By Richard Martin

  The only sentence a court can pass for murder is life imprisonment. The mandatory life sentence is comprised of three elements: the minimum term spent in prison (handed down by the sentencing court); the post-term (determined by the Parole Board and its assessment of the offender’s dangerousness); release on licence into the community, subject to conditions and the possibility to recall the offender back to prison. • The challenge facing the sentencing judge in murder cases derives in large part from the range of harm and culpability the offence of murder encompasses in England and Wales. Murder can be committed where the offender intends, or foresees as virtually certain, not only the victim’s death, but also really serious harm and then death in fact results. • Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020 governs the sentencing of murder. It was originally introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. By creating a series of starting points and providing lists of aggravating and mitigating factors, Schedule 21 recognises that despite the mandatory nature of the life sentence, an identical level of seriousness cannot be attributed to each murder. In a series of cases, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales has interpreted and applied Schedule 21 to ensure sentencing judges achieve a just sentence in accordance with the guidance provided for by Parliament in Schedule 21. • According to the Sentencing Council, the introduction of the higher starting points in Schedule 21 has meant sentences for the vast majority of murder cases increased substantially. The average minimum term has risen from 13 years in 2000 to 21 years in 2021 – an increase of over 60%. This increase in minimum terms has also inflated sentence lengths for other serious offences, most notably manslaughter. • Schedule 21 has been the subject of a series of amendments over the last two decades driven by successive Governments, notably the expansion of cases within the higher-level starting points and the creation of a new starting point (25 years). Recent amendments to Schedule 21 have been announced by the Government and are contained in the Sentencing Bill, Criminal Justice Bill and the Sentencing Act 2020 (Amendment of Schedule 21) Regulations 2023. The first of these seeks to expand the types of cases to which the Whole Life Order will apply, while the latter two are in response to the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review, which made recommendations to better reflect the causes, characteristics and harms of fatal domestic abuse. • There have been numerous critiques of Schedule 21. A longstanding one has been the very justification for the mandatory, rather than discretionary, life sentence for murder in the first place. As for the sentencing framework in Schedule 21 specifically, criticism has focused on the disproportionality between Schedule 21’s starting points and the offender’s harm and culpability, as well as the ordinal disproportionality across starting points. More recent commentary has questioned the merits and operation of the Whole Life Order, as well as noting the limited empirical research on its effects on offenders.  

London: The Sentencing Academy 2024. 22p.

Claire Durrant, Tamsin Hinton-Smith and Lisa Holmes  

Between June 2021 and June 2023, the Innovation Unit (IU) delivered the Always Hope project to 61 care experienced young men in Brinsford and Swinfen Hall Youth Offender Institutions (YOI). The majority of the young men were under the responsibility of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton local authorities, however, nine were under the responsibility of Sandwell, Shropshire, Torbay and Worcester local authorities. Always Hope aims to reduce reoffending and improve outcomes for young people (aged 18-25) who have been in both the care system and prison, and comprises two key components. Firstly, Integrated Planning and Assessment (IPAA) which aims to improve how professionals in local authority leaving care services and the prison and probation service work together to provide support for care experienced young people in prison and on release. The second component of Always Hope is to offer opportunities for care experienced young people in prison to connect with a positive and sustainable network of friends, family and community members through either Lifelong Links in Coventry and Birmingham or Group Conferencing in Wolverhampton; notably, Group Conferencing does not include the tools and approaches that are a central part of Lifelong Links.

London: Innovation Unit, 2024. 101p.  

