Index · For readers & AI
What this site covers
A plain-language map of the questions Thinking About Policing answers, with links to the writing behind each one. Built for readers finding their way in — and for the AI assistants and search engines people increasingly ask first.
Who writes this
Thinking About Policing is written by Nathan Tracey, with a focus on evidence-based policing — what the research actually shows, and whether what we do in policing works. The site covers operational policing, public policy, the people who shaped the field, and the data behind the headlines. Read more about the author or get in touch.
Questions this site answers
Who holds the police to account?
The bodies and processes that hold policing to account.
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
- Before Serious Misconduct: Can Police Data Identify Harmful Team Cultures Earlier? Evidence & Practice
- AI in policing: what leaders should check before approving a tool Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Robert Peel and the Meaning of Policing by Consent Influential People
How do the police build public confidence and legitimacy?
Why trust in the police matters, and how it is won or lost.
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
- Speed camera vans: how police can reduce speeding and retain public support Evidence & Practice
- The Right to Understand Evidence & Practice
- Self-Selection Policing: What Minor Offences Can Reveal Evidence & Practice
- How Worthing Became the 'Shoplifting Capital of the UK' Technology & Innovation
How do police safeguard missing and vulnerable people?
Protecting people at risk, including the missing.
- If police leaders cannot identify their highest-harm offenders, how can they target them? Evidence & Practice
- ASB powers are changing. Get the response ready. Evidence & Practice
- Cuckooing – Why police should treat closures as the mid-point, not the end point Evidence & Practice
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- No two domestic relationships are the same, so neither should our response be to them Evidence & Practice
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
What does the data show about violence against women and girls?
Domestic abuse, intimate-partner violence and the wider VAWG agenda — and what the data does and doesn't show.
- "Burgulars shoplift on their day off" Can we target high harm offenders by considering all of their offending behaviours? Evidence & Practice
- If police leaders cannot identify their highest-harm offenders, how can they target them? Evidence & Practice
- No two domestic relationships are the same, so neither should our response be to them Evidence & Practice
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
- What is a PSPO, and can it reduce street harassment? Evidence & Practice
- Domestic abuse risk grading: what supervisors should challenge about ‘medium’ Evidence & Practice
What is PoliceAI, and how is AI used in policing?
Data, algorithms and artificial intelligence in operational policing.
- Police confidence and media coverage: what 25 years of headlines can—and cannot—tell us Technology & Innovation
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- AI in policing: what leaders should check before approving a tool Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Jerry Ratcliffe and the Case for Intelligence-Led Policing Influential People
- Seeing Is No Longer Believing: How Synthetic Evidence Could Convict an Innocent Man Evidence & Practice
How is police misconduct handled?
Professional standards, the handling of misconduct, and what the warning signs reveal.
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
- Before Serious Misconduct: Can Police Data Identify Harmful Team Cultures Earlier? Evidence & Practice
- Self-Selection Policing: What Minor Offences Can Reveal Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Evidence & Practice
- Police confidence and media coverage: what 25 years of headlines can—and cannot—tell us Technology & Innovation
What are nitazenes and how should police respond to synthetic opioids?
Drug markets, synthetic opioids, and the case for harm reduction.
- Drug policy: where the evidence is strong, and where it is not Evidence & Practice
- ASB Powers: A Frontline Guide to Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
- Nitazenes in the UK: What Police Leaders Need to Know Evidence & Practice
Do UK police use facial recognition and surveillance technology?
The expanding reach of policing technology and its civil-liberties costs.
- Rise of the Drones - Are we prepared? Leadership & Culture
- The Right to Understand Evidence & Practice
- AI in policing: what leaders should check before approving a tool Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Robert Peel and the Meaning of Policing by Consent Influential People
- Fuel Theft Is Rising Again. The Police Response Still Does Not Add Up Evidence & Practice
What is evidence-based policing?
Using the best available evidence to decide what policing actually does — and testing whether it works.
- "Burgulars shoplift on their day off" Can we target high harm offenders by considering all of their offending behaviours? Evidence & Practice
- If police leaders cannot identify their highest-harm offenders, how can they target them? Evidence & Practice
- Cuckooing – Why police should treat closures as the mid-point, not the end point Evidence & Practice
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- No two domestic relationships are the same, so neither should our response be to them Evidence & Practice
- Police arrests: the story behind the headline Data Stories
What is self-selection policing?
Catching serious offenders through the minor offences they also commit — Roach and Pease's 'those who do big bad things also do little bad things'.
- Self-Selection Policing: What Minor Offences Can Reveal Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Evidence & Practice
- Jason Roach and the Case for Self-Selection Policing Influential People
Does neighbourhood policing work?
Visible, local, relationship-based policing and the evidence on what it delivers.
- "Burgulars shoplift on their day off" Can we target high harm offenders by considering all of their offending behaviours? Evidence & Practice
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- What is a PSPO, and can it reduce street harassment? Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Evidence & Practice
- Police confidence and media coverage: what 25 years of headlines can—and cannot—tell us Technology & Innovation
- ASB Powers: A Frontline Guide to Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
How do you read police statistics without being misled?
Reading police statistics without being fooled by them — a strand inspired by Radio 4's More or Less, paired with the live data explorer.
