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
Optimal Resourcing: A longitudinal study of work demands, resourcing, and psychological well-being in Australian frontline police officers. Expanding the Job Demands-Resources model of job stress to include upstream pressures on the organisational system, this research will provide important insights into the relationships between psychosocial risks (current resources and demands) and police wellbeing. Using 3 wave longitudinal designs, and 'objective' measures of demands and resources, the rese ....Optimal Resourcing: A longitudinal study of work demands, resourcing, and psychological well-being in Australian frontline police officers. Expanding the Job Demands-Resources model of job stress to include upstream pressures on the organisational system, this research will provide important insights into the relationships between psychosocial risks (current resources and demands) and police wellbeing. Using 3 wave longitudinal designs, and 'objective' measures of demands and resources, the research will extend the stress development literature by exploring exposure (cross-sectional, 1 year) and time lag (2 year) causal pathways. The findings will make a significant contribution to contemporary job demand/resource theories of occupational stress and assist in the development of policies to enhance the occupational health and safety of frontline police officers.Read moreRead less
Policing and Quality Part-time Work: Constraints and Options. Research suggests that a major barrier to retaining women both in sworn and unsworn positions in police work is the limited provision and uptake of part-time work. A related impediment is the conditions associated with the part-time work available in policing services. This project uses an action research approach to analyse the constraints on and options for ensuring that part-time work within Victoria Police is good 'quality' work. ....Policing and Quality Part-time Work: Constraints and Options. Research suggests that a major barrier to retaining women both in sworn and unsworn positions in police work is the limited provision and uptake of part-time work. A related impediment is the conditions associated with the part-time work available in policing services. This project uses an action research approach to analyse the constraints on and options for ensuring that part-time work within Victoria Police is good 'quality' work. The project outcomes will contribute to better theoretical and organisational understandings of the dimensions of quality in the implementation of part-time work in public policing and in other organisational contexts.
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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
Improving the competency of police officers in conducting investigative interviews of children. The current research program aims to identify factors that promote and sustain competent police interviewing of children. Although 'best-practice' guidelines in investigative interviewing have been developed, these guidelines are under-utilised by police officers in practice. Research is therefore needed to identify barriers to the implementation of these 'best-practice' guidelines and to test interve ....Improving the competency of police officers in conducting investigative interviews of children. The current research program aims to identify factors that promote and sustain competent police interviewing of children. Although 'best-practice' guidelines in investigative interviewing have been developed, these guidelines are under-utilised by police officers in practice. Research is therefore needed to identify barriers to the implementation of these 'best-practice' guidelines and to test interventions designed to improve their uptake. The expected outcome of this project is the development of interventions that will improve the quality of police training in investigative interviewing. This will increase the quality of evidence obtained from children, especially those who are victims of child abuse.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