that could be used to improve health and well-being and research how these technologies could be used to measure and track health behavior change.ObjectiveHistorical research studies need to be appraised in light of this new policing environment, and new research also needs to include this shift in dynamics when considering aspects of policing, including their health and well-being. This study explores police officer and staff attitudes toward and their use of existing health-related technology, highlights existing practices, and gathers views about how technology could be used more effectively.MethodsA web-based survey was completed by police officers and staff (N=213) during the initial period of the UK lockdown in 2020. The survey was designed to find the solutions that participants used outside of those supplied by their employer, identify issues or problems, and find what they would like a hypothetical app to focus on. Additional requirements data were captured through client meetings, including discussions concerning previously attempted solutions and those currently in place. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify the key themes.ResultsAttitudes toward and uses of existing health-related technology were captured, and existing practices were highlighted. Participants identified a need for an app to consider that a user was on shift—an important point, as many issues and problems with elements of their health and well-being involved shift work. Data also highlighted that a multifunctional tool would be more beneficial to participants than focusing on just 1 element. The key features and four domains were identified for app coverage. The prioritized order of importance of the four domains was activity, food and diet, sleep, and fluid intake.ConclusionsFor police officers and staff, research data suggest that there is a previously unidentified requirement for a mobile app that could provide an easily accessible platform for them to use, regardless of the current location; one that could provide guidelines on diet, lifestyle habits, and health behavior to help the user make informed decisions to assist in personalized behavior change. Notably, one which is multifunctional and which also aligns effectively with the irregular shift patterns of its users.

Proof of concept and feasibility of the app-based ‘#SWPMoveMore Challenge’: Impacts on physical activity and well-being in a police population

An app-based physical activity intervention (#SWPMoveMore Challenge) was completed by 239 workers from one UK police force using a quasi-experimental design. Impacts were assessed against minutes of movement, individual difference and work-related stress variables using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The concept was feasible and translatable to a UK police population and the intervention significantly benefited direct measures of physical activity and perceptions of vitality, job stress, job satisfaction, negative coping strategy use and engagement at work. The intervention was also motivational in helping individuals take-up and maintain physical activity and positively impacted morale and comradery within the work-force.

The challenges of identifying and classifying child sexual exploitation material: Moving towards a more ecologically valid pilot study with digital forensics analysts

BackgroundWhen child sexual exploitation material is seized, digital forensics analysts are required to manually process all “unknown” digital material by determining (a) whether a child is present in the image, and (b) whether the image is of an indecent nature (i.e., illegal). ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to (a) assess the reliability with which CSEM is classified as being of an indecent nature, and (b) examine in detail the decision-making process by analysts. Participants and settingFive analysts from a specialist unit at a UK police force took part in the study. MethodsParticipants coded a set of 100 images in order to (i) determine the presence of a child, (ii) estimate the approximate age of the child, and (iii) establish the level of severity depicted in accordance with the UK's legal classification system. Qualitative interviews were conducted to develop a better understanding of analysts' decision-making during the process of identifying and analyzing child sexual exploitation material. ResultsInter-rater reliability analyses revealed that the level of agreement among analysts was moderate to good in terms of age estimation, and very good in terms of image classification. Using thematic analysis, three superordinate themes were identified, namely (i) establishing the presence of a child, (ii) ambiguity of context, and (iii) coding within legal parameters. ConclusionsA number of specific aspects and features were identified to play a key role in analysts' decision-making process which may be used to inform current developments that aim to partially automate this process.

The postcode lottery of safety: COVID-19 guidance and shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for UK police officers

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes to police working practices involving the enhanced wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and ways of working inside and outside of police stations. The safety guidance released by the various government agencies has been conflicting, confusing and unhelpfully flexible, and there are significant discrepancies between some of the 43 forces of England and Wales. This article draws on primary interview data with 18 police officers from 11 UK police forces to explore the problems that officers faced in accessing appropriate PPE and the difficulties in obtaining and understanding accurate coronavirus health and safety information.

Police communications and social media

This article considers the affordances of Web 2.0 social media tools for public communications by the police and illustrates their use, presenting data from exploratory fieldwork with officers and staff in five UK police forces. Future lines of development are noted that may merit ongoing research.

Misper-Bayes: A Bayesian Network Model for Missing Person Investigations

Bayesian Networks are probabilistic graph models that can be used for classification, prediction, diagnosis and parameter learning. Probabilities can be inferred from the models and missing values can be imputed, based on probability theory. Missing person cases place a strain on the already overstretched resources of Police Forces. Such cases predominantly come from at risk groups such as children in care and people suffering from depression or dementia. Current approaches for dealing with such cases are manual and rely upon empirical studies and domain knowledge. This paper proposes the use of a Bayesian Network model, which can be used to predict the likely location of a missing person (misper) for a number of at risk groups. The model is evaluated using a set of misper cases and results compare very favourably with those of the manual processes currently used by UK Police forces. The novel approach described provides both a theoretical foundation and a practical framework for the future development of a decision support system. In addition to the model, a contribution is made through guidelines, which recount experiences in learning a Bayesian Network from data.

