scholarly journals Watching the watchers: conducting ethnographic research on covert police investigation in the United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 630-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Mac Giollabhuí ◽  
Benjamin Goold ◽  
Bethan Loftus
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Police Investigation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Relationship

It has long been claimed that the police are the most visible symbol of the criminal justice system (Bittner, 1974). There is, however, a significant strand of policing – covert investigation that relies routinely on methods of deception – that resists public revelation (Ross, 2008). The growing importance of covert police investigation has profound implications for the relationship between citizen and the state in a democratic society, but it is relatively unexplored by police researchers. In this article, we describe the methodology of the first ethnographic study of how the introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) – a piece of ‘enabling’ legislation that regulates the conditions under which law enforcement agencies can intervene in the privacy of individuals – has effected the conduct of covert police investigation in the United Kingdom. We describe our ethnographic experience in the ‘secret world’ of covert policing, which is familiar in many respects to ethnographers of uniformed officers, but which also differed significantly. We contend that the organizing principle of surveillance – the imperative to maintain the secrecy of an operation – had a marked impact on our ethnographic experience, which eroded significantly our status as non-participant observers and altered out reflexive experience by activating the ‘usefulness’ of our gender.

The Police Informer/Handler Relationship: Is it Really Unique?

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Billingsley
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Police Service ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Veil ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship

The use of informers by the police service in the UK has been the subject of recent research, even though the police service in this country has been protective towards this particular investigative method. It has been revealed from this research that there is a common assumption that the use of informers is quite unique among police relationships. This paper examines whether in fact the relationship between an informer and the police is really that unique, or whether it is the secrecy which surrounds it that provokes such an assumption. The paper relies heavily on a comparison with other relationships, starting with typical professional partnerships, then examining other police relationships. The factors which emerge from these relationships have been compared to police/informer relationships to determine how dissimilar they are. The paper suggests there are in fact many similarities between a police/ informer relationship and other professional partnerships, and concludes that it is probably the secrecy which the police have maintained that has created the assumption that the relationship is unique. It is suggested by the author that if the police/informer relationship became more transparent and accountable then this may lead to law enforcement agencies being less able to hide behind the veil of secrecy, which may help the concept of openness within the criminal justice system.

Criminal justice in the middlebrow imagination: The punitive dimensions of Making a Murderer

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel LaChance ◽  
Paul Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Crime And Punishment

Popular documentary representations of crime and punishment have traditionally tended to fall into two camps: programs that are critical of law enforcement agencies and those that are sympathetic to them. In this article, we show how programs that present themselves as critical of legal authorities can nonetheless reinforce the “law and order punitivism” that underlay the ratcheting up of harsh punishment in the late 20th century. In a case study of the popular documentary miniseries Making a Murderer, we show how this can happen when texts fetishize the question of a criminal defendant’s innocence, adopt a “good versus evil” approach to players in the criminal justice system, and perpetuate a procedural rather than substantive vision of justice. Arguments are supported by a close reading of Making a Murderer and illustrated by a line of discussion it inspired in an internet forum.

scholarly journals Role of Victim in the Criminal Justice System

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
MEERA MATHEW
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
The Impact

The victims of crime are those who have formerly endured injury or are possibly suffering as an outcome of crimes having been committed. The direct family or dependants of the direct victims, who are harmfully affected, are also included within the meaning of the term “Victims”. The predicament of the victims does not finish with the crime but it persists. It may even increase, following the crimes; since they have to face the rigors of the actuality, such as deficient support system, dearth of social backing, and sense of anxiety. They also experience the intricacy of police inquiry, magisterial investigation and criminal trial. The impact of victimization on different kinds of victims due to different types of crimes has been varied such as physical, psychological and financial. Through this paper writer has endeavored to check the situation of victims of crime in India and the criminal justice system. It is apparent that the desolation of the victims have not been effectively addressed or even gone out of contemplation. Victims are disregarded, may, forgotten. The paper also stresses the need to provide support to crime victims. The author of the present paper has also recommended some of the imperative steps that are to be implemented by the law enforcement agencies in India to improve the position of victims in the criminal justice system.

POLICE COOPERATION OF POLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN IN SCOPE OF BREXIT

2021 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-268
Author(s):  
Agata Furgała
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
Police Cooperation ◽  
Mutual Cooperation ◽  
The United Kingdom

Leaving the UE by the UK has brought a number of consequences for bilateral Polish-British police and justice cooperation. The subject of the article was to present legal regulations, which provide the basis for international cooperation for British law enforcement agencies. The author analyzed and then evaluated the effectiveness of instruments of mutual cooperation. The articles focuses also on the assessment of Brexit consequences and its possible impact on the Polish-British police cooperation. It is worth emphasising that cross-border law enforcement cooperation - which includes police, customs, secret services and other law enforcement agencies, mainly concerns the most serious threats such as terrorism, organised crime, human traffi cking, money laundering, drug traffi cking or cybercrime. The article shows that the most unfavourable changes result from dropping the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom - is disconnection from the second generation Schengen Information System. The article includes also information about The Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which has retained a number of important mechanisms for effective police cooperation between EU Member States and the United Kingdom. But although, as mentioned in the article, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom provides upgrades of the tools of police and judicial cooperation, it is a matter of practise to verify these as sufficient.

