Timothy Prenzler

The code of silence and ethical perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore Australian police officers’ perceptions of unethical conduct scenarios with the aim of understanding unwillingness to report infractions. Design/methodology/approach – The responses of 845 officers were compared across 11 scenarios to explore variation in the extent to which they understood the behaviour to violate policy and their hypothetical willingness, or unwillingness, to report the behaviour. Particularly, it was hypothesised that non-reporters may justify their inaction based on the misperception that other officers hold even less ethical beliefs. Findings – Five scenarios emerged as least likely to be reported, with a substantial minority of officers stating their decision was despite their understanding that the behaviour constituted a policy violation. Contrary to predictions, these “non-reporters” were aware they were less likely to report than their colleagues, but believed they held the same views as their colleagues in terms of the seriousne...

Ten key developments in modern policing: an Australian perspective

Abstract In this paper we endeavour to isolate the top ten innovations and developments that have occurred in policing in the last thirty years. We consider that each of them brought about a new mindset, pattern or trend into contemporary police practice. We have focused our attention on the last thirty years because it is during this time that we have both maintained a keen academic interest in the field. While we have focused our attention on the way in which each has affected Australian policing, we are cognisant of the fact that many of them had their roots in other settings long before Australian policy-makers adopted or adapted them.

Police officer gender and excessive force complaints: an Australian study

ABSTRACT Issues of force and excessive force remain prominent in policing in most jurisdictions. This study addresses the relationship between officer gender and force-related allegations, and adds to the growing literature on women in policing and strategies to reduce police-citizen conflict. The study utilised six years of Queensland police data from 2007/2008 to 2012/2013 involving 4974 force-related complaint files and 11,493 allegations, to explore gender patterns while also considering rank, length of service, age, sub-type of allegation, and complaint outcomes. The main finding was that females made up 26% of employed officers, but only 16% of officers receiving complaints and 15% of officers subject to specific allegations. In addition, females had significantly fewer repeat complaints, fewer single subject officer complaints, and complaints against females reduced more quickly with length of service. The findings support the case for significant benefits from improved female representation in policing. At the same time, the paper includes a number of qualifiers regarding support for female officers and optimal management of use of force training and procedures.

The implications of a harm perspective on terrorism, road safety, tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs and workplace health and safety

This policy paper addresses issues around crime impacts and crime prevention from a harm perspective. The development of the paper was prompted by the 2014/2015 escalation of counter-terror measures in Australia. The paper begins with a brief review of crime measurement issues and of a harm perspective in guiding crime prevention policies. It then engages in an analysis of impact measures around four diverse crime and harm types in Australia: terrorism, road crashes, drugs (tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs), and workplace health and safety violations. The case studies highlight the success of Australias counter-terror programme in preventing attacks on Australian soil and contrasts this with major ongoing harms associated with the alleged under-regulation of the other crime types. The evidence indicates that much more attention needs to be given to these latter areas to achieve large improvements in peoples well-being, without necessarily reducing efforts to combat terrorism.

Good practice case studies in the advancement of women in policing

Research shows that increasing the number of female officers is beneficial to policing. However, women remain a minority in police departments throughout the world, and the better performing departments have, on the whole, achieved female representation at only 25%, with senior women at 10%. There is also very little research on effective strategies for making large improvements. Consequently, this study aimed to identify and explain above average achievements in the status of women in policing. Following a worldwide search, five cases were identified: one involved female recruits (North Wales), two involved officer numbers (Cumbria and Surrey), and two involved women in senior ranks (Hertfordshire and South Africa). Efforts to identify possible influences were limited by a lack of information about strategies, including in response to requests for information. However, there were indicators that outcomes were related to senior management commitment, explicit targets, monitoring, flexible employment and a range of support mechanisms such as mentoring and leadership programmes. The findings emphasize the need for more research on what works in optimizing women’s participation in police work.

