The following are excerpts from recent research related to justice and law enforcement and reflect the views and opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the organizations for which they work. To access the full reports, please visit the website links at the bottom of each summary.
Police responses to elder abuse: the Ottawa Police Service Elder Abuse Section
By Lisa Ha
In 2009, the Research and Statistics Division of the Department of Justice Canada conducted a study on elder abuse using case files from the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Elder Abuse Section. This specialized unit, created in 2005, utilizes a collaborative approach to tackling elder abuse.
The study revealed that while the statistics provide valuable information on the nature of elder abuse cases, the complexity of the cases isn't fully captured in this type of analysis.
The OPS has one of the first dedicated elder abuse sections in Canada. Their mandate is two-fold: to investigate allegations of elder abuse where there is a relationship of trust/dependence between the victim and their abuser and to work with front-line services to educate the public about elder abuse.
Having a dedicated elder abuse section allows officers to adopt a specialized approach when dealing with elderly victims. The OPS section prioritizes exploring alternative solutions, which often involves co-ordinating police involvement with appropriate health, social and community service agencies.
The data collected in 2009 showed several trends. Of the 453 files analyzed, the average age of victims was 80, more than two-thirds of victims were female and most victims were widowed. A vast majority (98 per cent) had children.
Data on the relationship between the victim and the accused showed some interesting differences between men and women. Overall, mothers were the most common victims, followed by "no relationship" and "other."
Overall, the most common type of abuse was financial, with men being victimized more often than women. In half of the cases, victims were unaware of the financial abuse.
The section was invited to review the final report of the case files and provide comments. After reading the report, the officers felt that the numbers didn't tell the entire story. While they recognized the importance of hard data, they found that the analysis lacked the many nuances that characterize elder abuse investigations.
Police officers play a pivotal role in the response to elder abuse. Their role is complex, as they act as both investigators and educators. One officer suggested their work is much like social work due to the dynamics between the elderly person and their caregivers or family members.
When the elderly are victimized, police officers are often their first point of contact, and the experiences of the OPS Elder Abuse Section demonstrate the importance of adopting collaborative approaches focusing on support and safety to meet the needs of elderly victims and their families.
Furthermore, the officers in the OPS Elder Abuse Section stressed the importance of continued education and awareness of the signs and symptoms of abuse and the importance of adequate levels of support to ensure that there are resources available to elderly victims.
To access the full report, please visit: www.justice.gc.ca.
Geographies of missing people
By Olivia Stevenson, Hester Parr, Penny Woolnough and Nick Fyfe
A person in the U.K. is recorded as missing by the police approximately every two minutes and a wealth of agencies – police, charities, health, social workers – are charged with searching for them and supporting those left behind.
However, there is a paucity of U.K.-based qualitative research conducted directly with adults reported as missing about their experiences.
This research study has been designed to explore why adults leave, but more importantly, where they go and what happens while they're missing. The overall intention of the research is to create a new space of enquiry around the missing experience, with direct reference to the people who experience its profound effects.
The Police and Missing People charity formally recognize an adult's right to "be missing" and official definition changes that acknowledge such absence came into effect in 2013. Yet, defining what it is to be missing is recognized as complex and there's no clear consensus within and between agencies and those reported as missing.
Interviewees are almost exclusively white, over the age of 18 and approximately split evenly between male and female.
A high proportion of interviewees reported mental health issues (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) and 33 per cent attempted suicide while reported as missing.
The drivers leading to adults being reported as missing are multifaceted and include historic and current traumatic experiences, strong emotions, feeling trapped or powerless, stress and depression.
Emotions at the start of the journey were for the most part positive, yet as journeys continue, feelings of isolation, guilt, shame and embarrassment develop and these continued to circulate after the missing person returned or reconnection had been made.
People report making contact with friends and employers while they are still missing, and these key figures don't always report this contact.
Fearfulness and lack of understanding of police procedure and response in missing persons cases acted as a barrier to accessing police help.
Ninety-three per cent of adults reported police intervention when on a missing journey compared to 41 per cent on return. Police intervention varied from a conversation on a mobile phone, to visiting adults in their homes for a safe and well check, to returning adults to hospital wards.
Adults reported the need to talk to police about their experience but the opportunity didn't occur.
Feelings of shock, panic, embarrassment and confusion arise when adults realize they are labelled as a "missing person" by police, a label with which they do not identify.
Police handling of the return is critical to feelings of guilt and shame in the missing person, and may be important for continuing mental health or repeat missing events and future police contact.
To access the full report, please visit: www.sipr.ac.uk.
Human trafficking and slavery offenders in Australia
By Frances Simmons, Brynn O'Brien, Fiona David and Laura Beacroft
This paper presents the first analysis of convicted human trafficking offenders in Australia. It provides an overview of the limited international literature on offenders in trafficking in persons, slavery and slavery-like crimes before analyzing the characteristics of convicted offences in Australian cases.
There are five key findings that emerge from the analysis of convicted offenders in the Australian context. These findings reflect the first analysis of a small number of cases and should therefore be treated with caution.
First, in Australia, offenders have typically exploited their victims through subtle methods of control rather than through the overt use of force or explicit threats of violence.
Secondly, offenders and victims were often the same gender and share similar background and experiences. The majority of convicted offenders in Australia have been women. Of the nine trafficking schemes that have been successfully prosecuted, eight involved female offenders (albeit in some cases with male co-offenders).
Gender is not the only characteristic Australian female offenders shared with their victims. Offenders and victims often had similar cultural, language, socioeconomic and migration background and work histories.
Third, the reported cases in Australia don't match common assumptions about high-end organized crime. This is supported by the inaugural report from the Anti-People Trafficking Interdepartmental Committee, which found that groups identified as having trafficked people into Australia have been relatively small, with many using family or business contacts to "facilitate recruitment, movement and visa fraud."
Fourth, all the offenders were motivated by profit. Part of the motivation for non-physical control of victims is that is reduces the risk of escape and this can enhance profits. While the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime concluded that human trafficking crimes are not as profitable as other crimes (such as identity crime), the offenders in the Australian cases found the schemes profitable enough to motivate them.
Finally, the trafficking process often involves other criminal activity such as immigration fraud and money laundering. While human trafficking and slavery crimes in Australia did not occur in overtly illicit markets, it appears that other crimes (particularly immigration fraud), were involved in the commission of trafficking schemes.
The precarious immigration status of most of the victims meant that the threat (actual or implied) of deportation created an environment in which victims were often afraid to seek help from Australian authorities, including police.
In this context, it's important to ensure that anti-trafficking measures reflect the principle that victims shouldn't be punished for offences that occurred as a result of their status as trafficking victims.
To access the full report, please visit: www.aic.gov.au.