Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)’s Post

🚨 Crime is falling and in Thames Valley we have more police officers than ever before. The plan announced today for 8️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ more police officers would see additional investment in neighbourhood policing. 👮♀️ I welcome the Conservatives’ clear plan to recruit 8,000 additional full-time police with the full power of arrest, ensuring people across Thames Valley feel safer in their area. Under the Conservatives, there are now 5,120 police officers in Thames Valley, more than ever before, and up by 20% since 2019. Crime is falling and as Police & Crime Commissioner, I have made neighbourhood policing central to the work of Thames Valley Police. In contrast to the Conservatives’ plan to recruit 8,000 full-time neighbourhood police with the full power of arrest, Labour would recruit just 3,000 of these equivalent officers under their pledge, leaving neighbourhood policing teams without the resources they need to keep families in Thames Valley safe.

Eighteen months ago I published my Top 10 suggestions to get UK policing back on track. It received a massive response. Now that we have a new government (and hopefully one that cares more about policing and police officers than the last government), I thought I should update that article. If you care about policing, please read and share. #policing #lawenforcement #publicsafety #Labour #yvettecooper #homeoffice https://lnkd.in/e5W7zwRy

Recent statistics on police officers leaving the force have been worrying. With the number of officers leaving far outnumbering those joining, this could pose a serious threat to the safety and security of our communities. It's clear that the recruitment targets and penalties associated with not meeting them are not addressing the underlying issues that have been causing officers to leave the force. We must ensure that those in the police force are supported and valued, so that they can continue to do their vital work in protecting us all. We must also ensure that the issues underlying the current crisis are addressed, so that police officers can enjoy a safe and happy working environment. Can more be done to prevent the brain drain of experienced but exhausted policing staff within the profession? Time for some long term strategic thinking on this surely? #ProtectThePolice #PoliceRecruitment #PoliceRetention

The topic of militarization of police in Syracuse first sparked my interest in policy and local government. This article allowed me to further explore this topic again when covering the recent order to send in 1,000 National Guard Troops, state police, and transit officers to patrol NYC subway systems. "New York City and Syracuse are not unique in their conversations on policing. The topic of militarization and overuse of police in communities is also not new. Rather than addressing root issues such as mental health, vulnerable populations are overpoliced instead. Policymakers must heed the concerns of their community and prioritize community-centered approaches to address public safety issues, aiming specifically to foster an environment of trust, equity and justice." - Sarhia Rahim. https://lnkd.in/ednRz4Dv

Farhang Heydari from the Policing Project at NYU Law exposes contradictions in federal action on policing. While decrying Tyre Nichols' murder & calling for pretext stop reform, the feds also promote harmful pretext stops thru a police training program ironically called "Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety." DDACTS, and other outmoded federal drug war initiatives like it, promote the idea that police can effectively stop crime, drug trafficking, and even terrorism through enforcing minor traffic infractions unrelated to road safety. The problem? It is harder to imagine a less effective approach to safety. DDACTS just doesn't work. Police conduct 1,000s of these stops -- causing harm and infuriating people along the way -- before they find anything of significance. Meanwhile, we're experiencing a historic, nationwide spike in traffic deaths. Instead of trying to turn "needle in a haystack" into a strategy, real lives would be measurably saved if police focused on speeding, DUI, and distracted driving. It's been done and proven true. https://lnkd.in/eP-xsRjN

For those interested in police officer retention, this is an interesting read. For those in service it could provide a helpful reflection to see whether your force has taken these factors into account. https://lnkd.in/gM4HPbwa

❝The police workforce is now more ‘officerised’. In 2010, several forces employed more unsworn staff than police officers, and nationally over 41% of the workforce were unsworn staff. Civilianisation and outsourcing was seen as a way to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and bring in new skills, experiences and methods of working. The direction of travel has been reversed. The percentage of unsworn staff in the workforce has now fallen to under 37%, and police officers form the majority in all forces. The work that was previously done by staff and PCSOs has had to be reallocated to officers – or simply not done.❞ Chart shows the percentage change in the total police workforce (officers, PCSOs and staff) from 2010 to 2023 by force. Read more analysis in Ian Wiggett's 'Workforce 2023 – getting used to a new normal' article: [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/d3qZ-jES #lawenforcement #policing #police #workforcedevelopment #recruitment #retention

