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South Wales Police Mental Health (MH) Triage service was initiated to meet the Welsh Government MH priority of early intervention to prevent MH crisis. Community Psychiatric Nurses, based in the control-room, provide advice to police and control room staff on the management of MH-related incidents. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the first 12 months of operation (January-December 2019).

Service evaluation of the first 12 months of operation (January–December 2019). Data were analysed in relation to: MH incidents; repeat callers; Section (S)136 use/assessment outcomes. Police, health staff and triage service users were interviewed and surveyed to capture their opinions of the service.

Policing areas with high engagement in triage saw reductions in S136 use and estimated opportunity costs saving. Triage was considered a valuable service that promoted cross agency collaborations. De-escalation in cases of mental distress was considered a strength. Access to follow-on services was identified as a challenge.

Triage enables a multi-agency response in the management of MH-related incidents. Improving trust between services, with skilled health professionals supporting police decision-making in real time.

There is a gap in the research on the impact of police-related MH triage models beyond the use of S136. This project evaluated the quality of the service, its design and the relationship between health, police and partner agencies during the triage process. Multi-agency assessment of follow-up is needed to measure the long-term impact on services and users.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and test a quantitative harm-focused approach to offender selection for investigation and surveillance. The approach incorporates a measure of crime harm as well as a time-decay function that adjusts the score downward for offenders who desist from crime.

Across 10 of 21 high-crime police districts in the city of Philadelphia, the authors compare the mean harm scores of 60 prolific offenders selected by district analysts, 60 prolific offenders selected citywide by detectives assigned to the Gun Violence Reduction Task Force and the top 60 prolific offenders chosen from a harm-score generated list of known offenders in the ten high-crime districts.

The offenders on the harm-focused list have significantly greater mean harm scores than the offenders identified by the crime analysts or task force personnel. They have a significantly greater mean number of gun crime episodes in their offending history as well.

The harm-focused approach uses arrest data that may not accurately reflect convictions and which miss undetected criminal activity. A leader of a criminal organization who orchestrates criminal activities but does not engage directly may have a low harm score. Arrest data may also suffer from some inherent bias. The approach also requires the creation of a crime harm index. Determining the operational impact on overall crime reduction by focusing on offenders with higher harm scores will require further research.

Clinical methods of target selection based on officer intuition, opinion and experience may have limitations in terms of effectiveness and accuracy. They also lack transparency and may incorporate bias, a critical consideration given the current crisis in police-community trust and legitimacy. The actuarial method of weighing the harm of past offending with a crime harm score may be more acceptable and defendable to the community. It also identifies offenders with a higher frequency of involvement in gun crimes. Until methodological limitations are better understood, a compromise may be to start with the harm-score method (data-driven) and supplement this initial list through intelligence and investigative information.

The paper expands crime harm indices to quantify offender triage lists. The authors also empirically demonstrate through a case study that the approach is more effective at identifying harmful offenders than methods that solely rely on the experience or intuition of either crime analysts or detectives.

Building on the findings of a British Academy-funded project on the development of digital forensics (DF) in England and Wales, the purpose of this paper is to explore how triage, a process that helps prioritise digital devices for in-depth forensic analysis, is experienced by DF examiners and police officers in four English police forces. It is argued that while as a strategy triage can address the increasing demand in the examination of digital exhibits, careful consideration needs to be paid to the ways in which its set-up, undertaking and outcomes impact on the ability of law enforcement agencies to solve cases.

The methodological approach adopted here builds on the ethnographic turn in criminology. The analysis draws on 120 h of ethnographic observations and 43 semi-structured interviews. Observational data of the working DF environment at each location and a systematic evaluation of internal documents, organisational settings and police priorities helped refine emergent analysis threads, which were analytically compared between sites and against the testimonies of members of different occupational groups to identify similarities and differences between accounts.