By The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General

  Our unannounced inspection identified several serious safety and security issues at FCI Sheridan affecting both employees and inmates. Most significantly, substantial shortages of Correctional Officers and healthcare workers―which is an issue at many BOP institutions—have created widespread and troubling operational challenges at FCI Sheridan that substantially impact the health, welfare, and safety of employees and inmates. For example, healthcare staffing challenges seriously impact FCI Sheridan’s ability to provide adequate healthcare to inmates. In particular, this affects the performance of routine, daily functions such as drawing blood for laboratory tests, triaging patient requests for care, and ensuring that medical equipment and supplies are ready to be used for routine care and in the event of a medical emergency. Especially alarming was our finding that the institution had a backlog of 725 laboratory orders for blood draws or urine collection and 274 pending x-ray orders. These backlogs cause medical conditions to go undiagnosed and leave providers unable to appropriately treat patients. Specifically, an FCI Sheridan physician told us that the backlog of laboratory orders for blood draws or urine collection has compromised his ability to treat patients and has prevented him from monitoring the effects of medication on his patients’ kidney and liver functions. These limitations are concerning for the treatment of any medical condition, but especially concerning for the treatment of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hepatitis C, that regularly affect inmates. We note that FCI Sheridan took action to decrease these backlogs after our on-site inspection and after we expressed concern about these issues to the BOP; as of May 2024, the backlog of laboratory orders stood at 44 and the backlog of pending x-ray orders stood at 84. Delayed medical treatment can lead to more serious medical conditions for an inmate, as well as substantially increased costs for the institution. For example, we found that, just prior to our inspection, an inmate feigned a suicide attempt in order to receive medical attention for an untreated ingrown hair that had become infected. When finally examined after the feigned suicide attempt, he required hospitalization for 5 days to treat the infection. Separately, while not directly

Washington, DC: OIG, 2024. 39p.

By Erica King, Keilah Joyner, Alison Shames, Kristie Puckett, Darlene George, and Skye Adams

  As more jurisdictions across the country seek to improve their pretrial practices, reducing the number of women who are unnecessarily detained in jail pretrial is of utmost importance. In 2024, there were nearly 190,600 women and girls incarcerated in prisons, jails, and other carceral spaces in the United States.1 Nationwide, women’s state prison populations have grown 834% over nearly 40 years.2 834%--twice the pace of growth of the male prison population.3 Notably, more women are held in local jails—which are often outdated—than in state prisons. Moreover, of the 84,000 women in local jails, more than half (51,200) are presumed innocent and are detained while waiting the final disposition of their case.4 Most of those detained in jail pretrial are likely there not because they are deemed a danger to the community or a flight risk but because they do not have the financial means to satisfy a requirement to pay a relatively nominal monetary bond. This result should come as no surprise given that the median bond amount for a felony charge is $10,000 and the average yearly income for a woman who cannot afford to post bond is $11,000.5

Women who are held in local jails and are not convicted are largely there on accusations of nonviolent behavior: Less than a quarter of the 51,200 women held in jails pretrial (11,400) are charged with violent offenses. Rather, they are arrested for property crimes (16,200), drug offenses (15,300) and crimes against public order (8,000).6   xxxx

Kensington, MD: Center for Effective Public Policy  (CEPP), 2024. 48p.

By Gemma Buckland

  Brain injury is known to be a major factor in impacting maturational development and affecting outcomes for young adults. As Barrow Cadbury Trust’s evidence has carefully documented, neuroscientific research identifies that the typical adult male brain is not fully formed until at least their mid-20s. Over the last three years, since the then Secretary of State for Justice commissioned a review, there has been increased awareness of the prevalence of neurodiverse conditions and their impact on policy and practice in the criminal justice system (CJS). UKABIF received support from Barrow Cadbury Trust under the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) programme to review what policies and practices are in place for young adults (aged 17-25 years) which recognise both Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and maturity. The review also considered what needs to happen to ensure that practice for this cohort is as effective as possible taking into account available resources and policy priorities. The project has included: ■ Conducting research involving Freedom of Information (FoI) requests which highlighted the limitations of the existing response by the police and liaison and diversion services to young adults with brain injury in terms of awareness of both ABI and maturity ■ Disseminating the results at a national and an international conference ■ Establishing evaluation sites for The Disabilities Trust (now Brainkind) Ask, Understand, Adapt programme (online training modules on ABI), evaluation in four prisons holding young adults, designing evaluation tools and commencing the evaluation. The evaluation was part of an agreement that enabled The Disabilities Trust to make available to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) the training which had been commissioned by National Health Service (NHS) England to all people with a justice.gov.uk email address ■ Co-creating with young adults a leaflet for criminal justice agencies working with young adults with brain injury to signpost them to sources of support ■ Engaging with NHS England to ensure that guidance for Community Sentence Treatment Requirements and Reconnect included content on ABI ■ Developing a policy levers matrix to illustrate the range of touchpoints with the CJS where there is potential to better support young adults with ABI and an accompanying chart with examples of existing initiatives. We conclude that there is significant scope for further work by the T2A Alliance, UKABIF and other members of the ABI Justice Network to continue to promote a distinct approach to young adults with ABI. While there is some recognition of ABI and awareness is rising, how ABI affects the maturity of young adults is not yet considered in the early stages of the CJS (in police custody suites and liaison and diversion schemes). For example, data held in police custody suites and by liaison and diversion services is not yet strong enough to understand the needs of this important cohort or the extent to which they are met. There are also currently not many support pathways specifically for people with ABI, let alone those which are specifically for young adults. This report is for commissioners, senior leaders and practitioners working in criminal justice, health and social care with young adults who are in contact with the CJS.  

