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86331 total results. Showing results 49661 to 49680

American police should not be above the law
In Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed, a black entrepreneur had his bar destroyed before he even had a chance to open its doors for the first time. In Richmond, Virginia, a mob set light to a building, then blocked firefighters who were trying to save a child from the flames (-thankfully the child survived). These actions, repeated in cities all over America, are harmful in two ways: night after night, rioters are trashing their own backyard, destroying private property and putting innocent lives at risk. They are also diverting attention away from the legitimate grievances of peaceful protestors, whose efforts are far more laudable than looting.
The Spectator - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
Analysis, Feature
Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships: Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland
The focus in this Finland-based study is on violence in close relationships—a term that partly overlaps with the more commonly used ‘domestic violence’, ‘family violence’ and ‘intimate partner violence’. We demonstrate how police officers’ conceptualisations of such violence differ from how it is defined in relevant legal documents. The data consists of the Government Bill and legal text on the subject issued as part of a legal reform enacted in 2010, and of a qualitative sample of freelist responses from 79 police officers. We examined both sets of data using theory-driven directed content analysis and deriving from prevailing theoretical frameworks reflecting the family- and gender-based perspectives on violence. The results expose the predominance of a narrow definition of ‘family’ in police understandings of close relationships, but also a notably broad spectrum of conceptualisations of both physical and non-physical forms of violence. In contrast, the legal definition of a close relationship is broader and encompasses multiple types of relationships, whereas forms of violence are more strictly defined. These findings could explain some of the discrepancies between legal policies on violence in close relationships and police responses to it.
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 		6/6/2020
Research article
The Immediate Impact of Covid-19 on Law Enforcement in the United States
During pandemics, like COVID-19, law enforcement agencies are responsible for working with government and public health officials to contain spread, serve the local community, and maintain public order. Given the person-to-person spread of COVID-19 through respiratory droplets, law enforcement officers are also at a heightened risk of exposure due to their close contact with members of the public. To protect officers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies have made numerous recommendations for law enforcement agencies to protect officers and the public. Departments around the country have responded to the pandemic in various ways, such as reassigning personnel to high-traffic areas, suspending training, roll calls, and community outreach initiatives, only issuing citations for low-level crimes, implementing safety precautions for officers, and limiting access to department facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic also has exposed some key obstacles for law enforcement, related to communication, resource management, the enforcement of public health restrictions, and changes to crime and service patterns. Based on these early/initial responses and obstacles during the COVID-19 outbreak, the current paper highlights directions for future responses to pandemics to ensure the safety and security of police officers and the communities they serve.
American Journal of Criminal Justice 		6/6/2020
Research article
Secondary Trauma and Parenting Practices in Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Investigators
Investigating cases of child pornography requires daily exposure to sexually explicit material involving children and may have negative implications on the mental well-being of those in this line of work. This study aimed to identify whether secondary traumatic stress symptoms were associated with participants’ parenting behaviors and concerns about their own children’s use of the internet. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force workers (n = 212) completed online questionnaires measuring work exposure to sexually explicit material, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and parenting behaviors. Professionals in this field reported a wide range of secondary trauma symptoms, and their parenting behaviors were both directly and indirectly (via secondary trauma) affected by prolonged exposure to sexually explicit material involving children. Internet monitoring behaviors were more prevalent for parents of younger children, and mothers’ parenting behaviors were more strongly associated with secondary trauma symptoms than were fathers. Results have implications for mental health and parenting services for professionals in this field.
American Journal of Criminal Justice 		6/6/2020
Research article
When Stay-At-Home Orders Leave Victims Unsafe At Home: Exploring the Risk and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The novel coronavirus pandemic (hereafter COVID-19) is likely to have unprecedented impacts on the incidence and impacts of crime and violence globally. This includes impacts to the risk, consequences, and decision-making of women experiencing violence by an intimate partner (hereafter IPV). Most importantly, the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on the risk of IPV is likely to differentially impact vulnerable populations, including minority women and those with long histories of victimization and mental health issues. This review paper explores the potential short- and long-term implications of COVID-19 on the risk of IPV, highlighting some of the most recent preliminary data. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, record levels of male unemployment, added stressors in the home, including the care and home schooling of children, and the social distancing measures required by the epidemiological response, may serve to undermine the decades of progress made in keeping women and children safe at home. Victim police reporting, help-seeking decisions, and social service utilization during the pandemic are likely to be impacted by stay-at-home orders and social distancing requirements. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for providing safety planning and self-care for victims and their children.
