Roadside drug testing (RDT) is a key strategy in Australian road policing, yet little is known about public awareness of the drugs included in roadside testing programmes or how this awareness shapes deterrence, drug driving behaviour, and perceptions of police legitimacy. Following Queensland's 2023 expansion of RDT to include cocaine, this exploratory study examined drivers' knowledge of the substances screened at the roadside, and how deterrence perceptions, legitimacy views, and technology-driven punishment avoidance are associated with drug use and drug driving. A cross-sectional online survey of licenced Queensland drivers (N = 796) was recruited via social media, targeting drivers with a history of illicit drug use. Awareness of RDT was near universal (95.1%), yet only 48.7% correctly identified that cocaine is now screened, and only 25.8% correctly identified all current drugs tested for on the roadside. Aware drivers reported higher drug use and drug driving than unaware drivers, consistent with concentrated or direct enforcement exposure rather than successful general deterrence. Awareness showed no relationship with perceived certainty of apprehension. Lower views of Police Legitimacy (VPL) correlated with higher drug use, more frequent drug driving, and greater use of technology-based enforcement avoidance. A multivariate logistic regression among drug users found that direct punishment avoidance and perceived certainty of apprehension were the dominant predictors of drug driving, and VPL did not independently predict drug driving once these deterrence constructs were controlled. Collectively, findings underscore the importance of visible, credible enforcement and procedurally just road policing for shaping compliance within contemporary digital information environments.
This paper examines police compliance with the law on pre-charge bail and Release Under Investigation (RUI) in England and Wales. Empirical data from two studies is explored to understand how police decisions reacted to two legal changes in quick succession, which had diametrically opposed aims. Pre-charge bail and RUI were used in proportions that responded to changes in the legal architecture. How and when the police used these options, and how police officers justified their actions, are examined through the lens of compliance theories and techniques of neutralisation, neither of which have been used previously in this context. Evidence of normative compliance, capitulation, creative compliance and game-playing was uncovered as responses to legal change. Changes to the law were also met with defiance resulting in police decision-making continuing unchanged. Police decisions were explained with reference to legal, cultural and instrumental factors and techniques of neutralisation, particularly high workloads, were deployed by the police to rationalise their decisions. The paper also demonstrates the dynamic nature of officers' compliance, emphasising how focusing exclusively on decisions made in the heavily regulated environment of police custody obscures understanding of the interplay between law and police practice.
Police legitimacy is essential for fostering public cooperation, compliance, and trust in democratic policing. This study provides the first empirical test of Procedural Justice Theory in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using survey data from a non-representative sample of 766 adults (comprising 79% university students), we examine whether perceptions of procedural justice or police effectiveness are more strongly associated with two dimensions of police legitimacy (normative alignment and duty to obey), whether these associations are consistent across demographic groups, and whether social identity mediates these relationships. Consistent with findings from other Western democracies, procedural justice was more strongly associated with legitimacy than instrumental concerns. However, these effects were not fully invariant: for M & amacr;ori and Pacific respondents, procedural justice was less strongly associated - and police effectiveness more strongly associated - with duty to obey. Structural equation modelling further showed that stronger identification with both the police and the New Zealand community partially accounted for the link between procedural justice and legitimacy. Together, the findings suggest that while procedural fairness is foundational to police legitimacy in Aotearoa New Zealand, it may be insufficient for all communities; for M & amacr;ori and Pacific communities, in particular, building legitimacy may require active engagement with the historical and structural conditions that procedural justice alone cannot overcome.
Organised crime policing in the UK relies heavily on the classification of individuals as 'top tier' offenders, a designation that carries significant symbolic, legal, and operational consequences. Despite its centrality to organised crime governance, little empirical research has examined how such classifications are produced in practice or how accurately they reflect the organisation, capacity, and threat posed by those labelled. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from a London Police Service's Organised Crime Offender Management Unit, this article examines how individuals were identified, categorised, and governed as high harm organised crime offenders during a formative period in the development of disruption-oriented policing. The analysis reveals persistent mismatches between police conceptions of organised crime, often informed by hierarchical and mafia influenced models, and the empirical realities observed within the case material. Many individuals designated as 'top tier' exhibited fragmented, opportunistic, or low-capacity forms of organisation that sat uneasily with the rationale for intensive monitoring and preventive intervention. These findings demonstrate how classificatory practices can contribute to the symbolic inflation of threat and the misalignment of policing priorities. This analysis shows how 'top tier' classification operates as an organisational solution to uncertainty, enabling accountability and action while insulating prioritisation decisions from empirical challenge. Framed as a historical ethnographic study, the article illuminates how assumptions about organised crime structure became embedded within specialist policing practice, offering insight into the cultural and organisational foundations of contemporary organised crime governance.