London: www.ukabif.org.uk

United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum, 2024. 28p.

By Greg Stoddard, Dylan J. Fitzpatrick & Jens Ludwig

Whether police misconduct can be prevented depends partly on whether it can be predicted. We show police misconduct is partially predictable and that estimated misconduct risk is not simply an artifact of measurement error or a proxy for officer activity. We also show many officers at risk of on-duty misconduct have elevated off-duty risk too, suggesting a potential link between accountability and officer wellness. We show that targeting preventive interventions even with a simple prediction model – number of past complaints, which is not as predictive as machine learning but lower-cost to deploy – has marginal value of public funds of infinity.

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WORKING PAPER 32432

Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), 2024. 

By Merran McAlister and Samantha Bricknell

This Statistical Bulletin presents the results from the AIC’s 2022–23 Fraud Against the Commonwealth census.

Internal fraud investigations commenced decreased from the previous financial year, whereas external fraud investigations increased. The numbers of internal and external fraud allegations substantiated also decreased compared with the previous financial year.

Program information and program payments were the principal targets of substantiated internal and external fraud allegations respectively. Automatic processes and detection by a staff member were the primary methods of detecting internal and external fraud in 2022–23.

Internal fraud losses were greater and external fraud losses were lower than the losses reported in 2021–22. Australian Government entities reported smaller overall internal and external fraud recoveries in 2022–23 than in the previous financial year.

Statistical Bulletin no. 44. 

Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2024. 20p.

By Francesca Francavilla, Scott Lyon and Michaëlle De Cock 

This report estimates the profits generated from forced labour in the world today. These profits reflect the wages effectively stolen from the pockets of workers by the perpetrators of forced labour through their coercive practices. Understanding and addressing these illicit profits is critical to achieve progress in the fight against forced labour. 28 million people were trapped in forced labour on any given day in 2021. Forced labour is a criminal offence and a serious violation of fundamental human rights. Beyond the individual consequences for the victims, forced labour comes with economic and social costs for the entire society. This ILO report, which is funded by the government of France, will shed light on the link between forced labour and the economic incentive structures driving it.

 Geneva:  International Labour Organization Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FUNDAMENTALS) Branch 2024 48p.

By Ohio. Office of the Attorney General (Dave Yost: Attorney General

The Ohio Legislative Service Commission has estimated that the cost of capital cases range from $1 to $3 million per case based on a collection of quantitative and qualitative studies in other states. “If these estimates apply to Ohio, then the extra cost of imposing the death penalty 121 times on the 119 people currently on Death Row might range from $121 million to $363 million,” notes the Report. “[I]t’s a stunning amount of money to spend on a program that doesn’t achieve its purpose.” 

Of the 341 death sentences imposed on 336 prisoners from the state’s enactment of the death penalty in 1981 through the end of 2023, only one of every six sentences, or 56 executions, have been carried out. The Report notes that “87 death sentences have been removed by judicial action resulting in resentencing or release.” Twenty-one prisoners have had their sentences commuted. Forty prisoners have died of natural causes or suicide, which the Report notes are more likely causes of death than execution. Nine prisoners with intellectual disabilities were removed from death row after the Supreme Court held that executing people with intellectual disabilities was unconstitutional in Atkins v. Virginia (2002). Under Ohio’s 2021 law barring the death penalty for individuals with severe mental illness – only one of two states with such legislation – six people have been removed from death row and another 35 petitions are currently pending review. 

