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Article
Publication date: 3 August 2015

Jason Roach and Robin Bryant

In England and Wales, on average one child every week is a victim of homicide. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether different victim-risk profiles and suspect variables…

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Abstract

Purpose

In England and Wales, on average one child every week is a victim of homicide. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether different victim-risk profiles and suspect variables can be differentiated for specific victim ages.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of more than 1,000 child homicides committed in England and Wales between 1996 and 2013, from data provided through the Homicide Index. Statistical techniques such as cluster analysis were used to identify specific victim-risk profiles and to analyse suspect variables according to the age of victim.

Findings

The findings present a clearer picture of the risk-age relationship in child homicide, whereby several specific risk profiles are identified for specific child ages, comprised of crime variables including; likely victim and suspect demographics, the most likely circumstances of the homicide and methods of killing. Using similar techniques, a number of tentative clusters of suspects implicated in child homicide are also described and analysed, with suggestions of further analysis that might prove of value.

Practical implications

The practical implications cannot be understated. For those professionals working in the fields of child protection and criminal investigation the identification of risk profiles promises to provide a back-cloth with which to practice when confronted with complex and distressing child homicide scenarios. This research promises most to those currently training in related professions.

Originality/value

Although the statistical level of risk has been linked with the age of a child (with younger children being most vulnerable to killing by a parent or step-parent and older children most vulnerable to killing by acquaintances and strangers), extant research is yet to progress beyond the identification of broad age-risk categories. The paper concludes with a discussion of the likely implications for those charged with reducing and investigating child homicide and outlines the possibility of future research.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Alondra D. Garza, Amanda Goodson and Cortney A. Franklin

The current study examined police response, specifically identification and arrest decisions, to nonfatal strangulation occurring within the context of intimate partner violence.

Abstract

Purpose

The current study examined police response, specifically identification and arrest decisions, to nonfatal strangulation occurring within the context of intimate partner violence.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the present study were derived from a sample of 117 possible nonfatal strangulation case reported to a police agency located in one of the fifth largest and most diverse US cities. A series of logistic regression models were employed to examine the role of victim, suspect and case characteristics on officer formal identification of strangulation and officer arrest decisions.

Findings

Results revealed that 14% of all intimate partner violence (IPV) cases reported to the police agency involved possible nonfatal strangulation and less than half of all possible nonfatal strangulation cases were formally identified as such by officers. The odds of formal identification of strangulation by police increased when strangulation was manual and when victims reported difficulty breathing. Injury and formal identification increased the odds of arrest.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine predictors of police formal identification and arrest decisions in nonfatal strangulation occurring within intimate partner violence incidents.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 44 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2013

Zoe Staines

The purpose of this study is to produce a framework and instrument that can be used to improve the management of tacit investigative knowledge in policing agencies based upon…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to produce a framework and instrument that can be used to improve the management of tacit investigative knowledge in policing agencies based upon Dean's (2000) theory of criminal investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the development and large‐scale test of a psychometric scale with a large sample of detectives from the New South Wales Police Force, Western Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Victoria Police and Singapore Police Force. The purpose of the scale is to quantitatively measure the extent to which investigative police adhere to Dean's (2000) four investigative “thinking styles”.

Findings

The research produced further empirical evidence of Dean's (2000) theory, but also indicated areas where the scale and theory required readjustment and re‐conceptualisation.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should conduct further large‐scale tests of a revised instrument, which incorporates these changes. In particular, the potential overlap between Dean's (2000) thinking style constructs and other cognitive, psychological and even physiological traits demands further consideration before the instrument can be validated.

Practical implications

Once a robust, valid and reliable instrument is constructed, it may be used to map the tacit investigative knowledge that exists in police agencies and thus, inform the management of that knowledge and the experts who hold it.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the current literature on knowledge management approaches in policing, with a particular focus on the management of tacit investigative knowledge. It also further extends the work of Dean (2000) and his colleagues (Dean et al., 2006, 2007, 2008a, b; Dean and Gottschalk, 2007; Dean and Staines, 2011) in empirically validating Dean's (2000) theory of criminal investigation.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 November 2022

Gareth David Addidle

This chapter is set within global public sector reform processes, as policing is part of public service delivery. It explores the question of who is “vulnerable”, how…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter is set within global public sector reform processes, as policing is part of public service delivery. It explores the question of who is “vulnerable”, how vulnerability is assessed, and why? It considers the measurement of vulnerability, and how this influences policing practice and the role of the Police in contemporary policing.

Design/Method

The research is qualitative in nature and reliant on interview and documentary source data. It draws on concepts such as resilience, co-production, professionalisation and training as organising themes in which to make sense of how we reimagine the management of Vulnerability and the demands they place at the “core, the heart and the centre” of policing today.

Findings

Police management in the UK are attempting to stay true to the Peelian Principle of police efficiency alongside balancing the changing remit of what they have to contend with on a day-to-day basis – this is the paradox. Both Vulnerability and Risk are demonstrated to be increasingly interconnected alongside the developments of public health policing in the UK and elsewhere. Collectively, these concepts help to examine an increasingly complex landscape for the police to manoeuvre within, as they respond to a myriad of competing demands on services.