Officers' perceptions regarding the unexpected effects of body-worn cameras

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-402
Author(s):  
Jordan C. Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThroughout the last decade, a number of empirical studies have assessed the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) among law enforcement agencies across the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine officers' perceptions regarding the impact this technology has had on police-community relations, as well as the working relationship between police and other actors in the criminal justice system (e.g. prosecutors, jurors).Design/methodology/approachThe author conducted focus groups with officers (n = 89) from two local law enforcement agencies in California that had adopted BWCs in recent years. Participating officers discussed advantages and disadvantages they associated with BWCs, as well as how BWCs have impacted their relationship with the public and justice system personnel.FindingsOfficers recognized advantages to using BWCs, including the potential for positive changes in police behavior and the ability to protect officers against false citizen complaints. Officers also identified a number of disadvantages (or consequences) they associate with BWCs, such as the depreciation of credibility behind an officer's word and the impact of video footage on prosecutorial decision-making.Originality/valuePrior studies have gathered officers' perceptions regarding BWCs, but very few have assessed whether and how the use of this technology by law enforcement influences other actors within the criminal justice system. The findings from this study may prompt further empirical consideration regarding BWCs, especially with regard to whether police use of this technology significantly impacts citizens' trust in the police and how their use may impact prosecutorial and juror decision-making.

scholarly journals The level of attrition in domestic violence: A valid indicator of the efficiency of a criminal justice system?

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Chopin ◽  
Marcelo F. Aebi
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Swiss Canton ◽  
Police Forces

This article studies the process of attrition through a follow-up of all cases of domestic violence registered by the police forces of one Swiss canton in the first half of 2012 ( N = 592) as they pass to the prosecution and the court stage of criminal justice proceedings. The results show that the attrition rate found in Switzerland (80 percent) is lower than the rate usually found in the United Kingdom. This rate is explained by the fact that domestic violence is usually treated by academics as a homogeneous construct, but it is in fact composed of a large variety of offences and, in practice, the vast majority of those that are reported to the police would not entail a custodial sentence.

scholarly journals The Application Of Justice Principles Of Rapid Simple Fee In Criminal Justice System In The State Court (Case Study in State court of Pati)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 609
Author(s):  
Lailatul Nur Hasanah ◽  
Sri Endah Wahyuningsih
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
State Court ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Mutual Cooperation

This study aims to determine and analyze the application of the principle of simple justice Rapid Simple Fee in the criminal justice system in the State court of Pati. As well as to identify and explain the barriers and solutions simple application of the principle of justice Rapid Simple Fee in the judicial system in State court of Pati. And to identify and explain the contribution principle is simple justice Rapid Simple Fee in the criminal justice system to reform the criminal justice system in the future. This study uses empirical juridical approach to analysis of the application of the principle of judicial issues simple, quick and inexpensive in the criminal justice system in the State court of Pati. Specifications research is descriptive analysis. With data collection techniques are primary and secondary data and research literature, analyzed using qualitative. The problem is analyzed with the theory of law enforcement and progressive legal theory. The results of this study showed that every judge shall comply with the laws that have been set ie power Act No. 48 of 2009 and Act No. 8 of 1981. Constraints in principle to simple justice Rapid Simple Fee is the human resources of the apparatus law enforcement, lack law enforcement and courtroom facilities, absence of the parties or witnesses. The solution is to determine the court calendar, giving sanction to the litigants or witnesses who have been called State court of Pati. Contributions in future expected law enforcement qualified for handling the case, mutual cooperation between law enforcement agencies and is able to imitate the criminal justice system in developed countries such as settling disputes out of court with mediation mechanism penal (penal mediation), restorative justice, diversion in juvenile justice and other forms that thrive in the community. It is considered necessary as part of the criminal law reform. Contributions in future expected law enforcement qualified for handling the case, mutual cooperation between law enforcement agencies and is able to imitate the criminal justice system in developed countries such as settling disputes out of court with mediation mechanism penal (penal mediation), restorative justice, diversion in juvenile justice and other forms that thrive in the community. It is considered necessary as part of the criminal law reform. Contributions in future expected law enforcement qualified for handling the case, mutual cooperation between law enforcement agencies and is able to imitate the criminal justice system in developed countries such as settling disputes out of court with mediation mechanism penal (penal mediation), restorative justice, diversion in juvenile justice and other forms that thrive in the community. It is considered necessary as part of the criminal law reform.Keywords: Principle of Simple Justice, Rapid Simple Fee In Criminal Justice System in Pati Court

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document