Area Of Policing Research Articles

Scrutiny of Police Institutions and the Spectre of Culture

AbstractThis article revisits the concept of police culture and its explanatory value in understanding the recent scandals that have rocked policing in England and Wales. It focusses on concerns around the prevalence of sexism and violence against women and girls (VAWG) within policing and explores whether an increase in the diversity of police officers has pushed aspects of police culture into specific specialist and less visible areas of policing. The article suggests that any attempts at substantive police reform need to consider radical organisational and structural change, including a new narrative for British policing. Such a narrative needs political and social support and will require wider engagement beyond internally focussed police discussions.

The final frontier: police culture for women in men’s spaces

PurposeThis study explores how police culture is experienced by women officers serving in positions where they are significantly underrepresented (i.e. leadership and elite specialty units) and the environmental factors that shape these experiences.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative analysis of transcripts from interviews with 71 women serving in male-dominated roles was conducted (N = 39 ranking women; N = 32 women on elite units).FindingsParticipants described five occupational, organizational and assignment-level factors that shaped their workplace experiences. While some contextual forces at play are similar for women working patrol (e.g. traditional police culture, the underrepresentation of women in law enforcement) unique position-level factors were also identified (e.g. the high-risk and consequential nature of the work).Practical implicationsWhile the cultural environment for women patrol officers has improved in the past few decades, the same cannot be said for women working in positions that are still dominated by men. More attention to this area of policing is needed to ensure gender diversity is achieved throughout organizations and not only in positions deemed suitable for women.Originality/valueThe study extends research on women in policing beyond the focus on patrol. Further, it explores the assignment- and rank-based perspectives of police culture, which are largely absent from the literature.

Police custody in rural Scotland: negotiating boundaries, risk and organisational change

PurposeThis paper explores the challenging nexus of police custody, risk and intra-organisational boundaries in the context of a recently reformed national police service. Police custody is an often-hidden aspect of policing, away from the public gaze and scrutiny. Although there is increasing recognition of the importance of rural policing (e.g. Harkness (2020); Mawby and Yarwood (2011); Ruddell and Jones (2020); Yarwood and Wooff (2016)), there has been little or no focus on rural police custody. This paper seeks to begin to redress this by focussing on the challenges faced by rural police custody in the context of large-scale organisational change.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on data from a study funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (2016–2018), entitled “Measuring Risk and Efficiency in Police Custody in Scotland”. The paper adopts a qualitative methodology to develop an understanding of the varying nature of police custody across Scotland. Two contrasting case study locations were selected, one urban and one rural. 12 semi-structured interviews and 15 hours of observation were carried out. Data was transcribed, coded and analysed and thematic analysis enabled themes to be developed. This paper draws on the data from the rural custody suite.FindingsDrawing on the theoretical framework of Giacomantonio (2014) and more recent considerations of abstract policing Terpstra et al. (2019), this paper offers insights into the ways that police custody in rural Scotland has been organised, against the backdrop of challenging organisational change. I argue that as policing services in Scotland have become increasingly “abstract” from communities, police custody as a national division has witnessed the impact of this more greatly than other parts of local policing. Intra-organisational management around staffing has led to complex management of risk, illustrating some of the challenges of national organisational change on police custody.Originality/valueThis paper focuses on the impact of large scale organisational change on rural police custody and intra-organisational relationships and dynamics. Rural policing is still a largely neglected area of study and rural police custody is even less understood. This paper therefore provides an original contribution by focusing on this under-researched area of policing. It also illustrates complexity around risk, staffing and management of people being held in rural police custody suites. It is therefore of value to policing scholars in other contexts, as well as rural criminology more generally. It has applicability to international contexts where macro level policing reform is occurring.

