New Research Bulletin: April 2026
- Matt Bland
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
We’ve bundled up the highlights from some interesting papers and reports circulating in the last few weeks.
TL;DR?
Shorter is sweeter? Short, focused hot‑spot patrols can deliver similar violence‑reduction benefits to longer deployments. Maybe.
Improving investigations: Trauma‑informed interview training could lead to more victim‑centred practice and fewer harmful questioning behaviours in sexual offence investigations.
Evaluations are no picnic: Practical insights from a series of youth violence evaluations
It's what's inside that matters most: Officers’ sense of legitimacy is shaped more by internal fairness and leadership than by public attitudes alone.
What do police do: Police in England and Wales spend very little time on visible patrol and crime prevention.
A null effect: Serious Violence Reduction Orders do not reduce reoffending or weapon carrying.
Protecting the workforce: Workload, role design and organisational support are critical to wellbeing, rather than exposure to sensitive material alone (among child sexual exploitation investigators).
How long should hot spot patrols last to reduce serious violence?
Authors: Kochel, O’Guinn, Nouri, and Haberman
Study design: Randomised Controlled Trial
Setting: USA
Summary: This study found that shorter, focused hot spots patrols achieved comparable reductions in gun violence to longer deployments, with diminishing returns beyond a certain patrol length. The findings support more efficient patrol strategies, particularly relevant for forces facing workforce and response pressures but... the authors are clear more research is needed to improve confidence that the finding holds elsewhere.
You’ll be interested if: you design, deploy or oversee hot spot patrols, or are responsible for balancing visibility, effectiveness and limited officer time. This study is particularly relevant for those managing patrol strategy under workforce and response pressures and considering whether shorter, more targeted deployments can deliver similar violence‑reduction benefits.
Trauma-informed interview training for sexual offence investigations
Authors: Campbell et al.
Study design: Randomised Controlled Trial
Setting: USA
Summary: Trained investigators demonstrated more victim-centred communication and fewer harmful questioning behaviours than those in a comparison group. The study supports specialist trauma-informed training for RASSO investigators, aligning with UK VAWG priorities.
You’ll be interested if: You work in, lead or commission training for RASSO or other specialist investigative teams. The findings will also resonate with those responsible for improving victim experience, interview quality, and alignment with VAWG priorities through evidence‑based training.
Police self-legitimacy and organisational justice
Authors: Kuen & Hyun Kim
Study design: Quantitative Observational
Setting: South Korea
Summary: Internal procedural justice and leadership fairness were stronger predictors of officer self-legitimacy than public attitudes alone, reinforcing the importance of internal organisational justice.
You will be interested if: You hold a leadership, supervisory or HR role and want to strengthen officer morale, ethical decision‑making and legitimacy from the inside out. The study is especially relevant for those focusing on leadership practices, fairness, and internal culture as levers for organisational performance.
Lessons from evaluating youth violence interventions
Authors: Acquah, Kung & Sherlock
Study design: Reflective review of multiple RCTs
Setting: UK
Summary: The paper highlights challenges around recruitment, consent, retention and racial equity in youth violence evaluations, offering practical guidance for police and partnership-led programmes.
You’ll be interested if: You are involved in designing, commissioning or evaluating youth violence prevention work, particularly in partnership settings. The paper offers practical insights for anyone grappling with recruitment, consent, retention and equity challenges in real‑world evaluations.
How police in England and Wales spend their time
Authors: Home Office with support from Price Waterhouse Cooper
Study design: Observational study based on a survey of 6.1 million working hours
Setting: England & Wales
Summary: This report provides a detailed breakdown of how police time and resources are actually spent. It finds that officers spend more time investigating violent crime than any other crime type, while spending almost no time investigating social‑media posts—challenging some common media narratives. Overall, only around 7% of police time is spent on visible patrol and less than 1% on crime prevention. Even neighbourhood teams devote only 18% of their time to patrol and 1.6% to prevention.
You’ll be interested in this if you: Lead, oversee or scrutinise police demand, resourcing or neighbourhood policing models; work on public confidence or police visibility; or engage in debates about police priorities such as shoplifting, online harms or prevention. The report is particularly useful for those seeking an evidence‑based counterpoint to media commentary on what police do—or don’t—spend time on.
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs): what did the pilot achieve?
Authors: Ecorys
Report type: Mixed‑methods evaluation of impact
Setting: England (pilot forces: Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands)
Summary: This independent evaluation examined the two‑year SVRO pilot introduced under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Using a quasi‑experimental quantitative design alongside extensive qualitative fieldwork, the evaluation found no clear or consistent evidence that SVROs reduced reoffending or weapon carrying among those subject to an order compared with similar individuals who did not receive one. Take‑up was far lower than anticipated, with only a minority of eligible cases resulting in an SVRO being issued, and implementation was uneven across forces. Stakeholders highlighted significant operational burdens, legal complexity, and concerns about proportionality.
You’ll be interested in this if you: Are involved in serious violence policy, stop and search governance, or deciding whether enforcement‑led interventions should be expanded, amended or discontinued. The report is particularly relevant for senior leaders, PCC offices and central government teams weighing the costs, benefits and risks of extending SVROs, and for anyone concerned with evidence‑based approaches and disproportionality in policing.
Psychological outcomes for investigators of online child sexual exploitation
Authors: Wortley, Powell & Smallbone
Study design: Cross‑sectional quantitative study
Setting: Australia
Summary: This study compared the psychological well‑being of investigators working on online child sexual exploitation (CSE) with that of investigators in other policing roles. While CSE investigators showed higher levels of distress on some measures, such as disengagement‑related burnout, role overload and lower organisational identification, there were no significant differences on most mental health indicators, suggesting that many stressors are common across policing. Importantly, the study identified key protective factors for CSE investigators, including psychological mindedness and high, “vigorous” work engagement, while role overload emerged as the primary risk factor. The findings challenge assumptions that CSE work is uniquely damaging in all respects and point to organisational and job‑design factors as central to safeguarding investigator well‑being.
You’ll be interested in this if you: Lead or support online harms, CSA/CSE or digital investigations; design wellbeing, supervision or selection processes; or are concerned about burnout and retention in high‑exposure roles. The study is especially relevant for forces seeking evidence‑informed ways to protect staff without unnecessarily restricting access to specialist investigative work.
