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Foreword | The National Deaths in Custody Program contains a dataset spanning 25 years with details of every death occurring in prison custody, police custody and custody-related operations, and in juvenile detention facilities across Australia. This report summarises the trends in these deaths between 1990 and 2004. Compared with the period 1980-1989 in which the majority of deaths in custody occurred in police custody, prison custody deaths have accounted for the overall majority of deaths since 1990.

Foreword | Between 1984 and 2004 the proportion of remanded prisoners rose from 12 to 20 percent of the total prisoner population, and the rate of prisoners remanded into custody tripled. In an attempt to identify the factors associated with high and low remand rates the researchers undertook a detailed study of Victoria (which has comparatively low remand rates) and South Australia (which has comparatively high remand rates).

Foreword | Over the past ten years, there has been considerable discussion of what is often called 'road rage'. Articles appear regularly in the academic literature and the press, and governments have been prompted to take action to control what seems to be a growing incidence of violence associated with motor vehicle use. This paper considers how best to define the problem and to quantify its extent.

Previous research has explored the use of particular weapons in crime and the characteristics of weapons offences, but the reasons for owning and carrying weapons, and the sources of those weapons have not been examined. Nor have there been many studies examining the possible link between drug use and weapons, in particular firearms (Sheley 1994). Using data collected as part of the DUMA program, this paper examines the extent to which police detainees self-reported:

In 1994 the New York City Police Commissioner, William Bratton, implemented a new, strategic approach to crime control and order maintenance that he coined COMPSTAT (for a review of the model see Bratton 1998). COMPSTAT involves executive police officers meeting with precinct or district commanders on a regular basis (Henry 2002). COMPSTAT is a four-step process that includes accurate and timely intelligence, rapid deployment, effective tactics, and follow-up and assessment (Walsh & Vito 2004).

Foreword | Problem solving methodology is at the heart of crime prevention strategies used by law enforcement agencies across Australia and around the world. The technique typically involves a systematic use of solid data and extensive progress evaluation, with an emphasis on theory, contextuality, and implementation. This paper uses existing literature to highlight the place of problem solving in crime prevention, and the need for flexibility, responsiveness, and the need for an understanding of context in using problem solving techniques.

Foreword | In 2003, 1,821 males and 5,669 females aged under 15 years were recorded by police as victims of sexual assault but we know from crime victim surveys that sexual assault is the crime least likely to be reported to the police. We also know from research that adult sex offenders and victims are significantly more likely to have suffered abuse as children. A significant proportion of this abuse occurs within the family by intra-familial offenders.

Foreword | During 2005, there were 5.5 million visitor arrivals to Australia, a five percent increase over the previous year (Tourism Australia 2006). Despite media headlines labelling Australia as an unsafe place to visit, this paper provides factual information indicating that the risk of homicide victimisation faced by tourists who visit Australia is extremely low. Between 1994 and 2003, the murder rate of tourists was 0.9 per million short-term visitors to Australia. In the most recent year for which data are available there were only two tourists murdered.

Australia's criminal justice system has been witness to significant transformation, primarily in response to a number of important factors including:

Foreword | Drug and alcohol use have been found to be important correlates of criminal offending. The Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) studies found high levels of drug and alcohol dependency among women, men and juveniles incarcerated in Australian prisons. Offenders also reported a range of negative life experiences related to their drug and alcohol abuse.

Foreword | The Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program is a crime monitoring program that focuses on illegal drug use amongst police detainees. It involves the collection of self-report and urinalysis data from people detained in police watchhouses, and the timely output of this data to police, policy-makers, criminal justice practitioners and other professionals every three months.

Foreword | The poor health of prisoners during imprisonment is well documented, but there have been few, if any studies into the longer term health prospects for prisoners after their release into the community. This research is the first to use linked administrative data to track the continuing health problems of and use of health services by prisoners in Western Australia before and after their imprisonment.

Foreword | This paper reports on a face-to-face survey conducted with 337 small businesses in two ethnically-concentrated communities. Interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Controlling for other factors, Chinese businesses were at greater risk of shoplifting and Vietnamese businesses were at greater risk of burglary and vandalism compared with English speaking businesses, while English speaking businesses were at greater risk of robbery and/or verbal abuse and/or physical assault.