Theft

INTERVIEW: A new organised supply chain crime intelligence desk has been launched by Opal, UK policing’s national intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, which will develop strategic and tactical intelligence packages for forces to help them tackle the increasingly sophisticated efforts of organised crime groups that divert goods through cybercrime, create ghost companies to steal contracts from businesses, and target warehouses and depots, as Opal Head Jim Taylor told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: New research highlights the gaps in police awareness and understanding of ‘non-fungible tokens’ (NFTs) and their exploitation – particularly by organised crime gangs – in areas such as theft and money laundering; Professors Saskia Hufnagel and Colin King of the University of Sydney Law School spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the fear police are “multiple steps” behind criminals in investigating NFT crimes, the call for better training, and the need for more legal clarity based on case law.

OPINION: A new crime of ‘wage theft’ was established in New Zealand this month, but as the Act which introduced it was progressing through Parliament, it was clear MPs believed the police would be responsible for enforcing the legislation; Irene Nikoloudakis, PhD in Law Candidate at the University of Adelaide, believes that police are ill-equipped to investigate such offences, pointing instead to the Australian model of using the workplace regulator to undertake investigations and enforcement.

FEATURE: As we welcome in 2024, Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter looks back over what the past 12 months have meant for policing in the UK and internationally, how those issues have been covered by Policing Insight, and the continuing challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.

ANALYSIS: New international research on the approach by policing and industry to rural crime has highlighted the multi-million-dollar impact on farms and countryside communities often overlooked by law enforcement; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Dr Kyle Mulrooney of the University of New England and Inspector Oliver Fisher of Sussex Police about the steps that can be taken to improve prevention and response for farmers and rural communities.

FEATURE: The final report of the Commission on Crime and Gambling-Related Harms has called for reforms and a stronger commitment at a political level to address crime and other harms, a message echoed by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, which argues that crime linked to problem gambling must be tackled with the “same urgency and focus as other addictions”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The theft of livestock is a serious and growing problem in Australia, with large-scale and sophisticated thefts are being reported with increasing frequency; Kyle J D Mulrooney and Alistair Harkness, Co-directors of the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England, explore the scale of the problem as well as highlighting new technologies which could help to tackle the challenge.

ANALYSIS: This week’s publication of both the Crime Survey for England and Wales and the latest Police Recorded Crime (PRC) statistics offers the first comparable crime figures to before the pandemic; Meghan Elkin, joint head of crime statistics at the Office for National Statistics, explains how these latest figures can help to explain whether Covid has led to any sustained impacts on levels of crime, and how survey methods may also influence the data.

OPINION: A recent joint speech by the heads of MI5 and the FBI highlighted the IP threat posed internationally by China; Dr Ben Stevens and Dr Gatra Priyandita of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute believe that, with Australian organisations under threat from state-sponsored IP theft, the Government’s recently elevated cybersecurity focus should be expanded to include a commission to examine the theft of Australian IP.