Surfing the Crime Net: Policing, Crime Prevention and Community Safety in Australia
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Surfing the Crime Net: Policing, Crime Prevention and Community Safety in Australia Darren Palmer1 Introduction There can be no doubt that the Internet offers the possibility of increasing access to a range of sources of available information in a timely manner. This is particularly so as we increasingly seek to engage with information from outside our jurisdictional boundaries. While this hints at the effects of globalisation, it is also meant to be suggestive of the practical realities involved in researching (or simply following) developments occurring within emergent federal structures (for instance the European Union) or longer-standing federations such as the United States and Australia. Of course, a department or agency having a homepage and various links is only the start of the process of making information accessible. As will be indicated below, there remain significant limitations in the electronic material available from many agencies. Fortunately, there are also a number of organisations that enable the researcher to access original data and research publications. This article focuses on Australian resources—a mixture of sites that provide an overview of and a set of linkages to Internet resources, as well as links to specific agencies. The aim is to identify key sites that enable a person interested in pursuing particular issues, wanting to access data or simply wanting to establish contacts to begin the processes involved in understanding policing, crime prevention and community safety in Australia (hereafter abbreviated to ‘policing and crime’). In other words, while some of the sites mentioned below are specific to a particular organisation (for instance a police agency), many of them contain much more information than simply policing and crime. In general, this article is less interpretative than some of the previous contributions to ‘Surfing the Crime Net’, and more oriented towards providing enabling information. The article is divided into four main sections, with a brief conclusion on future developments. The first section provides information to enable a researcher to access general information and establish links with Australian researchers. The second section focuses on policing agencies and raises questions about the general lack of research material available on policing sites, and more specifically the absence of critical reports on policing. The third section examines several key research agencies that produce important research and information on their respective States. The final section provides a starting point for those interested in print media, with additional material concerning Internet-based ‘independent’ media. First, there is a need to state what for many will be obvious but may not be understood by all readers. Australia has distinct jurisdictions at State/Territory and Federal levels, each with its own criminal justice system and related agencies, policies and programmes. Thus, understanding policing and crime in Australia requires attention to the commonalties and distinc
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