New paper by @lisatompson.bsky.social points out there’s lots of evidence of disparities in how policing affects different groups, but surprisingly little evidence of *why*. It’s very easy to jump to conclusions, but it’s unlikely any one explanation tells the whole story.

This detailed review of what we know about gun-shot detection systems (eg Shot Spotter) explains how thin evidence of their effectiveness is, despite them having been studied quite a lot and police (🇺🇸) spending a lot of money on them.

Assessing the Impact of Gunshot Detection Technology: Methodologies, Analytical Approaches, and Insights

This chapter examines the implementation and impact of gunshot detection technology (GDT) by law enforcement agencies across the United States. While GDT holds promise for enhancing police response…

doi.org

A useful summary of ways in which generative AI tools can be used to support intelligence analysis relating to protecting high-profile individuals, and some of the challenges.

Using civil banning orders – similar to the laws used to proscribe terrorist groups – against outlaw motorcycle gangs involved in organised crime (🇳🇱) had no effect on offending by members of those groups.

Civil Bans on Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs and Their Effect on Members’ Criminal Careers in Netherlands - European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research

Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) are a cause of growing concern, not least because their members are found to be disproportionately engaged in serious and organized crime. As of 2020, upon request of…

doi.org

I love capturing those moments where London Underground trains line up perfectly with station posters. With a little patience and a bit of luck, you can end up with some wonderfully amusing and unexpected shots.

More research symposia should take place in sunny gardens. Thanks @jpinasanchez.eurosky.social and @ianloader.bsky.social for organising!

After being Taser trained, police (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) tended to use Taser when they would have used other tactics like restraint. But that didn’t lead to any change in the likelihood of officer or subject being injured. (NB, though: not a randomised trial)

Taser Training, Injury and the Tactical Mix of Police Recorded Use of Force: Evidence from London

Taser rollout rests on a two-part promise: control at a distance should replace close-contact force and reduce injury. Using 579,524 Metropolitan Police use-of-force reports from 2018–2021, we…

crimrxiv.com

Shout out to the man on the train calling his bank about ID theft and who has read his name, postcode, and the long number on his card to the whole carriage.

Women's experiences of roads and transport networks are not always fully reflected in the evidence used to inform road safety policy and planning. A new study aims to better understand women's experiences of travel and road safety across Greater Manchester www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w...

New tech can create new crime opportunities. If tech isn’t designed so it blocks these opportunities, new tech can cause a crime boom. I played a small part in this paper that tries to spot crime opportunities created by climate change mitigation tech e.g. renewable energy.

Is crime in London ‘through the roof’? No. In comparison to other major global cities, people in London are fairly safe from most types of crime, as I talk about on this week’s episode of More or Less:

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, Is crime in London ‘through the roof’?

How does violent crime in London compare to other global cities?

bbc.co.uk

ChatGPT requests are starting to turn up as evidence in criminal trials and these ones are going to be hard to beat

It is actually *very* simple: Being pro-immigration = being pro-British. Whatever problems immigration sometimes can bring in its own right, it is a driver of growth and the UK needs it. No matter how extreme policies get, these facts will *not* change. So this is not simply a choice for …

Systematic review finds increases in temperature are associated with increases in violence, including domestic abuse and sexual violence, but we need more evidence on the how that varies in different contexts, especially as extreme heat gets more common. doi.org/10.1177/1524...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

New review (🇬🇧) finds government is ‘indifferent’ to fraud (the most-common victim-based crime), police are woefully ill-equipped to fight it and social-media platforms face no consequences for enabling it. Really hope this brings change!

Fraud in the Digital Age

The second report from the from the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences, chaired by Jonathan Fisher KC.

gov.uk

📢 Interested in collaborative replication, open science, and research methods in criminology? Join us at the inaugural meeting of #CRIMLabs, a new international Many Labs initiative, at @opencriminology.bsky.social pre-conference meeting (9 Sept 2026). Details in the leaflet 👇

I think opinion writers should just collectively agree that nothing is a panacea or a silver bullet so it wasn't felt necessary to say so all the time.

