Interactions between Young People and the Police: Developing Strategies for 'Best Practice'. Youth typically hold a negative perception of police producing conflict and problematic interactions. The impact of such negative interactions is greater risk to youth and police, lower confidence in the police, and reluctance to complain about police misconduct. An effective relationship between police and young people is vital to promote efficient and smooth conduct of law and order, and to create h ....Interactions between Young People and the Police: Developing Strategies for 'Best Practice'. Youth typically hold a negative perception of police producing conflict and problematic interactions. The impact of such negative interactions is greater risk to youth and police, lower confidence in the police, and reluctance to complain about police misconduct. An effective relationship between police and young people is vital to promote efficient and smooth conduct of law and order, and to create healthier, safer communities. Our aim is to develop best practice strategies for police service delivery and for the processing of complaints against police. An intervention to promote more successful and positive police-youth interactions will be trialed and evaluated.Read moreRead less
The measurement and prediction of police interviewing performance and the dissemination of good practice through a distributive workplace learning system. This research aims to develop the first ever standardised measures of police interviewers' performance, focusing on interviews about sexual offences. Standardised measures are essential for quality control evaluation, identifying training needs, assigning workload, predicting case outcome and benchmarking organisation capabilities. By improvin ....The measurement and prediction of police interviewing performance and the dissemination of good practice through a distributive workplace learning system. This research aims to develop the first ever standardised measures of police interviewers' performance, focusing on interviews about sexual offences. Standardised measures are essential for quality control evaluation, identifying training needs, assigning workload, predicting case outcome and benchmarking organisation capabilities. By improving the quality of police interviews about sexual offences, this research will improve the reporting, prosecution and conviction rates of sexual offences, which will have a deterrent effect on potential offenders. Further, this research will reduce the stress of witnesses and suspects involved in the legal process and reduce burnout of police interviewers by increasing competency and job satisfaction.Read moreRead less
Private Security and Public Interest: Exploring Private Security Trends and Directions for Reform in the New Era of Plural Policing. This study will provide the first ever comprehensive assessment of private security and what it can and cannot offer society in terms of fair and effective order maintenance, crime prevention and law enforcement in Australia. Stemming from problems incurred by the sector, the research will address how governments should regulate the growing range of policing functi ....Private Security and Public Interest: Exploring Private Security Trends and Directions for Reform in the New Era of Plural Policing. This study will provide the first ever comprehensive assessment of private security and what it can and cannot offer society in terms of fair and effective order maintenance, crime prevention and law enforcement in Australia. Stemming from problems incurred by the sector, the research will address how governments should regulate the growing range of policing functions undertaken by private providers. It will also address the issue of how private police can best satisfy legal and justice criteria, meet the demands of accountability and develop mutually beneficial models of cooperation with the public sector. The research will recommend to policy-makers preferred 'plural' policing models for the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Policing Migration in Australia: an analysis of onshore migration policing networks. Recent events concerning the wrongful detention and deportation of Australian citizens have drawn attention to the significant impact of the enforcement of immigration controls within Australian communities. However, this dimension of law enforcement has received little or no attention from academic researchers. An improved understanding of the nature and dynamics of migration policing will provide social benefi ....Policing Migration in Australia: an analysis of onshore migration policing networks. Recent events concerning the wrongful detention and deportation of Australian citizens have drawn attention to the significant impact of the enforcement of immigration controls within Australian communities. However, this dimension of law enforcement has received little or no attention from academic researchers. An improved understanding of the nature and dynamics of migration policing will provide social benefits through the promotion of good relations with ethnic minority communities and the accountable exercise of statutory powers. This understanding is crucial if institutions of social regulation are to adapt to the challenges of policing a society which is not only multicultural but also increasingly globally interconnected.Read moreRead less
Developmental Pathways to Intimate Partner Homicide: Understanding Individual and Situational Dimensions. Intimate partner homicide is a serious public health and safety issue. This project will have several benefits. The findings will extend understanding of pathways leading to partner homicide. The findings will contribute to improved decision-making models by police and social welfare agencies. With more valid information about the changing characteristics leading to partner homicide, the fin ....Developmental Pathways to Intimate Partner Homicide: Understanding Individual and Situational Dimensions. Intimate partner homicide is a serious public health and safety issue. This project will have several benefits. The findings will extend understanding of pathways leading to partner homicide. The findings will contribute to improved decision-making models by police and social welfare agencies. With more valid information about the changing characteristics leading to partner homicide, the findings will foster more effective and efficient responses. Additionally, the findings will inform victims of partner violence of risks related to escalation toward fatal outcomes and should facilitate help seeking behaviour. Collectively, project findings should expand understanding, improve service delivery and save lives.
