Neighbourhood Watch International Conference Program

Abstract

Human Exploitation is happening here in Australia and reports are increasing. The AFP-led ACCCE received 21,148 reports of child abuse material from NCMEC in 2020, an increase of 58.2% from 2019. In the financial year 2019/2020, AFP received 223 reports of human trafficking. This is a subtle offence type and often under reported with approximately four undetected victims for every victim detected. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the lead agency for investigating these crime types, but addressing human exploitation is everyone’s responsibility. The AFP continue to forge strong partnerships with key stakeholders to address these crimes and are reliant on the community to help work together to create safer communities. Commander Sirec from the AFP will talk about what human exploitation is and highlight various initiatives designed to prevent these crimes by raising awareness and educating the community. Human Trafficking prevention initiatives such as “Look a little deeper” an awareness package developed to educate front line responders and is comprised of a suite of materials to provide support both in the field and office, and “Project Skywarp” which involves the use of airport advertising space to educate the travelling public about the crime of forced marriage will be highlighted. In relation to prevention in the Child Protection environment, Commander Sirec will highlight “ThinkUKnow” a national law enforcement-led online child safety program taking a holistic community approach to raise awareness and deliver education about the issue of online child sexual exploitation. Another resource which will be discussed is the “ACCCE Podcast” being launched in 2021. The ten-part series aimed at the caregivers and influencers of children, and professionals working in the field of child protection will provide an informative and unique Australian perspective on the work being undertaken to prevent, deter and pursue child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Abstract

Human Exploitation is happening here in Australia and reports are increasing. The AFP-led ACCCE received 21,148 reports of child abuse material from NCMEC in 2020, an increase of 58.2% from 2019. In the financial year 2019/2020, AFP received 223 reports of human trafficking. This is a subtle offence type and often under reported with approximately four undetected victims for every victim detected. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the lead agency for investigating these crime types, but addressing human exploitation is everyone’s responsibility. The AFP continue to forge strong partnerships with key stakeholders to address these crimes and are reliant on the community to help work together to create safer communities. Commander Sirec from the AFP will talk about what human exploitation is and highlight various initiatives designed to prevent these crimes by raising awareness and educating the community. Human Trafficking prevention initiatives such as “Look a little deeper” an awareness package developed to educate front line responders and is comprised of a suite of materials to provide support both in the field and office, and “Project Skywarp” which involves the use of airport advertising space to educate the travelling public about the crime of forced marriage will be highlighted. In relation to prevention in the Child Protection environment, Commander Sirec will highlight “ThinkUKnow” a national law enforcement-led online child safety program taking a holistic community approach to raise awareness and deliver education about the issue of online child sexual exploitation. Another resource which will be discussed is the “ACCCE Podcast” being launched in 2021. The ten-part series aimed at the caregivers and influencers of children, and professionals working in the field of child protection will provide an informative and unique Australian perspective on the work being undertaken to prevent, deter and pursue child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Abstract

In 2011, New Zealand Police launched Prevention First.  The principle underlying Prevention First is that it is always better to prevent crime than to deal with its aftermath. Prevention First represented a new way of working for Police – although Police have always had a role to play in preventing harm, Prevention First meant this was our priority. Within Prevention First Police have made explicit that we need to understand the crime and harm problems we are facing before we respond to them. To do this, Police use a SARA problem solving approach.  This involves Scanning to identify the existence and nature of a recurring, significant problem that creates harm that Police are expected to address, Analysis to drill down to determine what is actually driving the problem, Response – searching for a wide range of solutions and then choosing and implementing the ones with the most promise and Assessment to examine the effectiveness of the response. Key to the success of this approach is a strong partnership with other government and non-government agencies and our communities. Examples are given which illustrate how this problem solving approach can make long term, sustainable reductions in harm and benefit the lives of those within our communities.

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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) has been defined as:

“….a multi-disciplinary approach of crime prevention that uses urban and architectural design and the management of built and natural environments. CPTED strategies aim to reduce victimization, deter offender decisions that precede criminal acts, and build a sense of community among inhabitants so they can gain territorial control of areas, reduce crime, and minimize fear of crime. CPTED is pronounced ‘sep-ted’ and it is also known around the world as Designing Out Crime, defensible space, and other similar terms.” (International CPTED Association – www.cpted.net)

This presentation will provide an overview of CPTED and how it has developed over time to meet the challenges and threats faced by our society today, as well as its role as a crime prevention strategy that is sometimes overlooked or misunderstood in the race towards more technical and resource intensive approaches to crime prevention and community safety.

