Evidence & Practice
The Right to Understand
Why adults should be helped to make sense of serious crimes committed against them as children.
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Topic
Surveillance and privacy
The expanding reach of policing technology and its civil-liberties costs.
8 articles · All topics →
Evidence & Practice
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.
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Evidence & Practice
AI in policing: what leaders should check before approving a tool
A practical approval checklist for police leaders: test accuracy, check data handling, assign accountability and make human oversight work.
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Evidence & Practice
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.
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Influential People
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.
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Evidence & Practice
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.
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Evidence & Practice
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.
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Evidence & Practice
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.
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