News

UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science

The UCL JDI Institute for Global City Policing and Canterbury Centre for Policing Research at Canterbury Christ Church University are pleased to announce the next online event in their joint seminar series.

Title: Evidence-based Policing  

Date: Tuesday 8 March 2022

Time: 2:30-4:30pm GMT

Register to attend here.

The idea of Evidence Based Policing (EBP) has moved into the mainstream. Police organisations across the UK, and globally, now frequently refer to principles of EBP in their decision-making processes, host formal and/or informal networks of practitioners committed to EBP, and work to foster links with academic and other researchers. 

Yet, the uptake of EBP has not been uncontested. While few would argue that policing should not be "evidence-based”, the EBP agenda has been criticised from within the service as disconnected from the realities of everyday police work, and from academia as presenting a partial picture of the ways in which data can be collected, analysed and used. In this seminar our three speakers explore current debates around EBP.

The speakers for this event are:

• Karen Bullock, University of Surrey;

• Jack Greene, Northeastern University;
• Alex Murray, Metropolitan Police Service.

This seminar is free and open to all. For registration and further details please click here. After registering on Eventbrite, you will receive a confirmation email 24 hours before the event with information about joining the seminar via Zoom.

The UCL JDI Institute for Global City Policing and Canterbury Centre for Policing Research at Canterbury Christ Church University are pleased to announce the next online event in their joint seminar series.

• While many intimate partner femicide victims experienced previous physical violence at the hands of their partners, victims and their loved ones may not acknowledge such behaviours as ‘abuse’.
• All victims included in the study experienced coercive control during their relationship and most were in the process of attempting to regain some level of autonomy at the time of their deaths.

Copyright © 2022 Australian Institute of Criminology

Read: Giving voice to the silenced victims: A qualitative study of intimate partner femicide

• There were 261 homicide incidents recorded in Australia between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, an increase of 35 incidents from the previous year. There were 278 victims of homicide and 314 identified homicide offenders in this period.
• The domestic homicide incident rate was 0.32 per 100,000 in 2019–20, as was the acquaintance homicide rate. The stranger homicide rate was 0.18 per 100,000.
• There were 45 intimate partner homicides in 2019–20, including 36 of women and nine of men. The female intimate partner homicide victimisation rate was 0.35 per 100,000, the same as the previous year.

Read: Homicide in Australia 2019–20

Copyright © 2022 Australian Institute of Criminology

28 Apr 2022 to 29 Apr 2022

Brussels

The European Crime Prevention Conference is a biennial conference and offers a forum to share knowledge and experiences regarding crime prevention across the European Union. It welcomes policymakers, practitioners and academics, but maintains a consistent focus on the front line.

The main topic of 2022 is partnership approaches in crime prevention:
Co-production of security, partnership approaches, multi-agency crime prevention,… The ideal of working together to make society a safer place is shared by many. But collaborations also present challenges. How to identify the right partners? Who takes the lead? Which information is shared with whom? And how do we make it all work in view of every partner's mandate and competences?

To be held on 21–22 March 2022 (Budapest, Hungary) – CET - ONLINE 

Official language: Hungarian and English (with interpretation)

This event is supported by the European Union Programme Hercule III (2014–2020). This
programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to promote activities
in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union.
(For more information see: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/policy/hercule_en)

Download the Programme HERE  »

Date and Time
5 - 6 April 2022

Where: Istanbul, Turkey

Register Here

Technology in prisons has seen rapid development in the last years: internet access to prisoners, e-health and e-learning for prisoners, use of mobile devices in prison, biometrics, video-conferences and much more.

EuroPris is for the 6th time organising a workshop on ICT in prisons. This time the theme is ‘The Inmate’s Digital Journey – Current and Future Solutions’.

It is planned that the event will take place in person, 5 – 6 April 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop will start on Tuesday, April 5th at 09:00 TRT and end close on Wednesday, April 6 at 13:00 TRT. The workshop will be followed by a visitation to the Maltepe Campus Prison, which consists of one open prison, one juvenile prison and 3 L-type closed prisons. The campus accommodates about 10,000 convicts.

Keynotes

• Smart Technologies: The Latest Technological Developments in Turkish Prisons – by Fatih Güngör
• Modernising Corrections – Commonalities and Contradictions in Technology and Approach – by Håkan Klarin & Simon Bonk
• Achieving Digital Maturity in Prisons – A Study on the Organisational Readiness to Support the Inmates Digital Journey – by Steven van de Steene with VIctoria Knight & Bianca Reisdorf
• Encouraging Inmates to Use ICT & Practical Use of ICT to Benefit Inmates and the Prison Service – by Robbie Burrows

Agenda

You may see the draft agenda for the workshop here.

From the 23th until the 25th of May 2022, it is time for the 12th edition of the Electronic Monitoring Conference in Helsinki, Finland. This years theme is ‘Electronic monitoring and probation goals: a symbiotic relationship’.

The focus of the 12th electronic monitoring conference will be on developing understanding of how electronic monitoring can support probation practices and how other technologies may assist with the use of EM to meet probation goals.More information about the conference programme, the accommodation and conference venue is available via the link.
 

