5,957 research outputs found
Overcoming Barriers of Gender and Race in Policing: Australian and New Zealand Examples
No full textAvailable research has supported the view that female minority police officers are vulnerable to the compounding effects of sexual and racial discrimination. This chapter summarises three studies concerning efforts to reverse this situation, involving the experiences of female Indigenous officers in Queensland and the Northern Territory (Australia) and New Zealand. One of the risks with initiatives in this area is that employees are seen as tokens. However, the results from these survey-based studies were largely positive, suggesting that police departments can achieve substantive and genuine outcomes in deploying and supporting minority women. Specifically, targeted recruitment and academy-bridging programmes appear as promising strategies; as do responsive negotiation in deployment, explicit support and affirmation from management, well-organised mentorship programmes and more training and secondment opportunities. Two of the studies found that Indigenous women can also have satisfactory careers in auxiliary roles, although these positions come with a heightened risk of triple disadvantage due to the lesser status and opportunities in this category of police work.No Full Tex
Gender equity policy in Australian and New Zealand policing: a five year review
No full textThis paper examines the impact of equity measures in Australian and New Zealand policing, involving nine police departments, from 2003/4 to 2007/8. The findings were mixed. Overall, the number of sworn female officers in both countries continued to trend slowly upwards, with an average of 26.6 per cent in Australia and 17.1 per cent in New Zealand in 2007/8. However, recruit numbers appeared to have peaked around 33 per cent and were in decline in most departments where data were available. Women continued to move up the ranks in all departments, but there were still very few women in senior ranks. Although women were not separating at a higher rate than men, they were more likely than men to resign. While more positive than earlier appraisals of equity in Australia, the findings continue to reflect inadequate data collection that would address long-term inequity issues. The labour force participation rate of women in Australia has increased significantly over the last few decades. However, women are not necessarily focusing on traditional career paths but rather see employment opportunities as one of many options that include family and lifestyle balance. Nevertheless, it is argued here that police organisations should remain committed to gender equity. Affirmative action and other gender equity strategies are considered necessary to encourage greater participation by women, for the benefits to women of a policing career and for the wider good of the community and police organisations themselves. Better diagnostic data and visible commitment are required to support this objective
Complaint reduction in the Tasmania Police
No full textThis article examines a case study of Tasmania Police to explore strategies for complaint reduction. The study uses quantitative complaints data and qualitative interviews to examine a 15-year period from 1994/1995 to 2008/2009. During this time, complaints against Tasmania Police reduced substantially. Most significantly, public ‘complaints against police’ dropped by nearly 77% from a peak of 162 in 1996/1997 to 38 in 2008/2009. Data show that repeat complaints against individual officers were reduced, as were numbers of assault and excessive force allegations. Initiatives that were implemented during the period that appear to impact on complaint numbers include complaint profiling and training, and improved complaint handling. These and other initiatives are considered in light of the data patterns and lessons for other jurisdictions are discussed
Crimes against morality
No full textThe purpose of this chapter is to discuss the relationship between crime and morality, with a specific focus on crimes against morality. While we argue that all crimes have a general moral basis, condemned as ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ and proscribed by a society, there is a specific group of offences in modern democratic nations labelled crimes against morality. Included within this group are offences related to prostitution, pornography and homosexuality. What do these crimes have in common? Most clearly they tend to have a sexual basis and are often argued to do sexual harm, in both a moral and/or psychological sense, as well as physically. Conversely they are often argued to be victimless crimes, especially when the acts occur between consenting adults. Finally, they are considered essentially private acts but they often occur and, are regulated, in the public domain. Most importantly, each of these crimes against morality has only relatively recently (i.e. in the past 150 years) become identified and regulated by the state as a criminal offence.\ud
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First, we discuss philosophically the issue of morality and its historical relationship to Christianity, especially with regard to the issue of prostitution. Second, we examine the relationship between public and private morality and how this distinction regulates licit and illicit sex in our society through the example of homosexuality. Finally we discuss the notion of the victimless crime through the example of pornography