Police personnel wellbeing has been researched academically for several years, yet limited research has focused on specific roles such as detectives. This is despite a growing retention and recruitment crisis in policing, including in investigative roles. This shortage persists even as overall workforce numbers increase. Improving officers' mental health and wellbeing is critical for retention, efficiency and policing effectiveness. The present study is the first to examine organisational and operational stress among UK Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) and psychological distress (anxiety and depression). A cross-sectional survey was completed by 275 SIOs, representing 27% of the national SIO workforce. Findings revealed high prevalence of mental health issues: 59 (21%) met the criteria for depression and 44 (16%) for anxiety. Organisational stress was consistently rated higher than operational stress across most groups. Regression analyses indicated that police stress was predicted by average weekly work hours, child homicide investigations, disaster investigations and personal trauma. Psychological distress was primarily predicted by organisational and operational stressors, accounting for 38% of variance, with operational stress being the strongest predictor. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions addressing organisational and operational stress to improve wellbeing and retention among SIOs.
Across the globe, police organisations face a staffing challenge. Using 254 online company reviews downloaded from an international online employment site, a comparative analysis of Australian and English police officers' experiences of employment was conducted. Written by current and former employees, the information contained within the reviews outlines positive and negative aspects of employment. The findings indicate that challenges affecting retention are shared across international contexts and are influenced by several factors. New findings suggest that officers' employment is highly affected by intensified political pressures and that lack of officer retention is a progressive process built by tension over time. The study upholds the premise that police organisations across the globe must recognise the importance and relevance of content within online company reviews and, accordingly, utilise it to understand why officers leave the profession.
Assumed risk of harm plays a crucial role in response strategies and resource allocation in missing person investigations, where misclassification or delay can result in serious or fatal consequences. While police adopt a clinical judgement approach to assessing risk, few empirical studies have examined whether routinely captured police data can support structured harm prioritisation tools. Drawing on Lifetime Exposure Theory, logistic regression analyses were conducted on missing incidents (N = 16,454) and individual-level cases (N = 4206) reported to UK police forces to test whether variables from a Harm Vulnerability Framework predicted harmful outcomes. Among child incidents, being high risk, older, female, transgender, likely to commit suicide, mental health issues, and prior harm were associated with harm, although no variables were significant at the individual level. Among adult incidents, being high risk, likely to commit suicide, and prior harm were significant predictors, whilst being high or medium risk, and likely to commit suicide predicted harm at the individual level. Multivariate regression analyses confirmed the predictive value of suicide concern and prior harm across children and adults, although explained variance remained modest. Suicide concern already forms a key aspect of police decision-making. However, harm suffered during a previous missing episode may warrant greater operational attention. Results highlight opportunities for developing child-focused harm prioritisation tools while also revealing limitations in police data. Future research should explore how police and partner-agency interventions influence harm outcomes and how other data sources can strengthen harm assessments.
In the context of policing, artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLM) tools are being touted for their ability to reduce the amount of time officers spend writing reports while simultaneously improving their accuracy and completeness. Concerns have been raised, however, about bias, privacy, legality, inaccuracies, transparency, and the overall impact of the use of AI when generating police reports on legal proceedings and police legitimacy. Despite continued advancements in the technology and use of these tools, it is unclear whether the public supports the use of AI to generate police reports. This study examined (1) public support for the police use of AI to generate reports, (2) how public perception changed depending on the information police agencies share about those technologies and how they are used, and (3) whether trust in police or race and ethnicity moderated these relationships using a survey experimental design involving a non-probability sample of U.S. residents. We found low to moderate support for the use of AI, with the greatest amount of support when respondents were informed of their usefulness and the steps police agencies are taking to ensure their accuracy.
