College expands practice bank to help investigators identify new lines of enquiry

The College of Policing has introduced new real-world case studies to its innovative practice bank to give investigators other strategies to solve cases and reduce crime.

The first update to what will be a continuing process includes an initial batch of nine investigation case examples. These have been added to support investigative learning by helping officers and staff identify effective lines of enquiry and connect with external colleagues who have developed successful approaches in similar cases.

The hugely successful practice bank, a collection of effective initiatives which are tried and tested, allow users to filter for specific investigation-related content.

This new initiative responds to findings from an HMICFRS inspection into how effectively police investigate crime, which highlighted officers and staff often rely on personal judgement when deciding which lines of enquiry to pursue. By sharing tested examples from across forces, the College aims to support faster, better-informed decision making during investigations.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jamie Daniels, College of Policing, said: “Sharing information and experience is absolutely central to effective policing, and the practice bank is a fantastic example of this in action. These new case examples will allow investigators to draw on proven, real-world examples to help in their own investigations.

“The update will give investigators across England and Wales access to a number of proven, effective case studies, which they can apply to their own cases, employing techniques or following lines of enquiry that they may otherwise not have been aware of.

“Allowing investigators to have proven examples of successful similar investigations at their fingertips will be invaluable in helping them to pursue new lines of enquiry, think strategically, and help to solve crime and keep the public safe.”

All cases in the practice bank are regularly reviewed by subject matter experts and formally recognised by the College of Policing. Examples can be searched by topic, crime type or organisation, making it easier for investigators to find approaches which are relevant to their own work.

The College of Policing is also encouraging investigators and forces to contribute their own examples. These can include submissions which demonstrate innovative practices, successful outcomes at court, and those with clear examples of following lines of enquiry that made a significant contribution to a case. Contributors whose examples are published will receive formal recognition from the College.

The practice bank is intended to be a living, evolving resource which will grow further through peer contribution, and help recognise the high-quality investigative work taking place across policing.

It was launched in March 2023 as a national resource for sharing practice across policing and the wider community safety sector. It now contains over 400 published examples and sits alongside other College What Works resources, including a crime reduction toolkit and research projects map.