Police Crime Research Articles

Suicides among children, adolescents, and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic - An analysis of police data from three German federal states

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected young people, resulting in increased psychological distress and rising prevalence rates for mental disorders. There is concern that completed suicides have increased in addition to the observed increase in suicide attempts. The study is based on the police crime statistics (01/2017 to 12/2022) of three federal states in Germany, representing 13% of Germany's overall population. Suicide counts and rates for the child, teenage, adolescent, and young adult age groups were compared between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods using chi-squared tests. 860 people under age 30 died from suicide. Suicide rates did not differ between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in any of the age groups studied. So far, there has been no discernible increase in suicides among young Germans. Ongoing suicide monitoring is recommended.

Forewarned is forearmed: the hidden curriculum of working with police crime data

Forewarned is forearmed: the hidden curriculum of working with police crime data

Digital policing in Nigeria: A study of Jigawa State Police Command

The application of digital technologies in police practices can engender a number of benefits, which include round-the-clock surveillance, intelligence collection (in real time), community policing (through regular online briefings and trust-building by policing agencies) and disruption of crimes, among others. This study used situational crime prevention theory and examined the use, benefits and challenges of digital policing in Jigawa State Police Command, Nigeria. A sample of 230 respondents was utilized in the study. From the sample, 215 police personnel were administered questionnaires, and 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with 5 police personnel, 5 information technology professionals and 5 policing scholars. The study revealed that use of digital technologies in police practice is low in Jigawa State, because the study discovered insufficient digital technologies in the police command. Furthermore, the majority of police personnel sampled were not skilled in information and communications technologies. No doubt, poor use of digital technologies may pose a serious setback to crime prevention in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that the police should acquire and leverage on emerging policing technologies. Police personnel should be given adequate training and retraining on the use of digital technologies. Collaboration and information sharing with relevant agencies should also be improved.

Police corruption and crime: Evidence from Africa

AbstractUsing data from the Afrobarometer surveys, this paper finds that people living in regions in which police corruption is more prevalent are more likely to report that they or someone in their family have been victims of physical assault. People living in more corrupted regions are also more likely to report that they or someone in their family has had something stolen from their home. We find no statistically significant gender differences in the average marginal effects. Controlling for the incidence of corruption in other domains reduces the size of the estimated association but does not render it insignificant in terms of statistical significance or magnitude. Non‐police corruption is also strongly associated with an increased risk of crime. For both types of crime, the evidence points to “transactional” police corruption (having to pay bribes to get help) rather than “predatory” police corruption (having to pay bribes to avoid problems) as driving the relationship. Finally, we show that, controlling for whether the respondent reports being a victim of either type of crime, police corruption predicts an increase in the probability that the respondent reports feeling unsafe while walking in their own neighborhood thus imposing a cost even on those who have not been victims.

‘Crisis’, control and circulation: Biometric surveillance in the policing of the ‘crimmigrant other’

Automated facial recognition, the use of dactyloscopic data and advanced forensic DNA analyses are becoming dominant technological surveillance means for ‘crimmigration’ control. ‘Crimmigration’ describes the increasing criminalisation of migration, based on a perceived ‘crisis’ of mass migration and its assumed negative impact on national stability and welfare, materialising in overlapping crime and migration control regimes. We analyse the policing of migration through biometric technologies as the reproduction of social practices of security against crime. By combining concepts of social practices and ethical regimes, we suggest that biometric ethical regimes are constituted by social practices working towards legitimising the use of biomaterials and biodata. This analytical synthesis supports us in exploring how biometric technologies deployed in the policing of crime circulate into the policing of migration and vice versa. First, technologies as materials (DNA, fingerprints, facial images, analysis kits, databases, etc.) are inscribed with assumptions about validating identity and suspicion, and are increasingly made accessible as data across policy domains. Second, forensic competence moves in abstracted forms of expertise independent of context and ethics of application, creating challenges for reliable and legitimate technology deployment. Third, biometric technologies, often portrayed as reliable, useful, accurate policing tools, travel from crime into migration control with meanings that construct generalised criminal suspicion of migrants. To evidence the complexity and difficulty of achieving accountability and responsibility for the ethical governance of biometric technologies in policing, we trace how the goals, risks, benefits and values of biometric technologies are framed, and how the legitimacy of their deployment in policing of migration is constructed and negotiated.