The findings emphasise the challenges in the triage of digital exhibits as they are encountered in everyday practice. The discussion focusses on the tensions between the delivery of timely and accurate investigation results and current gaps in the infrastructural arrangements. It also emphasises the need to provide police officers with a baseline understanding of the role of DF and the importance of clearly defined strategies in the examination of digital devices.

This paper aims to bridge policy and practice through an analysis of the ways in which DF practitioners and police officers in four English constabularies reflect on the uses of triage in DF to address backlogs and investigative demands. Highlighting the importance of digital awareness beyond the technical remit of DF units, it offers new insights into the ways in which police forces seek to improve the evidential trail with limited resources.

In his recent report, Lord Adebowale (2013) described mental health issues as “core police business”. The recent retrenchment in mental health and wider public services mean that the demands on the police in this area are likely to increase. Mental health triage is a concept that has been adapted from general and mental health nursing for use in a policing context. The overall aim of triage is to ensure more effective health outcomes and the more effective use of resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current policy and practice in this area. It then goes on to explore the models of mental health triage that have been developed to try and improve working between mental health services and the police.

The paper outlines the main themes in the research literature regarding mental illness and policing, including a brief overview of section 136 MHA. It then examines recently developed models of triage as applied in these settings.

The models of triage that have been examined here have developed in response to local organisational, demographic and other factors. The approaches have two key features – the improved training for officers and improved liaison with mental health services.

Wider mental health training for officers and improved liaison with community-based services are the key to improving police contacts.

The current pressure on mental health services has increased the role that the police have in responding to these sorts of emergencies. This situation is unlikely to change in the short term.

This paper contributes to the wider debate about policing and mental illness. It highlights the fact that section 136 MHA use has tended to dominate debates in this area to the detriment of a broader discussion of the police role.

The purpose of this paper is to present a discussion of the value of early diversion schemes, underpinned by the principles of restorative justice (RJ), for First Time Entrants (FTEs) into the criminal justice system (CJS).

The paper focuses specifically on the findings of a 12-month study into the introduction of “Triage” by one Youth Offending Team (YOT) in the northeast of England.

Re-offending data suggested that Triage is more effective in reducing re-offending than conventional justice practices, due to the restorative nature of the scheme. However, the qualitative data raised a number of issues, particularly relating to problems of “net-widening” and the impact of recording processes on young people's desistance, as well as the role of victim engagement in the process. These issues could undermine the long-term effectiveness of Triage and its successful application within other youth justice contexts.

The paper aims to contribute further understanding regarding the impacts of RJ practices on reducing re-offending compared to traditional processes, and in particular, consider the role of implementation issues in the production of outcomes and impacts.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a “maintenance pathway” for ensuring a low false negative rate in closing investigations unlikely to lead to a clearance (detection).

A randomised controlled experiment testing solvability factors for non-domestic cases of minor violence.

A random selection of 788 cases, of which 428 would have been screened out, were sent forward for full investigation. The number of cases actually detected was 22. A total of 19 of these were from the 360 recommended for allocation. This represents an improvement of accuracy over the original tests of the model three years earlier.

This study shows how the safety of an investigative triage tool can be checked on a continuous basis for accuracy in predicting the cases unlikely to be solved if referred for full investigations.

This safety check pathway means that many more cases can be closed after preliminary investigations, thus saving substantial time for working on cases more likely to yield a detection if sufficient time is put into the cases.

More offenders may be caught and brought to justice by using triage with a safety backstop for accurate forecasting.

This is the first published study of a maintenance pathway based on a random selection of cases that would otherwise not have been investigated. If widely applied, it could yield far greater time for police to pursue high-harm, serious violence.

Interactions between individuals experiencing mental health (MH) problems and the police are complex and may affect the way in which both parties react to and experience the interactions. The purpose of this paper is to examine three commonly used interventions to improve these interactions.

