A violent clash last year at Sydney’s Mardi Gras raised old questions about the complex relationship between police and LGBTQI communities.
AAP/Toby Mann
Hundreds of thousands of people will be drawn to Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival this weekend. This world-famous event celebrates gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, intersex (LGBTQI) and other sexually…
The McCann case shows how complex international policing can be.
John Stillwell/PA
The UK government is debating whether it should opt out of more than 100 EU police and criminal justice measures which predate the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. These include Joint Investigation Teams, European…
Police lead away members of the Drax coal train protest group.
Anna Gowthorpe/PA
Tim Newburn, London School of Economics and Political Science
The news that a group of environmental protesters who stopped a train carrying coal to the Drax power station in 2009 have had their convictions overturned should give us pause for thought about the current…
It is no secret that mental health services are in a sorry state. Last year saw lots of stories about the increased pressures being placed on treating people in the community and on beds in mental health…
‘Susan’, a trafficked sex worker - one of a minority, research has suggested.
Manchester Evening News/PA Wire
The moral panic on the supposed prevalence of trafficking in the global sex industry rests on a lie: that the majority of sex workers are trafficked. In fact, the opposite is true. However, on the basis…
Relations between student protesters and police in universities have broken down. From demonstrations demanding that “cops stay off campus” to protests against the heavy-handed way in which students have…
Policing in the UK appears to be benefitting from commissioners.
brizzle born and bred
The “plebgate” saga has once again raised questions about police integrity and dented public trust and confidence in policing more generally. Building such trust was, of course, one of the coalition government’s…
Bandidos bike gang member Jacques Teamo, who faced court after last week’s Broadbeach brawl.
AAP
Australia has two types of bikies: Conservatives and Radicals. The Conservative lifestyle involves riding big bikes, drinking a lot, punching your mates and enemies, then falling over and sleeping it off…
Since the Thatcher years, successive governments from both political parties have been committed to reforming and reducing the public sector. Alongside, there have been numerous reforms to introduce “private…
Evening all: Elected commissioners are under pressure.
Kenjonbro via Creative Commons
The tension between senior police officers and their elected masters has spilled over into the political arena after reports of chief constables being bullied out of their jobs and complaints of misuse…
Police will interview suspects following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby but how they do it is important.
PA/Dominic Lipinski
There are strong parallels to be drawn between last week’s Woolwich murder and the Boston bombings in April, and not just because of the terrorism connection. The subsequent shooting and hospitalisation…
Is it reasonable to expect juries to spend the time needed to check police transcripts against the audio when lawyers themselves do not?
Shutterstock/Everett Collection
Today, we take it for granted that police interviews with suspects will be electronically recorded and independently transcribed. That hasn’t always been the case. Police were once allowed to testify…
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, Families Minister Jenny Macklin and Prime Minister Julia Gillard have announced the royal commission’s terms of reference.
AAP/Stephanie Flack
The terms of reference for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse were released this afternoon in Sydney. In speeches that emphasised the need to acknowledge the experiences…
The Federal Government will give the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse a special unit to investigate cases but will not have the power to prosecute.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The Federal Government today released the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses Child Sexual Abuse in Australia. The Royal Commission, announced in November last year…
Police claim that Tasers save lives, but the reality is that they facilitate excessive use of force and police brutality.
AAP /April Fonti
“These weapons save lives. We never said they were toys.” – NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione Damning coronial findings and confronting media footage have put police use of Tasers in the spotlight…
Convicted sex offender Gerard Ridsdale arrives at court in Ballarat, Victoria in 1994.
The terms of reference of the Gillard Government’s Royal Commission into institutional child abuse are yet to be determined. When the commission was announced, the Prime Minister noted that it would need…
Gay sex is no longer illegal in Australia? So why should historica convictions stand?
AAP/April Fonti
Most of the current media relating to gay rights focuses on marriage equality. But for some older gay men, another issue is even more important. Sex between consenting men ceased to be a crime in Australia…
Do police crime figures misrepresent African Australians?
AAP
In absorbing some of the press coverage recently, one could be forgiven for thinking a significant percentage of crime in Victoria is perpetrated by young African-Australians. In my PhD study, my academic…
The ability of the police to collect images of protesters is set to be challenged in Victoria.
sidkid
Most of us value our privacy. But in Australia, despite recommendation after recommendation that we reform the law to protect citizens from serious invasions of privacy, there is often little protection…