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8 min read Can complaints, use of force, driving standards and misconduct data identify harmful police team cultures earlier? Research on peer effects and Operation Hotton suggests forces should test the possibility.
Thinking About Policing examines practical policing questions through evidence.
Read more about the siteTranslation, listening, saving, corrections, evidence checks and other tools built around the reading experience.
See the website featuresExplore the tools for research, crime data, media perception and practical article summaries.
Explore the Research LabWhat the research actually says about neighbourhood policing, use of force, misconduct prevention and officer wellbeing — and what it means for how forces operate day to day.
20 July Self-Selection Policing: What Minor Offences Can Reveal Self-selection policing uses minor offences as lawful triggers to look for wider criminality. The evidence supports the idea that serious offenders are often offence-versatile; applying the same logic to police misconduct is plausible, but still needs testing. 8 min read 
19 July Drug policy: where the evidence is strong, and where it is not Drug policy is often reduced to tougher laws versus legalising drugs. The evidence is clearer than that: treatment for heroin and other opioid dependence has strong support, while the effects of changing drug laws are harder to judge. Here is the evidence in plain English. 19 min read 
10 July Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Procedural justice is one of policing's strongest routes to legitimacy: give people voice, make neutral decisions, show respect and explain trustworthy motives. The evidence supports the approach, but leaders should be precise about what it has — and has not — been shown to change. 10 min read 
17 June Domestic Abuse Risk: Why ‘Medium’ Is the Dangerous Middle Domestic abuse risk grading depends on judgement, not a safe default. What standard, medium and high should mean, what DARA can and cannot predict, and why supervisors should test the reasoning behind the grade. 8 min read 
17 June ASB Powers: A Frontline Guide to Notices and Orders A practical guide to Community Protection Notices, civil injunctions, Criminal Behaviour Orders and closure powers in England and Wales — including what is in force now, what the Crime and Policing Act 2026 changes, and where Respect Orders fit next. 11 min read 
15 June A Police Leader's Guide to AI Artificial intelligence is reaching policing faster than most leaders were ever trained to understand it. A plain-English guide that builds from the basics — what the words mean, what AI can and can't do, how it uses your data, the risks to own, and where it genuinely helps. 15 min read 
14 June PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? In June 2026 the government launched PoliceAI, a national centre to develop and scale artificial intelligence across the 43 forces of England and Wales. This is a working guide for leaders — what the institution is, the platforms underneath it, and the questions worth asking before any of it reaches your force. Built to grow as the picture does. 17 min read 
6 June Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee: Confidence and Crime Need Different Measures The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee combines named local policing, visible presence and hot-spots patrol. These can support confidence and crime reduction, but the evidence points to different mechanisms and measures for each. 7 min read 
5 June Nitazenes in the UK: What Police Leaders Need to Know Nitazenes are already present in the UK drug market and have been linked to close to 1,000 recorded deaths since June 2023. The 2026 evidence points to adulteration, counterfeit medicines, naloxone readiness and local early-warning systems — not a proven wholesale replacement of heroin. 5 min read 
7 January ‘Do You Understand?’ Is Not a Comprehension Test Police and courts routinely ask people whether they understand cautions, rights and conditions. A yes/no answer can hide confusion. PACE and judicial guidance require active support for understanding; teach-back is one practical way to check it. 6 min read 
21 October Police Custody Legal Advice: Why Suspects Still Say No PACE gives detainees in England and Wales a right to free independent legal advice and forbids police from dissuading them from using it. The harder question is whether the way custody presents that right helps people make an informed decision when they decline. 6 min read 
29 July Police Burnout and Fatigue: What Leaders Can Actually Change Police wellbeing is not only an individual resilience issue. Organisational stressors, fatigue and poor supervision are associated with worse mental wellbeing and impaired performance. The strongest leadership response is to change working conditions as well as offer support. 7 min read 
17 June Fuel Theft Is Rising Again. The Police Response Still Does Not Add Up An industry estimate puts fuel taken without payment at £194,000 a day. The figure needs care, but it exposes a police response that still fails to separate mistakes from repeat theft. 11 min read 
6 May Neurodiversity in Policing: The Retention Problem Leaders Can Fix UK police employees with autism and ADHD report both strengths and barriers at work, with workplace adjustments frequently requested but not made. The evidence supports better management and adjustments — not stereotypes about what neurodivergent officers can or cannot do. 7 min read 
25 March Seeing Is No Longer Believing: How Synthetic Evidence Could Convict an Innocent Man Every image and video in this article is fictional and AI-generated for illustration. John Smith, Margaret Doyle and Wessex Police do not exist, and no real person or event is depicted. A short case study in how cheaply CCTV can now be faked — and what an investigator has to do to keep a manipulated clip out of the file. 14 min read 
18 February Neighbourhood Policing Works — When Forces Protect What Makes It Work The evidence supports neighbourhood policing as a route to higher public confidence, but visibility alone is not enough. The strongest model combines targeted presence, community engagement and problem-solving — and requires forces to protect the capacity to deliver all three. 7 min read How policing is led, directed and held to account: legitimacy, organisational culture and the public-policy decisions made above force level.
