By Maureen O’Hara

This report addresses the impact of policies and practices within the criminal justice system in England and Wales which classify and treat suspects, defendants in criminal trials, and convicted offenders on the basis of their ‘gender identity’ rather than their biological sex. In recent years, self-declaration of ‘gender identity’ has been adopted as policy by all of the key criminal justice institutions, despite the fact that this is not aligned with the law. This change appears to have come about largely as the result of policy capture, as it is a widely contested belief and has been adopted without public scrutiny. Current criminal justice policy prioritises the wishes and feelings of those who identify as transgender over the rights of others, and particularly over the sex-based rights of women, such as rights to single-sex facilities. This publication examines the detrimental effects of this approach and makes recommendations about the development of policies which are based on acknowledgment of the significance of biological sex in the field of criminal justice.

London: Policy Exchange, 2022. 73p.

By: Ferhat Tura, James Hunter, Rebecca Thompson, and Andromachi Tseloni

Previous research consistently demonstrates that problem-oriented policing (POP) can address a range of policing issues; hence its continued appeal and relevance to current practice. However, there are well-documented challenges in terms of its implementation and sustenance within police forces. Studies of policing styles have yet to thoroughly assess the long-term commitment to POP within police forces in England and Wales. To this end, we first revisit and revise previous research findings on policing styles. Then, we advance a methodology for retrospectively measuring police force POP commitment using two novel indicators—problem-oriented projects submitted to the Tilley Award and those applied as part of the Crime Reduction Programme. We then rank police forces in terms of POP commitment. The empirical evidence and methodology presented here can be used to further examine contemporary adherence to POP as well as the role of policing styles in long-term crime falls or other policing outcomes in England and Wales.

Policing, Volume 00, Number 0, pp. 1–14

By: FERHAT TURA

Problem-oriented policing (POP) is one of the various proactive policing strategies that have been developed since the 1970s. It has been claimed that POP has had a considerable effect in reducing crime (Weisburd et al., 2010). However, its role in the crime drop that has been experienced in England and Wales and across the world since the 1990s (Tseloni et al., 2010) is not yet known (Weisburd and Majmundar, 2018). Therefore, this thesis explores the role of POP in the burglary drop at the police force area (PFA) level in England and Wales between 1988 and 2007/08.

The theories that underpin both POP and this study are opportunity-related theories (rational choice and routine activity theories), social disorganisation theory, and the new public management concept. The empirical component of the study is divided into three phases, where each phase employs different methods (e.g. multilevel negative binomial regression) to analyse a rich array of data sources (e.g. the Crime Survey for England and Wales). The results of this thesis can be summarised as follows:

1. A number of police forces in England and Wales were consistently committed to POP over time.

2. There seemed to be a relationship between POP and the fall in burglaries and repeat burglaries in a number of POP-committed PFAs between 1995 and 2007/08.

3. Although POP-committed police forces experienced fewer burglaries in 2003/04, POP did not result in a statistically significant reduction in burglaries between 1995 and 2003/04.

4. Conversely, POP-committed police forces saw a statistically significantly higher number of burglaries in 1997.

5. Police forces with a higher number of police officers per 1000 residents experienced a statistically significant reduction in burglaries in 2003/04.

In light of the above findings, this thesis sheds new light on the crime drop and policing literature. Consequently, the findings inform the theoretical and practical aspects of POP that can be used by police and other crime prevention agencies to reduce burglary victimisation.

Notttingham Trent University; November 2019

By David Spencer

‘The Wicked and the Redeemable’ reveals that:

• Despite representing nine percent of the nearly six million people convicted of a criminal offence between 2000 and 2021 prolific offenders receive over half of all convictions.

• The Crown Prosecution Service is taking far longer to charge suspects than ever before. It now takes an average of nearly 44 days compared to 14 days seven years ago. These delays are putting vulnerable victims at risk of considerable harm as a result of wholly unnecessary bureaucracy.

• The number of cases that have been outstanding for more than 6 months (the expected standard) has quadrupled in the last four years to 30,384 cases. This is part of the biggest ever Crown Court backlog in history (with 64,709 cases now outstanding – double the number four years ago).

• Despite already having more than 45 previous convictions, ‘Hyper-Prolific Offenders’ are sent to prison on less than half of all occasions (47.3%) on conviction for an indictable or either-way offence. For ‘Prolific Offenders’, those with 16 previous convictions or more, the number falls to less than a quarter being sent to prison on conviction (24.4%) for an indictable or either-way offence.

London: Policy Exchange, 2023. 54p

By Tim Head

Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are a new police stop and search power, being piloted by forces in England and Wales. Introduced under the controversial Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act (2022), SVROs are part of a broader expansion of police powers and the rolling back of safeguards and avenues for police accountability. The Home Office itself has admitted that many of the potential harmful consequences of SVROs will likely fall on people of colour, on Black people in particular. In “Against SVROs”, we review the evidence around high-discretion police powers similar to SVROs, which overwhelmingly shows that they do not work to reduce serious violence. Contrary to the government's claim that SVROs will "break the cycle of offending”, we found that high-discretion police powers and behavioural orders push people, disproportionately people of colour, into the criminal justice system. These policing interventions are clearly evidenced to harm the mental and physical health of those targeted, while reproducing deep-seated racial discrimination in the use and abuse of police powers. 

London: Runnymede Trust, 2023. 43p.

By Chris Bath

Police forces in England and Wales carried out an estimated 145,000 voluntary interviews under caution in 2022/23, of which around one fifth were of children. Only 4.8% of adults attending a voluntary interview were recorded as meeting the criteria for appropriate adult (AA) support – around half the rate in police custody. While custody rightly attracts scrutiny, this report highlights both why and how a strategic focus should be brought to bear on voluntary interviews. Part 1 presents an analysis of quantitative data provided by police forces. Part 2 sets out the policy and practice challenges from the perspective of local appropriate adult scheme leaders.   

Ashford, Kent, UK: National Appropriate Adult Network , 2023. 29p.  

By Conor Casey

This report considers the constitutional role of the Law Officers and defends the institutional status quo. The current configuration of the Attorney General (and Solicitor General), as a law officer with legal and political dimensions, works well. Moving to an alternative (apolitical, technocratic) model of Attorney General would risk excessive legalisation of policy and would reduce political accountability.

London: Policy Exchange, 2023. 29p.