Urban Crime and Policing Approaches in Nigeria

This article examined the nexus between urban crime and policing approaches in Nigeria. It looked at the reality of urban crime situation and posits that there are a number of obstacles severing crime policing in Nigerian urban centres. Using secondary sources, study found staggered law enforcement efforts, declining family values, fear, and ignorance as obstacles leading to urban crimes in Nigeria. The Routine Activity Approach of crime was adopted in the analysis of identified variables and their consequences within the context of the Nigerian State. In bridging this gap, the study recommends that city residents should restrain from carrying or carelessly displaying objects precipitating to crime in their neighborhoods; government should recruit more hands into the law enforcement agencies so that patrols are extended to all nooks and crannies of the city centres. there is need for individual security consciousness as well as system strengthening enhancement as measures to overcoming the situation.

Ethnic profiling of organised crime? A tendency of mafia-cation in the Netherlands

This article will explore how the current narratives (and corresponding changes) in Dutch organised crime policing relate to ethnic profiling of minorities in the Netherlands. It will do so by developing a theoretically informed narrative understanding of what we would like to conceptualise as ethnic profiling of organised crime (in the Netherlands), digging deeper into the connection between the role of ethnicity in organised crime studies inasmuch as it relates to the history of the mafia concept and, even further, lingering colonialism in law-and-order approaches. By focusing on (assumed) socio-historical connections between Italy, mafia and organised crime and on the social construction of Italian mafia as organised crime, based on narrative criminology, this article discursively and interpretatively understands the dominant and hidden Dutch narratives on (policing) organised crime. The discovered narratives will be critically discussed in light of the juxtaposition between mafias and ethnic organised crime and post-colonial implications.

Police Crime: Investigating Insider Fraud in UK Policing

ABSTRACT This study is the first to provide a holistic view of an understudied topic, insider fraud in UK policing. Using semi-structured interviews with twenty-six UK police officers, it explores insider fraud forms, methods, perpetrators, consequences, and detection. The study finds corruption and asset misappropriation the primary forms of insider fraud in UK policing. Various methods for committing these two fraud schemes are identified. However, abusing authority for sexual gain is the most common form of corruption. In contrast, selling confidential data on police systems to criminals for financial gain is the predominant form of asset misappropriation. Financially motivated insider fraud is less likely to be committed by senior management. Conflicts of interest are more likely to be perpetrated by higher managerial ranks, such as superintendents and above. In most cases, the perpetrators were dismissed rather than prosecuted, and in other cases, they did not even get dismissed. Detecting insider fraud in UK policing is reactive rather than proactive. The findings have implications for policing research, policy, and practice, later discussed.

The private policing of economic crime – Corporate investigations and settlements

This paper examines the private efforts by organisations in response to internal economic crime. As a result of multiple factors such as an overburdened criminal justice system, a lack of fit between criminal justice solutions and commercial interests, and the existence of a professionalised corporate investigations market, the control of (internal) economic crime is now predominantly a private affair in many countries. ‘Corporate investigators’ are central actors in this context. These corporate investigators provide investigative services in cases when internal and self-investigations are necessary, and may provide or be of assistance with private solutions for these matters (‘corporate justice’). In this way, the control of internal economic crime within organisations may be conducted wholly out of sight of law enforcement authorities. However, this is not a strict separation, as the criminal justice system may be involved when deemed necessary. This paper explores the above phenomena, based on previous work by the author and others in the context of the Netherlands, and through the use of international literature.

Overlapped Bayesian spatio-temporal models to detect crime spots and their possible risk factors based on the Opole Province, Poland, in the years 2015–2019

Geostatistical methods currently used in modern epidemiology were adopted in crime science using the example of the Opole province, Poland, in the years 2015–2019. In our research, we applied the Bayesian spatio-temporal random effects models to detect ‘cold-spots’ and ‘hot-spots’ of the recorded crime numbers (all categories), and to ascertain possible risk factors based on the available statistical population (demographic), socio-economic and infrastructure area characteristics. Overlapping two popular geostatistical models in the analysis, ‘cold-spot’ and ‘hot-spot’ administrative units were detected which displayed extreme differences in crime and growth rates over time. Additionally, using Bayesian modeling four categories of possible risk factors were identified in Opole. The established risk factors were the presence of doctors/medical personnel, road infrastructure, numbers of vehicles, and local migration. The analysis is directed toward both academic and police personnel as a proposal for an additional geostatistical control instrument supporting the management and deployment of local police based on easily available police crime records and public statistics.

