Gang crime

OPINION: Child criminal exploitation has long been recognised in the UK – particularly the county lines model – and is a focus for a number of European countries, but understanding of the issue is limited in Australia; Dr Susan Baidawi, an Associate Professor at Monash University, warns that far from being an emerging problem, such exploitation is already a defining contemporary youth justice issue, and one which urgently requires data collection, multi-agency collaboration, and a response embedded in child protection.

FEATURE: Research by the Youth Endowment Fund among 13-17-year-olds in England and Wales indicates that 240,000 youngsters had been or in a gang, while 440,000 criminally exploited teenagers had been approached to sell or transport drugs, or store drugs, weapons or money; but the study also highlights that more teenagers have left gangs than are currently involved with them, suggesting “timely and co-ordinated support” can give them “a real chance to live a life free from violence”, reports Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: With recent advice to New Zealand Associate Minister of Police Casey Costello that the country is “losing the fight” against organised crime, efforts to control the trade in illegal guns will be crucial in limiting gang activity; University of Waikato Professor of Law Alexander Gillespie argues that another buy-back of all guns that should be on the country’s register by the end of August 2028, and adopting the UN protocol on the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms and ammunition, are steps the country needs to take.

INNOVATION: New Zealand’s Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities (ROCC) initiative – a community-based, multi-agency initiative in which NZ Police are taking a lead role – is combining enforcement against drugs and gangs while also working to provide pathways for youths to avoid being drawn into gang culture, building trust with the public, and supporting communities to make their own decisions, as NZ Police ROCC Manager John O’Keeffe explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A new report on county lines, policing and vulnerability, published by the Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, has highlighted the “postcode lottery” of UK policing approaches and outcomes in relation to viewing young people and vulnerable adults as victims of criminal exploitation, and called for more training, a new national policing strategy on exploitation, and a rethink over the use of the term ‘county lines’, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: With cuckooing – the exploitation of vulnerable people by drug gangs who take over their home – not currently classified by the Home Office as a specific crime, the true scale of the problem in the UK remains unclear; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to North-West Regional County Lines Co-ordinator DI Adam Norton, and Intelligence Analyst and PhD candidate Ruth Lewin, about the nature of the crime, and what more can be done to identify and improve support for victims while also strengthening enforcement.

OPINION: The New Zealand Government is continuing its crackdown on gangs, with a new specialist National Gang Unit and a ban on wearing gang patches in public among measures set out in planned legislation; but Auckland University of Technology Associate Professor Antje Deckert, and University of Melbourne Professor Juan Tauri, argue the proposals ignore research evidence that such policies are likely to backfire.

INTERVIEW: After 41 years in policing – the past four as Commissioner of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force – Trevor Botting retired recently, although admits he may have not hung up his uniform altogether; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the challenges leading an island force in the West Indies, the need to nurture local recruits, and why the force’s firearms officers are among the bravest he has worked with.

ANALYSIS: Shoplifting has become a focus for policing in the UK and around the world, amid claims that the retail sector is experiencing a theft epidemic fuelled by organised gangs, social media and a poor police response; Professor Graham Farrell of the University of Leeds and Professor Rachel Armitage of the University of Huddersfield explore the veracity of some of the key recent assertions made about shoplifting.

OPINION: The New Zealand Coalition Government has made a crackdown on gangs a priority in its first 100 days, setting out its expectations in a letter to the Police Commissioner and promising new police powers; but Auckland University of Technology Law Professor Kris Gledhill argues that necessary laws to tackle the problem are already in place, and a focus on diverting people from gang membership would be more effective.

LONG READ: Once regarded as among Europe’s safest and most peaceful countries, Sweden has faced a significant increase in shootings and violence over recent years, due in large part to the rapid expansion of gang conflict and organised crime; Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke to officers and academics working to tackle the problem, and explored how the country’s interpretation of the group violence intervention (GVI) approach pioneered in Boston is having a big impact on Scandinavian streets.

INTERVIEW: In an exclusive interview in Stockholm, Swedish National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the country’s approach to law enforcement, the importance of international collaboration, rising gang crime, new tech, and the need to balance economic goals with public safety.

ANALYSIS: With gang membership on the rise in recent years in New Zealand, the country’s novel approach – prioritising deep engagement with gang communities through bodies such as the Gang Harm Insights Centre, alongside tough enforcement – is under more pressure than ever, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

ANALYSIS: With “more mobile, connected” youth gangs responsible for “an escalation in the harm that they can cause to the community and themselves”, Victoria Police has launched a new holistic and integrated approach to detect those most at risk of gang activity, divert them from gang involvement, and disrupt the gang-related violent offending that has been taking place, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: New research from the Australian Institute of Criminology presents shocking findings on the level of domestic violence among members of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs); with higher rates of violence and lower conviction rates, it’s a complex challenge for police officers in New South Wales to solve, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

ANALYSIS: In the fourth of a month-long series of articles celebrating International Women’s Day, the Open University’s Dr Shona Morrison, and Daryl Baguley of the Diane Modahl Sporting Foundation, highlight a lesser-known form of violence against young women and girls – exploitation of vulnerable girls in the context of drug dealing and organised crime groups, known in the UK as ‘County Lines’ drug dealing.

OPINION: The recent death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in a shooting in Liverpool has highlighted the city’s continuing struggle with gangs, guns and violent crime; Dr Robert Hesketh, Policing Studies lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, believes a continuing pattern of social exclusion and poverty is leading to organised crime and violence on Merseyside and elsewhere, but that preventative policing could be a step towards solving the problems.

INTERVIEW: Having policed the city for more than 30 years, San Antonio Police Department Assistant Chief Karen Falks has seen huge changes to the community and the policing role; she talked to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the importance of open data in gaining public trust, the challenges of the ever-changing criminal landscape, and the millennial view of policing careers.

FEATURE: The resurgence in outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) in Australia and around the world has highlighted the need for a better understanding of their criminal activities; Dr Christopher Dowling of the Australian Institute of Criminology – a speaker at this week’s Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference – outlines the work of the Serious and Organised Crime Research Laboratory, and its crime science approach to the criminal activity of OMCGs.

ANALYSIS: The recent upsurge in gang membership and conflict in New Zealand has prompted a fresh focus on their criminal activity; but ahead of this week’s Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, Dr Jarrod Gilbert of the University of Canterbury warns that equating patched gangs with organised crime ignores the evidence, and will result in law enforcement and socio-economic approaches to gang issues that are unlikely to be effective.

OPINION: Tackling the county lines drug trade and protecting vulnerable youngsters exploited by dealers is a challenge for many UK forces, and was the key focus for the @WeCops Twitter chat at the end of November; in this article @WeCops Dr Emma Williams brings together the main points from the debate.