The Governing for Security program covers a diverse range of projects and disciplines, linked by a focus on the changing techniques and patterns of regulation related to security and policing in its broadest sense. A significant focus of these projects in 2010-11 has been the recruitment of new postdoctoral researchers and postgraduates to work with Chief Investigators and senior researchers.

 

The Historical Threats projects charted the shifts in how society and its coercive institutions respond to crime and insecurity, focusing on how security has been reframed and redefined over time. The Legal Frameworks project has completed several studies of counterterrorism law and policy, including the submission of Susan Donkin’s PhD thesis on preventive detention.

 

The Vulnerable Infrastructures and Government Coordination project, which commenced in 2010, made major contributions to public debate and policy development in 2011. This was boosted by the full time secondment of a senior policy practitioner, Ms Kate O’Donnell, Director, Transport Security in the Queensland Government. Kate tirelessly worked to ensure that CEPS scholarship gained attention of both local and national policy makers. Major research milestones include publishing contracts for several books with international publishers (Drs Legrand and Hufnagel), and the showcasing of CEPS research undertaken to date at the 2011 Annual CEPS Conference on ‘Risk and Resilience: Redefining Security’.

 

A number of new senior colleagues have joined CEPS in 2011, Professors Geoff Alpert (University of South Carolina, USA) and Philip Stenning (formerly Keele University, UK). Both scholars have distinguished track records in policing research, and are busy shaping our research agendas in Frontline Policing with Project Team Leader Dr Louise Porter. The Use of Force project, which is being developed with QPS, draws on the extensive previous studies undertaken in the US and Europe. Some of the early research findings are profiled in a CEPS Briefing Paper (Alpert and Rojeck), and pave the way for a major multiyear study of police decision-making and use of force. Two new PhDs students were recruited, who will commence work on this project in 2012. Planned milestones for 2012 include publication of a stocktake of legislation and policy governing police use of force, an edited book, journal articles, as well as a workshop to profile research undertaken to date with industry partners and researchers.

 

Integrity issues are rarely absent from public debate in policing and security, and intersect with many of the above projects. Professor Prenzler, as CI, leads a team of researchers focused on identifying corruption in its many forms, and what regulatory strategies work to counter these vulnerabilities. As one of the early projects, the program has achieved an impressive level of high quality publications, which are shaping policy debate in a range of ways.

 

The Governing for Security program stimulates further “spin off” projects, and two new colleagues, Drs Melanie O’Brien and Edwin Bikundo, have bolstered the international law and human rights expertise within CEPS. Building on earlier doctoral research, both scholars are developing new projects on international criminal justice, and benefiting from the rich interdisciplinary mix of research undertaken in CEPS.