Complaint reduction in Australian federal policing in the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract Across fifteen years to 2015–2016 the rate of public complaints against police in the Australian Capital Territory fell by an extraordinary 79%. This was a much larger and longer-term reduction in complaints than occurred anywhere else in Australia, and it is very unusual in the international policing literature. The paper attempts to examine the nature of this change in greater detail, and possible factors that may have influenced the change. Unlike some other studies, however, there was limited evidence of specific point-in-time innovations that may have affected the trend. Nonetheless, it is likely that a range of reforms in policing influenced the change, with possible lessons for other departments struggling with significant complaint problems. The main reforms included improved custody procedures, greater attention to ethics in recruitment and training, a complaints system focused on managing officer behaviour, enlarged external oversight, and more attention to de-escalation skills in use-of-force training.

Mass shootings in Australia and the United States, 1981-2013

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the incidence and main characteristics of mass shooting events in Australia and the USA in the period 1981-2013. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a conservative definition of mass shootings derived from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, covering four or more fatalities not including the offender. Australian cases were accessed from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Homicide Monitoring Programme (NHMP) database and several secondary sources. The US data were collected from the Mother Jones database, a report prepared for Mayors Against Illegal Guns and a New York Police Department report. The time series data were related to changes in firearms regulations in the two jurisdictions. Findings – For Australia, the study identified 13 mass shooting events and 104 fatalities from gunshot wounds. For the USA, there were 73 events and 576 victims. Of note is the fact that all cases in Australia pre-dated the implementation of ...

Privatisation of Police: Themes from Australia

This chapter examines the role of private security personnel in the contemporary provision of security and protection services in Australia. Drawing on previous extensive work by the authors, the analysis explores several partnerships between the public police and private security personnel, identifying factors upon which good cooperative public/private partnerships can be and are being built. In so doing, the discussion identifies a range of health, safety and welfare risks that both security personnel, as well as those with whom they come into contact, are exposed to as a result of their routine practices. It also considers whether current regulatory models meet the required standards of acceptable transparency and accountability. The chapter concludes by suggesting how the law may need to be adjusted to accommodate better the changing nature of the public/private policing landscape.

Policing in Hong Kong: history and reform

minority relations would improve with time; indeed, ‘any pessimism [by Guards about future minority-police relations] was outweighed by the widespread belief that increased interaction... would inevitably lead to a mutual understanding’ (p. 139). That said, O’Brien-Olinger warns of the naivety, danger even, of expecting a genuinely intercultural, impartial police force to emerge without more community-informed policies and practices that seek to replicate the kind of positive ties cultivated with the indigenous majority. The need for a better sense of ethnic minorities’ perceptions and experiences of policing, achieved through community forums and greater investment in local community policing units, are cited as important steps in that direction. How such efforts are pursued and the impact they have in fostering better relations with Ireland’s newest arrivals are questions to be answered in the years ahead. But with police–ethnic minority relations maturing at the same time as policing research in the south of Ireland is too, what is clear is that we can look forward to similarly skilful, insightful accounts as the one produced by O’Brien-Olinger.

Alternative dispute resolution and mediation of complaints against police in Australia and New Zealand

ABSTRACT This study assessed the role of alternative dispute resolution options in the complaints management systems of the eight policing jurisdictions in Australia and the single jurisdiction of New Zealand. The available literature shows that a large proportion of complainants would like to participate in mediation, and that both complainants and police who experience mediation report much higher rates of satisfaction than those experiencing traditional adversarial investigative and adjudicative processes. Experiences with informal dispute resolution or ‘conciliation’ options are more mixed, and they are susceptible to tokenism and misuse as a convenient administrative means of disposing of complaints. Despite this situation, the data obtained from police and oversight agency sources in this study showed that options were limited to informal resolution conducted by senior officers, with an ostensible focus on behavioral improvement but with no meaningful publicly available data on outcomes. The paper concludes by advocating for a best practice complaints management system that includes mediation within a consultative framework focused on behavioral improvement.