'The Not So Thin Blue Line After All?' Investigative Resources Dedicated to Fighting Fraud/Economic Crime in the United Kingdom

Button, Mark; Blackbourn, Dean; Tunley, Martin

doi:10.1093/police/pau037

Cited by 23 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…1 NO. 3 2015 j JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE j PAGE 163 employed by the UK's Department for Work and Pensions to address the specific problem of benefit fraud (Button et al, 2015). For many organisations -particularly small-and medium-sized enterprises -they simply do not have the capacity to launch a criminal investigation (whether it is staff with the skills or resources to hire external investigators).…”

Section: Corporate Victims In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”: private sanctions for fraud and their implications for justice

Button

Wakefield

Brooks

et al. 2015

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice

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Purpose\ud \ud – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which contemporary organisations are imposing their own private sanctions on fraudsters. \ud \ud \ud \ud \ud Design/methodology/approach\ud \ud – The research draws on primary data from interviews with counter fraud practitioners in the UK, secondary sources and case examples. \ud \ud \ud \ud \ud Findings\ud \ud – Such developments have been stimulated, at least in part, by the broader limitations of the criminal justice system and in particular a “fraud bottleneck”. Alongside criminal sanctions, many examples are provided of organisations employing private prosecutions innovative forms of civil sanction and “pseudo state” sanctions, most commonly civil penalties comparable to fines. \ud \ud \ud \ud \ud Research limitations/implications\ud \ud – Such changes could mark the beginning of the “rebirth of private prosecution” and the further expansion of private punishment. Growing private involvement in state sanctions and the development of private sanctions represents a risk to traditional guarantees of justice. There are differences in which comparable frauds are dealt with by corporate bodies and thus considerable inconsistency in sanctions imposed. In contrast with criminal justice measures, there is no rehabilitative element to private sanctions. More research is needed to assess the extent of such measures, and establish what is happening, the wider social implications, and whether greater state regulation is needed. \ud \ud \ud \ud \ud Practical implications\ud \ud – Private sanctions for fraud are likely to continue to grow, as organisations pursue their own measures rather than relying on increasingly over-stretched criminal justice systems. Their emergence, extent and implications are not fully understood by researchers and therefore need much more research, consideration and debate. These private measures need to be more actively recognised by criminal justice policy-makers and analysts alongside the already substantial formal involvement of the private sector in punishment through prisons, electronic tagging and probation, for example. Such measures lack the checks and balances, and greater degree of consistency as laid out in sentencing guidelines, of the criminal justice system. In light of this, consideration needs to be given to greater state regulation of private sanctions for fraud. More also needs to be done to help fraudsters suffering problems such as debt or addiction to rebuild their lives. There is a strong case for measures beyond the criminal justice system to support such fraudsters to be created and publicly promoted. \ud \ud \ud \ud \ud Originality/value\ud \ud – The findings are of relevance to criminal justice policy-makers, academics and counter fraud practitioners in the public and private sectors

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Section: Corporate Victims In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”: private sanctions for fraud and their implications for justice

Button

Wakefield

Brooks

et al. 2015

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice

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“…It is the case that, over the past decade, the nature and size of the problem have been recorded regularly. From at least the 1980s, the growing threat of fraud has been the subject of debate within the public sector, most notably within local government, but also within the National Health Service where fraud investigation has been undertaken for many years (Button et al, 2015).…”

Section: Policing Past and Policing Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a critical analysis of the police response to fraud, researchers discovered that over the past 20 years, studies had identified a significant decline in specialist police resources dedicated to investigating fraud or economic crime. In the 1980s, police forces supported 588 fraud squad officers, but by 2006, this number had fallen to an estimated 416 police officers (Button et al, 2015).…”

Section: Policing Past and Policing Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the decrease in the number of fraud squad officers occurred during a period of substantial increases in police numbers (Berman, 2012). Most recent research data collected on the numbers of police officers specializing in fraud indicates that, when aggregated nationally, there were 624.3 officers in 2014, represented approximately 0.27% of all police personnel (Button et al, 2015).…”

Section: Policing Past and Policing Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Still plodding along? The police response to the changing profile of crime in England and Wales

Loveday

2017

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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This paper will consider the new demands placed on police forces arising from the dramatic increase in cases of fraud and cybercrime. It will assess the ability-or current inability-of the police to respond to this development. The paper will therefore be directed towards the growing requirement for substantial internal police reform that goes well beyond anything contemplated heretofore. The paper will draw on the recent and important HMIC PEEL Review of police efficiency which has for the first time raised the question of identifying not just police capacity but also police force capability. It is evident that while police forces are able to quickly identify police capacity [ranks and police numbers] they experience great difficulty in relation to capabilities. This in fact links in with the police response to the 'new' forms of crime which is now replacing acquisitive crime. The paper will seek to identify current police responses to this development and also highlight its inadequacy.

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“…Savage (2016), for example, gained access to 39 UK police constabularies' whistleblowing policy in 2015. FOI requests have been made to the police in the UK in order to determine the resources dedicated to respond to fraud and economic crimes (Button, Blackbourn & Tunley, 2014); usage patterns of lesslethal forms of the Use of Force (Payne-James, Rivers, Green & Johnston, 2014); and to determine the number of police station closures and reductions in opening hours (Smith & Somerville, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Cost’ calculations as a barrier to gaining information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the police in England and Wales

Kingston

Elliott

Thomas

2018

Policing and Society

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'The Not So Thin Blue Line After All?' Investigative Resources Dedicated to Fighting Fraud/Economic Crime in the United Kingdom

Cited by 23 publications

References 6 publications

Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”: private sanctions for fraud and their implications for justice

Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”: private sanctions for fraud and their implications for justice

Still plodding along? The police response to the changing profile of crime in England and Wales

‘Cost’ calculations as a barrier to gaining information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the police in England and Wales

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