An article examined how police community support officers were operating in low-income areas with low-grade environments and above-average crime rates. PCSOs were contributing to policing, and to the areas more broadly, in ways which could be expected to aid renewal.
Source: Caroline Paskell, '"Plastic police" or "community support"? The role of police community support officers within low-income neighbourhoods', European Urban and Regional Studies, Volume 14 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
A think-tank report said that tackling knife-related offending required a 'coherent evidence-based strategy' that recognized the deeper structural causes of inequality, poverty, and social disaffection.
Source: Chris Eades, Roger Grimshaw, Arianna Silvestri and Enver Solomon, 'Knife Crime': A review of evidence and policy (second edition), Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | CCJS press release | ACPO press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Dec
An article examined the shift towards sustainable community building, and its implications for the policing and 'securitization' of places. 'Sustainability' was being used as a cover for a series of potentially repressive and counter-productive policy measures. Rather than increasing a sense of security within newly built and regenerated places, the new focus of policy might encourage insecurity and fear.
Source: Mike Raco, 'Securing sustainable communities: citizenship, safety and sustainability in the new urban planning', European Urban and Regional Studies, Volume 14 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
A report highlighted examples which showed how police authorities had demonstrated 'accountability in action', and made a difference to policing in their localities.
Source: Accountability in Action: Police authorities adding value, Association of Police Authorities (020 7664 3096)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Nov
A think-tank report called for the government to scrap police authorities and return their powers to elected local councils. This would save millions of pounds which could be pumped into front-line policing, and also give local people greater influence over local policing.
Source: Anthony Brand, Your Police or Mine? Delivering local police leadership, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release | APA press release
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined policy developments relating to neighbourhood policing and crime and disorder reduction partnerships. The need to meet performance targets would continue to detract from community-oriented work, unless the two coincided. Cultural and institutional factors were also likely to prove inimical to efforts to respond effectively to community needs.
Source: Gordon Hughes and Michael Rowe, 'Neighbourhood policing and community safety: researching the instabilities of the local governance of crime, disorder and security in contemporary UK', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 7 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
A new book examined the notion of 'zero tolerance' policing, and its application in different settings. The policy was nothing more than a return to old-style, crime control policing: although it fostered the swift analysis of crime patterns and more assertive policing of public places, it could also lean towards the repression and demonizing of certain groups.
Source: Maurice Punch, Zero Tolerance Policing, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that there had been a failure to maximize the potential of the CCTV (closed-circuit television) infrastructure in fighting crime. Many of those involved in its operation and management felt that there was a pressing need to examine existing standards, procedures, training, and methods of operation.
Source: Graeme Gerrard et al., National CCTV Strategy, Home Office (0870 000 1585) and Association of Chief Police Officers
Links: Report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Oct
A think-tank report examined whether, and to what extent, increased local autonomy for the police could improve policing in England and Wales.
Source: Barry Loveday and Jonathan McClory, Fitting the Bill: Local policing for the 21st century, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
A new book examined policies of local crime control under Labour between 1997 and 2006. It looked at the establishment of local crime and disorder reduction partnerships, attempts by government to subject them to a centrally-imposed performance management regime, the emergence of a strong neighbourhoods agenda, and the imposition of a largely enforcement-oriented attack on anti-social behaviour.
Source: Daniel Gilling, Crime Reduction and Community Safety: Labour and the politics of local crime control, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Oct
The government announced a cross-departmental review of how local communities, the police, local criminal justice agencies, and other local partners could best work together to reduce crime in their areas, raise community confidence in local agencies, and lower the fear of crime.
Source: Press release 5 October 2007, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Cabinet Office press release
Date: 2007-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on police funding. It said that increases in police strength, visibility, and focus had had a significant impact on reducing crime.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2006-07: Police Funding, Second Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 1092, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Oct
An article said that gated communities were not an effective response to issues of crime and disorder, in terms of physical security and collective efficacy; nor did they assist in regenerating deprived areas, or tackling problems of disorder on large 'social rented' estates. Indeed, any further growth in the collective fortification of affluent homes and 'retro-gating' of social rented estates was likely to contribute to increased social divisiveness.
Source: Sarah Blandy, 'Gated communities in England as a response to crime and disorder: context, effectiveness and implications', People, Place & Policy, Volume 1 Issue 2
Links: Article
Date: 2007-Sep
An audit report said that 9 out of 10 police authorities and forces in England and Wales were continuing to perform well on their recording of crime data: for 2006-07, 88 per cent were rated good or excellent, compared to 81 per cent during the previous year.
Source: Police Data Quality 2006/07: Improving data quality to make places safer in England and Wales, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | APA press release
Date: 2007-Sep
The interim report of an official review said that police officers in England and Wales were bogged down in 'excess bureaucracy', and had became afraid to use their own judgement.
Source: Ronnie Flanagan, Review of Policing: Interim Report, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Home Office press release | APA press release | ACPO press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book examined the issue of police service reform.
Source: Steve Savage, Police Reform: Forces for change, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that the government should prevent police from storing the profiles of innocent people on the national DNA database, and should drop plans to extend police powers that would see DNA samples being taken from people suspected of minor offences such as littering or speeding.
Source: The Forensic Use of Bioinformation: Ethical issues, Nuffield Council on Bioethics (020 7681 9619)
Links: Report | NCB press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book examined the ways in which core public institutions developed digital communications and services within the public realm. It drew on ethnographic research with the London Metropolitan Police Service during their engagement in an innovative project to improve communication with the public using digital technology.
