racist police?

I usually delete emails that go the rounds with amusing jokes and videos. Seemingly 300 out of 400 officers and staff and Hertfordshire Police (no mention on their website) did too when they received an emailed video of a police chase in America ending in the decapitation of the suspect. Those who forwarded it on have been disciplined. Further details here.

not buy-to-let but buy and throw away the key

Obviously I'm rushing to buy shares in 'I'm a thoughtless bastard happy to make money out of the new prison buy-to-let scheme' Incorporated. See details in Guardian.

Muslim Police

Much huffing and puffing in the media over news that a muslim police officer had been given permission not to guard the Israel Embassy. Also even more on Jack Straw's comments on finding the niqab and other veils worn by Muslim women unnerving.

We are left waiting for two other pieces of news. First that, in the light of the perceived need for total surveillance, everyone will have to go naked in public. Second the fuss that will ensue when a Muslim woman police officer seeks to wear a veil.

Criminology and Music

Roaming round the web - it's called research - came across UK born hip hop artist Criminologist aka the Truth. And old Raekwon album 1995 called Criminology. Raekwon part of the Wu Tang Clan.

Forensic Science and certainty

In an article in the Guardian 14 September Prof David Wilson makes some good points about the use of the forensic science service and criminal justice. But he might have widended out to some sociological themes . Not only does the english criminal justice system demand certainty - not allowing even Scotland's 'not proven' verdict - but in life many people crave certainty. An aspect of the risk society is the attempt to eliminate risk, even of being wrong. Hence we get it wrong - the courts and the experts.

A mature society would be more tolerant of uncertainty.

Policing a concern at the moment with two stories. One concerns the promotion of Cressida Dick at Scotland Yard despite being on duty the day that Jean Charles de Menezes was shot by police and proposals for changes in policing of roads.

Very different stories but illustrative of some issues. Need to think this through.

CCTV is widely claimed to be a success. However the Home Office's own research presents a much less clear picture even when the maximum spin is applied. Some of my earliest work was on CCTV and it is amongst some of the earliest work on CCTV. Sometimes my work is cited, more often not. I hope it is not too obvious that I'm upset that the latest Home Office work did not mention my work. What should concern all is the extent to which the lessons pointed out in that early work have been ignored and money wasted on more schemes and unnecessary research. On my website is a response to the Home Office's research. It needs work on issues around policy formation and politics and should not be regarded as the last word. I believe that the Home Office and the researchers have not been Stars of CCTV.

Cultural Criminology has had a bit of a revival recently and has come under attack. I believe some of that criticism is unfair but also some of it is fair. The name is too portentious but in trying to think some of these things through I came up with the term cultured criminology to suggest a more rounded approach. My short paper takes issue with O'Brien and the British Journal of Criminology. You decide - the peer reviewers hated it.

Sad to see the death of Una Padel recorded in the Guardian Obituary pages today. She did a lot for progressive thinking on criminal justice through the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College, London and through the magazine Criminal Justice Matters.

so fed up with my old website that new one started see link or follow this.

this is me

As I say my website is not happy - the web-authoring and file transfer programme don't seem to like each other. However you can still find things like my work on radio and crime. There is quite a lot of stuff out there on TV, movies and games and crime but little on radio. Broadly I conclude that radio - particularly British public service radio - holds potential for good communication about crime. Clearly I also hope that this and other blogs may also perform a useful function.

I've been working on what the media says about criminology - rather than crime or criminal justice - and trying to relate that to debates about the need for a public sociology and criminology.

I believe that whilst the media has many ills it can't be blamed for everything. 'ologists need to get their hands dirty and do some journalism. The internet is the forum for such journalism as journals are too fussy and take two years to publish.

I intend to post short items of interest but also some longer journal length articles to spark debate or be a resource to colleagues, students or those who stumble across this stuff.

I have a website at www.groombridges.freeserve.co.uk but it's not performing well at the moment so feel that blogging may be the answer.