myAIPMPolicing Vulnerable People
Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron and Dr Nicole L. Asquith | Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies
Introduction
Vulnerable people, in their capacity as victims, witnesses or offenders, are involved in 75% of police interactions in most international jurisdictions. It is only natural, then, to assume that consideration of community members’ vulnerabilities in everyday police work dominates discussions of policing business and quality assurance. We turn our attention to current debates as to how police interact with vulnerable people, and to the policies and legislation that underpin these interactions. This paper outlines the major international paradigms that address the definitional nature of vulnerability, and discusses the ways in which applied policy discussions are relevant to police practice in the field. The authors reached out to scholars on policing vulnerability to contribute illustrative vignettes on the questioning and positioning of vulnerability at the centre of contemporary policing debates. Saying that vulnerable people are central to current policing priorities is an understatement. Interactions with vulnerable people, in their capacity as victims, witnesses or offenders, constitute 75% of police interactions in most international jurisdictions. It is only natural, then, to assume that consideration of community members’ vulnerabilities in everyday police work dominates discussions of policing business and quality assurance (Coliandris, 2015). This is all the more relevant when taking into account issues such as family violence (where children and women are mostly victims or witnesses of abuse) or counter-terrorism (where religious minorities are often the subject of profiling or, vice-versa, the subject of hate crime), which are both placed high on police agencies’ strategic priorities. If vulnerability is omnipresent in the policing world, our scholarly attention needs to inform current debates as to how police can do better at interacting with vulnerable people, as well as drafting policies that are more encompassing of vulnerabilities’ ubiquitous and fluid nature. The authors address the major international paradigms that attempt to articulate the definitional nature of vulnerability. They also discuss the various ways in which applied policy discussions are relevant to police practice in the field. Some of the most prominent scholars in policing vulnerability provided their input (included as vignettes) on the questioning and positioning of vulnerability at the centre of contemporary policing debates.
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Policing Vulnerable People, Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron and Dr Nicole L. Asquith, Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies, 2020