Social Control in Globalization of Public Law: The Enforcement of Law

In the wake of World War II, a paradigmatic shift occurred in the study of social control. The once predominant notion of a consensual society was challenged by the emergence of fascism, Nazism, and the horrors of war. Consequently, scholars began to examine social control through a lens that acknowledged its coercive and repressive dimensions, driven not solely by social norms but by power dynamics and force. This article will review how globalization has been addressed by research of public law and will deepen the legal and sociological focus on law, focusing on the mechanisms of enforcement that accom­pany legal systems. Theoretical introduction will allow for a discussion of legal studies on a variety of dimensions and mechanisms of social control in the areas of policing. The rele­vance of legality was brought out most clearly by Max Weber in his definition of law. A normative order must always be accompanied by mechanisms and systems of control that secure obedience through norm enforcement. Such systems of control range from very informal responses and normative expectations, such as public disapproval or private shame, to highly formalized systems of enforcement of law by police institutions. Good comparisons with experimental and previous studies demonstrated that enforcement is a special and unavoidable problem of law.

Prevention of domestic violence as one of the priority areas of preventive policing: Legal regulations and international experience

The aim of the research was to study the norms of the current Ukrainian and international legislation, the positions of scientists, educational and reference literature, as well as statistical data, to determine the legal position of the National Police as a subject of prevention and countermeasures against families’ victims of violence. In its basic content the article discloses the legal position of the National Police as a subject of prevention and action against domestic violence, performing preventive, police and human rights protection functions. In this context, it was determined that the National Police, as a public authority, implements special measures to prevent and counteract domestic violence, applying, if necessary, administrative coercive measures against offenders. The methodological basis of the research was the comparative legal and systemic analysis, the formal legal method, the method of interpretation, the hermeneutic method, as well as the methods of analysis and synthesis. As a conclusion it is noted that an important aspect of improving the activities of the National Police in Ukraine is to build confidence in the affected families, who are afraid to report the facts of domestic violence for fear of condemnation from the society.

The impact of police uniforms in changing views of police legitimacy and driving intentions among young people: an experimental trial

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to determine if young people’s views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend are affected by the delivery of a road safety program by uniformed police officers (control) compared with plain clothes police officers (experimental). The study further explores the direct correlation between views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend as well as the impact of uniforms, mediated by views of police legitimacy, on intentions to offend. Methods Participants in this study were grade 12 students (n = 380) from private (fee-paying) high schools located in Queensland, Australia. Participants were surveyed following their involvement in a police road safety program. t-Tests, correlation, and mediation analyses were conducted to determine the impact of police uniforms and views of police legitimacy on intentions to offend. Results Results of this study demonstrate that delivery of the program by uniformed police officers had a significantly greater positive impact on the views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend compared with delivery by plain-clothed officers. The study also demonstrates a significant correlation between views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend, as well as a mediated model including views of police legitimacy that explains more variance in intentions to offend when mediated by views of police legitimacy. Conclusions This study demonstrates that views of police legitimacy, as well as intentions to offend, are more positively impacted when an educational course is facilitated by uniformed police officers. The mediation analysis demonstrates that uniforms impact views of police legitimacy and these views significantly affect intentions to offend. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the complex relationship between police uniforms, views of police legitimacy, and offending and may inform future research and policy decisions in the area of policing.

The Hispanic Outreach: Network Analysis of a Community-Based Policing Program in South Los Angeles

This article examines the nature, movement, and controversies of the information flowing through a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) community-based program in a predominantly Latino migrant neighborhood of South Los Angeles known as ‘the Hispanic Outreach’ (HO). Combining Actor-Network and Critical Race theories enables me to examine the world of police and Latino civilians through the groups, social actions, facts, and objects that compose it, as one single, unified set of interwoven associations and processes. Findings show that the HO claims to serve the public’s interests in safety in high crime environments but instead stirs local interracial conflict and Latino residents’ fears over questions of citizenship, belonging, and access to resources, and deepens state penetration into communities it deems as racial threats. I show how networks are state tools that reproduce and reinforce racial power and situate these findings within the field of Critical Sociology, particularly the areas of policing and Latino studies. And this article ends with a discussion of several potential research directions.