Police diversity and crime clearance for Black and Hispanic victims

AbstractResearch SummaryAs a policy response to historically strained police–minority community relations, police diversification is hoped to improve policing outcomes in minority communities. An improved police–community relationship may be expected to lead to increased citizen cooperation in crime investigations and therefore be beneficial for crime clearance, but there are different perspectives on the nature of this link. We examined several measures of Black police representation (Black officer percentage, Black racial congruence between the police force and the jurisdiction's population, and presence of Black police chief or head) and their relationships with arrest clearance of National Incident‐Based Reporting System aggravated assault incidents involving Black victims in 205 agencies. We also explored similar Hispanic police representation measures in a sample of aggravated assault incidents with Hispanic victims in 158 agencies. In multilevel survival analyses with agency/jurisdiction‐ and incident‐level controls, none of the Black representation measures were significantly associated with clearance of Black victims’ incidents. We obtained similar results for the Hispanic representation measures and clearance of Hispanic victims’ incidents.Policy ImplicationsAlthough the findings do not indicate a benefit of diversity for clearance involving minority victims, it is encouraging that neither do results suggest that increasing minority police representation would harm clearance. Responding to the public's strong call for demographic reform, it appears that police agencies can continue to increase their racial and ethnic diversity without sacrificing clearance rates, a main indicator of police performance. At least for clearance, warnings of reduced performance when equitable representation is an agency priority do not seem to be well‐founded. There should be continuing research on policing outcomes and diversity as U.S. agencies increase their minority representation, and agencies should emphasize the recruitment, hiring, and retention of minority officers.

Policing Rural Crime: The Case of the NSW Police Force Rural Crime Prevention Team

The NSW Police Force Rural Crime Prevention Team (RCPT) was created to prevent, disrupt, and respond to crimes that impact specifically on the agricultural, pastoral and aquaculture industries. Since its inception in early 2018, the team has developed and delivered a number of novel and innovative policing initiatives which seek to make rural communities safer and increase their resilience. In this paper, we offer practical insights on a number of these developments. Specifically, we will examine innovations deployed in relation to rural policing across five key areas, including 1) investigating rural crime within New South Wales and identifying interstate links and trends; 2) identifying inhibitors within legislation and policy impacting the ability of Law Enforcement Agencies to prevent, disrupt and respond to rural crime; 3) enhancing the education and knowledge of Law Enforcement Officers regarding rural crime; 4) raising the public awareness of rural crime and increasing community engagement with relevant stakeholders within rural communities and industries; and, finally, 5) collaborating and engaging with academic research/higher education toward the shared goal of safe rural spaces. We conclude the paper by discussing these practical developments in the context of farm crime research and, more specifically, how these collective efforts may serve to address established limitations and gaps in the policing and prevention of crime in rural spaces.

Land use and green crime: Assessing the edge effect

Green crimes are violations of environmental laws that aim to protect human well-being, natural resources, and ecosystems. Brazil has recorded an increase in green crimes in recent years. In this study, we used Spatial Durbin and other regression models to analyze the relationship between land use and green crime. We test whether there is a positive association between green crimes and the following land uses: urban edge areas, rural edge areas, and mixed urban uses. The results show that green crimes are spatially related to areas of high contact and exposure between human activity and the natural environment (urban and rural mixed uses), but that human presence by itself (presence of industrial activity) is not particularly associated with the occurrence of green crimes. These findings can serve to design and deploy data-driven policies and policing of green crimes.

Federal-Local Partnerships on Immigration Law Enforcement: Are the Policies Effective in Reducing Violent Victimization?

Our understanding of how immigration enforcement impacts crime has been informed by data from the police crime statistics. This study complements existing research by using longitudinal multilevel data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) for 2005-2014 to simultaneously assess the impact of the three predominant immigration policies that have been implemented in local communities. The results indicate that the activation of Secure Communities and 287(g) task force agreements significantly increased violent victimization risk among Latinos, whereas they showed no evident impact on victimization risk among non-Latino Whites and Blacks. The activation of 287(g) jail enforcement agreements and anti-detainer policies had no significant impact on violent victimization risk during the period. Contrary to their stated purpose of enhancing public safety, our results show that the Secure Communities program and 287(g) task force agreements did not reduce crime, but instead eroded security in American communities by increasing the likelihood that Latinos experienced violent victimization. These results support the Federal government's ending of 287(g) task force agreements and its more recent move to end the Secure Communities program. Additionally, the results of our study add to the evidence challenging claims that anti-detainer policies pose a threat to violence risk.

