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Part A:
The role of roads policing in disrupting criminal activity
Roads policing plays a key role in disrupting criminal activity and maintaining public
safety. Patrolling motorways and roads places police officers at the forefront of
investigating crimes, apprehending offenders, and preventing illegal acts such as
human trafficking, drugs smuggling, stolen vehicles, and other acts of crime. This is
not limited to serious acts of crime however includes road rage incident and other
summary only offences such as minor motoring offences (Brake, 2019). While
positive, the roads network is continually used by criminals migrating between police
forces committing crimes (Department for Transport, 2020).
On street duties on routine patrol officers noticed a vehicle where the occupants
seemed to be conducting a drug exchange with a male stood at the driver’s side
(See Appendix 1). The male was seen discarding of what we believe to be drugs
down the drain. All three men were detained and searched under S.23 of the Misuse
of Drugs Act (MDA) (Legislation.gov.uk, 2011). I searched the male that was in the
passenger side of the vehicle and found a spliff of class A drugs in the male’s hat.
The drugs in the drain were also recovered. An extensive search of the vehicle was
also conducted, and a machete was found in the boot. All three males were arrested
for the offence of Possession with intent to supply (PWITS) and the occupants of the
vehicle were also arrested for offensive weapons. Another way to have approached
this vehicle could have been to stop the vehicle under S.163 of the Road Traffic Act
(RTA) (Gov.uk, 2020). This outlines that a person driving a vehicle on a road must
stop if required to do so by an officer in uniform. This option could have been used,
but in this case as officers had seen occupants of the vehicle discarding of drugs in
plain sight no further grounds were required to detain the persons and thus S.23 of
the MDA was appropriate.
The vehicle was seized and further searched back at the station by dismantling the
car by an experienced officer to find any further bags or wraps of drugs.
Furthermore, S.18 PACE (Legislation.gov.uk, 2013) searches was also conducted at
the addresses of all three detainees. Nothing was found in two houses however in
one, a dangerous dog and offensive weapon was found.
This incident signifies the importance of using the roads in disrupting criminal activity.
As per Appendix 1 the criminals were apprehended from dealing and smuggling
drugs as were caught in the act and due to the first encounter, the search of the
addresses led to further offences being discovered.
Technology has played a vital role in enabling police and other forces to tackle crime
and assist in counter terrorism operations. Intelligence led policing which includes
the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) in which vehicles are
identified through their VRM and run through an automatic database. This helps in
identifying vehicles used in crime and the routes taken assisting in tacking crime at a
greater level and thus increasing public confidence. CCTV also play a key role in
tackling crime. (College of Policing, 2013) For example, in the incident of Wayne
Couzens, CCTV was used to identify the hired vehicle’s VRM and through ANPR the
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routes taken were identified (the Guardian, 2021). This outlines how criminals use
the roads network to commit crimes and therefore frequent stop and searches of
vehicles using S.163 RTA is necessary to detect and deter crime.
Word count 574
The importance of diversity and inclusion, wellbeing and
resilience when dealing with major and critical incidents
A major incident is defined as being a response where one or more emergency
service responds swiftly and rapidly implementing special measures. A critical
incident is one where the effectiveness of police response has a direct impact
on the confidence of community, victims and others involved (College of
Policing, 2018). Diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, and resilience play an important
role in assisting communities and individuals in tackling the repercussion of
incidents. London is deemed the most ethnically diverse region in the UK.
Wembley based in the North West area illustrates the vibrant mix of cultures
and ethnicities (Brazzill, 2023).
On ERPT response at Wembley I was fortunate enough to have attended a
critical incident which was initially deemed a major incident but was then
declared a critical incident (Appendix 2). It was a stabbing in which a son had
stabbed his father several times and run after him on the street leaving blood
trails and had then fled the scene. I was in an IRV, and we were the fourth or
fifth unit to attend as were returning from a sudden death. On arrival at the
incident location a cordon had already been implemented closing off three
major roads. Between two to three LAS units were on scene and were operating
on the male who had incurred several stab wounds. The male was transported
to hospital with a continuity officer. Being at the cordon in the close-knit
community meant police response was up most important. Despite not being
the first responder on scene I was given the important role of speaking to a
prime witness who had seen the incident unfold through his living room window.
The witness was a 12-year-old boy and so to obtain best evidence, an
Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interview was required by trained officers. To
get a brief account of what the witness had seen I asked simple questions being
extra careful not to ask anything that could result in a trauma response as what
the witness had seen could have been quite traumatic considering the witness’s
age and the location. Living only a few doors away from where the incident
escalated. After speaking to the witness and the mother I ensured I gave them
both clarity as to what would happen next and how police are responding to
such an incident giving them the opportunity to ask questions and clarify
anything that was unclear. I also did house enquiries to see if anyone else had
witnessed or heard anything and asked about how the family involved in the
incident were, gathering important information. I was at the cordon where
several members of public would come question what is going on and that was
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my golden opportunity to instil trust within the community on the police through
positive communication.