Preventing marine wildlife crime: An evaluation of legal protection and enforcement perspectives

IntroductionDespite growing environmental awareness and the efforts of a variety of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to influence the wildlife protection policy agenda, wildlife laws remain outside the remit of mainstream criminal justice. Adopting a green criminological perspective, this article considers wildlife crime in respect of threats to UK marine wildlife. It examines the UK’s legal and enforcement framework and the scope and nature of both marine wildlife crime and harms to marine wildlife. Its core question is to consider the extent to which the UK’s wildlife law approach provides for effective wildlife protection and is adequate to deal with the threats facing marine wildlife.MethodsThe research is a mixed methods study that considers the relevant law, case law and reporting of wildlife crimes as well as the enforcement approach to marine wildlife crime. The article’s methodological approach is socio-legal in nature commencing with a review of the relevant literature on threats to marine wildlife and incorporating analysis of the current law and case law available via the legal databases BAILII and Westlaw. The study also conducted an analysis of licences for disturbance of marine wildlife via an examination of the open access case management database managed by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) the main enforcement body for marine wildlife incidents in the UK.ResultsThe research identifies that while in principle the UK has robust legal protection for marine wildlife, in practice, policy allows exploitation and disturbance of marine wildlife that causes harm to individual animals and is detrimental to efforts to conserve marine wildlife and marine ecosystems.DiscussionThis research concludes that in the UK, potentially strong legislation existing on paper is arguably not backed by an effective enforcement regime. The remote nature of marine wildlife incidents, competition between marine wildlife and leisure and commercial activities and the very wording of legislation all create enforcement challenges. This article argues for marine wildlife crime to be integrated into mainstream crime policy linked to other forms of offending and criminal justice policy, rather than being largely seen as a purely environmental issue and a ‘fringe’ area of policing.

A representative-represented matrix: exploring the symbolic effect of minority representation

ABSTRACT This study explores how symbolic representation varies by citizens’ demographic identities and bureaucracies’ demographic composition. First, it presents a representative-represented matrix to provide a conceptual framework from the citizens’ perspective. Then, this is followed by the application to the area of policing in the experimental setting. Citizen perceptions are explored in terms of minority bureaucrats’ representative role and the potential benefits of a representative bureaucracy. The empirical evidence demonstrates that the symbolic effect of minority representation varies and may not accomplish expected outcomes for all minorities. The symbolic representation may be manifested for women and minorities but limited for White men.

Proximity to fatal accidents predicts police citation rates on urban and rural roads

Objectives: Police enforcement can effectively deter risky driving behaviors and reduce traffic fatalities, including speed-related fatalities. Unlike other areas of data-driven policing, spatial methods to improve road safety are not well-described. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) determine if proximity to a prior roadway fatality increases the risk of a traffic citation being issued after adjusting for relevant roadway variables; (2) determine if this effect varies between rural and urban roads. Methods: The study region included a rural county and adjacent small city (City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia). Fatality locations were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 2008 to 2018. Police citation data were obtained from the State of Virginia for 2020. Data on fatalities and roadway features were used to create a model to predict traffic citation density. Traffic stop locations were analyzed as a point pattern on a linear network, assuming a Poisson process with varying intensity. The model adjusted for average traffic volume, distance to the nearest fatal crash along the road network, rural vs urban roadway, posted speed limit, and interstate vs non-interstate road. To account for over-dispersion, quasi-Poisson model was used. Results: There were 138 fatalities and 651 traffic citations during the time periods examined. After adjusting for other covariates, the expected number of citations/km was higher with increasing proximity to prior fatal crashes, RR = 1.34 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.72) per km. The effect of proximity did not vary significantly between urban and rural roads (p = 0.2707). However, citation intensity was significantly higher on urban roads vs. rural roads, RR = 2.65 (1.09, 6.45). Predicted citation intensity reflected anticipated enforcement clusters inside the city limits and on major county roads, suggesting satisfactory model fit. Conclusions: This study demonstrated a novel approach to quantify the impact of road fatalities on police activity, measured by traffic citations. Proximity to fatal crashes was found to affect police citation rates, and this effect is consistent between urban and rural areas. Future work will aim to identify areas of under enforcement based on proximity to fatal crashes and other roadway variables.

