Domestic abuse: Killers ‘follow eight-stage pattern’, study says

A study by Criminologist Dr Jane Monckton Smith has found an eight-stage pattern in 372 killings in the UK. The study, called Intimate Partner Femicide: Using Foucauldian Analysis to Track an Eight Stage Progression to Homicide looked at cases on the Counting Dead Women website which resulted in the discovery of the eight steps in almost all of the cases.

The eight steps were:

• A pre-relationship history of stalking or abuse by the perpetrator
• The romance developing quickly into a serious relationship
• The relationship becoming dominated by coercive control
• A trigger to threaten the perpetrators control (i.e. the relationship ending)
• Escalation – an increase in the intensity or frequency of the partner’s control tactics (i.e. stalking)
• The perpetrator has a change in thinking – choosing to move on, either through revenge or by homicide
• Planning (i.e. buying weapons)
• Homicide – the perpetrator kills their partner, and possibly hurts others such as the victim’s children

Source: BBC News

Home Affairs Committee Report On Serious Youth Violence

The Commons Select Committee has published a report on Serious youth violence. In the report, the Home Affairs Committee state the current picture of serious youth violence noting that knife crime offences have risen by over 70% in the past five years. Moreover, the report highlights the growing number of young males being murdered.

The report calls the rise in serious youth violence a social emergency. It states that whilst the committee supports the Government’s public health approach to tackling the issue, the Serious Violence Strategy is completely inadequate. Furthermore, calling all non-policing interventions ‘public-health’ approaches does not match the reality of interventions taking place.

The report suggests that in order to tackle the issue effectively, better leadership and focus is needed for the Serious Violence Strategy. Also, more action needs to be taken to counter issues such as county-lines.

Source: www.parliament.uk

Home Office allocates £35 million to police forces for violence reduction units

The Home Office has announced that Police and Crime Commissioners from 18 forces have been allocated £35 million to set up violence reduction units. The forces who have received the funding are the 18 with the greatest level of violent crime. These units will be responsible for identifying the causes of violent crime, and developing a coordinated response to tackle them.

The Home Office will work closely with the violence reduction units to assess how the funding is being used to strengthen the response to serious violence. In the coming weeks, the 18 areas will present plans of how the funding will be used.

In addition to this funding, the government has also made it easier for officers in the seven areas most affected by knife crime to use Section 60 stop and search powers. These additional powers will allow officers to search people within a designated area without suspicion, where serious violence is anticipated.

Source: Gov.uk

College of Policing Knife Crime Evidence Briefing

The College of Policing have published a knife crime evidence briefing which can inform police and crime reduction partners’ decisions when approaching how to best tackle knife crime. Research for the briefing was done through literature searches; government strategy documents and research reports; and consultations with subject matter experts.

Findings included in the briefing consist of factors that potentially increase a persons likelihood to commit a violent crime and/or carry weapons. From these findings, suggestions of how best to tackle the issue are given.

Source: College of Policing

New support for witnesses of serious violence and murder

The justice secretary has announced extra support for those who witness homicides and serious violence. This will give witnesses the same access to specialist support as victims of the crime itself.

This announcement comes as part of the public health approach set out by the Prime Minister. This approach is aimed at targeting the root cause of violent crime through ensuring professionals from a number of sectors including health, education and, the voluntary sector play a role in protecting people from serious violence.

Source: Gov.uk

May must take responsibility for ‘unforgivable’ cuts amid rise in knife crime, Police Federation chair says

John Apter, head of the police federation, has suggested that overseeing years of ‘unforgivable’ cuts whilst serving as Home Secretary should result in Theresa May bearing personal responsibility for rising violence in Britain.

The comments were made after Apter attended the knife crime summit at Downing Street. He also stated that genuine investment was needed to effectively tackle the issue of violence.

Source: The Independent

Schools and NHS could be held accountable over youth crime

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid has launched a consultation assessing whether it is a public health duty to report concerns over children at risk. He stated that he will use ‘all the tools’ at his disposal to end violent crime.

However, his plans have been met with criticism and concerns with questions raised over how teachers and NHS staff would be made accountable. Others, including NASUWT teachers’ union have suggested it would make teachers become scapegoats.

Source BBC News

Cuts have left officers retreating from streets, says outgoing police chief

Sara Thornton, the outgoing police chief has stated that police cuts have resulted in officers struggling to respond to routine crime due to overwhelming demand and not enough officers.

Furthermore, she has talked of wanting to end the blame culture that occurs when policing goes wrong, instead highlighting officers are having to deal with some of societies worst problems such as knife crime, something which needed more recognition.

Source: the Guardian

Global Law Enforcement Action Against Vendors and Buyers on the Dark Web

Law enforcement agencies from Canada, the United States and a number of European countries have joined forces to target vendors and sellers of illegal good on the dark web.

As a result of this operation, agencies made 61 arrests and shut down 50 dark web accounts. Moreover, 65 search warrants were issued resulting in the seizure of 2995 kg of drugs, 51 firearms and over €6.2 million (including cryptocurrency, cash and gold).

Source: Europol

New study on counterfeit and pirated goods trade trends

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have jointly quantified the value, scope and magnitude of the global trade in counterfeit goods in a new report.

The report, which adds updated data to a 2016 report on the same matter, has shown pirated good are becoming an increasing issue with estimations suggesting fake goods now account for 3.3% of world trade compared to 2.5% in the 2016 report.

Source: EUIPO