Diversity and Inclusion are essential when dealing with such incidents as having
transparent conversations with victims and community members can assist in
providing the right support needed to recover. This can be helpful when the
police force also consists of diverse members of community as brings together
ideas and solutions in catering for a problem. Wellbeing and resilience are
important not only within the community to bounce back but also within the
police force to be able to cope with and effectively police such incidents. This
can be through the Blue light Champions which caters for psychological/ mental
health and the Occupational Health which addresses physical health (Hesketh,
Tehrani and Eades, 2020). The balance is required by officers to police
effectively, build public confidence and essentially do their job.
Word count: 592
The challenges faced when dealing with youth crime.
Youth crime is a challenging issue that has a knock-on impact on society, law
enforcement and the criminal justice system. While there is the idea not to
“criminalise” young people there is also the view that turning a blind eye causes
the creation of a “lawless” society (radical.org.uk,). Therefore, striking the
balance is essential by law enforcement agencies.
On response dealing with youth crime is prevalent be it stopping and searching for
drugs or shoplifting. Dealing with the uprising knife crime or tackling anti-social
behaviour. The response required by the police needs to be adequate as every
interaction can leave a lasting footprint of police overall (An MPA Report: Seen and
Heard, 2008). The cycle of youth crime begins where a youth is described as
problematic the continuous stigma and labelling creates self-fulfilling prophecy where
the youth takes on that label and continues to behave delinquently (CYCJ, 2016).
The Criminal Justice system (CJS) does not help in dealing with youth crime.
Criminal courts are not equipped in identifying and tackling reasons of prolong youth
offending. The time and money required to tackle this issue is limited and thus a
multi-agency approach is better suited. (Children and Young People in Custody,
2020).
Whilst on response a particular incident I dealt with included police attending a
residential address whereby the mother alleged that her 16-year-old son had
assaulted her (Appendix 3). The incident escalated from a conversation where the
reaction from the youth was abrupt and aggressive. Both parties were separated and
spoken to separately. I spoke to the youth and asked him questions relating to the
incident and how his education is going and his hobbies attempting to get a bigger
picture of why his behaviour was out of the ordinary. A MERLIN report was created
for the youth detailing what had happened and making referrals to other agencies.
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Another incident included a 16-year-old youth who was caught shoplifting but instead
of arresting the youth a community resolution was given.
One of the many challenges faced by police when tackling youth crime is the age of
offenders. youths are still in their developmental age and are developing both
psychologically and emotionally which means often they don’t understand the
consequences of their actions and putting them through the CJS at their tender age
causes trauma and an untoward experience (Policing of Children and Young People:
A Case for ‘Child-Friendly Police’, 2021). Police fail to recognise that young people
committing crimes may need care, police only see the view of youths being
delinquent and therefore as per Evidence Based Policing more child- friendly policing
practices must be implemented (pg. 5) In 2010 a blueprint for reform was created
specifying the pillars of principle published by the independent commission youth
and antisocial behaviour. This included prevent whereby it looks at tackling crime by
involving families, schools, communities and understanding underlying needs of the
youth. Restoration which aims to punish to hold young people accountable for their
crimes. Lastly, integrate which revolves around reintegrating youths within society
such as through youth clubs (The Police Foundation, 2013). This highlights that yes
there are challenges by police, however more emphasis is being drawn to making
interactions correct first time and doing more to support youths preventing re-
offending.
Word Count: 540
The benefits of effective community engagement
Community engagement is crucial to police by consent, not only does this promote
democracy but also reiterates the peelian principles emphasising the importance of
public approval to allow police to carry out their functions and duties (Lister and
Platts-Fowler, 2014). Research shows that the interaction officers have with the
public reduces crime by encouraging conformity for the law and enabling the public
to help the police, rather than break the law (College of Policing, 2013). However, the
increasing level of police brutality and police misconduct cases coming to light has
left a long-lasting irrefutable effect on the community. Despite many police reforms
enhancing community engagement an experiment conducted across six countries
found that community engagement did not improve trust in the police and neither did
it reduce crime (Blair et al., 2021). This signifies the increasing amount of work
required to be done by the police to gain public trust and requires deeper structural
changes which can be achieved through slow gradual processes.
Community engagement is put to practice in everyday policing. Officers interact with
the public in every aspect of policing. One primary example of when officers
interacted with the community was when officers had S&S youths who were found
with drugs on their possession and issued community resolutions (Appendix 4).
