Uni launches first issue of Crime, Security and Society

The new journal that welcomes contributions from practitioners as well as academics

AN institute at the University of Huddersfield aims to ensure that its research into all aspects of security is of real-world relevance, so it works closely with police and other agencies.  Now, it has launched a journal that welcomes contributions from practitioners as well as academics.

The open-access, online journal is titled Crime, Security and Society and the first issue is available now.  It is published under the aegis of the University’s inter-disciplinary Secure Societies Institute (SSI) and articles include a description of newly-patented technology named Tread Finder, which enables police to match footwear evidence to crime suspects.

This was co-written by Professor Rachel Armitage – Director of the SSI – with Julie Henderson of Bedfordshire Police.  Other contributors to Issue One of the journal include the University of Huddersfield’s Reader in Forensic Biology, Dr Stefano Vanin, who provides an overview of the use of insect evidence at crime scenes. 

Senior Law Lecturer James Mendelsohn examines the case for the UK banning the political as well as the military wing of Hezbollah.  And criminology lecturer Dr Dainis Ignatans – with collaborator Timothy Roebuck – poses the question “Do more immigrants equal more crime?”

The launch editor for Crime, Security and Society was Dr Jason Roach, who is the University of Huddersfield’s Reader in Crime and Policing.

“It has always been our intention for this journal to provide a welcome space for both academic researchers and professionals, working in the area of crime and security, in which to share their current findings and experiences and ideas,” he writes, adding a call for papers that are of academic interest, but also of practical utility from practitioners including police, security personnel and policy makers.

Articles in the early editions of the twice-yearly journal are likely to focus on issues considered to be the most pertinent causes of harm to society, writes Dr Roach.  These include terrorism, counter-terrorism, child sexual exploitation, burglary, policing, forensic identification of crime scene stains and radicalisation.

“In the longer term we hope to attract papers which tackle emerging and future crime and security issues, such as the effects of mass migration, cyber-enabled crime, as the reach and scope of the journal expands,” states Dr Roach’s editorial.

Now, the editorship of the journal has been handed to the forensic anthropologist Dr Anna Williams, who is a Principal Enterprise Fellow at the University of Huddersfield and an Assistant Director of the SSI.  A regular contributor to the media, her academic publications include 2017’s Forensic Science Education and Training: A Tool-kit for Lecturers and Practitioner Trainers.

Dr Williams said that the aim was for Crime, Security and Society to become a widely-respected, peer-reviewed journal and it would invite contributions from both academics and practitioners dealing with major crime and security issues facing society.

“The philosophy of the SSI is that we are bringing together different disciplines that wouldn’t normally work together to address crime concerns and security issues,” said Dr Williams, adding that this would be reflected by the new journal.