The Nature of Rape in the Mankweng Policing Areas of Limpopo Province, South Africa

The purpose of this study was to explore the community members’ perceptions on the nature of rape in the selected Mankweng policing areas of Limpopo Province, South Africa, namely: Mentz, Ga-Makanye and Ga-Thoka. The qualitative research approach was followed, coupled with the Q-methodology research design and exploratory research objective. About 30 participants were purposively sampled to form part of the Three (03) Focus Groups Discussions (FGDs), consisting of 10 targeted groups, this was aided by the review of seminal literature studies and theoretical [Differential Risk Model] applications on this subject. The inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used as a data analysis method. From the consulted studies and empirical study findings, 03 major factors emerged to explain nature of rape existing in the selected study locations, demarcated as follows; 1) Historical context of rape, which include men that are raised in families with strong patriarchal structures and more likely to become violent and force themselves on women, as they feel superior to them, 2) Social context of rape, entailing gender inequality in South African societies where women possess limited powers and authorities, while men impose notions of masculinity, controlling and perceiving that they own women’s sexuality; and 3) Economic context of rape, explaining how poverty and unemployment are cited as some of contributing factors exposing women to socio-economic vulnerability, such as engaging in transactional sex. From the cited studies, 03 study themes emanated from the conducted empirical fieldworks (FGDs), namely: 1) Unlawful high prevalence of rape activities, 2) Rape committed against the will of potential victims, and 3) Rape involving physical intercourse or other forms of sexual penetrations carried out against any potential victim’s will. This study recommends that youth in the selected study locations should be trained and educated to become peer educators to learn more about the nature rape, it is hoped that this can enhance understanding of this phenomenon in their respective communities, while promoting gender equality in an attempt to urgently re-address the 03 existing characteristics of this scourge. Equally, the utilisation of biological evidence against rape cases can be touted as one of modern interventions to offer proper and successful investigation of this crime. This can be enhanced by improving by information exchange gathered through closer collaborations, interactions, intelligence and enforcement practices, while providing better understanding of the nature and extent of this scourge.

Perspectives on Contributing Factors to Rape in the Selected Areas of Mankweng, South Africa

Rape has always been a thorny issue in out postmodern society and South Africa has been confirmed to be the rape capital of the world. Our current society has overlooked, normalised, and made rape invisible due to our societal norms relating gender and culture connotations. The objective of the study was to explore the perceptions of community members on contributing factors to rape in the selected areas of Mankweng. This qualitative study employed the ‘Qualitative’ [Q]-methodology research design, supported by the exploratory research design for the explorations of community members’ perceptions on contributing factors to rape in selected areas of Mankweng. About Thirty (30) participants were purposively selected to form part of the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The findings of this study showcased that the contributory factors to rape incidences in the Mankweng policing areas can be categorised under these Three (03) themes: 1) Structural, 2) Socio-cultural, and; 3) Economic factors. These factors increase chances of women being raped. Therefore, primary preventative interventions should be more focused on re-building women’s status in societies and implementing programmes to educate them about rape and the National government and Non-Governmental Programmes (NPOs) should aim at promoting both social and economic empowerment of young women, focusing on financing their intended projects to encourage their independency and avoid over reliance to man. The monthly programmes and awareness campaigns should be hosted to educate community members about the contributory factors to rape and related consequences thereof, as well as effective preventative measures.

‘We handle it, I guess you’d say, the East Texas way’: Place-based effects on the police decision-making process and non-arrest outcomes

ABSTRACT Informal law enforcement approaches to crime problems are largely hidden from the public domain. Non-urban communities are often absent from the literature on police decision-making, but many characteristics of ‘the rural’ – such as lack of supervision, diminished access to resources, and more – expand police discretion and increase the use of informal policing methods. While most research on police discretion focuses on the decision to arrest, the current study utilizes semi-structured focused interviews with law enforcement officers in rural Texas to address non-arrest decision-making and the informal policing of youth. Specific informal responses, as well as factors that influence officer decision-making, are discussed. The findings suggest that the structural, cultural, and situational context of a rural setting uniquely affects police decision-making, highlighting the significance of geographic and sociocultural environment in use of discretion. The qualitative approach and analysis provide extensive detail regarding place-based effects on the police decision-making process, including officer motivations and how officers attribute meaning and contextually filter information in an encounter with youth. By illuminating the gray area of policing, these findings have implications for rural law enforcement training and practices and provide future direction for broader agency policy research.

