Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association

New Report: Improving Police Custody for Autistic People
Authored by Dr Laura Naegler and Professor Gabe Mythen (University of Liverpool), 2026

A new report from the N8 Policing Research Partnership examines the experiences of autistic people during arrest and police custody, highlighting the need for more inclusive and responsive policing practices.

Drawing on interviews with police officers, custody staff and practitioners, the research finds that sensory sensitivities, communication differences and autistic stress responses are often misunderstood, increasing the risk of distress and escalation.

The report recommends practical reforms, including autism informed training, accessible communication, and greater use of reasonable adjustments, to help ensure safer and more supportive experiences for autistic people in contact with the criminal justice system.

More details: https://www.n8prp.org.uk/home/research/small-grants/autism-during-arrest-and-custody/

If you missed our webinar on Canadian Framework for Trauma-Informed Response in Policing, catch up at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDeSgV7WIcc

Watch the recording to:
✅ learn about a framework for police services and leaders to respond to traumatic situations effectively and appropriately
✅ learn about Trauma-Informed Interviewing
✅ get access to resources such as Quick Reference Interview Guide for police

The webinar was proudly organised by GLEPHA’s Special Interest Group on Trauma-Informed Policing.

Our sincere thanks to our speakers, Inspector Val Gates M.O.M and Ms Madison Charman from Barrie Police Service for sharing with us their enthusiasm and insights.

New Report: The Childhood Trauma-to-Prison Pipeline

A new report from Human Rights for Kids challenges long held assumptions about children prosecuted as adults, revealing that many were victims of severe trauma long before they entered the justice system.

Based on responses from more than 2,200 incarcerated individuals across 38 U.S. states, the report finds that abuse, neglect, exploitation, and adverse childhood experiences are common among children tried as adults.

It argues that punitive approaches have failed to address the root causes of youth offending and calls for justice systems that prioritise rehabilitation, recognise the impact of childhood trauma, and better support vulnerable young people.

Read the report here: https://humanrightsforkids.org/publication/the-childhood-trauma-to-prison-pipeline-the-prosecution-and-incarceration-of-traumatized-children-as-adults/

Research Paper: Public drug use, policing, and the limits of decriminalization in British Columbia: A mixed methods study

This study examines British Columbia’s 2023 decriminalisation of simple drug possession and finds that, in practice, its protections are limited. Using survey data and interviews with people who use drugs, the authors show that while criminal penalties have been reduced on paper, many people, particularly those who are unhoused, continue to experience surveillance, displacement, and public scrutiny.

The research argues that enforcement has not disappeared but shifted, with informal social policing and restrictions on public space continuing to shape everyday experiences. The authors conclude that meaningful harm reduction requires broader structural investment, particularly in housing, social services, and poverty reduction, rather than relying on legal reform alone.

Authors: Becca Wood, Naomi Zakimi, Mieke Fraser, O. Kara Loewen, Katie Fajber, Brooke Kinniburgh, Charlene Burmeister, Iesha Henderson, Alissa Greer

Read the paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395926001027

For safer streets, treat mental illness before the crisis stage

Author Cassandra Ramdath argues that responses to public violence in the US are overly focused on policing and punishment, while failing to address untreated mental illness. She writes that many people involved in such incidents cycle through jails and hospitals without receiving sustained care, as community mental health systems remain under-resourced following deinstitutionalisation.

She calls for a shift toward prevention through accessible community mental health services, mobile crisis response teams, stable housing, and continuous care. Ramdath argues these evidence based approaches would improve hashtag more effectively than expanding incarceration and law enforcement responses.

For safer streets, treat mental illness before the crisis stage The public deserves policy responses grounded in evidence, not ones shaped by political agendas and media-driven fear.

Where Public Health Meets Law Enforcement: LEPH2026 Registration Closes Soon

LEPH2026 Conference is designed not simply to present data or emerging practice, but to examine how systems respond to people in crisis, and how health, social care, and enforcement agencies can reduce harm more effectively when working together.

Delegates will hear from academics, practitioners, community leaders, and policymakers whose work addresses vulnerability from very different angles.

Find out LEPH2026’s highlights on Policing Insight: https://policinginsight.com/feature/advertisement/leph2026-shaping-safer-healthier-communities-through-global-collaboration/

Register: https://leph2026.org/

Registration closes on 21 August.

Economic and Social Research Council - University of Leeds - University of York

Police meet a lot of people. Victims. Survivors. Witnesses. Offenders. Every one of them carries trauma differently. How should policing respond?