The increasing involvement of digital devices, such as mobile phones, in criminal activities is adding challenges to police investigators' capacity to identify and trace associated digital data. Forensic science research has underscored the necessity of understanding the cognitive processes involved in digital data analysis, as contextual information introduces interpretive uncertainties that impact the credibility of evidence. Therefore, this study explores investigators' decision-making around how mobile phone data (and evidence) is used in investigating generic crimes from the perspective of front-line officers in China. This study employs a qualitative approach involving interviews with 29 police officers and 5 prosecutors to explore their perspectives on how front-line police investigators evaluated and interpreted mobile phone data. Findings reveal that mobile phone data was interpreted alongside all other case information. In this process, investigators' knowledge of analysing mobile phone data was informed primarily by precedence. Investigation experience and investigators' comprehension of judicial practices resulted in anticipation of the high probative value of interview evidence in criminal justice proceedings, and this understanding directed the interpretation and presentation of mobile phone data (and evidence). Since interview evidence was considered to be of prime importance in police investigations, it determines whether and what part of phone evidence was considered relevant to the investigation. This reliance on interview evidence introduces potential cognitive biases and uncertainty by way of focusing on selective or partial phone data, rather than an independent and comprehensive forensic examination isolated from information sources that may introduce biases.
As attempts to decriminalise the personal possession of drugs have foundered in North America over concerns about its negative effects on crime and public order, Portugal's 2001 decriminalisation strategy remains widely regarded as the most successful reform to date. Despite this success, there is little research about the experience of Portugal's national police as central actors in the initiative. Addressing this gap, this study investigated Portuguese Police and Public Safety experiences with decriminalisation through qualitative interviews with 19 participants, principally consisting of veteran police executives and national police and health policymakers who had direct roles in implementing and discharging the nation's drug policy, as well as street-level patrol and narcotics officers. Participants explained police practices within Portugal's drug decriminalisation policy that made it compatible with maintaining public safety and order, contributing to the feasibility and acceptability, among police, of a drug control strategy associated with nationwide reductions in fatal overdose and infectious disease. They stressed: the deliberate manner in which decriminalisation was planned and implemented; how the shift prioritised public health, relying on police as conduits to health-related interventions that also reduced the criminal activity motivated by substance use disorder; the police role referring otherwise difficult-to-reach people with addiction treatment and social services; the provisions through which police could effectively address disruptive public drug use and pursue narcotics trafficking. Decriminalisation shifted the police role in Portuguese society, resulting in the gradual evolution of police culture towards its acceptance. Policymakers can use Portugal as a case study of successful innovation.
While sex offender management has long been a responsibility of law enforcement in the UK and the US, it remains a relatively little-known aspect of policing despite its crucial role in protecting the public. In Denmark, this represents an entirely new role for the police. Since 2020, officers have been responsible for supervising individuals convicted of sexual offences against children (ICSOCs). Drawing on 51 interviews with police officers, coordinators, and caseworkers across 10 police districts, this article examines how Danish police supervise ICSOCs. The findings reveal substantial variation in supervisory practices both across and within police districts. By drawing on an analytical framework capable of conceptualising these variations, the study observes three distinct supervisory practices across the police: formality, supportive, and restrictive supervision. While these practices differ in the level of control exercised, the degree of consideration involved, and the strength of the relational engagement on which they rest, these variations raise concerns about the effectiveness of the supervision scheme, as the findings further suggest that they are driven more by organisational, professional, and personal conditions within the police than by the level of risk posed by the ICSOCs under supervision.