Stressors or facilitators? Exploring the factors that impact police officers' abilities to respond to disablist hate crime

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore stressors and facilitators experienced by police officers when engaging with individuals with learning disabilities, within the context of policing disablist hate crime.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on qualitative data obtained from research undertaken within a medium-sized police force in the south of England, and which focuses on the lived realities of service providers and service users. Using a triangulatory research approach, this research included a total of 230 h of observations of day-to-day policing, 10 semi-structured interviews with police officers and 4 focus groups with individuals with learning disabilities.FindingsStressors, previously identified by sociologist Michael Lipsky – the unpredictability of situations, workload pressures and need for rapid decision making – are discussed within the research, alongside additional stressors regarding the previous experience (internal and external to policing) held by police officers. For some officers, these have the opposite impact and serve as facilitators of positive engagements with individuals with learning disabilities. The discussion is situated within the social model of disability, with an emphasis placed on the impact stressors have on police processes. Finally, the paper suggests practical options for enhancing confidence within the interactions between these two groups, through police training.Originality/valueThe current paper explores an under-researched area of policing and disablist hate crime and utilises a combined approach of the social model of disability and Lipsky's (1980) street-level bureaucrats.

Critical Analysis of Strategies Towards Creating an Adequate Level of Awareness on Cybercrime among the Youth in Gauteng Province

This study aims to determine any measures taken by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to create awareness about cybercrime among the youth in the selected policing areas in the Gauteng province. A qualitative research method was applied using semi-structured interviews to find the views of participants, of measures if any, to create youths’ awareness in the area of cybercrime. A total of 37 participants comprised of 29 youths aged between 19 and 35 years, including an additional eight participants from the SAPS Crime Intelligence Unit who agreed to participate. Among these participants, there were 18 females and 19 males. The findings highlighted that there was a lack of awareness on the measures taken by the SAPS in educating the youth about the risks associated with cybercrime. The other challenges highlighted by the SAPS were a lack of capacity, resources, and training to increase the technical skills amongst the SAPS members to work effectively on cybercrime-related challenges, lack of collaboration among role players to respond adequately to cybercrime, and ineffective implementation of cybercrime policies, therefore, there was a lack of cybercrime-related campaigns. Based on the findings, five themes were explored in this study, including a lack of capacity, resources, and training to increase the technical skills amongst the SAPS members to work effectively on cybercrime-related challenges, lack of collaboration among role players to respond adequately to cybercrime and ineffective implementation of cybercrime policies. The recommendations are provided as a potential step towards tailoring education packages and awareness programs to ensure at-risk groups are equipped with actionable mechanisms to protect themselves against cybercrimes.

From Bondi to Fairfield: NSW COVID-19 press conferences, health messaging, and social inequality

The use of media sources increases exponentially during a health crisis or disaster. Similarly, digital health information and misinformation can spread quickly through social media. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the press conference has been one of the federal, state, and territory governments’ key outlets for providing updates, containing misinformation, reassuring constituents, and articulating public health measures. This article focuses on NSW press conferences relating to the major Delta outbreak in Australia. The article looks at the press conferences as they pertain to the NSW government's controversial targeting of the lower socioeconomic and ethnically diverse south-west ‘hotspot’ or ‘LGA of concern’, Fairfield, which turned the LGA into an area of intense policing. We argue strategic manoeuvring in the press conferences, through the individualisation of responsibility and blame shifting, formed part of the NSW government's attempts to minimise political fallout.