Join our FREE WEBINAR on the Canadian Framework for Trauma-Informed Response in Policing, developed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police / Association canadienne des chefs de police.

Hear directly from Barrie Police Service, Canada:
➖ Inspector Val Gates M.O.M, co-author of the Framework, 29 years in policing
➖ Ms Madison Charman, MA, Organizational Researcher and PhD candidate

🌐 Online via Zoom (FREE)
⏰ Wednesday 29 July 2026 | 2-3:30pm UK
🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/gNxRv54v

Proudly organised by GLEPHA's Special Interest Group on Trauma-Informed Policing.

Upcoming Training Opportunity for law enforcement agencies

Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) will be hosting its Traumas of Law Enforcement Training on
➖ 17-19 August, 2026, at El Paso, TX, USA (the University of Texas)
➖ 14-16 September, 2026, at Newark, NJ, USA (William Mobile Ashby Community Care and Training Center)

Each year, Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) provides training to America’s law enforcement agencies on how to appropriately respond to officers and their families affected by line-of-duty traumas through the Traumas of Law Enforcement Trainings.

When the climate changes, so do the risks to public safety. Are we ready?

▶️ 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗣𝗛𝗔 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆

Climate change is increasingly reshaping the conditions that influence public safety. Yet research, policy, and practice remain fragmented across sectors.

Our inaugural meeting at Conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to launch the GLEPHA Special Interest Group on Climate Change and Public Safety (https://glepha.com/home/special-interest-groups/climate-change-and-public-safety-sig/). 🌳

Through interactive discussions, participants will help shape the vision, priorities, and future activities of the SIG, an international network focused on advancing collaboration, research, policy, and practice at the intersection of climate change and public safety.

Please join us as a founding member of this emerging international community.
➖ Date & Time: Sunday 6 September 2026, 9am – 12noon BST
➖ Location: Newlyn Building, University of Leeds

🆓 REGISTER YOUR FREE SPACE at https://leph2026.org/climate-change-and-public-safety/

GLEPHA brought Fiji's police and health leaders to Melbourne to see harm reduction in action 🤝

Earlier this month, the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association (GLEPHA) hosted a delegation from the Fiji Police Force, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOHMS), and Medical Services Pacific for a Study Tour on Public Health Policing (Harm Reduction & HIV Prevention) in Melbourne, Australia.

Held in Melbourne from 29 June to 3 July, the Study Tour was designed to strengthen awareness of the role of law enforcement in HIV prevention, and to show what genuine police-health partnerships look like in practice.

The week in numbers:
✅ 5 days of learning across Melbourne
✅ Visited 16 entities and heard from 39 speakers
✅ Learned from 4 Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs) with integrated harm reduction services
✅ Visited 3 Victoria Police sites: Headquarters, Footscray and Dandenong
✅ Visited a Hospital Emergency Department, a Therapeutic Drug Treatment site, and the Melbourne Custody Centre

The delegation observed harm reduction and public health policing models operating at the community level
☑️ the Medically Supervised Injecting Room at North Richmond
☑️ Harm Reduction Victoria, Co-Health in Footscray,
☑️ Dandenong Community Health,
☑️ NSP sites in operation (fixed sites, a mobile unit and vending machines)

They also heard from senior voices in the field, including Chief Commissioner Mike Bush and Assistant Commissioner Chris Gilbert from Victoria Police, harm reduction leaders such as Annie Madden AO and Gabby Cohen, Australia's Chief Health Officer, and Karyn McCluskey, Director of Community Justice Scotland.

The consistent observation across all visits was that effective HIV and harm reduction responses, especially NSP, are built on structured, sustained partnerships between institutions that have historically operated separately — and that the enabling conditions for those partnerships are practical, achievable, and replicable in the Fijian context.

Encouragingly, the delegation left with concrete commitments. These include:
✅ establishing an ongoing interagency working group comprising study tour delegates,
✅ building better police-health partnerships to improve access to harm reduction services,
✅ developing a public health policing HIV communications strategy modelled on Fiji's successful police-health COVID-19 response

Our work doesn’t stop here. Next month, delegates will reconvene at the Pacific HIV Symposium in Fiji and GLEPHA-hosted Public Health Policing Leadership Workshop to turn these commitments into action.

Our sincere thanks to the Australian Government and the Kirby Institute (UNSW) for their partnership and support, and to every host, speaker and delegate who made the week so valuable.

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The Study Tour is part of the Public Health Policing in Fiji 2026 program, supported by the Australian Government and implemented by the GLEPHA in partnership with the Kirby Institute (UNSW): https://glepha.com/public-health-policing-in-pacific-island-nations/