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.
- Can an Electric Car Catch a Criminal? The Physics, the Payload and the Pursuit Technology & Innovation
- A Police Leader's Guide to AI Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Sir Robert Peel and the Invention of Policing by Consent Influential People
- The Murder of Henry Nowak: What the Sentencing Remarks Reveal Leadership & Culture
How do the police build public confidence and legitimacy?
Why trust in the police matters, and how it is won or lost.
- How Worthing Became 'The Shoplifting Capital of the UK' — And Why That Was Never the Real Story Technology & Innovation
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- The Perception of the Police in the British Press Technology & Innovation
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- Lawrence Sherman and the Invention of Evidence-Based Policing Influential People
How do police safeguard missing and vulnerable people?
Protecting people at risk, including the missing.
- Why Medium Risk Is the Safe Option — and How Do We Learn to Accurately Grade Risk With Confidence? Evidence & Practice
- ASB Civil powers: A Frontline Guide to Warnings, Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
- Does Domestic Abuse Spike When England Play? Reading the Evidence Honestly Technology & Innovation
- “Do you understand?” - Does this question serve a purpose? Evidence & Practice
- The Officers We’re Losing: Why British Policing Must Rethink Cognitive Diversity Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing 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.
- Why Medium Risk Is the Safe Option — and How Do We Learn to Accurately Grade Risk With Confidence? Evidence & Practice
- ASB Civil powers: A Frontline Guide to Warnings, Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
- Does Domestic Abuse Spike When England Play? Reading the Evidence Honestly Technology & Innovation
- Lawrence Sherman and the Invention of Evidence-Based Policing Influential People
- When Police Stop Investigating Crime: The Fuel Theft Crisis hurting British Policing Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing Evidence & Practice
What is PoliceAI, and how is AI used in policing?
Data, algorithms and artificial intelligence in operational policing.
- The Perception of the Police in the British Press Technology & Innovation
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- A Police Leader's Guide to AI 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
- What Palantir's Advance Means for British Policing — and Should We Trust Them? Leadership & Culture
How is police misconduct handled?
Professional standards, the handling of misconduct, and what the warning signs reveal.
- Self-Selection Policing: Catching Serious Criminals — and Bad Cops — Through the Small Offences They Can't Help Committing Evidence & Practice
- The Perception of the Police in the British Press Technology & Innovation
- The Murder of Henry Nowak: What the Sentencing Remarks Reveal Leadership & Culture
- What Palantir's Advance Means for British Policing — and Should We Trust Them? Leadership & Culture
What are nitazenes and how should police respond to synthetic opioids?
Drug markets, synthetic opioids, and the case for harm reduction.
- Nitazenes - What This New drug Means For British Policing Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing Evidence & Practice
Do UK police use facial recognition and surveillance technology?
The expanding reach of policing technology and its civil-liberties costs.
- ASB Civil powers: A Frontline Guide to Warnings, Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
- A Police Leader's Guide to AI Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Sir Robert Peel and the Invention of Policing by Consent Influential People
- Nitazenes - What This New drug Means For British Policing Evidence & Practice
- What Palantir's Advance Means for British Policing — and Should We Trust Them? Leadership & Culture
What is evidence-based policing?
Using the best available evidence to decide what policing actually does — and testing whether it works.
- Self-Selection Policing: Catching Serious Criminals — and Bad Cops — Through the Small Offences They Can't Help Committing Evidence & Practice
- How Worthing Became 'The Shoplifting Capital of the UK' — And Why That Was Never the Real Story Technology & Innovation
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- Jason Roach and the Art of Catching Criminals by Their Small Mistakes Influential People
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: Catching Serious Criminals — and Bad Cops — Through the Small Offences They Can't Help Committing Evidence & Practice
- Jason Roach and the Art of Catching Criminals by Their Small Mistakes Influential People
Does neighbourhood policing work?
Visible, local, relationship-based policing and the evidence on what it delivers.
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- Sir Robert Peel and the Invention of Policing by Consent Influential People
- The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee: Confidence or Crime? Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing 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.
