Going equipped issue five

Welcome to issue five of Going equipped, our publication written by policing for policing. This edition is packed with excellent articles that I hope you’ll enjoy reading.

The editorial board and the Going equipped team at the College of Policing work hard to find content that we think is informative and interesting, sharing innovative practice and ideas about policing across the country. We’ve had lots of positive comments about Going equipped and we value your feedback. Please take our survey to tell us what you think.

In this issue, you’ll find articles spanning a wide range of topics. We have practice notes on a horse riders volunteer scheme, tackling spiking in the night-time economy and analysing Linked Series firearms to reduce discharges. You’ll read about what it’s like to be a custody detention officer, a digital investigator, a tutor constable or a police officer going to court as a victim of crime. And you can find out about telematics and an approach to neurodiversity training for frontline staff.  

The long reads cover two fascinating topics. The first presents research on the likelihood of a missing person actively coming to harm, which may help policing when considering demand in this area. The second long read focuses on policing culture and the socialisation of student officers. This is an important debate, especially given the current Police Uplift Programme.

Finally, I’d like to bring your attention to this edition’s book review of ‘Listen’ by Dr Kathryn Mannix, which was written with the medical world in mind, especially patients being given palliative care. The article looks at how the delivery of unwelcome news is translatable into policing.

Going equipped is available to read across the world, but it’s written and reviewed by police officers and staff here in the UK, from all ranks and roles. If you’d like to contribute or be a peer reviewer, we’d love to hear from you. Please email goingequipped@college.police.uk and let the team know.

Enjoy reading!