Join the Canadian Police Knowledge Network for their upcoming webinar "Let's Talk Policing in Challenging Times". This webinar will be held on Thu, Aug 6, 2020 3:00 AM - 4:30 AM AEST

In follow-up to the Transformational Leadership webinar hosted on June 23, 2020, the second webinar in CPKN's The Network Webinar Series will be a panel discussion to answer questions from the webinar attendees. Joining (ret'd) Chief Devon Clunis will be Chief Constable Del Manak, Victoria Police Department and Tom Stamatakis, President, Canadian Police Association.

The panel will discuss:

- What does systemic racism mean? How do we proceed when the public assumes racism?
- What does defunding the police mean, what does this look like across the country, and what are the implications?
- How do we support the mental health of police service members in light of the pandemic, recent protests, and calls for defunding? How can we support officers and their families?

For more information and to register for this webinar visit here.

CIRAC, IASOC, the Global Initiative Against Organised Crime, and ECPRSGOC are hosting a virtual Conference on Global Organized Crime over a 24 hour period on the 10th of November 2020.

The topics that the conference will explore are trafficking, smuggling, counterfeiting, corruption, illicit markets, emerging crimes, and policy issues.

The conference is currently calling for submissions of proposals which need to be submitted by the 7th of September 2020.

For more information regarding the conference and submission details visit here.

"What America can learn from German policing" 

Christiane speaks with experts Joachim Kersten and Neil Gross about how Germany changed its police training after World War II and the possible lessons for the U.S. Source: CNN

Access the video here.

New episode of Chris Hayes podcast "Why Is This Happening?" with GLEPHA Research Fellow Brandon del Pozo.

This podcast episode explores "As protesters across the country continue to march in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a new scrutiny has been placed on our current policing system. Public sentiment has largely swung in favor of police reform, and many would recognize that the current system is in serious need of fixing, if not broken. So, what should be the role of police in society? Brandon del Pozo has a view from the inside, having started his career in the NYPD and spending 4 years as chief of police in Burlington, Vermont. He joins Chris to talk about the limitations and serious problems within our current system and what reform could look like going forward."

This podcast is available through Apple Podcasts or can be viewed here.

Book Sale : From Enforcers to Guardians. A Public Health Primer on Ending Police Violence. Hannah L. F. Cooper, ScD, and Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD.

The following information has been directly sourced from the John Hopkins University Press website.

Excessive police violence and its disproportionate targeting of minority communities has existed in the United States since police forces first formed in the colonial period. A personal tragedy for its victims, for the people who love them, and for their broader communities, excessive police violence is also a profound violation of human and civil rights.

Most public discourse about excessive police violence focuses, understandably, on the horrors of civilian deaths. In From Enforcers to Guardians, Hannah L. F. Cooper and Mindy Thompson Fullilove approach the issue from a radically different angle: as a public health problem. By using a public health framing, this book challenges readers to recognize that the suffering created by excessive police violence extends far outside of death to include sexual, psychological, neglectful, and nonfatal physical violence as well.

Arguing that excessive police violence has been deliberately used to marginalize working-class and minority communities, Cooper and Fullilove describe what we know about the history, distribution, and health impacts of police violence, from slave patrols in colonial times to war on drugs policing in the present-day United States. Finally, the book surveys efforts, including Barack Obama's 2015 creation of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, to eliminate police violence, and proposes a multisystem, multilevel strategy to end marginality and police violence and to achieve guardian policing.

Aimed at anyone seeking to understand the causes and distributions of excessive police violence—and to develop interventions to end it—From Enforcers to Guardians frames excessive police violence so that it can be understood, researched, and taught about through a public health lens.

For more information regarding the book and how to get it on sale visit here.

Now available from John Hopkins University Press here.

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) International who are GLEPHA institutional members are now holding their 2020 conference virtually from August 24- 28. 