12 June Martyn's Law 2026: what police and venues need to know Martyn's Law is enacted but not yet in force. Here is what the 2025 Act requires, what changed in 2026, and what police and venues should do before commencement. 11 min read 
7 June Henry Nowak Murder: What the Court Found and What the IOPC Is Investigating The sentencing judge found that Vickrum Digwa murdered Henry Nowak and deceived the officers who arrived at the scene. A separate IOPC investigation has since placed two officers under investigation for potential gross misconduct. Those findings must be kept distinct. 6 min read The data, tools and technology reshaping policing — predictive systems, facial recognition and analytics platforms — examined for what they can actually deliver.
3 August Police Electric Vehicles: What the 2030 Petrol Car Rules Mean Police vehicles are not exempt as a class from the transition away from petrol and diesel. The real operational questions are vehicle role, payload, charging and readiness — not whether every police car must become electric in 2030. 5 min read 
19 July How Worthing Became the 'Shoplifting Capital of the UK' Commercial crime rankings repeatedly put Worthing at or near the top for shoplifting. The recorded figures were real, but reporting changes, denominator choices and old data materially changed what they could tell us. 12 min read 
25 June Public confidence and 25 years of Guardian police headlines Public confidence in local police fell from 62% in 2015 to 49% in 2025. A Guardian headline dataset shows media language changed differently — and cannot explain why. 10 min read 
13 June Domestic abuse and England football: what the evidence shows England football matches are linked to changes in recorded domestic abuse, especially where alcohol is involved. The evidence is stronger than the familiar 38% slogan. 9 min read 
7 June How to Read Police Statistics Without Fooling Yourself Police statistics are easy to quote and easy to misread. Start with the numerator, denominator, definition and comparator — then ask what the data can actually establish. Stop and search shows why the method matters. 6 min read The people who shaped evidence-based policing, operational practice and the institutions behind them — examined through their work rather than reputation alone.
16 June Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Alex Murray spent a career investigating murders and running counter-terrorism operations, then built the institution that asked British policing a harder question: does any of this actually work? A profile of the founder of the Society of Evidence-Based Policing. 10 min read 
11 June Jason Roach and the Case for Self-Selection Policing Professor Jason Roach helped develop self-selection policing: using selected minor offences as behaviour-based opportunities to identify wider serious offending. His wider contribution is practical psychology built for police use. 5 min read 
11 June The Society of Evidence-Based Policing: Nurturing the Idea That Every Officer Can Test What Works The SEBP's real value isn't lobbying or publishing — it's lowering the bar so that any officer with a good idea can test it, get support to do so properly, and share what they find. Here is what it is, what it actually does, and why that matters. 8 min read 
8 June Susanne Knabe-Nicol and Policing’s Research Translation Problem Dr Susanne Knabe-Nicol built Police Science Dr around a simple problem: useful policing research often fails to reach practitioners in a form they can access and use. Her work is a case study in evidence translation rather than evidence production. 5 min read 
7 June Jerry Ratcliffe and the Case for Intelligence-Led Policing Former Metropolitan Police officer Jerry Ratcliffe helped turn intelligence-led policing into a practical model: interpret the criminal environment, influence decisions and test whether targeted action changes harm. 4 min read 
7 June Lawrence Sherman and the Invention of Evidence-Based Policing In 1981 Lawrence Sherman ran a domestic violence call as a scientific experiment, and policing was never quite the same. A profile of the American criminologist who argued that the police should be tested like medicine — and who taught the officers, Alex Murray among them, who carried the idea into British policing. 10 min read 
7 June Robert Peel and the Meaning of Policing by Consent Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police in 1829, but the nine 'Peelian principles' were not written by him. What the history actually supports — and why policing by consent remains a useful test of legitimacy. 5 min read 
