Highlighting diverse experiences across policing

This issue is filled with an eclectic mix of articles, which have been written by officers and staff from all over the country and even further afield, including our first article from the Royal Gibraltar Police!

The value of Going equipped is the opportunity to bring together interesting articles about topics that you may be dealing with every day, such as our practice note on a shoplifting project and a short reminder of what to remember when we talk to young children. New ideas include using community impact statements in knife crime cases and providing distraction items to detainees to reduce stress. Other articles address subjects that you may only come across once in your career, such as a body submerged in water or the use of digital evidence from a smart doorbell in the conviction of a murder suspect.

The articles all provide a lens into the diverse and varied experiences of officers and staff across policing. Our ‘spotlight on a role’ article focuses on a force’s development of a new role of PCSO supervisor. We also hear about efforts to support firearms officers returning to their specialist roles following maternity leave.

With the current focus on addressing violence against women and girls sitting squarely at the heart of national policing, I am really pleased that this issue includes a review of Professor Jane Monckton Smith’s thought-provoking book ‘In control: Dangerous relationships and how they end in murder’, as well as a very pertinent long read on honour-based abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

I enjoyed reading how some of our contributors linked their projects to academic research, and how evaluation was an important factor in many of the articles. Most of all, I appreciated how each of the articles brought new views to the fore and ideas for us all to think about.

My thanks to all those involved in bringing you Going equipped, including our authors and peer reviewers, the editorial board made up of colleagues from across the country, and the College of Policing team, who work exceptionally hard to bring this all together.