Conversations were had with the youths of how they view the police. This gave
officers the opportunity to explain police processes and how police make informed
decisions assessing and outweighing risks. The interaction allowed not only a
chance to educate the youths but also learnt from their experiences of the police and
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what they thought could be done differently to improve relations between the police
and public.
On response it becomes increasingly difficult for officers to engage with the
community on a broader level as officers on response are busy attending and
dealing with ongoing incidents and do not often get the opportunity to have well
informed conversations. Such initiatives are better used by Safer Neighbourhood
Teams (SNT) who police on local boroughs and are attached to designated wards
(Longstaff et al., 2015). Community engagement can be done through initiatives
such as “coffee with a cop” which allows community members to sit down and have
open conversations with officers voicing their concerns and ongoing tensions within
the community (Police1, 2023). Visits to places of worship and increased police
participation with schools allows community-based intel to be gathered by people
who experience situations first hand. It allows information to be gathered about crime
and disorder and allow officers to inform community members of police plans and
activities. The North West area has adopted the walk and talk with your local officer
initiative which follows in the same footsteps of liaising with community members but
on a walk gathering important intel and trends in changes of crimes.
However, community engagement is not always effective. Due to preconceived
misconceptions and first-hand experience some choose to stay as far away from
police as possible. As often police attendance stigmatises that something bad has
happened and therefore some do not engage. Also, having a greater number of
ethnic minorities in a specific area can cause barriers with language making
communication harder.
Word count: 528
Overall word count:2234
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PART B
Part B of the portfolio will look to discuss “what works” in decision making and will
consider how Authorised professional practice (APP) guides police interactions
making direct reference to part A of the portfolio. Considering part, A, part B will
engage with personal effectiveness and learning gathered from dealing with the
incidents in part A using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle (The University of Edinburgh,
2020). This will be in line with the National Decision Model (NDM) (College of
Policing, 2013).
What works decision making principle is a key concept used by law enforcement
agencies to make appropriate informed decisions. The concept includes research
into strategies, policies and law enforcements tactics that have been tried and tested
to determine what works coupled with information and intelligence gathered from
both inside the MPS and outside (Dunham, Alpert, and McLean, 2020). It ensures
police officers are using effective methods to achieve desired outcomes such as
reducing crime, building public trust, and protecting community.
Every policing decision is made in line with the NDM. The model signifies the
importance of considering risks, intel and information, powers and policy, options and
contingencies and action and review which revolves primarily around the code of
ethics. The model not only allows assessment prior to arrival at incidents but also
allows officers to reflect on what they have learnt and changes that could be
implemented in their policing experiences (College of Policing, 2013).
The APP is the official source of professional practice which officers should have
regard to when fulfilling their duties. However, often officers deviate from APP due to
rare occurrences in dynamic policing situations that are not written by the book
(College of policing, 2013).
Referring to Appendix 1 a deliberate attempt was made by officers to patrol that
specific road as it was well known to be a hot spot for drugs. Through previous intel
officers already knew that it was likely that people would be dealing drugs in that
street and so patrolling the street would likely catch offenders in the act. From what
works principle having an increased police presence in areas of hotspot is likely to
deter offenders (College of Policing, 2022). Therefore, implementing the strategy
allowed officers to arrest three males in connection to the offence of PWITS. The
APP on disrupting criminal activity details how vehicles should be stopped safely
using S.163 RTA (College of Policing, 2013). However, derives from the situation
dealt with in Appendix 1 as the vehicle was stationary and no real guidance on how
to approach the vehicle is explained by the APP. The continued use of the NDM
throughout the incident allowed officers to make informed decisions about what
should be done having gathered more information at scene. Having little to no
experience of arresting people prior to the first arrest as per Appendix 1 the
importance of handcuffing offenders early was learnt which was a vital learning
experience.
The APP details clear definitions of what a critical/major incident includes and
outlines roles and responsibilities of officers and other agencies. As per Appendix 2
the incident was a critical incident which meant the handling of the incident was
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crucial. The intel retrieved after the incident allowed officers to discover that the son
had stabbed the father due to a breakdown of family relations. The son had a non-
molestation order against the father and due to the build-up of a domestic violence
incidents the son had retaliated against the father stabbing several times. In terms of
what works in reducing knife crime
https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/knife-crime-evidence-briefing/interventions-
reduce-knife-crime
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Appendix 1:
A vehicle where there were 2 occupants in the car and 1 standing to the driver’s side
of the door. Officers had noticed the male standing outside the car discard of what
we believed to be drugs. Officers have then jumped out of the vehicle and detained
all three men.
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Appendix 2:
