Understanding recidivism and repeat incarceration among young male offenders: a biographical and longitudinal approach. The research focuses on the group of offenders who, as a cohort, annually commit the most crime within Australia. The production of longitudinal qualitative data about individual experiences of secure care, release, and imprisonment, will provide a foundation for empirically driven policies and debates in the area of youth crime and incarceration for each state and territory. A ....Understanding recidivism and repeat incarceration among young male offenders: a biographical and longitudinal approach. The research focuses on the group of offenders who, as a cohort, annually commit the most crime within Australia. The production of longitudinal qualitative data about individual experiences of secure care, release, and imprisonment, will provide a foundation for empirically driven policies and debates in the area of youth crime and incarceration for each state and territory. Accordingly, the community will benefit through the generation of new possibilities for intervening in cycles of persistent offending and repeat custodial sentences. This has major social, cultural and economic implications. Read moreRead less
3D analysis of facial features for proof of identity across Australia's ethnically diverse population. The forensic sciences concerned with establishing Human identity play a vital role in safeguarding Australia. Certainty in Human identification is required by police and intelligence agencies because knowing the identity of perpetrators (or potential perpetrators) of crime allows effective preventative intervention. This is particularly important during surveillance operations and in the contex ....3D analysis of facial features for proof of identity across Australia's ethnically diverse population. The forensic sciences concerned with establishing Human identity play a vital role in safeguarding Australia. Certainty in Human identification is required by police and intelligence agencies because knowing the identity of perpetrators (or potential perpetrators) of crime allows effective preventative intervention. This is particularly important during surveillance operations and in the context of border protection. When crime has already been committed, the identification of victims and perpetrators is important for the exoneration of the innocent and successful prosecution of the guilty. The full utilisation of 3D morphometric analysis of faces will provide criteria robust enough for legal proof of identity. Read moreRead less
Developmental Pathways to Intimate Partner Homicide: Understanding Individual and Situational Dimensions. Intimate partner homicide is a serious public health and safety issue. This project will have several benefits. The findings will extend understanding of pathways leading to partner homicide. The findings will contribute to improved decision-making models by police and social welfare agencies. With more valid information about the changing characteristics leading to partner homicide, the fin ....Developmental Pathways to Intimate Partner Homicide: Understanding Individual and Situational Dimensions. Intimate partner homicide is a serious public health and safety issue. This project will have several benefits. The findings will extend understanding of pathways leading to partner homicide. The findings will contribute to improved decision-making models by police and social welfare agencies. With more valid information about the changing characteristics leading to partner homicide, the findings will foster more effective and efficient responses. Additionally, the findings will inform victims of partner violence of risks related to escalation toward fatal outcomes and should facilitate help seeking behaviour. Collectively, project findings should expand understanding, improve service delivery and save lives.
Read moreRead less
Closed Circuit Television Surveillance, Security Networks and Australian Public Space. This project will make a significant contribution to our understandings of how visual surveillance systems impact upon the way public spaces are experienced and utilised. By examining the social impacts of surveillance this study will facilitate the development of security measures that facilitate greater inclusiveness and community cooperation. It will also assist the development of security measures cognizan ....Closed Circuit Television Surveillance, Security Networks and Australian Public Space. This project will make a significant contribution to our understandings of how visual surveillance systems impact upon the way public spaces are experienced and utilised. By examining the social impacts of surveillance this study will facilitate the development of security measures that facilitate greater inclusiveness and community cooperation. It will also assist the development of security measures cognizant of local variation and potential social consequences. Read moreRead less
DNA FINGERPRINTING IN DOCUMENT SECURITY TO COUNTER TERRORISM. Crime costs Australia >$18 billion per year. Of this, money laundering/document fraud is estimated at ~$4.5 billion and ~$1.5 to $3 trillion worldwide. Although many techniques combat document fraud (signatures, specialised inks and paper, watermarking etc) they are severely limited by low specificity or are easy to copy.
Alternatively identification by DNA fingerprinting is highly specific (>10 billion to 1) and can now be obtain ....DNA FINGERPRINTING IN DOCUMENT SECURITY TO COUNTER TERRORISM. Crime costs Australia >$18 billion per year. Of this, money laundering/document fraud is estimated at ~$4.5 billion and ~$1.5 to $3 trillion worldwide. Although many techniques combat document fraud (signatures, specialised inks and paper, watermarking etc) they are severely limited by low specificity or are easy to copy.
Alternatively identification by DNA fingerprinting is highly specific (>10 billion to 1) and can now be obtained from cells embedded within paper. This project will use these techniques to provide definitive document validity and authenticity to minimise document fraud and thus counter illicit finance and terrorist funding.
Read moreRead less
Computer-assisted 3D morphometrics for human identification. This project anticipates the rapid adoption by security services of comparative 3-D facial morphometrics for the identification of "persons of interest" and the concomitant creation of large databases of such characteristics. Anatomical knowledge will be used to refine new Japanese software which semi-automatically matches 3D facial landmarks and morphology between suspect and database and to validate its use in Australia. We build on ....Computer-assisted 3D morphometrics for human identification. This project anticipates the rapid adoption by security services of comparative 3-D facial morphometrics for the identification of "persons of interest" and the concomitant creation of large databases of such characteristics. Anatomical knowledge will be used to refine new Japanese software which semi-automatically matches 3D facial landmarks and morphology between suspect and database and to validate its use in Australia. We build on current collaborative research by the applicants in Australia and Japan with funding provided by both governments. Our research has validated comparative facial morphometrics for suspect identification and underpinned the use of facial scanning by police throughout Japan.Read moreRead less
Establishment of Identity from Quantitative Analysis of Facial Characteristics. This project will provide the Criminal Justice systems in Australia and Japan with more rigorous methods of identifying people from eye-witness and surveillance video reports. It builds on research previously undertaken into analysis of facial morphology, and provides an innovative approach to identification through the use of three dimensional modelling and high speed computer graphics augmented by Fourier analysis ....Establishment of Identity from Quantitative Analysis of Facial Characteristics. This project will provide the Criminal Justice systems in Australia and Japan with more rigorous methods of identifying people from eye-witness and surveillance video reports. It builds on research previously undertaken into analysis of facial morphology, and provides an innovative approach to identification through the use of three dimensional modelling and high speed computer graphics augmented by Fourier analysis of shape parameters. The project is part of a formal collaboration with the National Research Institute of Police Science in Tokyo, providing an ethnically diverse data set of three dimensional graphical and mathematical models.Read moreRead less
Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. ....Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. This will facilitate the use of 3D databases in diverse applications including establishing identity, making facial reconstructions of victims of crime or disaster, making databases searchable, computer animation, archaeology, and plastic surgery. In particular the work will make physical databases relevant to human perception. Read moreRead less
Risk, Urban Fire Protection and Security Networks. Urban fire prevention is a critical field for public security and economic development. As such, it has always been shaped by factors beyond those of simple technological growth. These include major unanticipated events and the responses to them by many state and non-state agencies with divergent interests and knowledge bases. By analysing the resulting 'technological politics', the project will examine the ways in which this strategic field ....Risk, Urban Fire Protection and Security Networks. Urban fire prevention is a critical field for public security and economic development. As such, it has always been shaped by factors beyond those of simple technological growth. These include major unanticipated events and the responses to them by many state and non-state agencies with divergent interests and knowledge bases. By analysing the resulting 'technological politics', the project will examine the ways in which this strategic field has taken on a risk-based preventative orientation. This will contribute new perspectives and considerations for the assessment and development of fire prevention and urban security in the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Developing a Regulatory Framework for Mass DNA Screenings: A comparative study of public requests by crime investigators for bodily samples. The aim of the proposed study is to devise a principled model for regulating the performance of mass DNA screenings by Australian police. A ?mass DNA screening? is a public appeal by criminal investigators for bodily samples in order to test whether donors can be linked to a particular unsolved crime. Recent law reform inquires have recognised that the var ....Developing a Regulatory Framework for Mass DNA Screenings: A comparative study of public requests by crime investigators for bodily samples. The aim of the proposed study is to devise a principled model for regulating the performance of mass DNA screenings by Australian police. A ?mass DNA screening? is a public appeal by criminal investigators for bodily samples in order to test whether donors can be linked to a particular unsolved crime. Recent law reform inquires have recognised that the various legal regimes governing mass DNA screenings are inadequate in many respects. The study will develop a new regulatory framework suitable for implementation in all Australian jurisdictions through a principled consideration of laws and recent practice in Australian and comparative jurisdictions.Read moreRead less