Despite the growing relevance of public health approaches to crime prevention, the conceptual problems that arise from their adoption have not been explored in sufficient detail. More specifically, questions around epistemic authority, with whom this is located and how conflicts around it are negotiated and managed have been somewhat overlooked, obscuring struggles over what counts as valid knowledge within these approaches. We put forward three types of knowledge: the professional knowledge of practitioners; the local knowledge of community members; and the lived knowledge of those affected by interventions informed by public health principles. While co-production is extensively used to bring these together, the often-observed unequal power structures within which these practices unfold need to be acknowledged more openly. Finally, we draw on Arendt's work to imagine how the hidden negotiations and conflicts over meaning within these approaches could be brought out in the open in a deliberative, democratic space. We also suggest that failing to fully acknowledge the messy, contested, and political aspects of crime prevention, both in theory and practice, means that the potential for meaningful change offered by public health approaches to crime prevention is yet to be fully appreciated.
While many jurisdictions have developed specialist positions and training for the forensic interviewers who elicit children's full evidence, most frontline officers who provide initial responses to family violence and child abuse crimes are not specialists in communicating with children. It is important to understand how first responders are engaging with children to ensure that children's welfare and testimonial evidence are not overlooked or compromised. We recruited 205 police officers from two Australian jurisdictions, one with a high level of specialism required to formally interview child witnesses (High Specialism) and one without specialist requirements (Low Specialism). Participants completed a survey about their experiences with child witnesses and responded to two vignettes involving a 5- or 12-year-old child. Some participants also completed a mock interview to showcase their question-types when speaking to a child witness. We found that participants commonly encountered child witnesses in their roles and spoke with them outside of formal investigative interviews. In response to the vignettes, participants reported that they would be more likely to engage with the child if they were 12-years-old than 5-years-old, and if they came from the Low Specialism jurisdiction, rather than the High Specialism jurisdiction. Despite their willingness to engage, the mock interviews revealed that fewer than half the questions posed were best-practice open-ended prompts. These findings suggest that including training on children's suggestibility and question-types in recruit-level training for police may improve frontline police's questioning of child witnesses and ultimately improve the reliability of child witnesses' evidence.
Police legitimacy research has largely been shaped by empirical and theoretical assumptions derived from Western liberal democracies, often overlooking how legitimacy is negotiated in postcolonial and Global South contexts. This qualitative study examines how transgender women in Pakistan experience police authority and how these encounters shape perceptions of legitimacy, trust, and institutional recognition. Drawing on in-depth interviews with transgender women and police officers in Punjab province, the study adopts an interpretative, phenomenologically informed approach to explore lived experiences of policing following the enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018. The findings reveal that legitimacy deficits are produced through cumulative practices of discretionary refusal, interactional disrespect, and institutional non-response rather than isolated incidents of overt abuse. Despite formal legal recognition, transgender women frequently encounter conditional access to justice, particularly in relation to complaint registration and everyday police engagement. Police education and training emerge as an ambivalent theme: invoked by officers as a justification for hesitation and by transgender women as a hoped-for pathway to recognition, yet insufficient in the absence of clear protocols and accountability mechanisms. By integrating procedural justice and institutional trust frameworks with feminist and queer criminological perspectives, the study conceptualises legitimacy as a relational and contested process shaped by gendered power, discretion, and postcolonial state - society relations. The findings contribute to debates on policing, legitimacy, and gender diversity by demonstrating the limits of legal and educational reform in contexts where institutional practices continue to mediate recognition and protection unevenly.
This study investigates how distinct cultural orientations among police officers are associated with their support for contemporary reform efforts. Although prior research has established that police culture shapes officer attitudes toward reform, the specific impact of differing cultural perspectives remains underexplored. Drawing on survey data collected from three U.S. police agencies including a sample of 217 officers, this study examines the effects of two prominent cultural orientations-warrior (emphasising crime-fighting) and guardian (emphasising public service)-on support for a range of reform policies and training programmes. Results suggest widespread support among officers for training programmes. Perceptions of reform initiatives are more divided, with support levels ranging considerably across different proposals. Guardian orientations are significantly and positively associated with support for both trainings and reforms. Our findings suggest that many officers are open to a range of reforms and training programmes. Promoting a guardian mindset in officers may improve receptivity to both training and reform. Agencies should emphasise this orientation in both training and supervision practices. Additionally, officers' support for co-responder models-an approach also widely endorsed by the public-suggests that there is potential for policy expansion in this area. Taken together, our findings suggest that policymakers should consider the risks of abandoning reforms that receive widespread internal and external (i.e. community) support.
