Deaths in Custody: The Utility of Data Collected from County Coroners

Pelfrey, William V.; Covington, Michele W.

doi:10.1080/14786010701241358

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They also normally contain a section where the Coroner makes recommendations for preventing deaths in the future (e.g., Coroners Act 2003 (Queensland), s.46). In most advanced democracies inquests are considered to be highly independent and objective in their approach, and capable of countering defensive biases by government departments and corporations (Pelfrey and Covington, 2007).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from Police Deaths on Duty: A Case Study

Prenzler¹

2010

Policing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper provides an in-depth study of one police officer death on duty in Australia. The paper draws primarily on the detailed Coroner's inquest and final report into the death of Constable Brett Irwin, who was fatally shot by a career criminal when attempting to execute a warrant. The Coroner found that Irwin's death was highly preventable. The findings have vital implications for police officer safety in many jurisdictions. They support and embellish the findings from quantitative research: that police must take an extremely cautious and highly organised approach to the routine task of arrest by warrant. In analysing the inquest, the paper goes further, emphasising how computer-based criminal intelligence should feed into standardised risk management strategies and a much lower threshold for calling in special operations teams.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from Police Deaths on Duty: A Case Study

Prenzler¹

2010

Policing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They argued that Coroners provide a more efficient and valid source of information for this topic than law enforcement agencies, particularly since they represent a neutral component of the criminal justice system. Further, Pelfrey & Covington, (2007) argued that Coroners provide a new source of information that had not been used previously for exploring deaths in police custody that also eliminates sampling error since the entire population can be specified and collected in the research. Dalton (1998) emphasises how Coroners normally examine the role of the police in a death in custody in every detail and may highlight inadequacies in investigations by police.…”

Section: Here]mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the death of an Indigenous man, Mulrunji, in custody on Palm Island in Queensland in 2004, sparked riots and led to years of subsequent investigation and review. While Leigh, Johnson and Ingram (1998) posit that not all deaths in police custody are avoidable, Pelfrey and Covington (2007) suggest that the logical converse is that some deaths may be preventable. Indeed, the Coroner’s inquest report (Queensland Coroner’s Court, 2006) on the death of Mulrunji highlighted a number of stages during which the death might have been prevented.…”

Section: Indigenous Deaths Associated With Police Contact In Australimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coroner reports are a rich source of data for prevention-oriented research. Pelfrey and Covington (2007) in the US, particularly advocated the use of Coroners for research to 'advance the understanding of the situational exigencies (Bittner, 1970) surrounding deaths that occur while in police custody ' (2007: 68). They argued that Coroners provide a more efficient and valid source of information for this topic than law enforcement agencies, particularly since they represent a neutral component of the criminal justice system.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Indigenous deaths associated with police contact in Australia: Event stages and lessons for prevention

Porter

2013

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a research focus, coronial work has been addressed through methodological questions, such as the value of using coronial data (e.g. Pelfry and White Covington, 2007), or where coronial processes and documents (coronial findings, inquest proceedings and transcripts) form the basis for case-study research (e.g. Cunneen, 2006; Prenzler, 2010; Porter, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction:Frontiers in Coronial Justice– ushering in a new era of coronial research

Bray¹,

Martin²

2016

International Journal of Law in Context

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This Special Issue, Frontiers in Coronial Justice, reflects on the future of death investigation studies in the coronial context. Where the uptake of the death studies movement in the social sciences more broadly has expanded the interdisciplinary study of death, comparatively little attention has focused on the work of coroners or their death investigation practices. Important, but albeit ad hoc, contributions from the disciplines of medicine, law, public health and criminology, highlight both the possibilities for coronial scholarship and how coronial studies continue to percolate at disciplinary margins. And yet, there is growing social attention to death generally, from death cafés to death salons, and the 'positive death movement' more broadly. Society is clustering around conversations seeking social change in facing death, including preparatory discussions around end of life wishes and options. Yet, by their very nature, unexpected, sudden or violent deaths -those that fall under the jurisdiction of the coroner -constitute a distinct category of death; one that is, in many ways, incapable of being prepared for. Nevertheless, such deaths present instances of considerable medical, legal and social industry, with attendant issues around autopsy and inquests, for example. This industry is also changing, as coronial law and policy reform across international jurisdictions has refined, clarified and sought to evolve the coronial role. Together, these developments evidence why coronial law and practice deserve sustained attention. Correspondingly, a theme that unites the papers in this special issue is a greater appreciation of the principles and practices of coronial death investigation. It is intended that, by showcasing work that cuts across law, socio-legal studies, criminology and history, this Special Issue will contribute to delivering new frontiers in coronial research.At a snapshot, the genres of scholarly attention to the coronial jurisdiction are wide and varied. Coroners' work has intermittently piqued the attention of socio-legal scholars (e.g. Wells, 1991Wells, , 1996Sampson, 2003;Pemberton, 2008; Corrin and Douglas, 2008), and legal scholars have canvassed specific issues, such as human rights, in the context of coronial work and litigation (Hunyor, 2008(Hunyor, , 2009O'Brien, 2009;Ismail, 2010;Hyam, 2010;Chevalier-Watts, 2010;McIntosh, 2012;Freckelton and McGregor, 2014), including literature that touches upon deaths in certain contexts, such as Northern Ireland (e.g. Bell and Keenan, 2005). Save few exceptions, criminological scholarship is found largely wanting on any wholesale attention to theorising death investigation. As a research focus, coronial work has been addressed through methodological questions, such as the value of using coronial data (e.g. Pelfry and White Covington, 2007), or where coronial processes and documents (coronial findings, inquest proceedings and transcripts) form the basis for case-study research (e.g. Cunneen, 2006;Prenzler, 2010;Porter, 2013). Until recently, case-...

show abstract

Deaths in Custody: The Utility of Data Collected from County Coroners

Cited by 9 publications

References 2 publications

Learning from Police Deaths on Duty: A Case Study

Learning from Police Deaths on Duty: A Case Study

Indigenous deaths associated with police contact in Australia: Event stages and lessons for prevention

Introduction:Frontiers in Coronial Justice– ushering in a new era of coronial research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About