Cleansing and corridors: assessing the state (and future) of police human source management in Australia

ABSTRACT Human source management (HSM) is an area of policing that is fraught with ethical and legal risks, and yet until relatively recently has received limited attention in policing literature. This article explores several areas critical to HSM in Australian policing, albeit with global implications. It explores the potential risks of creating arbitrary definitional distinctions in the registration of informants. It also explores the implementation of ‘sterile corridor’ policies separating source handling from operational police, as well as why some police services continue to reject the need for specialist HSM units. Finally, the article looks to the contentious legislative framework around ‘cleansing’ informants before using them as witnesses, requiring them to confess to all criminality (minor or major) before being offered a ‘deal’ by prosecutors. It questions whether this is the future for HSM reform in Australia, and whether or not this is a positive move forward on the road to professionalisation.

Tidying up a few misconceptions around evidence-based policing: Reply to Staller and Koerner (2021)

ABSTRACT In this piece we reply to a commentary from Staller and Koerner on our work entitled, #Defund or #Re-Fund? Re-Examining Bayley’s Blueprint for Police Reform. In short, we agree on the necessity of reflexivity within policing research and the area of evidence-based policing more specifically, but also see this reply as an opportunity to clarify some misconceptions around evidence-based policing and what it means to be “evidence-based.” More specifically, we touch upon the flexibility of evidence-based policing to be implemented in tandem with other reform approaches, the value of experiential knowledge and qualitative methods within evidence-based policing, and the confounding of evidence and evidence-based. We conclude on the point of reflexivity and put out a call for follow-up studies that examine the implications of evaluated police practices.

Practicing co-produced research: tackling domestic abuse through innovative multi-agency partnership working

Increased momentum for co-production in policing research undoubtedly requires collaborative research efforts which include methodologies, philosophies, ethos and indeed partnerships of co-production. This paper explores collaborative research efforts to apply co-production in policing research. It does so through a focus on research and evaluation of the policing of domestic abuse and with emphasis on innovations through multi-agency partnerships. It discusses the challenges of practicing co-produced research in these contexts drawing on two research projects. One experience of research was a contracted evaluation of an innovative approach to tackling domestic abuse. This is used to reflect retrospectively through the prism of doing co-produced research. The second experience of research is used to reflect on having engaged in co-produced research from outset. The paper offers particular insight in to practicing co-produced research in the context of tackling domestic abuse through innovative multi-agency partnership working and more broadly for those engaged in academic–police collaborations in other areas of policing. Furthermore, the reflections may be useful in terms of academic colleagues framing their societal impact in line with the ethos, philosophy and praxis of co-produced research.

АДМІНІСТРАТИВНО-ПРАВОВЕ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ВЗАЄМОДІЇ ПОЛІЦІЇ ТА ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ГРОМАД

The article analyzes the administrative and legal support of interaction between the police and local communities. It is stated that the creation of partnerships between the police and civil society is a priority area of policing in the implementation of law enforcement. The administrative and legal support for the establishment of partnerships between these institutions is described as having a dynamic character, and is aimed at improving the organizational and legal framework for cooperation between the police and the community. The priority role of the Constitution of Ukraine in the process of forming the administrative and legal status of the National Police of Ukraine has been determined, as the constitutional and legal conditionality of the content and normative-legal content of policing is related to the reproduction in the legislation on the National Police of Ukraine of values of man and citizen. The priority areas of the police are formulated in the process of interaction with the population, in particular: analysis of security problems that can be solved in interaction with the population; determination of social populations and priorities in working with these groups; development of programs (directions of work) of interaction with the population, where the interests of various social groups will be taken into account; procedures for determining the need and priority to implement these programs in specific communities; determination of the most effective methods, methods and forms of solving security issues in cooperation with the population; determination of the circle of partners among state and local institutions for the implementation of initiatives; joint development of an action plan with the involvement of partners; development of procedures for analyzing the effectiveness of implemented projects, in particular, assessing their compliance with the requests of specific communities in the field of security. In addition, the partner model provides not only the direct active participation of the population in law enforcement agencies to ensure public order, but also timely informing the police to the population on all the facts of committing criminal and administrative offenses.