Contractualism and Policing in the Public Interest

Once, police largely depended on their status as the embodiment of the State’s monopoly on coercive force to obtain the assistance they needed to do their job. Today they are increasingly reliant on formalised arrangements of reciprocity with other public and private agents. Police are both purchasers and vendors of goods and services, including security services. This paper explores the issues surrounding the growing importance of contractualism in policing and its risks. After an examination of events policing by one large Australian police organisation, the paper concludes that, although the risks are substantial, newer economic forms of policing like ‘user-pays’ are not necessarily antithetical to the public interest. They may, in fact, promote it

Capturing 'organised crime' in Australian law [Briefing paper / ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, Issue 19 (December 2012)]

This briefing paper presents and foreshadows ongoing PhD research by the first author into how understandings of organised crime in Australia have been shaped, and the extent to which these perceptions have influenced legislative and policing responses. It begins with an historical survey of significant models of organised crime, then reviews current Australian legislative strategies, and goes on to raise questions about the conceptual model that underpins these strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential policy implications of this research

A contest for legitimacy: the divestment movement and the fossil fuel industry

The divestment movement has sought to influence attitudes to fossil fuels by framing producer companies as pariahs and as unnecessary and redundant. In response, the fossil fuel industry has engaged in a direct and aggressive attack on the divestment movement. This article considers the relationship between the movement and the industry as a contest for legitimacy for both the organizations and the norms they advocate. Through a case study of the coal discourse in Australia from 2013 to 2016, it explores how each party has attempted to undermine the other’s legitimacy and to build or defend its own. It concludes that the contest for legitimacy is complex, being conducted at multiple levels (pragmatic, moral, legal, and cognitive) and before multiple audiences. For the movement to “win” the contest, it will require more than a simple rebalancing of the legitimacy scales

Contractualism and Policing in the Public Interest

Once, police largely depended on their status as the embodiment of the State’s monopoly on coercive force to obtain the assistance they needed to do their job. Today they are increasingly reliant on formalised arrangements of reciprocity with other public and private agents. Police are both purchasers and vendors of goods and services, including security services. This paper explores the issues surrounding the growing importance of contractualism in policing and its risks. After an examination of events policing by one large Australian police organisation, the paper concludes that, although the risks are substantial, newer economic forms of policing like ‘user-pays ’ are not necessarily antithetical to the public interest. They may, in fact, promote it

Criminalizing Organizations: Towards Deliberative Lawmaking

With threats from diverse criminal organizations on the increase and current state approaches being of variable effectiveness, legislatures now need to take a more systematic and deliberative approach to framing policy and legal responses to criminal groups. This article proposes a typology of legislative approaches to the whole spectrum of criminal groups that would facilitate a more holistic assessment of what to do about gangs, organized crime, and terrorist groups. It clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of different legal approaches and paves the way for further research on more nuanced and effective laws on criminal organizations for the future