Originality

Vulnerability is the core, the heart and the centre of meaningful human experiences. With increasing pressures on resources, political scrutiny and changing roles and responsibilities, the police as an organisation (both in the UK and internationally) are increasingly responding to competing demands for their service. These demands are represented in this chapter as a paradox of change.

Details

Reimagining Public Sector Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-022-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Michael D. White

Prior research on the police decision to use deadly force has tended to neglect multivariate relationships, particularly at the situational level. This paper makes use of data…

1727

Abstract

Prior research on the police decision to use deadly force has tended to neglect multivariate relationships, particularly at the situational level. This paper makes use of data describing deadly force incidents in Philadelphia during two time periods (1970‐1978 and 1987‐1992) and employs multivariate analyses to identify situational predictors of police shootings involving gun‐assaultive suspects. Findings from the multivariate analyses are then used in a pilot effort to develop predictive risk classifications of deadly force incidents. Identification of predictors of deadly force is helpful not only in assessing the relative contributions of situational variables but also in shaping our understanding of the behavior of line officers who are forced, by the nature of their work, to make split‐second decisions involving life and liberty with minimal guidance and support from the police department.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Police Occupational Culture
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-055-2

Article
Publication date: 9 July 2021

James Markey, Thomas Scott, Crystal Daye and Kevin J. Strom

Sexual assault investigations present uniquely challenging circumstances to detectives, and a small proportion result in arrest. Improving sexual assault investigations requires…

Abstract

Purpose

Sexual assault investigations present uniquely challenging circumstances to detectives, and a small proportion result in arrest. Improving sexual assault investigations requires expanding the evidence base to improve our understanding of how these investigations unfold and the factors associated with positive case outcomes, including the likelihood that an offender is arrested.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors abstracted data on 491 adult sexual assaults investigated by five large and midsized law enforcement agencies to describe the characteristics of sexual assault investigations and to explain the relationships between these characteristics and the likelihood that a suspect is arrested.

Findings

Overall, detectives move swiftly to investigate sexual assaults but tend to miss investigative opportunities that increase the likelihood of an arrest, like locating and processing the crime scene or pursuing interviews with key witnesses and leads. Sexual assaults typically lack physical evidence that can be used to identify and lead to an arrest of a suspected offender; when this evidence is present, the case is more likely to result in an arrest. Delayed reporting of the crime to law enforcement decreases the likelihood of a suspect being arrested, but the mechanisms are unclear.

Originality/value

Few studies have used a detailed data abstraction process for a large sample of cases from multiple law enforcement agencies to understand sexual assault investigations and their case outcomes. The results can improve practitioners' and researchers' understanding of sexual assault investigations, including those factors that increase the likelihood of a suspect's arrest.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 44 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Jackie Ann Farquharson

The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcome of referrals made to one police force in England by three local authorities between March 2010 and April 2011, in order to…

1014

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcome of referrals made to one police force in England by three local authorities between March 2010 and April 2011, in order to identify and understand the barriers to prosecuting suspects of abuse or harm against vulnerable adults, and improve inter-agency co-operation.

Design/methodology/approach

All referrals to this police force are given a crime number when they are recorded on the Criminal Justice System database together with a vulnerable adult flag and a status code which indicates the outcome following a police investigation. A search of the database using the vulnerable adult flag identifies the total number of referrals and outcomes for the selected period. This can then be imported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to allow further analysis to take place.

Findings

Over 87 per cent of all referrals of alleged abuse to vulnerable adults made to this police force did not establish that a crime had been committed. Of those that did only 1 per cent resulted in either a caution or court proceedings.

Research limitations/implications

This is a small sample from one, predominantly rural, police force.

Originality/value

The benefit of this research is that it contributes to a greater knowledge of the outcomes of adult safeguarding referrals made, primarily, by local authorities to the police and how police disclosures, on Disclosure and Barring Service checks, are being used as a means of providing employers of regulated activities with information on individuals who have been suspected of abusing vulnerable adults.

Details

The Journal of Adult Protection, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1466-8203

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 June 2016

Jordan C. Pickering and David A. Klinger

Drawing from literature on organizations that function efficiently and effectively while maintaining low levels of errors and occupational injuries and deaths, we argue that…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing from literature on organizations that function efficiently and effectively while maintaining low levels of errors and occupational injuries and deaths, we argue that police departments can enhance their legitimacy by adopting the practices found in such organizations because doing so can reduce the frequency of unnecessary force against citizens and lower officer injury rates.

Methodology/approach

To support our argument, we review literatures on the causes and avoidance of errors in organizations, identify how well-run organizations in high-risk environments are able to operate safely, and describe how police departments can adopt similar practices as a mechanism to enhance officer safety and lower the rate at which officers use force against citizens.

Findings

By adopting the practices of successful organizations in other fields, police departments and their officers can promote and enhance their safety while simultaneously reducing their use of force against citizens. By doing so, police can raise the level of legitimacy they hold in the eyes of the American public, which has arguably decreased in the wake of recent events involving police gunfire.

Originality/value

Our ideas contribute to the policing literature by: (1) highlighting a preexisting body of literature and outlining its application to police organizations and (2) detailing how both the police and the public can benefit from improved police practices.

Details

The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-030-5

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Intelligence and State Surveillance in Modern Societies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-171-1

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