Visibly better? Testing the effect of ethnic appearance on citizen perceptions of the police

ABSTRACT Ethnic minority officers continue to be underrepresented across UK police forces. Further, some ethnic minority groups consistently report lower levels of confidence in police compared to their White British counterparts. Although there is consensus that a more ethnically representative police service is a good idea, there is limited evidence in the UK on how the public perceives officers of different ethnic appearance, and how this relates to trust, confidence and legitimacy. This paper presents findings from an online experiment (n = 260) exploring how ethnic appearance affects perceptions of police. Our findings offer rare empirical support for a more ethnically representative police force. First, across respondents, we found that Black officers were perceived significantly more favourably than White or Asian officers. Second, we found that Black respondents had more negative responses to White officers, yet there was little evidence that Black officers elicited more negative reactions from White or Asian respondents. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

Discrete Events and Hate Crimes: The Causal Role of the Brexit Referendum

ObjectiveThe article contributes to the literature on discrete events and behavioral change among the public by studying the link between the United Kingdom's 2016 “Brexit”referendum and racial and religious hate crime.MethodsTime series intervention models on daily and monthly hate crime numbers from the UK Home Office and police forces, controlling for other events such as terror attacks. A range of robustness tests including additional vector auto‐regression.ResultsThe Brexit referendum led to a 19–23 percent increase in hate crimes, but did not lead to a longer‐term increase. The results are robust to a range of alternative specifications, and there is no evidence of a relationship between media coverage of hate crime or immigration salience and hate crimes. The results also show the consistent, large effect of terror attacks on increasing the number of hate crimes.ConclusionThe Brexit referendum caused an increase in hate crimes on par with terror attacks. Discrete political events, like referendums and elections, can play a sizeable role in prejudicial behavioral change.

Probable PTSD, depression and anxiety in 40,299 UK police officers and staff: Prevalence, risk factors and associations with blood pressure.

IntroductionPolice employees undertake challenging duties which may adversely impact their health. This study explored the prevalence of and risk factors for probable mental disorders amongst a representative sample of UK police employees. The association between mental illness and alterations in blood pressure was also explored.MethodsData were used from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study which was established to monitor the possible physical health impacts of a new communication system on police employees. Data included sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and blood pressure. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the prevalence of probable mental disorders and associated factors. Stepwise linear regression was conducted, controlling for confounding variables, to examine associations between mental disorders and blood pressure.ResultsThe sample included 40,299 police staff, police constable/sergeants and inspectors or above. Probable depression was most frequently reported (9.8%), followed by anxiety (8.5%) and PTSD (3.9%). Groups at risk for probable mental disorders included police staff, and police employees who reported drinking heavily. Police employees exposed to traumatic incidents in the past six months had a doubling in rates of anxiety or depression and a six-fold increase in PTSD compared to those with no recent trauma exposure. Adjusted logistic regression models did not reveal any significant association between probable mental disorders and systolic blood pressure but significantly elevated diastolic blood pressure (≈1mmHg) was found across mental disorders.ConclusionsThese results show lower rates of probable mental disorders, especially PTSD, than reported in other studies focusing on police employees. Although mental ill health was associated with increased diastolic blood pressure, this was unlikely to be clinically significant. These findings highlight the importance of continued health monitoring of members of the UK police forces, focusing on employees recently exposed to traumatic incidents, heavy drinkers and police staff.

Study Protocol: A Pilot Study Investigating Mental Health in the UK Police Force

Study Protocol: A Pilot Study Investigating Mental Health in the UK Police Force

“Are you crewed up with that bird from the uni?” the complexities of conducting ethnographic research in policing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide some initial reflections on the complexities and challenges faced when conducting observations with police officers working in response and neighbourhood policing roles from the perspective of a young, female, researcher.Design/methodology/approachThe research consisted of 200 hours spent with operational police officers in a medium sized UK police force, predominantly in 3 cities, to explore the realities of frontline policing and policy implementation. This paper offers a reflexive account of conducting the research, as opposed to a discussion of the findings which align to the original research aim.FindingsConducting this fieldwork highlighted a number of complexities arising as a result of conducting ethnographic research in policing. This paper is concerned with the constructing of a researcher identity and navigating moral dilemmas based on the culture and use of language observed.Originality/valueWhilst this will be of interest to those engaged with similar policing research, such findings are also likely to apply to those conducting ethnography where there is conflict between their insider/outsider status, the potential for internalised moral debates and women conducting research in male-dominated settings.

A Comparative Analysis of Anglo-Dutch Approaches to ‘Cyber Policing’: Checks and Balances Fit for Purpose?

This article examines two contrasting approaches to the governance of police investigations for ensuring that cybercrime-policing is lawful and ethical. The Netherlands has a national police force working under the direction of an equally centralised prosecution service according to specific laws on the use of special powers of surveillance, with evidence tested judicially when added incrementally to the case file. Theoretically, the process of adapting to the novel features of cybercrime policing should be much easier than within the much more fragmented policing structure in England and Wales, where unreliable evidence is challengeable only at the trial stage and the laws governing police action are equally fragmented. The Dutch police, however, have not found it easy to adapt concepts of covert policing developed in the 1990’s to their on-line investigative activities, despite the existence of comparatively detailed guidance and case law for undercover policing in the ‘real’ world. In the UK, the police seem unsure which requirements and concepts actually apply to their different on-line-investigations. More generally, it is concluded that legal comparisons of the kind undertaken in this article can identify general bottlenecks and barriers to adapting to the cyber environment, but such analysis cannot identify best practices that are readily transferable from one country to another. Legal transplants are a potentially hazardous undertaking because any practices and policies that work successfully will do so because they are necessarily compliant with the underlying systemic legal-cultural factors that make each legal system unique. Indeed, we make no attempt to identify best practices, other than to remark that the centralised nature of Dutch policing seems to afford some advantage, although, for historical and legal-cultural reasons, centralisation is unlikely to be an option for the UK police forces