Interview: Leicestershire's first Somali PC

PC Ahmed joined Leicestershire Police as a Special Constable in 2015 and then as a PC in 2017. He is currently a neighbourhood policing officer in the Spinney Hill area, working closely within the community where he grew up. He said policing is not generally seen as a viable career… PC Adam Ahmed is the first person from the Somali community to become a police officer in Leicestershire, one of the UK’s most multi-cultural areas. He tells Police Oracle his view on recruiting from underrepresented groups and how his own cultural background influences the force’s neighbourhood policing....

Police staff manager wins award for work on risk assessment tool

The work of a police staff member who has validated a harm assessment risk tool which uses artificial intelligence to forecast an offender’s potential to re-offend has been recognised with an award. Durham Constabulary’s Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART) is an algorithmic forecast of an offender’s potential to offend. The… Durham head of criminal justice department helped validate AI system used by custody officers to assess harm risk in offenders ...

Career PSNI officer joins management team

An officer who has spent his career with the PSNI has taken one of its most senior posts. TACC Roberts has previously been the Commander in charge of Belfast City District Command Unit. The vacancy at the top was created in January with the resignation of then Deputy chief Constable… The Police Service of Northern Ireland in a short statement confirmed Chief Superintendent Jonathan Roberts had been promoted to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable. ...

Force recruits stage sit-in at campus

The university has opened its doors after COVID-19 social distancing rules filled the force’s training centre to its limit. With their regular training site in Wymondham at full capacity, Norfolk Constabulary had to rethink new ways of training new recruits and putting on regular training sessions for officers currently in… A mass of officers have taken over a university - to ensure their studies aren’t interrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Norfolk Constabulary’s newest recruits are training on the University of East Anglia’s deserted campus. ...

Policing College to offer pathways into officer and support roles

A new Policing College launched last year by Lincolnshire Police, G4S and Lincoln College, is now offering a Professional Policing Degree as a route into police officer roles for school leavers. The college was initially set up to provide school leavers with police staff career pathways in emergency call handling,… Lincolnshire Police and G4S enterprise adds Policing Degree to support role qualifications ...

AC Mark Simmons confirms exit from the Met after 38 years

The Metropolitan Police is set to reshuffle its top ranks with the retirement of the force’s lead in tackling violent crime. Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons will retire from the Metropolitan Police Service later this month, opening the opportunity for several promotions – if the force decides to recruit his replacement… One of the Met’s leadership team is standing down at the end of this month. Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons had extended his stay to help enforce the COVID-19 lockdown....

Interview: a change of image

Rebranding is always tricky for any organisation because getting it wrong is both costly and embarrassing. The dilemma for the College of Policing is in deciding what core work in the service remains the same and what has changed. The digital world has developed learning tools such as interactive video… The College of Policing is about to rebrand itself but will that be enough to silence its critics? Outgoing Chief Executive Mike Cunningham tells Police Oracle he is confident that the changes are a big step forward....

College of Policing rebrands to reconnect with frontline

The College of Policing has gone live with a new online learning portal and a rebrand to ensure officers have the support to meet the challenges of 21st Century society. For the first time it will provide free membership to all serving officers to end the perception that it is… The College of Policing has rebranded and relaunched online courses in a bid to reconnect with frontline officers....

Remote working 'new normal' with improved information sharing

The COVID-19 lockdown switched thousands of officers from stations to working from home in a matter of days in March. According to police leaders, the sudden change to remote working ended battles over systems security, data protection and budgets in the battle to stay operational. Evaluations have shown the change… The sudden switch to laptops during the lockdown has proved the IT case, improving joint working and saving time travelling to meetings, according to force managers and PCCs...

Getting into policing quickly

The two-year BA (Hons) Professional Policing (Accelerated) degree has been developed in partnership between Nottinghamshire Police and the University of Derby and is the first of its kind in the country. Chief Inspector Richard Stapleford who has 25 years of policing experience with Nottinghamshire Police, was seconded to the University… Nottinghamshire hopes that street duty ready students who have taken a two-year degree course and served as Specials will prove an attractive alternative during the officer uplift programme. ...