American Journal of Criminal Justice 		6/6/2020
Research article
Criminals Work From Home During Pandemics Too: A Public Health Approach to Respond to Fraud and Crimes Against Those 50 and Above
This paper uses the public health framework to address the apparent impact of the coronavirus on the victimization experiences with a specific focus given to those over the age of 50. The bulk of attention is given to fraud victimization, with consideration also given to parent abuse, partner violence, and patient abuse. A review of data from the Federal Trade Commission shows that reports of most types of fraud grew significantly in the first three months of 2020 in comparison to the same time period in 2019. Differences between fraud experiences based on age are considered. Older persons lost much more to fraud than younger persons, and far more in 2020 than 2019. In addition, they reported being targeted more often for certain types of cybercrime (i.e., tech support scams). While devastating to everyone, it is concluded that the coronavirus will potentially have a more significant impact on the financial health of older persons than younger persons. It is concluded that minimizing the consequences of all forms of crimes targeting older adults will be best achieved by using a public health approach.
American Journal of Criminal Justice 		6/6/2020
Research article
Justin Trudeau takes a knee but is silent on reforms to policing
Canadian PM attends Ottawa rally but would not be drawn on new policies to tackle racism
The Guardian 		6/6/2020
News
No trials for drunk drivers ‘saves many lives’ in Canada
Decriminalising drink-driving in the west of Canada has cut deaths by half, and now another province is trying the measure, which its supporters say could save countless lives.
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
Amsterdam Coffeeshops, Victimisation, and Police Mobilization
Police mobilisation is a first step in the judicial process and an important source of information on offending. Whether victims mobilise police is affected by their assessment of its utility. Victims who are criminals, such as drug dealers, are known to face a different cost–benefit scenario than law-abiding persons. Dutch ‘coffeeshops’ are a unique type of dealer. They operate in a grey area, allowed by the government to sell a prohibited drug, cannabis, so long as they comply with a set of regulations. Little is known about their mobilisation of police in response to victimisation, including how it is affected by the rules governing their business. We explore this issue with qualitative data collected from personnel of 50 coffeeshops in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We analyse how they think about the potential benefits and costs of asking the police for help post victimisation. In many ways, their thought process is similar to that of most any victim, but they also consider the potential negative ramifications of inviting police to their door. We conclude by discussing the implications for future research, regulation and drug control broadly, and coffeeshops specifically.
Policing and Society 		6/6/2020
Research article
Coronavirus: Black Lives Matter protest must not go ahead, warns police chief
A senior PSNI officer has made an appeal to protesters not to take part in civil rights demonstrations this weekend.
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
No trials for drunk drivers ‘saves many lives’ in Canada
Decriminalising drink-driving in the west of Canada has cut deaths by half, and now another province is trying the measure, which its supporters say could save countless lives.
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
George Floyd protests: Buffalo police knock out protester, 75
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
Time-of-death software to take on Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes could deduce how a person had died simply from studying their clothes or fingernails. A group of forensic scientists is hoping to emulate the detective’s methods with a computer model that can work out when a person has died to within minutes by analysing the corpse.
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
Entire police unit resigns ‘in disgust’ at suspension of officers who shoved elderly man to ground
All 57 members of a police tactical unit have resigned from the team in protest at the suspension of two colleagues who were filmed shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground.
Yahoo! 		6/6/2020
News
Twitter leaves scam adverts online days after being alerted to fraud
Twitter has been profiting from fraud after scammers put adverts on people’s timelines and is failing to remove the posts when they are reported as suspicious.
The Times - Subscription at source 		6/6/2020
News
Next stage in pay talks set for July
An indication on next year's pay deal will be announced by next month according to the pay review body.
Police Oracle - Subscription at source 		5/6/2020
News
Canada police under scrutiny after two women die after encounters with officers
Agency faces criticism over its capacity to de-escalate situations involving racial minorities or those with mental health issues
The Guardian 		5/6/2020
News
The potential impacts of pandemic policing on police legitimacy: Planning past the COVID-19 crisis
One of the biggest challenges facing modern policing in recent years has been the lack of police legitimacy. The tipping point of this phenomenon is often attributed to the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles in 1991, where Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers were videoed assaulting a lone black male. They were arrested and charged but eventually all were acquitted, thereby etching deep distrust between communities and police. Now the Rodney King example is an extreme and criminal act by police but it was the beginning of communities and media focusing on what the police were doing and how they were doing it. This lack of legitimacy coupled with what is referred to as the militarization of policing have lasting consequences and impacts on police–community relations and how interactions between police and community shape society today. In the wake of pandemic policing due to COVID-19, there are tales of two eventualities for police legitimacy that will be explored in this article: (1) The police response to the pandemic results in further militarization and draws deeper divides between police and communities or (2) the police response is compassionate and build on procedurally just operations resulting in the rebuilding of police legitimacy post-pandemic.
Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 		5/6/2020
Analysis, Feature
One big (and growing) police team on Teams
Over 50,000 police officers and staff across England and Wales are now using Microsoft Teams with the support of the National Enabling Programmes (NEP).
tech UK 		5/6/2020
Feature, Opinion
More police departments are adopting ‘duty to intervene’ policies. But they didn’t save George Floyd.
USA: The protocol essentially guides officers toward pulling their colleagues off people they’re assaulting.
Vox 		5/6/2020
News

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