Evidence from NYC shows that stop-and-frisk policing leads to greater mistrust of police and more racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
Long Bay Correctional Centre was dubbed the ‘Long Bay Hilton’ by ‘tough on crime’ advocates whose campaigns helped fill prison cells to overflowing.
Wikimedia Commons/J Bar
Most crime in NSW has been declining since the early 2000s, and the state’s current murder rate is half what it was in 1988. So why is the NSW prison population growing?
Despite declining gun fatalities, there should be no room for complacency in Australia, with an estimated 260,000 illegal guns in Australia – including this MP5K 9mm machine gun, seized in Queensland in 2013.
Dan Peled/AAP
The rate of fatal shootings has fallen in Australia, the US and other nations in recent decades. Yet anti- and pro-gun ideology still makes it hard to have a sensible discussion about gun violence.
Public pressure to be ‘tough’ on crime can lead governments to neglect some of our deadliest problems, such as family violence.
Paul Miller/AAP
Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were “modest”, leaving many now wondering…
A spate of shootings and public brawls prompted a Queensland government crackdown on bikie gangs – but there is much more to the state’s falling crime rates than just getting bikies off the streets.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Queensland’s Liberal National government has made law and order – particularly its anti-bikie laws – a key part of its re-election pitch. The government recently claimed that “Criminal Gang laws (are…
A woman views the floral memorial outside the fenced off Lindt Chocolate cafe in Martin Place in Sydney.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
It’s the question everyone is asking – could the Sydney siege have been predicted and therefore prevented based on the past behaviour of gunman Man Haron Monis. Monis’ troubled history was well known to…
An increasingly popular weekend pastime among fans of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Inspector Morse and others, are murder mystery parties at which participants pit their wits against secret killers. But…
The reality about Scotland’s rape stats might be counter-intuitive.
Morag Eyrie
As was confirmed recently by figures from Police Scotland, there has been a 23% increase in recorded cases of rape north of the border over the past year. In 2013-14, the first year of Police Scotland’s…
Tributes to Anne Maguire were left outside Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds.
Anna Gowthorpe/PA
The stabbing to death by a 15-year-old pupil of Anne Maguire, a much loved teacher who had worked at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds for more than 40 years, has attracted much attention across…
Smash-and-grab: statistics only give us a fractured picture of crime.
raleighwoman
Tim Newburn, London School of Economics and Political Science
The Office for National Statistics released the latest crime statistics last week, and the headline findings are really rather remarkable. Although approximately 8 million offences were recorded by the…
Anononymised information from emergency departments can improve policing.
Dominic Alves
With so many lurid reports of violence on our TV screens, it’s easy to think that the police know about all or most incidents. But they don’t. The National Crime Victimisation Survey in the US and the…
Despite the amount of media coverage, rates of violence are falling worldwide.
Wikimedia Commons / Joseph Kelley
There is a growing consensus among scholars that rates of violence in Western countries are steadily declining, and have been doing so for centuries. The statistic used by most people who support this…
Alcatraz has shut, but many more prisons have opened since in the US.
Shobe834/Flickr
It appears that Britain is following the United States in its addiction to the use of prison terms. The USA has led the way in the penal arms race with the introduction of such measures as “three strikes…