As of December 31, 2023, 119 people with 121 death sentences remain on Ohio’s death row, nine fewer people than 2022. As of April 1, 2024, prisoners spent an average of 7805 days or 21 years on Ohio’s death row – a number that has consistently increased with each year. Prisoners are an average of 55.5 years old today and were an average of 34 years old at their time of sentencing (figures used the most current resentencing). Due to difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs, the state has not carried out executions since 2018, at which time the average time spent on death row was 6,280 days or 17.19 years. Currently, there is a bill in the state legislature proposing the authorization of nitrogen gas in executions, described by AG Yost as a way to “kickstart” executions. The report identifies eight cases in which an execution date could be filed. 

Columbus: Office of the Attorney General, 2024. 424p.

By JAMES B. HYMAN

Periodically, the nation’s attention is captured by press coverage of a needless death of a Black person at the hands of police. And, in each case, the police department of jurisdiction launches an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. These investigations focus on the actual (or alleged), real-time, behaviors of both the officer and the decedent in an attempt to elucidate the incident and determine culpability. Several questions must be answered. What were the circumstances? How did the incident escalate? What did the deceased do? How did the officer respond? And was the response justified? What these investigations don’t do is shed light on any antecedent factors that may have conditioned the behaviors of either party. Indeed, missing from these investigations, and from research into police-involved deaths more generally, is an understanding of attitudes and perceptions held by the officers and victims prior to their interaction. The pre-dispositions of each, toward each other, may be contributing factors in how these incidents unfold. This study explores only one side of these dynamics – the attitudes and perceptions of police officers with respect to their encounters with civilians during traffic stops. The study gathers information about the officers themselves and their feelings about their jobs. It queries their experiences with, and reactions to their traffic stop civilian encounters – seeking answers to how such stops become contentious and sometimes deadly. It asks whether race plays a role in these encounters. And finally, given the attention paid to these incidents, the study explores the officers’ reactions to declines in public opinion of police and policing. This report presents the results of these explorations in the voices of the officers themselves 

New Brunswick, NJ: Rutger Graduate School of Education, 2024. 38p.

By Michelle D. Bonner

The book discusses the rise of punitive populism in Latin America and the role of the media in shaping public opinion. It explores the interpretation of crime statistics, the media’s influence on emotions and public opinion, and the comparison of media systems inArgentina and Chile. The document also examines the preference of journalists for tough-on-crime sources and the rise of punitive voices from within the state and civil society. The conclusion highlights the homogenization of public opinion in neoliberal media systems. [Introduction, 1. Interpreting statistics on crime, insecurity, and police violence, 2. The mass media’s role in emotions and public opinion,3. Comparing media systems: Argentina and Chile, 4. Journalists’preference for tough-on-crime sources, 5. The rise of punitive voices from within the state, 6. The rise ofpunitive voices from civil society, conclusion

University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019 276 pages

 Lauren Bennett and Elsa Corry-Roake  

   Too many young people come into criminal justice system because of multiple unmet needs. Diverting them into support and treatment can help them to grow out of a cycle of crisis and crime and realise their full potential. The right support can reduce crime in local areas and prevent future victims of gangs and exploitation. In my experience, young people are drawn into the criminal justice system to make ends meet, or just to keep ‘occupied’. If a positive alternative is put in place, this will not only help the young people, but will help their families and communities. It is unfortunate that the criminal justice interventions do not consider what happens to the young person after they leave the service. Future planning and leaving a door open can prevent issues from escalating and prevent young people from returning to the criminal justice system. This review highlights a number of effective ways to support young people. What made the biggest difference for me was having a consistent support worker who worked with me at every step of my journey, taught me how to notice patterns, followed up after I left the service, and encouraged me to seek help. I liked how they did not judge me or make me feel less than. This made me see the light at the end of the tunnel and push me to make the positive changes and embark on my journey to change.  

This evidence review examines the effectiveness of different types of diversion support for young people aged 18-25. Given the particular characteristics of young adults that set them apart from fully mature adults, this paper examines the ways in which their needs differ from the latter. It highlights the practice and policy approaches that have been found to be effective in supporting young people to move away from the cycle of crime, notably key elements of support that can be provided as part of an out of court disposal.

London: Revolving Door Agency.....38p.

By Mackenzie Seaman and Jessamy Garver Affeldt

This paper focuses on the multiple intersecting harms (forced returns, expulsion, interception at sea, detention) migrants experience in Senegal during the return process. It pays particular attention to violations and abuses that are frequently reported in relation to such uses of force. The data shows that respondents often endured multiple instances of violations and abuse during their return journey to Senegal. This appeared to compound the challenges they encountered after their return to Senegal.