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Understanding the relationship between child maltreatment and language competence: An evidential interviewing perspective. This research aims to develop the first comprehensive and controlled examination of the oral language profiles of maltreated children and how these impact performance in an investigative interview paradigm. This examination is essential for developing strategies for improving the elicitation of evidence from child abuse witnesses. By improving child witness evidence, this re ....Understanding the relationship between child maltreatment and language competence: An evidential interviewing perspective. This research aims to develop the first comprehensive and controlled examination of the oral language profiles of maltreated children and how these impact performance in an investigative interview paradigm. This examination is essential for developing strategies for improving the elicitation of evidence from child abuse witnesses. By improving child witness evidence, this research will improve the prosecution and conviction rates of child abuse offences, which will have a deterrent effect on potential offenders. Finally, this research will reduce the stress of witnesses involved in the legal process and provide better screening of children in need of specialised language intervention.Read moreRead less
Counter-terrorism policing for culturally diverse communities. Counter-terrorism policing will be investigated by focusing on the impact of counter terrorism measures on the police, community, media and legislative/policy framework. An interdisciplinary approach is taken to the first ever examination of how counter terrorism is changing both the policing function and linguistically and culturally diverse communities. It will produce a counter-terrorism policing model that challenges traditiona ....Counter-terrorism policing for culturally diverse communities. Counter-terrorism policing will be investigated by focusing on the impact of counter terrorism measures on the police, community, media and legislative/policy framework. An interdisciplinary approach is taken to the first ever examination of how counter terrorism is changing both the policing function and linguistically and culturally diverse communities. It will produce a counter-terrorism policing model that challenges traditional paramilitary responses to terrorism that centrally locates diverse communities/policing relationships at the heart of the counter-terrorism policing effort. With cross jurisdictional application, the qualitative and quantitative data, will inform a broad scholarship with wide ranging policy implications at both the state and federal level.Read moreRead less
Intermittent reinforcement scheduling: Improving methods for deploying speed enforcement resources. Road crashes cost Australia $6 billion a year and excessive speed is a major cause of severe traffic crashes. The innovative research will compare the impact of 'intermittent reinforcement scheduling' and 'fixed reinforcement' programs on the target behaviour. This research offers a rare opportunity to vary speed camera deployment to determine the optimal learning and deterrence mechanisms for spe ....Intermittent reinforcement scheduling: Improving methods for deploying speed enforcement resources. Road crashes cost Australia $6 billion a year and excessive speed is a major cause of severe traffic crashes. The innovative research will compare the impact of 'intermittent reinforcement scheduling' and 'fixed reinforcement' programs on the target behaviour. This research offers a rare opportunity to vary speed camera deployment to determine the optimal learning and deterrence mechanisms for speed control. This research will develop a parsimonious model of "best practice" in speed camera enforcement that will be used at the state, national and international levels to improve traffic enforcement and road user safety in metropolitan, rural and remote communities.Read moreRead less
The New Policing: Partnerships, Resources and Modes of Governance. This project promises to establish Australia as a world leader in policing research and policing practice. Following an exhaustive review of current approaches in Victoria and internationally, and backed up by needs assessments, a series of pilot programs at selected sites will allow the development of innovative models for securing and allocating resources that support innovative policing partnerships involving government, the b ....The New Policing: Partnerships, Resources and Modes of Governance. This project promises to establish Australia as a world leader in policing research and policing practice. Following an exhaustive review of current approaches in Victoria and internationally, and backed up by needs assessments, a series of pilot programs at selected sites will allow the development of innovative models for securing and allocating resources that support innovative policing partnerships involving government, the business sector, non-governmental agencies, community-based organizations and citizens. The collaboration with Victoria Police will provide a model for police-university partnership across Australia and the pilot programs developed will be replicable widely in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Policing the Neighbourhood: Australian Police Peace-keeping, Capacity-building, and Development in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Australia's involvement in policing offshore is growing rapidly. Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, and shortly, Papua New Guinea, feature in these developments. The Australian Federal Police is now a key player in regional security and development. This study takes stock of this trend. Through three case studies, the project examines the grou ....Policing the Neighbourhood: Australian Police Peace-keeping, Capacity-building, and Development in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Australia's involvement in policing offshore is growing rapidly. Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, and shortly, Papua New Guinea, feature in these developments. The Australian Federal Police is now a key player in regional security and development. This study takes stock of this trend. Through three case studies, the project examines the grounds for providing assistance, the different cultural and political contexts in which assistance is taking place, the forms of that assistance, and the achievements and shortcomings of previous and current police assistance missions. It will also provide an analytical framework for future engagements of this nature.Read moreRead less