Source: Bridgette Wessels, Inside the Digital Revolution: Policing and changing communication with the public, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Aug
An article examined some of the barriers to the expansion of the private finance initiative in the police service in England and Wales.
Source: Mark Button, Tom Williamson and Les Johnston, '"Too many chiefs and not enough chief executives": barriers to the development of PFI in the police service in England and Wales', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 7 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
A new book examined attempts to promote urban safety, orderly communities, and place regeneration. Policies to make cities better places were inextricably linked to an attempt to civilize, pacify, and regulate crime and disorder in urban areas.
Source: Rowland Atkinson and Gesa Helms (eds.), Securing an Urban Renaissance: Crime, community, and British urban policy, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the significant decrease seen in overall crime (measured by the British Crime Survey) between 1995 and 2001 occurred before a significant increase in police funding and police officer numbers. Although it was difficult to draw firm conclusions, the reduction in overall crime levels therefore did not seem to have been directly related to additional resources.
Source: Police Funding, Fourth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 553, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ACPO press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A think-tank report examined whether, and to what extent, increased local autonomy for the police could improve policing. 7 out of 10 local police commanders believed that central targets had degraded their ability to provide high-quality policing, and just under one-fifth thought that these targets had had no impact on the quality of policing.
Source: Barry Loveday and Jonathan McClory, Fitting the Bill: Local policing for the 21st century, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2007-Jun
The Serious Organised Crime Agency published its first annual report, for 2006-07. Of the cases it took to court - including those inherited from its predecessors - 95 per cent resulted in convictions.
Source: Annual Report 2006/07, Serious Organised Crime Agency (020 7238 8282)
Links: Report | Drugscope press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-May
A new book examined the impact of legislation aimed at providing new powers to manage and contain the 'social problem' of contemporary nightlife.
Source: Deborah Talbot, Regulating the Night: Race, culture and exclusion in the making of the night-time economy, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Apr
The opposition Conservative Party published draft proposals designed to reform the police service in England and Wales. Elected police commissioners would have powers to appoint and dismiss chief constables. The first national police force - a 15,000 strong serious crime force - would assume responsibility for serious, organized, and major crime. Other major changes would include a 'massive reduction' in form-filling.
Source: Policing for the People: Interim report of the Police Reform Taskforce, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Apr
An article examined the apparent inertia and resistance to change that had characterized the previous 25 years of policing. Attempts to introduce new public management techniques to policing had not proved as effective as in other public services.
Source: David Ashby, Barrie Irving and Paul Longley, 'Police reform and the new public management paradigm: matching technology to the rhetoric', Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Volume 25 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Apr
A new book examined change in the police service - in the legal framework of policing; the arrangements for democratic accountability; the technologies involved in crime and policing; and management structures and methods.
Source: David Smith (ed.), Transformations of Policing, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Mar
The government published a statement setting out the values and expectations that would shape the police service in the 21st century - what the police service could expect from the government, and what the public could expect from its police service. It also outlined government commitments on decreasing the bureaucratic burden on the police.
Source: Common Values for the Police Service, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Statement | Home Office press release
Date: 2007-Mar
A study examined the impact and implementation of community warden schemes across Scotland. There was statistical, survey, and anecdotal evidence that wardens were making a positive difference where they operated.
Source: Keith Hayton et al., Evaluation of the Impact and Implementation of Community Wardens, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2007-Mar
A new book examined the extent to which the Macpherson Inquiry (which reported in 1999 following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence) had led to significant changes to policing, and highlighted areas where future efforts ought to be concentrated.
Source: Mike Rowe (ed.), Policing beyond Macpherson Issues in policing, race and society, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals designed to re-focus police investigation and evidence-gathering processes on serving the needs of victims and witnesses, and raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the service. Jail cells could be set up in high streets and shopping centres to detain suspects for short periods. Officers could also be given greater powers to take fingerprint or DNA evidence from anyone they suspected of committing an offence.
Source: Modernising Police Powers: Review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation document | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Mar
An article said that in order to maintain high participation rates in neighbourhood watch schemes when crime rates were reduced, the schemes should be organized as social initiatives that were characterized by multiple forms of co-operation and help among neighbours.
Source: Steffen Huck and Michael Kosfeld, 'The dynamics of neighbourhood watch and norm enforcement', Economic Journal, January 2007
Links: Abstract | RES press release
Date: 2007-Feb
A joint inspectorate report said that prosecutions of police officers for offences such as assault were being abandoned or hampered by legal restraints. Charges for allegations such as common assault had to be made within six months: but many victims who alleged that they had been injured while being arrested would not help internal investigators if they also faced charges.
Source: Justice in Policing: A joint thematic review of the handling of cases involving an allegation of a criminal offence by a person serving with the police, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (020 7210 1197)and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
Links: Report | Summary | HMCPSI press release | IPCC press release | Times report
Date: 2007-Jan
The Northern Ireland police ombudsman said that senior police officers allowed Protestant paramilitary informers to carry out murders for more than a decade between 1991 and 2003.
Source: Statement by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on her Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Raymond McCord Junior and Related Matters, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (028 9082 8600)
Links: Report | PONI press release | NIO press release | Guardian report | FT report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jan