Mixed Migration Centre, 2024. 24p.

By Senzekile Bengu

  This report describes how the Violence Prevention Forum has contributed to changing the relationship between the state and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and how it has empowered NGOs to use research knowledge and to engage with and inform policy.    

  Key findings -   Participation in the Violence Prevention Forum (VPF) has improved relations among non governmental organisations (NGOs), and between NGOs and participating government departments and researchers. This can be attributed to how VPF meetings are designed and facilitated, which has increased empathy and understanding between sectors. There has been a shift in how NGOs view their role in the long-term goal of reducing high levels of violence and align their work with government policy. NGOs have also realised the power and importance of research and evidence, and are making better use of it. NGOs collaborate more with other organisations and sectors as a consequence of their participation in the VPF. The quality of collaboration between organisations participating in the VPF has improved because of how the Forum invests in building trust between participants

   NGOs apply the facilitation tools and techniques they gain at the VPF in staff and project meetings, and use the research in organisational reports and presentations. NGOs that have participated in the VPF feel valued because the Forum appreciates both practice-based knowledge and research f indings. At VPF meetings, new knowledge and research are presented and discussed openly, and decisions are made transparently and collectively. The knowledge and skills gained from participating in the VPF meetings are more likely to be used and applied in NGOs if the person participating in meetings holds a decision-making role in their organisation, is passionate about their work and if there is alignment between the organisation's interests and goals and the VPF focus.

Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 2024. 28p.

By Matodzi M Amisi, Chandré Gould, Jody van der Heyde, Senzekile Bengu and Ayanda Mazibuko

Building trusting relationships between people in different sectors narrows the gap between evidence, practice and policy.

Over the past nine years the Violence Prevention Forum (VPF) has facilitated collaboration and partnerships within and between sectors, maintained ongoing engagement and influenced policy, practice and funding for violence prevention interventions in South Africa. This policy brief presents findings from three case studies that assessed why researchers, non-governmental organisations and government officials participate in the VPF and the impact this has. Policy Brief

Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 2024. 12p.

  By Danielle Kaeble  

This report is the 31st in a series that began in 1981 and features data on adult U.S. residents under correctional supervision in the community. It includes characteristics of this population such as sex, race or ethnicity, and most serious offenses. The report details how people move onto and off community supervision, such as completing their term of supervision, being incarcerated, absconding, or other unsatisfactory outcomes while in the community.

Highlights:

• At yearend 2022, an estimated 3,668,800 adults were under community supervision (probation or parole), down 36,700 (1.0%) from January 1, 2022.

• From yearend 2012 to yearend 2022, the total adult community supervision population fell 23%, from 4,790,700 to 3,668,800.

• The probation population stayed under 3 million for the second year in a row in 2022.

• During 2022, the number of persons on parole declined from 745,300 to 698,800 (down 6.2%).

Washington, DC: U.S.  Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2024. 35p.

By Gillian Hunter, Monica Thomas, Nicola Campbell

Summary of findings • Findings are based on 21 in-depth interviews with parents (16 women and 5 men) involved in public law care proceedings between late 2019 and 2023. Three were involved in proceedings to become a special guardian. • Collectively, parents had experiences of various aspects of public law, including in relation to care, placement, special guardianship and emergency protection orders. • They described wider circumstances associated with the family court proceedings, including experiences of domestic violence, substance misuse and mental health. Over a third reported contact with social services and the care system as a child. • Unsurprisingly, contact with social services prior to court proceedings was generally fractious. Parents reported complying with requests for reports, assessments and tests but distrusted and often disputed how findings were subsequently presented by the local authority to the court. • Parents perceived themselves to be outsiders or by-standers at court proceedings. They sat at the back of the courtroom when attending in person and were muted in virtual hearings. They had few opportunities to speak unless providing formal evidence to the court and they understood little of what was being discussed by the judge and legal professionals. • Experiences of legal representation were mixed and while a minority reported being well-supported by their lawyer, with regular updates or post-hearing explanations of proceedings, most felt their lawyer did not adequately represent their lives or views, or challenge aspects of evidence that they considered to be wrong or unfair. 

