Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being

The answer may be in front of us: Do we have the courage to listen?

2022-06-17T09:06:01-07:00

Obstacles to mental health treatment: Similarities and differences among first responder groups

2022-06-17T09:06:20-07:00

First responders have been shown to be at risk for several negative mental health outcomes. However, it is not always clear how to intervene to prevent these outcomes. One approach has been to try to reduce the obstacles to care that might be imposed by the profession or the organization. In this paper, we investigate whether the nature of these obstacles varies as a function of the type of job. A group of 1,485 first responders were studied. The results indicate a number of important specialty-related differences. The results are discussed in terms of how to tailor prevention programs to confront obstacles to care.

The changing context of Canadian policing: An examination of the public’s perceptions after 2020

2022-06-17T09:06:10-07:00

The positive perceptions of Canadians towards their local police had been relatively stable between 2000 and 2019, but survey results show those positive feelings dropped throughout the country after the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and the murder of George Floyd by an American police officer 2 months later. These changing perceptions have significant consequences for police services as lower levels of trust, confidence, and legitimacy reduce the public’s willingness to cooperate with them. While too soon to determine whether these decreased favourable perceptions will persist, they indicate the vulnerability of local police services to factors beyond their control. Implications for further research and policy are identified considering these findings.

Awe: Helping leaders address modern policing problems

2022-06-17T09:06:49-07:00

Policing in America is facing unprecedented issues, including surges in violent crimes, record-low levels of morale, recruitment and retention issues, COVID-19 as the leading cause of death in policing in 2021, police suicide described as an epidemic, and an overall increase in mental health conditions. As the resilience of police officers is pushed to the limits, police leaders must develop innovative approaches to enhance and sustain their workforce’s mental health and well-being. This paper shares how one aspect of resilience—reflecting on and experiencing awe—can assist police leaders in exploring creative and meaningful ways to address current policing issues.

Implementation of a post-overdose quick response team in the rural Midwest: A team case study

2022-06-17T09:07:00-07:00

The opioid-involved overdose crisis in the United States has had devastating effects on communities across the country. Post-overdose outreach teams have emerged as one way to reduce overdose risk for individuals who use drugs. Limited literature exists on how these teams are developed and how they operate. Even less is known about these teams in rural locations. This case study explored one rural team’s implementation, including its strengths and barriers to serving participants. Findings from interviews with program staff indicate the team had a consistent procedure for conducting outreach with overdose survivors and family members, had broad support and buy-in from leadership, and were able to clearly articulate the program’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth—including the need for more formal program evaluation. Factors that facilitated implementation included use of a person-centred and non-coercive approach, establishment of team role boundaries, multi-disciplinary collaboration, empathy, and buy-in across agencies and town leadership. Barriers included stigma among citizens, lack of an evaluation plan, difficulty providing outreach to individuals who have unstable housing, and difficulty following up with service agencies. The findings can benefit other jurisdictions, especially small and rural localities seeking to address the drug crisis more effectively.

Policing the pandemic: Public health, law enforcement, and the use of force

2022-06-17T09:06:29-07:00

This article delves into the relationship between policing and public health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The police have been seen as a crucial and extensively mobilised resource that has been utilised in responding to a public health crisis. The response to the pandemic shows the police mainly as enforcing state orders in which they have a traditional function related to the use of force. It is argued here that the classic definition of policing in terms of the use of force allows for the police becoming ‘decoupled’ from the institutional frames of criminal justice and public order. The perspective of a decoupled police would have real consequences for their involvement in public health. The article concludes with the conditions necessary for police to be a legitimate force in the public health domain.

Domestic and family violence behaviour change programs: An examination of gendered and non-gendered frameworks

2022-06-17T09:06:38-07:00

This article sets out to examine the dichotomous frameworks used to inform domestic and family violence (DFV) behaviour change programs (BCPs). Based on a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) methodology, we consider what works and what does not work in the delivery of Domestic and Family Violence programs through a gendered and non-gendered framework. This methodology was selected as it supports a balanced assessment of existing published research in the area, allowing for the current knowledge base to be critically examined. As a result, the REA revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of traditional gendered approaches focusing on the Duluth Model and non-gendered therapeutic approaches focusing on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Yet, while strengths and weaknesses can be seen in both the “violence as gendered” and “violence as non-gendered” paradigms, a case is made for only delivering BCPs within a non-gendered framework.

Criminality and crime control measures in selected train stations in Lagos, Nigeria

2022-06-17T09:07:09-07:00

Crime is among the major problems negatively impacting the effective operation of the rail transportation system in Nigeria. Although considerable scholarly attention has been devoted to criminality in public transit stations, there is a paucity of empirical data on the occurrence of the problem within train station facilities. Thus, using routine activity theory as a guide, this study investigated criminality and crime control measures in selected train stations in Lagos, Nigeria. In-depth interview and key informant interview methods were primarily deployed to gather data from 20 train station officials and eight locomotive drivers selected using purposive sampling technique. Results showed that vandalism, pilfering of train station equipment, rooftop riding and ticket evasion were the most commonly recorded forms of crime in train stations in Lagos. Multiple situational and environmental factors, including the presence of abandoned equipment, lax security systems, the construction of train stations in residential neighbourhoods, and poorly illuminated environments were making train stations vulnerable to criminality. It is imperative for the Nigeria Railway Corporation to strengthen existing security architecture at train stations to effectively deter motivated offenders from viewing the public transportation hub as suitable sites for crime perpetration.