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Working with Vulnerable Offenders

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Policing Practices and Vulnerable People

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Abstract

At the front end of the policing process, contact with and detention of offenders is one of the most important tipping points in policing vulnerability. It is police action at this point that can do much to alleviate the vulnerability experienced by offenders. However, it is also the point at which police can exacerbate the offender’s individual vulnerability and create iatrogenic (or system-generated) vulnerability. The mismanagement of this important tipping point in the policing process is central to much of the recent protests against policing, especially as it relates to the use of force and officer-involved deaths of suspects and offenders. Policing history has highlighted how police actions disproportionately target vulnerable people, and the catastrophic consequences that could arise from taking action. In this chapter, we overview the research and practice in relation to working with vulnerable offenders, and consider the police caution and custody arrangements as critical tipping points where alternative policies and practice may alleviate vulnerability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Nicole L. Asquith & Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron

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  1. Nicole L. Asquith
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  2. Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron
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Correspondence to Nicole L. Asquith .

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Asquith, N.L., Bartkowiak-Théron, I. (2021). Working with Vulnerable Offenders. In: Policing Practices and Vulnerable People. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62870-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62870-3_6

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