Justice Matters: September update
Time to radically downsize the police?
The prospect of further substantial cuts to police numbers has generated a widespread policy debate about what the role of the police should be and what services they should provide. As Steve White, Chair of the Police Federation for England and Wales, points out, 84 per cent of calls to the police relate to 'non-crime incidents'. In an article appearing in The Guardian on 7 September our Director, Richard Garside, suggests that slashing police budgets provides us with the opportunity to rebalance public policy and roll back police mission creep into almost all areas of public service.
Readers of this bulletin will know that downsizing the police has been an issue of concern for the Justice Matters team for some time. Last year Tim Hope wrote us an article about abolishing the police service altogether. He proposes that we establish a civil harm-response unit in its place, formed through the merger of police, fire and ambulance services. We also held an event later in 2014 'What are the alternatives to policing?' at which Tim Hope spoke.
So how might social policy help downsize criminal justice? A Justice Matters seminar: Criminal justice and young people with clinical disorders on 13 November 2015 from 12:30pm to 3:00 pm
Reducing the flow of people being unnecessarily dealt with by criminal justice and building practice alternatives will be an important part of a rebalanced public policy. A highly disproportionate number of young people with neurodevelopmental impairments and clinical disorders are in criminal justice. This event will consider how systems and services can better identify and respond to signs and symptoms of neurodevelopmental impairment to radically reduce criminal justice intervention. Dr Nathan Hughes, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, will introduce and Dr Prathiba Chitsabesan, child psychiatrist and member of the Offender Health Research Network, and Deborah Fortescue, Head of Foundation at The Disabilities Trust, will respond. You can register for this event here.
If you have a proposal about what policy or practices you would build in place of criminal justice then please send us an e-mail. Check out all the ‘I would build’ suggestions we've had so far here.
What do young black Londoners think about the ethnic penalty?
On another Justice Matters theme we have been seeking the views of young black Londoners about our work on the 'ethnic penalty'. What do young black Londoners think about the ethnic penalty? was the first in a series of consultation activities aimed at discussing the ethnic penalty and how it might be tackled. This event was held in collaboration with the 20:20 Change Foundation in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as part of the Justice Matters initiative. We have offers to hold a similar event in Haringey and Hackney that we are following up. If you would consider co-hosting a community consultation on the ethnic penalty with the Centre, then please e-mail Deputy Director, Will McMahon. (Offers from outside London more than welcome!)
Finally – two events of interest – criminal justice reform or abolition? Perspectives from Australia and the United States
As part of the Justice Matter’s initiative the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies will be hosting an academic roundtable seminar on 19 November 2015 from 1pm to 4pm with Dr Bree Carlton of Monash University, Australia and Dr Erica Meiners of Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, USA on the theme of ‘Is criminal justice reform obsolete?’. This event is being co-hosted with our friends at the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative at The Open University. A larger public discussion event organised by the Reclaim Justice Network and The Open University will take place in the evening, details available here.
That’s all for this month...like what Justice Matter’s is doing? Then support the initiative
If you want you can become a member of the Centre, or you could make a donation to support the Justice Matters initiative. If this update has been forwarded to you and has been of interest then please sign up for future mailings.