Non-Culpable Homicide (Police Officer Involved Shooting) Education 1) Harvard professor Roland Fryer found NO RACISM in police shootings. He couldn’t believe the data, so he hired a new team of researchers, and found the same conclusion. Yet, so often we hear people without any true research inferring, if not directly stating the opposite. It’s ignorant and shameful and needs to stop! 2) Not every member in society has an equal chance of force being used on them, but it has nothing to with the officers racism or bias. Think of a toddler or someone in an old folks home. Based on Washington Post statistics of American police shootings, gender shows the greatest difference (men are more than 90 percent of police shootings) and age is number 2 (with over half of shootings being between the age of 20 and 40). Yet we never read the articles describing systemic sexism against men in shootings because it doesn’t fit a selective narrative. 3) Roland Fryer also found the 80 percent of police shootings originate with a call from the public for help. Officers are showing up, putting themselves in danger, and sometimes dying, to keep the public safe. That can also mean responding to intervene and save the persons family who is in crisis. 4) Researchers have found approximately one third of police shootings are suicide by cop. The subject forces an officer to shoot them, and the officer is a victim to that person’s suicide. Many officers are severely traumatized from it, and don’t deserve to be vilified using aggregate statistics. 5) Failing to use lethal force when needed, to save the lives of hostages, civilians, and police officers, is just as important as using too much force. A mental model that every situation can safely be de-escalated lacks any awareness of reality. Deescalting an active shooter means waiting while more innocent people die. Please learn the safety priorities. 6) In this article there is no mention of the increase in police ambushes (attempt murder and murders), serious injuries, and murdered police officers, which will also impact the number of police shootings. If you don’t believe me, watch the YouTube video of Micah Johnson speaking to a negotiator and repeating the same falsehoods (that there’s a war of white cops killing black peoole) and that he’s fighting back and killing white cops. I am concerned that this article is written with a lack of undertanding about lethal force psychology for police officers. Police officers are good people, who join policing wanting to help their communities. They don’t deserve to have their aggregate statistics used to infer they are doing a bad job, which is not supported by actual independent research and statistics.

A range of promises to increase officer numbers via various funding formulas, scrap PCCs and 'depoliticise' the College of Policing and included in the manifestos. The main political parties have set out their policing sand crime pledges in their manifestos this week. Conservatives: The Conservatives have pledged to recruit an additional 8,000 police officers over the next three years if they win the general election. Under a second ‘policing uplift programme’, which would be partly funded by increasing visa fees and removing the student discount to the Immigration Health surcharge, new neighbourhood police officers would be given increased powers to seize knives and recover stolen goods. Labour: Labour are pledging to put more police in communities and “take back town centres from thugs and thieves.” Their pledge will involve hiring 3,000 new officers and 4,000 PSCOs at a estimated cost of £360 million, which they argue would be paid for through more efficient purchasing of police equipment. Lib Dem: The Liberal Democrats have unveiled their manifesto on the 10th of June. Their manifesto says: “Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own homes and communities. Liberal Democrats will prevent crime and build communities where people can truly feel safe.” Reform UK: Reform UK, say that “Law and Order urgently needs reform” as “The bobby on-the-beat is almost extinct.” And “crime solving is at an all time low”. They say that critical reform is needed in the first 100 days. To learn more, read our article on Police Oracle: https://lnkd.in/e8-mDN63 #UKpolitics #Government #LawEnforcement #CommunitySafety #CrimePrevention

With communities across Canada considering whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police | Gendarmerie royale du Canada should be responsible for municipal policing, the city of Surrey in British Columbia has become one of the first to look to replace it with a newly-formed Surrey Police Service; but Royal Roads University Lecturer Dr Bryce Casavant believes the controversy and conflict between the RCMP and Surrey Police highlights the challenges around the transition. ❝It will also raise questions of national and practical importance: should the RCMP be involved in municipal contract policing? Or is that role better left to the municipalities under provincial policing models?❞ ❝In contemporary times, and with the increase of lethal force by police that disproportionately affects marginalized Canadians, there is a strong case for transitioning away from a federal force being involved in provincial policing.❞ ❝The current blue-on-blue battle between competing law enforcement agencies in Surrey, including infighting among unionized officers, does little to strengthen public trust in the rule of law and our police forces.❞ ❝In Surrey, the temperature must be turned down among competing police unions and the elected officials responsible for the transition of power. The Surrey situation is setting a bad example for the rest of Canada.❞ https://lnkd.in/eEDTTWzP #lawenforcement #policing #police #governance