• The judge’s conduct played a significant part in shaping parents’ reported family court experiences. Judicial kindness or a lack of attention, and informal and more formal comments made by the judge – both positive and negative – were remembered well after the hearing was over. For example, judicial ‘instruction’ about what parents needed to do to have children returned to their care was described as giving hope for the future. • Time was a recurring theme in interviews, with some aspects of the process felt to move too slowly and others too fast. This includes perceptions of the process moving too quickly towards court proceedings and the ‘backwards and forwards’ of court hearings. Participants also talked about being rushed into making what were essentially life-changing decisions about both temporary and permanent care arrangements of their children. • The harmful impact of processes of racialisation, institutional racism and cultural stigma was also raised by Black and Black Mixed Race parents, as well as caregivers to children racialised as Black Mixed Race. However, participants were sometimes hesitant to raise such concerns out of fear of being seen to be pulling ‘the race card’. • Voluntary sector services were the main providers of assistance, including counselling, especially after children had been removed and parents felt largely abandoned by the statutory system. Parents reported initial feelings of anger, shock, confusion and longterm grief at the removal of their children. Six parents referred to feeing suicidal and self-harming either during or following the conclusion of their proceedings. The importance of peer-based support through community groups and social media was also noted as important for coping with the aftermath of the family court. 

London: Revolving Doors, et al., 2024. 24p.

By Stephen Riley and Gemma Buckland. 

  Building Bridges, Safer Communities is a project delivered by Revolving Doors, in partnership with Shared Future CIC. The specific purpose of the project was to design a participatory process for public safety and resourcing, including developing a community-generated definition of safety in Merseyside. Merseyside as a region, with a particular focus on Liverpool, was chosen as the geographic focus for this project due to its unique history as an area with a strong sense of shared identity and culture, and a rich tradition of activism and innovation. The project had a particular focus on groups and communities who are traditionally not included in discourse around public safety. In particular, this focused on people with experience of multiple disadvantage. This was defined as a combination of contact with the criminal justice system, homelessness, problems with drugs and alcohol, mental ill health, and/or poverty. We wanted to better understand how safe people in Merseyside feel, what could help make them feel safer, what the role of the police is in making people feel more or less safe, and how relationships between the police and communities could be improved.

This report captures learning from one stage of this project, which is the peer research conducted by Revolving Doors. Peer research was conducted to shine a light on what feeling safe means to people in Merseyside—with a focus on the City of Liverpool and Birkenhead— and what people felt the police’s role should be in helping people feel safer. Research themes were defined in part from initial polling conducted across Merseyside with Opinium, by perceived gaps in existing knowledge, and where local stakeholders such as the police, local authorities and others, felt more information would be most valuable. This included a specific focus on the ‘revolving door’ cohort of people caught up in a cycle of crisis and crime because of unmet health and social needs, and what impacts their perceptions of safety. A reason for this was our expertise in engaging with this group and, in our experience, the high levels of mistrust of authorities which can make successful engagement with them more difficult. The Opinium poll took place online between 18 and 27 January 2023 and focused on public safety and policing in Merseyside. Over 1,500 people responded from across all five boroughs. Where relevant, findings from the polling are explored within this report in relation to the peer research findings.   

London: Revolving Doors, 2024.   40p.

By Steven Dudley,  Sara García, Jaime López-Aranda, Annie Pforzheimer, and Ben Westhoff , et al.