Crimes against morality
No full textThe purpose of this chapter is to discuss the relationship between crime and morality, with a specific focus on crimes against morality. While we argue that all crimes have a general moral basis, condemned as ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ and proscribed by a society, there is a specific group of offences in modern democratic nations labelled ‘crimes against morality’. Included within this group are offences related to prostitution, pornography and homosexuality. What do these crimes have in common? Most clearly they tend to have a sexual basis and are often argued to do sexual harm, in both a moral and/or psychological sense, as well as physically. Conversely in some cases they are argued to be victimless crimes, especially when the acts occur between consenting adults. Finally, they are considered essentially private acts but they often occur, and are regulated, in the public domain. Most importantly, each of these crimes against morality has only relatively recently (i.e. in the past 150 years) become identified and regulated by the state as a criminal offence.\ud
First, we discuss philosophically the nexus between sex, crime and morality, especially with regard to the issue of prostitution. Second, we examine the relationship between public and private morality and how this dis¬tinction regulates licit and illicit sex in our society through the example of homosexuality. Finally we discuss the notion of sex as harm through the example of pornography
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Preventing Crime and Disorder in Public Places ::Blending Opportunity Reduction, Guardianship and Welfare /
No full textThis accessible, short book provides scientifically informed guidance on effective and holistic place management strategies for preventing crime. It integrates theoretical perspectives and practical examples of crime prevention methods that can be readily implemented by responsible stakeholders. It covers locations including town centers, shopping malls, parks, beaches, transit hubs, campuses, stadiums and entertainment precincts, where security programs sometimes attract criticism regarding the exclusion or persecution of marginalized groups. This book advocates for overlapping forms of crime prevention and social support that address the need to make large improvements in safety in public places while supporting marginalized and vulnerable groups. Readers are exposed to a wide range of successful case studies as well as the central role of a systematic problem-solving methodology. It speaks to crime prevention and social services professionals, academics, and students, as well as interested members of the public. Tim Prenzler is Professor of Criminology in the School of Law and Society at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia. He was the foundation Coordinator of the Bachelor of Criminology and Justice from 2015 to 2018. He teaches courses in policing, crime prevention, and criminal justice ethics and accountability
From the Editor-in-Chief
No full textI was in Sydney for six weeks as this issue, Volume 20 Issue 2, had to be readied for publication. As this editorial was being composed, I wrote the following to one of the most respected Editors of the journal, namely, Clifford Shearing, a front-ranking scholar in our field, ‘Diversity, discipline on the street, lack of squalor, and what I would call a bustling orderliness in the city impressed me immensely. My wife and I never felt unsafe wherever we had been in the city: shopping centers, places of entertainment, parks and so on.’
As always, Clifford wrote back promptly, “Your experience of Sydney was not unlike my experience of Disney World, with my daughter, in the mid-1980s. What I experienced was precisely your surprising ‘bustling orderliness.’ Clifford adds, several years ago, I visited my daughter who had been living in Sydney. We borrowed a car and decided because our time was short we would park wherever we could find parking – be it legal or illegal. Every single time we parked illegally, someone would come up to us and say, “Illegal park mate, you cannot park there’. This, for me, is the essence of Australian ‘mateship’. Its friendship, but with a collective good that is promoted through it. There is a ‘blotchiness,’ but it is underlaid with a deep respect for compliance. My answer to your puzzle, as you know, is ‘policing’ (nodal policing) not ‘police.’ Moreover, this is something that Australian police, for all their conventionality, I think understand. They understand, Jean-Paul Brodeur’s ‘Web of Policing’ (Personal Correspondence, January 2019).
I wrote to another Editor of the journal, a Founding Editor, Tim Prenzler, with my impression of Sydney, ‘Years ago, as a teenager,’ Tim (Personal Communication, January 2019) said, he was ‘amazed by the city. The skyscrapers seemed to blend perfectly with the brilliant blue harbor and leafy green belts. The place had a genuine buzz. The ferries, zoo, and beaches were all very exciting. Moreover, the opera house and bridge were stunning’. Tim pointed out that ‘one of the most striking features has been the near absence of homeless people and disorder on the street.’No Full Tex
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