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The National Deaths in Custody Program (NDICP) has monitored the extent and nature of deaths that occurred in prison, police custody and youth detention since 1980. The NDICP was established at the Australian Institute of Criminology in 1992 in response to recommendation 41 by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The NDICP is based on death notifications from state and territory police services, correctional departments and youth justice agencies and coronial data from the National Coronial Information System.

A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, "Australian Deaths in Custody and Custody-related Police Operations, 2000", states that during 2000 there was a total of 91 deaths in all forms of custody in Australia. In 1999 there were 85 custodial deaths. In 2000 the majority of deaths occurred in prison custody with 64 deaths. Two deaths occurred in juvenile detention during this time. There was a total of 17 Indigenous deaths in custody in the year 2000-11 of those deaths occurred in prison custody, five in police custody and one death in a juvenile detention centre.

Foreword | Conferencing and cautioning are used as diversionary alternatives in the juvenile justice system and there is evidence to suggest they reduce reoffending. As Indigenous young people are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, an important question is whether they are as likely to be diverted as non-Indigenous young people.

Bushfire investigation is a complex procedure, primarily requiring cooperation between police and fire agencies. In Australia, fire agencies and police have separate and complementary roles in the investigation process. The initial decision as to whether a bushfire is investigated as arson rests with the firefighters who attend the fire. In most large urban centres, such decisions are made by paid firefighters, whereas in rural areas the decisions often rest with volunteers. Land management agencies in some relatively minor instances conduct their own investigations and mount prosecutions.

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:

Violent crime, with the intention of causing (or threatening) physical harm or death to the victim, attracts more attention and debate than other forms of crime. Sustained media attention combined with high-profile incidents - such as the shootings at Port Arthur (Tasmania), and Monash University and Flinders Lane in Melbourne; gang rapes in Sydney; and organised crime-related murders - have prompted a view among the Australian public that violent crime is increasing in Australia.

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.

Foreword | Concern regarding the diversion and non-medical use of prescription pharmaceuticals continues to grow as anecdotal evidence and other research points to a sizeable increase in the illegal market for such drugs. Estimating the prevalence of illegal use and understanding how pharmaceutical drugs come to be traded in the illegal drug market remain key research priorities for policymakers and practitioners in both the public health and law enforcement sectors.

Foreword | Crime victimisation surveys have emerged over the past few decades as an important research tool to help provide a picture of crime that is independent of police statistics. In 2004 the Australian Institute of Criminology managed the Australian component of the International Crime Victimisation Survey (ICVS) which interviewed 7,000 people about their experience and perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system.

Contents

• Introduction
• What is racist violence?
• National inquiry into racist violence
• Information collection
• Size of the problem
• Who are the victims?
• Impact on victims
• What can be done?
• An Aboriginal perspective

The chapters of this book were originally published as Research Papers of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

The Australian Institute of Criminology recently released Deaths in Custody in Australia: 2001 National Deaths in Custody Program (NDICP) Annual Report. This report shows that there was a total of 87 deaths in custody in Australia during 2001: 56 prison custody deaths and 31 deaths in police custody. The majority of police custody deaths occurred during custody-related police operations (such as police pursuits and sieges). The 24 recorded deaths of this nature represent the highest number of these deaths ever recorded by the NDICP.

Foreword | In Australia 'open-street' or 'town centre' CCTV refers to visual surveillance systems established in the main by local government authorities in cooperation with police to monitor public spaces such as malls and major thoroughfares. This paper is therefore not concerned with other uses of CCTV such as its deployment on public transport networks, within privately regulated commercial spaces such as casinos and shopping malls, or in retail outlets.

Note: This is an abridged, updated version of the 1988 South Australian Justice Administration Foundation Oration presented at the South Australian Police Academy, Fort Largs on 13 July 1988.