Community-Oriented Policing and Violent Crime: Evidence From the Los Angeles Community Safety Partnership

Over the past decade, the Los Angeles Police Department has experimented with a unique model of community-oriented policing called the Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The program places a dedicated set of CSP officers in select housing developments and neighborhoods to engage with residents to better understand and ultimately address the root causes of crime. This study examined the first four waves of the program to assess whether, and the extent to which, the program reduced violent crime. Results reveal significant variation in program effects, with the first wave yielding crime reductions while subsequent waves experienced little to no change in violent crime. Supplemental analyses suggest that the null results for the final three waves of the program were not confounded by increases in crime reporting and reveal that crime reductions following the program’s first wave were not achieved through increases in traditional enforcement (e.g., arrests).

Assessment of Forensic Medical Expert’s Involvement in Primary Crime Scene Investigation in Nairobi

It is of great importance to include Forensic Medical Experts (FMEs) in Primary Crime Scene (PCS) investigation team especially in murder, rape and defilement in investigation framework. The criminal justice system in Kenya has not been effective due to the shortage of FMEs as well as the poor specialization among forensic experts and police officers in implementing Medico-legal services within the country. This research sought to assess the need to involve FMEs in PCS investigation in Starehe sub-county, which comprises of five stations, for the purpose of improving the quality of criminal investigation in the country. A systematic random sampling technique of case files brought back from court was used. The sample size was calculated by dividing the entire case files by interval. There were one hundred and thirty-five (135) case files numbered from one to one hundred and thirty-five (135), then picked at an interval of two from a random number. Sixty-seven (67) case files were sampled, studied and analyzed. Three hypotheses were developed to be tested. The main objective was to assess forensic medical expert’s involvement in PCS investigation in starehe police division, Nairobi County, Kenya. Data analysis was done using SPSS and presented with tables, and narrative. From the tested hypothesis we were able to discover that the FMEs in Kenya are not well trained and professional in the use of SOPs for collecting forensic evidence at PCS H1 (p=0.754); the Kenyan criminal justice system framework does not involve FMEs at all primary stages of investigations H2 (p=0.878); Cases in Kenyan courts are not very successful without the use of FMEs H3 (p=0.247). Involvement of the FMEs in primary crime scenes investigation ensures that there is adequate and sufficient evidence to prosecute criminals convicted of such criminal acts. Cases without forensic evidence component failed to secure a conviction indicating that their absence impacts the quality of evidence submitted to present a sound case to prosecute offenders. FMEs should respond alongside police crime scene investigators and be linked to crime scenes at all stages of investigation to collect forensic evidence to identify suspects responsible for committing criminal activities at the PCS. Forensic evidence should be presented by a qualified professional who complies with standards that enhance efficiency and fairness. The forensic medical evidence at the primary crime scene is best armed with skills, knowledge and tools that are required to aid the investigators to make maximum use of scanty resources available with regard to collection and analysis of biological and chemical evidence. There should be clearer guidelines on the steps to follow in regard to evidence collection. The results of this study will be used by policy makers and health care providers to improve forensic evidence gathering for better and successful prosecution.

Embedded response technology and service cloud platform for vehicle information tracking

Based on the Indonesia national police crime database, it is reported that vehicle theft cases have increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. The database reported an increasing trend of vehicle theft, 4,065 cases from January 2019 to January 2020 in the province and regency region. Therefore, to help police officers work and minimize the criminal cases of vehicle theft, an effective strategy is needed to reduce these threats. This study proposes implementing SMS and QRcode technology embedded in the vehicle for validation information. Cloud computing capabilities can offer real-time network access to technology resources that can be physically located anywhere geographically based on business needs. This technology can rapidly search and show detailed information regarding the specific vehicle, including the vehicle owner, the vehicle registration number, and the validation of the driver's license. To implement and examine the effectiveness of the proposed technology, this study was conducted an experimental study in a real-world setting from January 2021 until April 2021 in Makassar city, Indonesia. This study concluded that the proposed technology could successfully be implemented and effectively show detailed information regarding the specific vehicle based on the experimental results. This study concluded the potential use of the proposed technology in the real world as an alternative solution to minimize the criminal cases of vehicle theft. It can be used as an alternative solution to reduce the increase in criminal cases of inter-island private vehicle theft syndicates.

