A helpful reminder that not all politicians are the same…
Some are more corrupt than others…
Farage comfortably ahead for private interest earnings this Parliament
🚨 New publication in @natureportfolio.nature.com!!!
⏰ It’s taken a while, but sometimes good science takes time.
🚽 Near-source wastewater-based epidemiology is a game changer for public health surveillance in prisons.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
‘LLMs shift work from drafting to verification and correction, offsetting speed gained during initial text generation.’
A wonderful use of police time so far…
#cjs #policing #LLMs #AI
🚨 New publication in @natureportfolio.nature.com!!!
⏰ It’s taken a while, but sometimes good science takes time.
🚽 Near-source wastewater-based epidemiology is a game changer for public health surveillance in prisons.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
WE ARE HIRING: HEAD OF INFLUENCING
Deadline - Tuesday 2nd December
switchbackworks.info/head-of-infl...
We are looking for someone to build on our fantastic progress shifting policy and perceptions – such as our most recent work influencing government policy on recall. #ReshapeRelease
Golf, cricket & (real) Ale…
As James McEwan enters HMPPS stage left, Phil Copple exits stage right.
Phil has been a wonderful public servant for 35 years and that is an extraordinary commitment 👏
But now, after decades of mismanagement, HMPPS is ripping up the playbook.
www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...
A busy week...
My @refugeelab.ca released our report about tech and alternatives to immigration detention, co-authored by @danghez.bsky.social & @petramolnar.com, and co-published with @kaldorcentre.bsky.social and @idcoalition.bsky.social:
www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/...
If you work in #Academia, #HigherEducation, or the #Research&Teaching field this is a massively important article.
It brings together many of the issues, critiques around the predatory #Tech of (so-called) #AI and its use in our fields, as well as unpicking the hollowness of the pro-AI rhetoric!
New study in Nature on the Long-range PM2.5 pollution and health impacts from the 2023 Canadian wildfires
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
'We find that 354 million (277–421 million) people in North America and Europe were exposed to daily PM2.5 air pollution caused by Canadian wildfires in 2023'
👏 Relatedly, Bourdieu has a nice explanation of taste in art and music using Habitus and structure. It may go some way to theorising the why of the why (re: your final sentence)
"Medicaid coverage is especially important for people post-release, because incarceration can wreck their health. One long-term study... found that imprisonment decreased the life expectancy of a 45-year-old person by 13%."
📢 Trinity College Dublin is hiring an Assistant Professor in Sociology. Full-time, fixed-term role (maternity cover).
Early career researchers, including those who’ve just submitted, completed, or are about to complete their PhD are welcome.
🗓️ Deadline: Oct 6, 2025
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOP688/a...
Must read study of class consciousness in class demobilized societies. It reveals more than polls.
"...any understanding of political orientations in the contemporary working class should have ambivalence, contradiction, and heterogeneity at its very heart."
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
What happened to pressure groups & UK third sector?
It all seems passive & compliant these days.
No vision, little resistance, & minimal public presence.
The ‘noise’ seems to come from MoJ & POA.
Why is no one asking, what are short sentences replaced by? How is Govt. supporting these people?
Taylor’s “cautious optimism” ignores history, research, and macro trends.
A prison can’t change if its system is designed to reproduce itself.
And (yet again) not one mention from HMIP about historic conditions, legacy outcomes, and child imprisonment/ legitimacy.
They are complicit in reproducing children’s harm whilst they continue to ‘play the game’ with these repetitive & superficial ‘findings’
Congratulations to everyone involved 👏 Looking forward to reading!
Hey #Criminology
It lives!
29 chapters. 8 sections. 50+ authors. #ECRs to veterans. Wide range of themes/topics
It's been a labour of over 2 years, but it's forthcoming (release in January 2026)
#CriminalJustice
#Victimology
#Zemiology
#SensoryCriminology
www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
The sociology & criminology dept at gonzaga is hiring! We're searching for somebody with a focus on criminology, law, or social control (broadly conceived).
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
I think it's part:
1. #TechnoUtopianism - idea that new tech will solve extant problems cheaply
2. Ignorance of the rapacious nature of #SurveillanceCapitalism, the #CodedBias within, and the problems/harms forthcoming
3. Outdated neoliberalism and its desire to both outsource yet maintain control
Time for an open letter to call for a re-think & safeguards?
Timpson says it will be a ‘responsible and proportionate’ approach but there is no explanation of what oversight looks like. Feels like a recipe for disaster.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
& then MoJ turn around and say ‘let’s integrate AI into our everyday practice’
I want to believe its negligence, but it feels more sinister than that
Good leadership is knowing when to rip it up and start again
Nov-July 3️⃣0️⃣ Oakhill staff suspended for child misconduct
20/7 Director & 2 Deps suspended
21-25/7 CQC find unsanitary conditions & safeguarding concerns
G4S must be removed & all contracts reviewed
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
New evaluation of de-escalation training for law enforcement! . This shows that de-escalation training can actually improve officers' ability to handle volatile situations.
doi.org/10.1177/0093...
Turns out plonking a university down in the 1800s was a long-term investment in civic life. Kinda wish current policy makers would take note...
Former German President Joachim Gauck recently appeared on national television and, through tears, described how painful it is for him to criticize Israel. Again, it's about: German pain, German history, and German discomfort with breaking ranks. And not about Palestinian suffering.
When so much of the media rolls out the comfy red carpet for Farage, Private Eye trips him up and milkshakes him.
Be more Private Eye.
Doubtless Scottie Scheffler will get hammered for saying this, but it's a lot more interesting than the usual pre-Open chat about the length of the rough and the speed of the greens.
