International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

Policing Vulnerable People in Island Contexts

Loene Howes, Wendell C Wallace — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

This special issue is dedicated to research that contributes to understanding, improving, and critiquing the policing of vulnerable people in island contexts. Democratic policing values emphasise a human rights approach that protects all persons equally. Ideally, police are attentive to the potential for vulnerabilities in their interactions with all community members. For island jurisdictions, which are often culturally rich and beautiful places, various challenges can exist, such as resourcing limitations, relative isolation, and the legacies of colonisation and slavery, which impact approaches to policing. Reflecting southern criminology, islands are on the peripheries relative to the metropole. The articles of the special issue are drawn from islands of the Caribbean, the Pacific, Europe, and Southeast Asia. They contribute to island criminology by providing context-rich accounts of research on policing initiatives and critical analysis of harmful practices. They share new knowledge and raise important questions about policing vulnerable people in island contexts.

Attitudes of Newly Recruited Icelandic Police Students Towards Diversity

Eyrún Eyþórsdóttir, Margrét Valdimarsdóttir — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Scholars have described prejudice towards various minority groups as one of the negative characteristics of police culture. Visible prejudice within the police has serious consequences for trust and legitimacy, thus reducing the willingness of the public to cooperate with them. However, little is known about the attitudes of police students towards police work in a diverse society in the Nordic context. This paper focuses on newly recruited police students in the Icelandic police university program. Police students’ attitudes towards diversity are analyzed in the context of various possible work-related scenarios. The study is based on a survey of all newly recruited police students in Iceland, conducted yearly from 2018 until 2023. The findings indicate that police students are generally positive towards at least certain types of diversity measures in policing, although support for diversity has declined slightly in the most recent year.

Exploring the Impacts of Everyday Policing on Police Officers' Psychological, Emotional, and Physical Wellbeing in Fiji

Soropepeli Ramacake , Julian Lawakeli — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Police work is often fraught with challenging and traumatic experiences, which can be managed well by some officers, while others may be significantly affected and require assistance. Even those who typically cope well may be adversely affected by a specific incident. Incorporating cultural considerations in the Fijian context, this study examines the impacts of everyday policing on officers’ psychological, emotional, and physical wellbeing. An online survey was used to obtain 101 police officers’ perceptions of challenging and stressful incidents, the impacts of such incidents on their wellbeing, and coping strategies used to deal with such incidents. The findings provide examples not only of everyday stressors, but also the traumatic incidents faced by police officers, which generate a range of negative impacts on their wellbeing. The article contributes to Pacific criminology and provides useful insights, with implications for policy and practice, to support and enhance the wellbeing of police officers.

Policing Vulnerable Children and Young People in the Caribbean: Considerations from a Trauma-Informed Perspective

Dylan de Gourville — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Addressing the diverse needs of people who interact with police requires informed consideration of vulnerability. This is facilitated through the evolution of policing protocols in response to the expanding knowledge base on vulnerable populations. This paper examines the innate vulnerability of children and young people in the Caribbean, highlighting the need for changes to policing practices to incorporate a trauma-informed framework. Fifteen young people from Trinidad and Tobago were interviewed about their experiences in interacting with police as suspects and victims. A thematic analysis revealed insights into the lived experiences and perceptions of at-risk youth in Trinidad and Tobago regarding police interactions. The findings highlight the importance of considering the impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) within policing paradigms. This study augments regional scholarship on vulnerability in island contexts and offers recommendations for effectively navigating effective law enforcement with an understanding of the vulnerability of young people.

“Doing Their Jobs”: Legal Regulation of Policing and Suicide Risk of Justice-Involved Persons in Singapore

Daryl W. J. Yang — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Using the island nation-state of Singapore as a case study, this article conceptualizes the legal regulation of policing as a risk factor for suicide among justice-involved persons. Through the lens of legal epidemiology, it discusses public health research and criminal procedure jurisprudence to theorize the unintended consequences of the police “doing their job” in accordance with a legal framework that prioritizes crime control and order maintenance. It examines how two aspects of policing—the power of arrest and the interrogation process—may influence the mental health and suicide risk of justice-involved persons. This article thus calls attention to the role of law in shaping policing practices and their effects and lends support to calls for stronger due process protections from a public health perspective.