The wonders of academic publishing: a paper about crime at Notting Hill Carnival desk rejected by The *London* Journal because it’s not focused enough on London. The paper is entirely and exclusively about one of the most controversial aspects of one London’s most important events. 🤷‍♂️ 😔

On this day in 1981, Richard Cobb got an honorary degree from the University of Essex. That may not seem significant to you, but it makes this afternoon the 45th anniversary of one of the finest graduation addresses ever delivered 🧵

Police officers (🇺🇸) make fewer traffic stops towards the end of a shift, but the stops they do make are more likely to result in finding offences. Suggests cops are able to predict pretty well before a stop how likely they are to find something.

Useful review of what we know (and what we don't) about police responses to people in mental-health crises, including training (typically not much), the effectiveness of co-responding between police and health (uncertain) and what we don't yet know (lots). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

De Facto Mental Health Responders: A Contemporary Systematic Literature Review of Police Encounters with Persons Experiencing Mental Illness - Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology

Police are often becoming primary responders to people experiencing mental illness (PMI), frequently managing crises that fall outside traditional law enforcement roles. Police-PMI encounters are…

link.springer.com

Interesting survey results showing most public-policy researchers use AI tools in research (despite few receiving any training), but in a limited way and despite having concerns. Most wanted better guidelines from professional bodies and universities: policyviz.com/2026/07/01/a...

Many Researchers Use AI. Most Want Their Professional Associations to Help. - PolicyViz

APPAM's 2026 member survey reveals how public policy researchers are using AI tools—and where confidence, training, and clear standards are falling short.

policyviz.com

School breaks in Sweden lead to fewer assaults (children aren't concentrated together at school) but more residential burglaries (homes are empty while people are on holiday). Which is a useful reminder to analyse different crime types *separately*! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

School Breaks and Crime: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Sweden - Journal of Quantitative Criminology

Objectives: We estimate the causal effect of school holidays on crime by exploiting the staggered timing of the Swedish winter sports break (sportlov) across municipalities. Methods: We use a…

link.springer.com

People in London support police using AI for a wide variety of tasks including translation, identifying high-risk repeat offenders and prioritising deployment. They do feel it’s important to have a human in the loop, though. www.police-foundation.org.uk/news/new-res...

The way I've gotten this across in talks to US audiences is to explain that by the time the Battle of Gettysburg was fought... ...the London Underground had already been open for six months.

Dan Kaszeta FRHistS@dankaszeta.bsky.social · last mo.

I think Americans don’t realize how old the London Underground is. It was over 40 years old when Mark Twain went on it. Waterloo veterans rode it

Fantastic @reducingcrime.com podcast discussion between my colleague Shane Johnson and @jerryratcliffe.net on some of the many ways all types of crime are changing due to technology. Essential listening if you’re interested in crime of any sort.

#96 (Shane Johnson)

Stream #96 (Shane Johnson) by Reducing Crime on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.

m.soundcloud.com

Opinions from towns beginning with other letters are presumably also available! 😁

Feeling very sorry for store security guards, PCSOs and officers... anyone in a stab vest and kit today.

Requiring professionals to report possible child abuse to police (🇫🇮) was associated with – more incidents recorded by police – no increase in prosecutions – a big increase in investigation times suggesting the rule simply overwhelmed police capacity doi.org/10.1007/s106...

Reporting Child Abuse to Police: Effects of a Lowered Threshold on Criminal Case Progression - European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research

Violence against children is a serious problem that society must address as effectively as possible. In Finland, efforts to address violence against children have included strengthening the role of…

doi.org

Lots of examples here of good everyday uses of AI tools. I use various AI tools for quite a lot of work tasks, but what they’re capable of has moved so fast that it’s very useful to hear what other people are using them for.

Steven Rajam@stevenrajam.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Amidst all the "AI is unremittingly awful and unreliable and will eat our faces" takes on BlueSky, I enjoyed this a lot. It mirrors my experience pretty closely. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-ai-has...