Conference Details

• Conference dates:  August 24 – 28, 2020 
• Registrants will enjoy 65 workshops.  Each workshop series on the schedule will have five workshops from which to select
• All Presenters will be present for a live Q&A
• Registrants will have the opportunity to watch any of the workshops for 30 days post conference - great value for the cost!  You can watch many workshops at your convenience during this time
• Continuing Education credits will be provided to licensed clinical professionals who sign up and pay for them
• Certificate of attendance for law enforcement and others will be available for proof of attendance and sessions attended for educational credits and requirements at no charge

Visit the website here for more information about the conference and details on registration.

The following information has been sourced from an article posted in the Vancouver Sun by Jennifer Saltman titled "Police chiefs across Canada advocate decriminalization of illicit drugs for personal use" and is available to be read here.

Decriminalisation for possession of illicit drugs for personal use is being pushed by Police chiefs around Canada. It comes after years of health experts and advocates pushing authorities for this change for years.

Authorities have acknowledged that substance use and addiction is a public health issue and people should not be punished for this. Instead they should have access to suitable care and treatment options.

To read the full article visit here.

The following information has been directly sourced from the Global Commission on Drug Policy's website which can be accessed here.

In this first report of this decade, the Global Commission on Drug Policy outlines how the current international drug control regime works for the benefit of transnational organized crime. It highlights how years of repressive policies targeted at nonviolent drug offenders have resulted in mass incarceration and produced countless adverse impacts on public health, the rule of law, and social cohesion, whilst at the same time reinforcing criminal elites.

The report argues that the top layers of criminal organizations must be disempowered, through policy responses and political will. It provides implementable recommendations for the replacement of the current policy of targeting non-violent drug offenders and resorting to mass incarceration. Law enforcement must focus on the most dangerous and protected actors and primary drivers of the corruption, violence, and chaos around illegal drug markets.

The control of psychoactive substances in a rational and efficient way must be centered on people and their needs, and on a repressive approach against criminal elites who benefit from the illegal drug markets’ proceeds, and have access to high-level networks, financial and legal support as needed. Only responsible legal regulation of currently prohibited drugs, with careful implementation, has the potential to disrupt criminal organizations and deprive them of their most lucrative sources of income.

The report contains research on the prerequisites for a successful transition towards the reform of the outdated ideology-based international drug control regime, and provides cutting-edge recommendations on how to ensure that international criminal organizations are effectively disempowered by the transition towards a legally regulated drug market under the control of governments.

The report is available to be read in full here.

The Sustainable Health Equity Movement gathers networks and people from all regions, cultures and professions around the ethical principle of the universal right to health 

Join here: https://umassmed.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FO7JKXMNSyublj6KM2gVtw

Associate Professor Police Lieutenant Colonel Dr.Krisanaphong (Tong) Poothakool has served more than 25 years in Royal Thai Police (RTP). He began his police career at the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in Bangkok aiming to control and suppress serious crimes throughout the country. While working at CSD, he was chosen to work with senior administrators in Thailand including the Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, Chief of Central Investigation Bureau, Deputy Chief of Metropolitan Police Bureau and Deputy Chief of Central Investigation Bureau. In 2004, Tong took a break from his police career to study a Ph.D in the UK. When he returned to the Royal Thai Police in 2009, he was nominated as the Secretary Assistant of Deputy Police Commissioner.

From April 2012 to February 2019, Tong had held the position of lecturer at the Royal Thai Police Cadet Academy (RPCA). During this period of time, he was invited to work with UNODC, UNAIDS, UNDP and PSI Foundation as a consultant.

Tong’s qualifications include Master and Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Aberdeen (UK), as well as a Master and Ph.D. from Mahidol University (Thailand), and Bachelor of Laws. Tong’s research interests are police reform in Thailand; juvenile delinquency, crimes; criminal justice system; criminology.

Since March 2019, Tong has served as the Assistant to the President and the President of Criminology and Justice Administration Program at Rangsit University, Thailand after his resignation from the police force. He often gives lectures to groups such as police cadets, law enforcement officers, senior administrators and government officials. Tong is often asked to speak to the media about criminological perspectives towards criminal activities and crime prevention at national and international level.

The video is available to be viewed here.