The impact of COVID-19 on police intelligence reports in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus pandemic affected policing in a number of both anticipated, and unexpected ways. However, the impact on police intelligence remains an unexplored area. Understanding how the pandemic affected the volume of police intelligence is important as it underpins the intelligence-led policing model, which is as a key system that helps drive police activity. In this study, data from 20 police services over a 4-year period that outlines the annual volume of intelligence reports retained by services is analysed using inferential statistics to establish that during 2020 there was a significant rise in intelligence held by the police. In this study, several hypothesis are considered as causal factors that contributed to the rises and conclude that the pandemic is the most likely reason, which is caused by a rise in public order intelligence related to breaches of coronavirus legislation. The impact on the division of labour that arises from tasking such police intelligence is discussed, and the article calls upon similar research on the issuance of coronavirus fixed penalties and stop and search activity during the pandemic, to suggest that the rises have the potential to contribute to the disproportionate targeting of black and minority ethnic communities. We call for further research to explore this further.

KEYWORDS:

• Policing
• crime
• intelligence led policing
• COVID-19
• coronavirus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 According to official statistics, there were 60 terrorist attacks in 2018, 64 in 2019, and 62 in 2020.

2 A section 60 order is the authority to search any person in a geographical locality under the public order act (Public Order Act, 1994 (c.33) section 60) for items that may be used in the disorder-related activity.

3 According to Brown (2021), there are two types of ASB: ASB that occurs within a housing context is defined as behaviour that causes or is likely to cause ‘nuisance or annoyance’, and, ASB that occurs in public spaces which are defined as behaviour that causes or is likely to cause ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.

4 CrimeStoppers is a UK charity that receives anonymous intelligence from the public and disseminates this to the police.

5 Data recovered from the National Police Chiefs Council https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/update-on-coronavirus-fpns-issued-by-police-june-2021.