Mixed methods were used to examine embedded MH professionals in command and control rooms, Liaison and Diversion Teams and Street Triage. The authors also reviewed the use of Section 136 (s136) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (2007) during the period these interventions were deployed.

There was strong support for these interventions but also gaps, resource and operational issues that need to be addressed if they are to have optimal effect on delivering appropriate diversion from the justice system, reduce reoffending and improve MH outcomes for individuals. The use of s136 remained relatively constant.

Despite a recent increase in the level of investment related to these interventions the evidence base remains limited. This study provides baseline of research evidence for those who commission and provide services for individuals experiencing mental ill health and who are in contact with the justice system.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss key risk factors in the use of forensic science in the criminal justice system by adopting a holistic and systemic approach that examines the collection and use of forensic evidence from crime scene to court.

The research on which the paper is based was a mixed-method five-year study of the effectiveness of forensic science in the criminal justice system in Australia using qualitative and quantitative methods. The paper draws on the in-depth analysis of qualitative data from 11 case studies of investigations of serious crime to identify key risk factors in the use of forensic science from crime scene to court.

Six key risk factors in the forensic process from crime scene to court are identified: low level of forensic awareness among first responders; crime scene examiners (CSEs) as technicians rather than professionals; inefficient and/or ineffective laboratory processes; limited forensic literacy among key actors in the criminal justice system; poor communication between key actors in the criminal justice system; and, financial resources not directed at the front end of the forensic process. Overall the findings demonstrate that forensic science is not well embedded in the criminal justice system.

The paper suggests that the risks inherent in the current practice of forensic science in the criminal justice system can be reduced dramatically through: forensic awareness training among first responders; the professionalisation of CSEs; continued improvements in efficiency and effectiveness at the laboratory with a focus on timeliness and quality; greater forensic literacy among actors in the criminal justice system; appropriate avenues of communication between agencies, practitioners and policymakers in the criminal justice system; and increased allocation of resources to the front end of the forensic process.

By adopting a holistic, systemic approach to the analysis of forensic science in the criminal justice system, and identifying inherent risks in the system, this paper contributes to the emerging body of research on the social processes that impact on the effectiveness of forensic science.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, implementation and evaluation of a small UK case study of a mentoring style pilot intervention integrating a specially trained police officer alongside mental health professionals to support highly intensive service users of emergency services.

The development of the conceptual framework informing the mentoring intervention is described and its implementation evaluated using a range of qualitative and quantitative outcome measures.

The four high intensity service users involved in the pilot had internalised the need to participate in recommended recovery pathways. Mental health nurses reported improved compliance with treatment. Although the sample was small, the number of police mental health crisis detentions was reduced by 66 per cent after one year and by 100 per cent after 18 months. Usage of other emergency public services had also drastically reduced, or been eliminated altogether.

Limited time and resources and the need for a solution that could be implemented as soon as possible meant a pragmatic design, implementation and evaluation.

The study indicated that a wider roll out of the new multi-agency mentoring model would be beneficial.

This is the first intervention to integrate mental health professionals and a trained police officer directly into the care pathway of repeated users of emergency public services with complex mental health needs.

This paper aims to examine the policing of youth anti‐social behaviour and crime.

The paper considers the Independent Commission report, Time for a Fresh Start and argues that its analysis would be enhanced by a fuller consideration of the role of the police as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system. As such this represents something of a missed opportunity.

The paper contends that, like many other reviews of youth justice, and proposals for reform, Time for a Fresh Start says relatively little about policing. As gatekeepers and agenda‐setters for much of the criminal justice system, the police occupy a key position. This paper suggests that reform programmes must focus on the role the police play in regulating the flow of young people into the justice system and, in particular, argues in favour of a constructive reappraisal of the value of “diversion”.

Without considering the role the police play in regulating the flow of young people into the justice system, any programme of reform is incomplete. We need to rehabilitate the idea of “diversion” and to rescue it from the one‐sided picture that became dominant from the mid‐1990s onward.