ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to provide insight into the approaches of the police in attempting to address this issue by providing a summary of the contributing factors and underlying influences which have driven them. It discusses the reasons why disclosure is seen as a perennial or ‘wicked’ problem in policing terms, characterised by a 20-year history of criminal justice failings. The chapter broadly considers whether interventions deployed since 2017 have had an effect on improving the practice of disclosure and whether we are closer to making meaningful progress with a problem that has remained live for two decades. It outlines an alternative approach, using early findings from ongoing empirical research to understand the subtleties of the problem in more depth. The chapter explores the benefits of undertaking a thorough diagnosis of the problem before embarking on the search for solutions and looks at the implications of taking a more holistic approach with a longer delivery timetable.