Conference fee

The conference fee for CEP member organisations is €150,- , €300,- for non-members and €450,- for private companies. The conference fee includes a reception, prison tour, coffee breaks, lunches, a sightseeing tour and a dinner with musical entertainment. Please note that travel and accommodation are not included in the conference fee.
 

Registration

If you want to register for the Electronic Monitoring Conference 2022 please click on the link. Participants coming from private organisations need to read the “Protocol for Private Organisations attending the EM conference” before registering for the event.

Thursday, March 24th 2022

Webinar

It has been estimated that 1.4 million people across the UK are currently using cannabis for medicinal purposes, despite the reluctance of the NHS to prescribe it as treatment, using private GPs or pharmacists, purchasing CBD oils from retailers, or turning to recreational dealers. The strict guidance which is given to doctors has led to many potential recipients being unable to access treatment through the NHS, placing large financial burdens on individuals forced to resort to private prescription. According to data from the Care Quality Commission, in the year 2019, less than 10 patients were prescribed unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) through the NHS, the vast majority of CBPMs being prescribed privately, increasing from 67% to 98% between January and December. This is largely due to concerns about the safety and necessity of such treatment, particularly with regard to children. For example, whilst there are around 26,000 children in Britain with drug-resistant epilepsy, with thousands being prescribed it as treatment, of the 150 who take whole plant medication containing THC, only three have had it prescribed on the NHS.

Following the debate in 2018, changes to these regulations meant that unlicensed cannabis-based medicinal products could be prescribed under certain circumstances by doctors on the GMC specialist register - consultants. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Cannabis is a controlled drug, making it illegal to possess, supply, produce, import or export it. However, the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 allow for the legitimate use of controlled drugs. In 2021, the Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill was introduced by Jeff Smith MP, undergoing its Second Reading in December 2021. The Bill aims to improve access to medicinal cannabis products through two measures, expanding the ability to prescribe unlicensed cannabis medical products to GPs and establishing a Commission for the assessment of such products. By removing such barriers, patients would be able to access treatment without being forced to pay excessive amounts for private prescriptions. There are currently only three products licensed by the UK-wide Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), one used to treat MS patients, another to reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea, and the last to treat rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Therefore, at present, the majority of products which consultants are able to prescribe are unlicensed, with a review into barriers to access finding that clinicians were reluctant to prescribe such products, particularly to children with severe epilepsy.

Additionally, whilst many advocate for medicinal cannabis on the basis of its ability to provide effective treatment, many health professionals continue to question the safety of such products. This is particularly true with regard to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, which, according to some studies, can be linked to an increased risk of psychosis, despite enhancing the effects of CBD. Many concerns are linked to a lack of evidence with regard to the risks and rewards of medicinal cannabis, with groups calling for increased testing so as to enable clinicians to confidently prescribe the products to patients in need of treatment. Many have also drawn attention to the role of stigma in determining the likelihood of CBPM prescription, as a history of punitive drug policy and assumptions connected to recreational cannabis use place barriers in the way of both patients and doctors. PLEA have warned against the impact of misinformation in this area, promoting greater education and understanding with regard to the use of CBPMs.

This symposium will enable medical professionals, legislative figures, campaigners and other key stakeholders the opportunity to review both existing and potential policy on medical cannabis, aiming to practically address concerns and formulate strategies for future innovation. 

Programme

• Evaluate the existing legislative framework surrounding medical cannabis and opportunities for reform in this area
• Analyse the measures proposed by the Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill
• Engage with the NICE guidelines on medicinal cannabis prescription
• Formulate strategies to better ensure the safety of cannabis and increase clinical confidence in medical products
• Discuss the regulatory and financial implications of private sector cannabis distribution
• Assess the value of cannabis in meeting patient needs relative to financial costs for NHS trusts
• Develop awareness of how legalised medicinal cannabis will impact on the consumption of alcohol and prescription drugs
• Construct approaches to improve practitioner understanding of medicinal cannabis
• Discuss key aspects of research and trial design that must be planned to better understand cannabis as a medicine
• Assess the potential side-effects of cannabis and how to mitigate the potential risks
• Consider the role of racialised stigma in discussions around cannabis regulation and methods to limit the role of such stigma in decision-making
• Evaluate the merits and risks of further deregulation, and its potential impact on the wider health of society

To register for this briefing, please click here.

Public Policy Exchange
 

11-4pm, 12th July 2022 - ONLINE1-4pm

This free-to-attend event will feature a range of speakers addressing current themes in future fraud.

The ongoing digital revolution is transforming the way we live, work and interact. But these same changes are opening up countless new ways for criminals to exploit vulnerabilities. New forms of online fraud – or old fraud enacted using new digital methods – are growing exponentially, from cryptocurrency scams to identity theft to tailored ransomware attacks. The problem will be exacerbated as we enter the new ‘metaverse’ era where we interact and carry out activities in virtual worlds. This free-to-attend event will feature a range of speakers addressing current themes in this space. Industry and policy practitioners will come together with academic speakers to examine this pervasive crime and how it will continue to evolve in the coming years.

To register please click here

Organised by the UCL Dawes Centre for Future Crime.