The Nexus of Gender-based Violence and Print Media Portrayal: Echoes from Uitenhage, South Africa

Gender Based Violence (GBV) has become a global menace. The prevalence of this violence against women and children in South Africa reveals that the country is plagued by this horror called GBV. According to the South African police crime statistics, with regards to sexual offences, the SAPS reported 64 419 (2012), 66 197 (2014), 62 226 (2013), and 53 617 (2015) cases. A more recent crime report, which covers the period between April 1 2018, and March 31, 2019, reveals an increase of reported GBV cases compared to previous years. The number of reported sexual offences increased to 52,420 in 2018/19 from 50,108 in 2017/18, most of which were cases of rape. The rate of sexual offences increased from 88.3 per 100,000 in 2017/18 to 90.9 per 100,000 in 2018/19. Reported sexual offences in 2019/2020 increased again to 53,293 reported cases. Furthermore, from October to December 2021, 11 315 rape cases were reported, which equates to 123 cases per day on average. These alarming statistics demand the attention of the media. The media is known to be a powerful tool of influence; however, in the process, the media has been criticised for portraying violence in ways that can have a varying effect on the behaviour of those exposed to it. Many studies have been conducted to examine the impact of the media on violent behavior; none or few of them have focused on the impact of the print media on GBV against women, with an emphasis on community perception. This is what this paper intends to focus on. The purpose of this study was to investigate Uitenhage residents' perceptions of the print media's portrayal of gender-based violence against women and children, and the relationship between people’s exposure to the print media and their violent behaviour. The quantitative research method was employed, and questionnaires were subsequently distributed to collect data from the respondents, who were residents of Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The findings of this study revealed that respondents are of the opinion that the print media has a varying effect on different individuals and that, in spite of the fact that there is an association between people’s exposure to the print media and their violent behaviour, there are other contributing factors to people’s violent behaviour. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge in the area of print media reporting by bringing the media’s attention to the representation of GBV.

The Role of Child Criminal Justice Unit (PPA) In Handling Cases of Children Feeling with The Law at Polrestabes Semarang

The position of children in a country is the continuation of the nation's struggle. Therefore, their existence must be maintained properly from things that can damage the child's mentality. One of them is a child whose actions against the law. Many children think that this act is a normal thing, but, legally speaking, the act committed by the child is included in the category of a criminal act, one of which is beatings. This study aims to find out and analyze the implementation of diversion against children who are perpetrators of the crime of beatings in the concept of justice at the Semarang Police and the effectiveness of applying diversion to children who are involved in the crime of beatings at the Semarang Police. The approach method in this research is normative juridical. The results of the study show that the implementation of diversion against children who commit the crime of beatings in the concept of justice at Polrestabes Semarang following the provisions of Law Number 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Criminal Justice System. The diversion process involves all, namely the victim's family, the perpetrator's family, and the Bapas, namely through deliberations involving children and their parents/guardians, victims and/or their parents/guardians, and community counsellors, based on a restorative justice approach. The application of diversion to the child perpetrators of the Semarang Police crime is very effective in resolving criminal acts of beatings with child perpetrators. The procedure for settlement of cases becomes simpler, cheaper, and saves time through diversion. The implementation of diversion is also able to reduce the build-up of cases being handled at the Semarang Police, reducing the cost burden.

“Stop Talking and Act”: The Battle between Tough on Crime Policing and Guardianship of Black Juvenile Gangs in Philadelphia, 1958-1969

The 1958 robbery and murder of international student, In-Ho Oh, by eleven black teenagers in West Philadelphia created public outcry on the issue of black gangs in desegregating neighborhoods. The interracial homicide unofficially sparked a full-fledged tough on crime program by police and city officials. From 1958 to 1969, police and city officials became more concerned about black gangs because they feared white flight and white middle-class disinvestment from inner-city businesses and institutions that fed Philadelphia’s tax base. However, black community activists believed the “gang problem” could be solved with education, recreation, social welfare, and job training. Nevertheless, Philadelphia’s police department and City Council handled black gang activity with tough on crime policing and mass incarceration while black community activists provided “guardianship” to black youth to keep them out of the prison system and promote a positive reputation of black citizens.