Policing Victims and Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence in Jamaica

Cush Sewell Lewis, Stacey-Ann Wilson — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Intimate partner violence (IPV) presents various challenges for victims and the police tasked with protecting them and investigating perpetrators. Using a mixed-methods approach, this article highlights some of the main challenges of policing IPV in Jamaica, a small island developing state. We present findings from interviews with police officers and content analysis of key legislation within a broader discussion, incorporating secondary data from national surveys and community focus groups. Collectively, this provides a comprehensive understanding of the challenges of policing IPV. We discuss some of the historical and social factors contributing to IPV in the country and examine how the police balance victim support with the investigation of perpetrators. Additionally, we identify key institutional and legislative barriers, such as inadequate training and legal limitations, which hinder effective policing. Finally, we propose the problem-oriented policing (POP) framework as a potential solution to improve the handling of IPV cases in Jamaica.

Working Together to Implement Gender-Responsive Policing: Gender Advisory Work in Timor-Leste

Loene M Howes, Suzanne Preston — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

For sustainable development to occur in post-conflict contexts, security concerns need to be addressed. Gender-responsive policing aims to provide policing for all community members. The Timor-Leste Police Development Program (TLPDP) is a bilateral partnership between Timor-Leste and Australia, supporting the Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) to develop capacity in areas of identified need. This includes reducing sexual and gender-based violence. Delivered by the Australian Federal Police, the program is informed by a gender strategy that reflects international agreements on gender, security, and human rights. This article draws on program design, evaluations, reports, and experience, to explore how strategic objectives on gender have been translated into practical initiatives of the TLPDP. Initiatives include a gender audit of the PNTL, a scoping review of the vulnerable persons units, specialist training courses, and community awareness campaigns. The article highlights the role of strategic alignment, partnership, and collaboration within and beyond policing to amplify efforts.

All Fine at the EU’s Southeastern Front? An Investigation into the Countering of Sex Trafficking on the Island of Cyprus

Angelo Constantinou — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

Human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a complex global issue. This article explores this issue in the context of Cyprus, an island jurisdiction within the European Union. The article aims to pinpoint gaps in the process of investigating and prosecuting cases of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes on the island of Cyprus. Thirteen interviews were conducted with representatives from various agencies commissioned to deal with human trafficking on the island, including police, courts, and prosecution services. The findings reveal a corpus of breaches and flaws throughout the process of managing trafficking and its associated victims. These include inadequate identification of victims, ineffective prosecution of offenders, and scarce convictions. In view of these findings, recommendations are provided to improve the overall domestic management of people trafficking.

Between Securitisation and Unsafety: A Scaled Analysis of Policing and Structural Vulnerabilisation on the EU Hotspot Samos

Julia Manek, Sophia Popp, Amanda Oiza Bucknor — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1000

The European Union (EU) hotspot system bases itself on securitisation strategies, surrounded by discursive humanitarian promises. In September 2021, the EU opened its first Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) on the Aegean hotspot island of Samos. The EU pledged that the vast securitisation infrastructure, including a police station, would provide safety to asylum seekers. Based on psycho-geographical counter-mappings of forced camp residents (n = 26) and semi-structured interviews with human rights defenders (n = 5), this article investigates the relations between policing, security, safety and vulnerability on different geographical scales. These scales include the border regime, the hotspot island and the camp. The counter-mappings show how the CCAC renders asylum-seeking people more vulnerable, with their safety being played off against border security. Testimonies of police violence and racism indicate that the intentionality of harm reaches a necropolitical dimension beyond the safety–security nexus. Therefore, we call for reflection on the colonial legacy of border policing and its decolonisation.