50 Facts Everyone Should Know About the Police

John Bahadur Lamb is Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Policing at Staffordshire University.Max Hart is Lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University.James Treadwell is Professor in Criminology at Staffordshire University.Adam Lynes is Associate Professor in Criminology at Birmingham City University.Craig Kelly is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University.

• Introduction - John Bahadur Lamb, Max Hart, James Treadwell, Adam Lynes and Craig Kelly1. There is no definitive proof that Robert Peel ever developed the principles that underpin British policing - John Bahadur Lamb2. 'Trust is the foundation upon which consent and legitimacy for policing is built' - Mark Manning and Nigel South3. The police have acted as 'moral guardians' since the early 19th century - Peter Joyce and Wendy Laverick4. The senior investigating officer role is not like you see on TV! - Stephen Tonks 5. The role of the custody sergeant is to be the guardian of an individual’s rights and wellbeing - Martin Steventon6. Crimes are classed as solved once someone is charged with an offence - Nick Mills7. The Integrated Offender Management scheme has aided significant reductions in reoffending since its formulation in 2009 - Sacha Smith8. Roads policing is key to saving lives, disrupting crime, and police legitimacy, but it has been routinely undervalued and is sometimes resisted - Helen Wells9. The police investigate some crimes that occur inside prisons! - James Treadwell10. The number of volunteer 'special' constables has reduced from 67,000 in the 1950s to under 10,000 in the last decade - Colin Rogers11. Policing has now been ‘professionalised’ - Jacob Thandi and Nick Gibbs12. Until 2020, police officers did not require formal education qualifications - Mark Lakey13. The senior rank structures of the Metropolitan and City of London Police differ from every other force in England and Wales - Ron Winch14. The chief constable is operationally independent and cannot act on unlawful orders or unduly intrusive political direction - Wendy Laverick and Peter Joyce15. Policewomen had a separate department from that of their male colleagues until the 1970s - Charlotte Rigby and Em Temple-Malt16. In the six months leading to March 2022, more than 1,500 police staff in England and Wales were accused of violence against women and girls - Laura Riley17. A 2022 investigation highlighted 11,277 instances of internal misogyny and sexual misconduct in the police - Sarah Jones18. Between 2011 and 2020 there were 173 suicides in the UK police force - Lauren Jane Gillespie19. Over 100 police officers are assaulted every day - Michelle Clarke20. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is independent and makes its decisions entirely independently of the police and government - Victoria Bell and Sarah Plimley21. Police rank structures have remained relatively unchanged - Dom McVeigh22. Helicopters assume a crucial role in contemporary policing - Adam Lynes23. The Ministry of Defence Police has the highest number of Authorised Firearms Officers, secondly only to the Metropolitan Police Service - Steve Wadley24. Violence is an essential tool in the vocation of policing - David Sausdal25. Despite popular belief, a substantial proportion of the British Police is armed in England and Wales - Craig Kelly26. Between 1987 and 2023, only one officer has been convicted for manslaughter following a death in which police used force in England and Wales - Abi Dymond and Brian Rappert27. There is no automatic right to access body-worn video footage in England and Wales, even if the footage is about you - Sharda Murria28. When the police refer to evidence, this doesn’t just mean DNA and fingerprints - Laura Hammond29. Criminal profiling of serial murderers has never worked - Craig Jackson30. The perception of the police as being institutionally homophobic has hampered the ability to protect members of the gay community in England and Wales - Ben Colliver31. The police uniform serves an important symbolic purpose - Camilla De Camargo32. The majority of police investigations by ‘uniformed officers’ focus upon volume crime - Max Hart33. In 2023, just 5.7 per cent of reported crimes led to a charge or summons - Keir Irwin-Rogers34. In England and Wales, no suspect is Identified in 74.2% of residential burglary cases - Jack Greig Midlane, Briann Clifford and Mark Stokes35. Only 1 per cent of fraud in England and Wales results in a criminal justice outcome - Max Hart36. The state is overwhelmingly reliant on the private sector to effectively police art crime - Tereza Østbø Kuldova37. UK policing structures create an open goal for organised criminals in rural areas - Kate Tudor38. The UK Serious Organised Crime Strategy (2018) aims to 'equip the whole of government, the private sector, communities and individual citizens to align their efforts in a single collective endeavour to rid our society of the harms of serious and organised crime' - Paul Andell and Kelly Gray39. The current approach to policing drugs is hypocritical, harmful and ineffective - Tammy Ayres40. The police often overestimate the value of the drugs they seize - Craig Ancrum and James Treadwell41. Much of the police’s current approaches to knife crime are wholly ineffective - Natasha Pope42. In the pursuit of solving crimes against children, children are too often harmed - Sean Monaghan43. Police in England and Wales were responsible for 55 fatal police shootings in the last 24 years, much lower than US counterparts - Nicholas Walrath44. Worldwide, the increasing use of militarised policing has been employed against protestors - Kyla Bavin45. Proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 allows for arrest and prosecution, with 93 organisations listed to date - Leon Skerritt46. The police have often attempted to pre-empt cases of political and religious violence through covert intelligence - Dylan Sears47. Police in England and Wales have, for many decades, intervened more in street sex work than indoor sex work - Ian R. Cook 48. In 2021, only 1.6 per cent of rapes reported to police were prosecuted - Emma Williams49. Contrary to popular belief, at the end of registered sexual offenders' prison and community sentences they are managed solely by specialist police officers - Sarah Pemberton and Stephanie Kewley50. Rape is routinely used as a tool of war, however even in peacetime Military Service Police inadequately report and investigate sexual offences committed by army personnel - Sarah Kingston

"A fascinating, readable and easily accessible introduction to some of the key contemporary issues and controversies in policing, crime control and criminal investigation." Peter Squires, University of Brighton