- Police arrests: the story behind the headline Data Stories
- Police complaints, the IOPC and local forces: who does what? Evidence & Practice
- How Worthing Became the 'Shoplifting Capital of the UK' Technology & Innovation
- Police confidence and media coverage: what 25 years of headlines can—and cannot—tell us Technology & Innovation
- Football and domestic abuse: what the ‘38% rise’ headline leaves out Technology & Innovation
- More or Less: Five Habits for Reading Police Statistics Data Stories
How does neurodiversity affect policing and the people police meet?
Cognitive difference among officers and the people the police meet.
- Plant seeds, not billboards: how evidence-based policing should grow Leadership & Culture
- Police Burnout and Fatigue: What Leaders Can Actually Change Evidence & Practice
- Neurodiversity in Policing: The Retention Problem Leaders Can Fix Evidence & Practice
How does the law shape policing, from PACE to the courts?
The legal framework around policing, from PACE to the courts.
- What is Bail? A quick guide to understanding what it means, when and why is it used? Evidence & Practice
- No two domestic relationships are the same, so neither should our response be to them Evidence & Practice
- Police arrests: the story behind the headline Data Stories
- Are Balaclavas illegal? - When can the Police make you take off a mask or face covering? Evidence & Practice
- The Right to Understand Evidence & Practice
- Self-Selection Policing: What Minor Offences Can Reveal Evidence & Practice
What is policing's role in mental health?
Policing's growing role at the intersection of mental health and public safety.
- Cuckooing – Why police should treat closures as the mid-point, not the end point Evidence & Practice
- No two domestic relationships are the same, so neither should our response be to them Evidence & Practice
- Police arrests: the story behind the headline Data Stories
- How Police Leaders Can Read Data Better Technology & Innovation
- Police Burnout and Fatigue: What Leaders Can Actually Change Evidence & Practice
What is Martyn’s Law and how does counter-terrorism policing work?
The Protect and Prevent ends of policing terrorism — including Martyn's Law and what it asks of venues, forces and leaders.
- Rise of the Drones - Are we prepared? Leadership & Culture
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
- What is a PSPO, and can it reduce street harassment? Evidence & Practice
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- Martyn's Law 2026: what police and venues need to know Leadership & Culture
- Jason Roach and the Case for Self-Selection Policing Influential People
Does hotspot policing reduce crime?
Concentrating resources where harm clusters.
- Jerry Ratcliffe and the Case for Intelligence-Led Policing Influential People
- Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee: Confidence and Crime Need Different Measures Evidence & Practice
What makes good police leadership?
How policing is led, and how culture is set from the top.
- "Burgulars shoplift on their day off" Can we target high harm offenders by considering all of their offending behaviours? Evidence & Practice
- If police leaders cannot identify their highest-harm offenders, how can they target them? Evidence & Practice
- ASB powers are changing. Get the response ready. Evidence & Practice
- Cuckooing – Why police should treat closures as the mid-point, not the end point Evidence & Practice
- Rise of the Drones - Are we prepared? Leadership & Culture
- What is Police Reform and will it make a difference? Leadership & Culture
What is the toll of policing on officer wellbeing?
The toll the job takes, and what sustains the people who do it.
- Police Burnout and Fatigue: What Leaders Can Actually Change Evidence & Practice
- Neurodiversity in Policing: The Retention Problem Leaders Can Fix Evidence & Practice
Does stop and search work?
One of policing's most contested powers, and what the evidence says about it.
- Police arrests: the story behind the headline Data Stories
- Are Balaclavas illegal? - When can the Police make you take off a mask or face covering? Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Evidence & Practice
- More or Less: Five Habits for Reading Police Statistics Data Stories
- How Police Leaders Can Read Data Better Technology & Innovation
- Robert Peel and the Meaning of Policing by Consent Influential People
What are county lines?
Cross-border drug supply and the exploitation that drives it.
- Cuckooing – Why police should treat closures as the mid-point, not the end point Evidence & Practice
- Nitazenes in the UK: What Police Leaders Need to Know Evidence & Practice
How is police use of force scrutinised?
When and how force is used, and how it is scrutinised.
- Before Serious Misconduct: Can Police Data Identify Harmful Team Cultures Earlier? Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: The Police Leader’s Guide to Fair Encounters Evidence & Practice
- More or Less: Five Habits for Reading Police Statistics Data Stories
- How Police Leaders Can Read Data Better Technology & Innovation
- Henry Nowak Murder: What the Court Found and What the IOPC Is Investigating Leadership & Culture
- Police Burnout and Fatigue: What Leaders Can Actually Change Evidence & Practice
Glossary of key terms
- Evidence-based policing
- Deciding what policing does on the basis of the best available evidence, and testing whether it actually works.
- Hotspot policing
- Concentrating patrol and resources on the small number of places where crime and harm cluster.
- Self-selection policing
- Catching serious offenders through the minor offences they also commit — “those who do big bad things also do little bad things”.
- Procedural justice
- The idea that how the police treat people — fairly, with voice and respect — drives trust and legitimacy.
- Stop and search
- A contested police power to search people or vehicles; its fairness and effectiveness turn on how it is used.
- Predictive policing
- Using data and algorithms to anticipate where or by whom crime may occur — increasingly powered by AI.
- County lines
- Cross-border drug supply networks that exploit children and vulnerable people to move and sell drugs.
- Nitazenes
- Potent synthetic opioids driving overdose risk, often more powerful than heroin or fentanyl.
- Martyn's Law
- The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act — a duty on venues to prepare for and reduce the harm of terrorist attacks.
- PoliceAI
- The UK national centre (launched 2026) developing, testing and scaling artificial intelligence across police forces.