- How Worthing Became 'The Shoplifting Capital of the UK' — And Why That Was Never the Real Story Technology & Innovation
- Why Medium Risk Is the Safe Option — and How Do We Learn to Accurately Grade Risk With Confidence? Evidence & Practice
- Does Domestic Abuse Spike When England Play? Reading the Evidence Honestly Technology & Innovation
- More or Less Policing: how to read the numbers without being fooled Technology & Innovation
How does neurodiversity affect policing and the people police meet?
Cognitive difference among officers and the people the police meet.
- “Do you understand?” - Does this question serve a purpose? Evidence & Practice
- The Legal Aid Paradox - when "I don't need a solicitor, I've done nothing wrong" undermines procedural fairness Evidence & Practice
- The Hidden Crisis: How Police Burnout Threatens Officer Safety and Public Trust Evidence & Practice
- The Officers We’re Losing: Why British Policing Must Rethink Cognitive Diversity Evidence & Practice
How does the law shape policing, from PACE to the courts?
The legal framework around policing, from PACE to the courts.
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- Jerry Ratcliffe and the Case for Intelligence-Led Policing Influential People
- More or Less Policing: how to read the numbers without being fooled Technology & Innovation
What is policing's role in mental health?
Policing's growing role at the intersection of mental health and public safety.
- Jason Roach and the Art of Catching Criminals by Their Small Mistakes Influential People
- “Do you understand?” - Does this question serve a purpose? Evidence & Practice
- The Legal Aid Paradox - when "I don't need a solicitor, I've done nothing wrong" undermines procedural fairness Evidence & Practice
- The Hidden Crisis: How Police Burnout Threatens Officer Safety and Public Trust Evidence & Practice
- The Officers We’re Losing: Why British Policing Must Rethink Cognitive Diversity Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing 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.
- The Perception of the Police in the British Press Technology & Innovation
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- Jason Roach and the Art of Catching Criminals by Their Small Mistakes Influential People
- What Palantir's Advance Means for British Policing — and Should We Trust Them? Leadership & Culture
Does hotspot policing reduce crime?
Concentrating resources where harm clusters.
- Jerry Ratcliffe and the Case for Intelligence-Led Policing Influential People
- The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee: Confidence or Crime? Evidence & Practice
- Boosting Public Confidence Through Neighbourhood Policing Evidence & Practice
What makes good police leadership?
How policing is led, and how culture is set from the top.
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- Alex Murray and the Society That Asked Policing to Prove What Works Influential People
- A Police Leader's Guide to AI Evidence & Practice
- PoliceAI: What is it, why do we need it, and who runs it? Evidence & Practice
- Martyn's Law: An overview for Police, Business owners and Local Authorities Leadership & Culture
- The Society of Evidence-Based Policing: Nurturing the Idea That Every Officer Can Test What Works Influential People
What is the toll of policing on officer wellbeing?
The toll the job takes, and what sustains the people who do it.
- Nitazenes - What This New drug Means For British Policing Evidence & Practice
- The Hidden Crisis: How Police Burnout Threatens Officer Safety and Public Trust Evidence & Practice
Does stop and search work?
One of policing's most contested powers, and what the evidence says about it.
- Self-Selection Policing: Catching Serious Criminals — and Bad Cops — Through the Small Offences They Can't Help Committing Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- The Perception of the Police in the British Press Technology & Innovation
- More or Less Policing: how to read the numbers without being fooled Technology & Innovation
- Sir Robert Peel and the Invention of Policing by Consent Influential People
What are county lines?
Cross-border drug supply and the exploitation that drives it.
- ASB Civil powers: A Frontline Guide to Warnings, Notices and Orders Evidence & Practice
- Nitazenes - What This New drug Means For British Policing Evidence & Practice
- The Officers We’re Losing: Why British Policing Must Rethink Cognitive Diversity Evidence & Practice
How is police use of force scrutinised?
When and how force is used, and how it is scrutinised.
- Self-Selection Policing: Catching Serious Criminals — and Bad Cops — Through the Small Offences They Can't Help Committing Evidence & Practice
- Procedural Justice: A Guide for Police Leaders — and How to Explain What It Actually Is Evidence & Practice
- The Murder of Henry Nowak: What the Sentencing Remarks Reveal Leadership & Culture
- The Hidden Crisis: How Police Burnout Threatens Officer Safety and Public Trust 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.