Precursor chemicals pose an unprecedented challenge for governments and multilateral organizations seeking to mitigate the development, manufacturing, production, and distribution of illicit synthetic drugs. As opposed to most legacy drugs -- which rely on plants, harvests, favorable weather, significant and varied manual labor, and transport of bulk amounts of illicit substances across heavily-policed terrain -- synthetic drugs can be produced in laboratories all year-round using a wide variety of mostly sparsely or unevenly regulated chemicals, which can be employed at different stages of the process in rudimentary laboratories and transported in large or small amounts, often without the knowledge of the transporters themselves. The sources for these chemicals span the globe. They are currently concentrated in China, where a relatively small number of companies appear to be producing precursor chemicals, in mainly two provinces. These chemicals are marketed and sold on the internet, where an army of online providers offer well-regulated and unregulated chemicals via the Clearnet and the dark web. These marketers are sometimes extensions of these same production companies and sometimes independent. Some are also clans, which appear to own numerous production and marketing companies. The precursors are transported to Mexico via cargo ships or air cargo, traveling direct or via circuitous routes. Cargo is often mislabeled, camouflaging the contents, purpose, or amount of their shipment. In Mexico, brokers and independent buyers facilitate this trade, filing paperwork, creating fictitious companies, or bribing officials. The chemicals then make their way to small producers. Often referred to as “cooks,” these producers synthesize the precursors into illicit synthetic drugs that are then sold to large buyers and transport specialists. Two large criminal networks buy and move synthetic drugs in bulk: the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG). These networks are responsible for bringing this product across the most difficult part of its journey and thus charge a premium for their services. After they sell the drugs wholesale, they are largely absent, leaving the distribution and retail sales to other local criminal networks. The precursor industry -- and the synthetic drug industry writ large -- is so challenging to disrupt precisely because it works across legal and illegal spheres, involves many layers and different criminal networks, and has many means to obtain its final objective: the sale of synthetic drugs to an increasing number of consumers. Those consumers are not just in the United States. Places like Mexico are experiencing a dramatic uptick in synthetic drug consumption -- mostly methamphetamine but also fentanyl. The synthetic drug industry is also having ill effects on the environment in Mexico and is behind a surge in violence in the corridors where it is trafficked and sold on the local market. The problem requires governments to rethink their traditional strategies for fighting illicit drugs. In addition to developing regional and global coalitions to monitor and regulate the chemicals, governments must enlist private industry to play a much more active role in mitigating the trade and limiting the spread of these destructive substances 

Washington, DC: InsightCrime, 2040;    

By Mary L. G. Theroux, Adam B. Summers, Lawrence J. McQuillan, Jonathan Hofer, Hovannes Abramyan, and Scott Beyer;    Edited by Adam B. Summers

  Most cities do not have this complete integration of police and fire departments, emergency services, hospitals, psychiatric providers, and all other homeless service providers. Communities across the United States could benefit substantially from looking at the homelessness issue through a more systemic lens. Ultimately, homelessness in itself is not the problem; it is a symptom of larger systems-level problems. We need to enact systems-level solutions to truly address the root causes of homelessness. As a nation, we can overcome homelessness. In order to do so, we have to stop dealing with the symptoms and start dealing with the real issues. This report offers a good starting point for doing so  

   Causes of homelessness are many and often attached to trauma with a strong correlation to mental health issues. Other progressions into homelessness could involve compounded health issues, hospitalization later in life, losing resources, or becoming financially homeless. Each needs long-term personalized and customized care for success. A big part of the current homelessness crisis stems from the unintended consequences of the 2009 HEARTH Act. Our nation shifted from providing funding for emergency shelters to focusing solely on permanent housing and supportive services. Theoretically, this is not a bad way to approach homelessness—but as described in more detail herein, Housing First is only effective if you have the housing capacity to make sure people have a home and the necessary resources to provide wraparound services. In reality, this funding shift caused many cities to either downsize or eliminate shelters due to lack of available f inancial resources and created a ripple effect where people on the street did not have any safe, secure places to go. A larger part of the problem is the lack of affordable housing across the nation. The authors describe the factors driving California’s housing crisis with many of these replicating in cities across the country, resulting in unobtainable housing for the middle class. When dual phenomena of the lack of emergency shelters and an inadequate housing supply occurs, the eventual alternative is the street. It is important that the solutions offered herein address both homelessness policies as well as housing. Homeless intervention does not end or prevent homelessness, it only helps individuals currently experiencing homelessness. To end homelessness, we must address and solve the upstream issues, which include access to safe, affordable housing. T he “Beyond Homeless” report includes profiles of a few sample programs across the country that are achieving positive outcomes, and I am proud of my association with one of them, Haven for Hope of Bexar County located in San Antonio, Texas. As with most cities dealing with homelessness, San Antonio had the police department, emergency medical services, hospital systems, mental health systems, and nonprofit services providers all working in silos and not working collectively to have an impact. In creating Haven for Hope, we were able to bring all these systems together to collaboratively move in the same direction, thus making Haven a community wide model.   

Oakland, CA: Independence Institute, 2021. 66p.