The importance of consultation, research and fully understanding the actual problem that is intended to be dealt with,  as opposed to only dealing with the symptoms of deeper underlying issues, will also be discussed.

The need to apply CPTED strategies with great care so that when seeking to deal with undesired behaviour an environment is not created that is counter-productive to intended and desired uses, either accidentally or intentionally is also highlighted.

The presentation reinforces that everyone can contribute to the creation and maintenance of safer built and natural environments either as individuals in the case of our own homes and neighbourhoods or as part of professional groups and decision makers responsible for major community and private developments.

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The South Australia Police (SAPOL), ‘Disability Access and Inclusion Plan’ (2020-2024) (DAIP) sets out how they will ensure people with disability have a voice in the development and delivery of SAPOL services and be included in local and corporate programs. The DAIP will establish Disability Engagement Officers in each District and Local Service Area, who will be responsible for building up relationships with people with disabilities; women and children; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; and individuals from diverse culturally and linguistically backgrounds. Neighbourhood Watch programs are inextricably linked with police services and provide a unique opportunity for community members to meet and engage with local police officers on a regular basis. This interaction is an important form of social cohesion, where participants feel they can make a positive contribution to their community, whilst enhancing the feeling of safety and belonging. People with disability are part of the general community, thus it is their right to be included in all social activities of that community. Furthermore, they should have full and fair access to activities, social roles, and opportunities alongside other people, who do not have disabilities. Several simple steps could be taken to increase the representation of people with disability within the Neighbourhood Watch program. This should include hosting Neighbourhood Watch meetings at venues that have disability access and suitable facilities, such as disabled toilets. Inclusion of “Zoom” type digital technology would enhance the participation of all members of the community that are unable to attend in person, without having to make special arrangements. The increased representation of people with disabilities in Neighbourhood Watch will enable police to deliver an inclusive and equitable service to all members of the community, whilst enhancing the program’s reputation as being truly inclusive of people with disabilities.

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Crime within a community is costly, both to the community itself, and society at large. Many crime prevention concepts, methodologies and models, focus on the development of ‘at risk’ persons, or changing the potential offenders behaviour at the point of contact with the target. This presentation proposes an alternative methodology, that focuses on the deviant’s development pathway from the initial development of intention to harm through to actualisation. By focusing on the criminal development pathway, opportunities can be found to guide the potential deviant to alternative behaviours and actions.

Specifically, the ethnographical focus was on a variety of deviant community groups with ages ranging from youth to persons in their mid-twenties. Each subject group harboured intentions to burgle households within the Kambah West NHW Area of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). By identifying each group’s development pathway, opportunities were found that could be exploited to change the group’s development to actualisation process.

Results were gathered from interviews with deviants, peer groups, and local residents. Also, statistical evaluation found that the incidence of burglary crime within the area under review reduced by approximately 42% over the study period, compared to the pre-intervention period. In addition, the study compared favourably with two separate control areas, Kambah East and Wanniassa, which displayed an increase in burglary crime, or maintained the rate of burglary crime of the review period.

The results highlight that identifying opportunities to change the process of deviant behaviour from initial development through to actualisation may provide additional low cost and community focused opportunities to reduce the level of incidence of crime within specific community areas.

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The Policing with Influence project began with the collaboration of Queensland’s top police negotiators and the Officer in Charge of Queensland largest station. Together they set out to build a communication strategy and model for Queensland Police based on principles of respect, empathy and procedural justice. In a world where the growth in vulnerable persons and challenging social issues is obvious, the need for police to ensure that their engagement with the community is effective and supported has never been greater. The mission of the Policing with Influence project is to empower, equip and enable Queensland Police to engage, connect and communicate with the community in all circumstances in ways that reflect respect for the individual, the values of the service, and the principles of natural and procedural justice. This presentation includes the story of how this model has worked in the vulnerable youth and homeless community in Brisbane City and how it’s been integrated into training throughout the service.

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The presentation will give a background on the current situation of Neighbourhood Watch across England and Wales and the impact and response to Covid-19 by the organisation. The focus then will be on the new 5-Year Strategy, its aims and values and the focus on community connectedness and resilience to reduce crime and the fear of crime as well as crime information and prevention. Finally the presentation will look at the next 5 years and the exciting but challenging future for Neighbourhood Watch.

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