Library Guides: Policing: Recommended resources

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias

Australian policing by Birch, P., Kennedy, M., & Kruger, E.
Publication Date: 2020
The concise dictionary of crime and justice by Davis, M. S.
Publication Date: 2016
Encyclopedia of criminal activities and the deep web by Khosrow-Pour, M. (Ed.)
Publication Date: 2020
Encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice by Bruinsma, G., & Weisburd, D.
Publication Date: 2014

Quick links

eBook collections

Cambridge Core This link opens in a new window
Journals and eBooks published by Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge Core describes itself as "the home of academic content from Cambridge University Press" It includes both journal articles and eBooks covering a wide range of subjects.

You can browse subjects or search all journal & book content. You can't specify the content type until you have your search results: you can then apply filters for articles or book-chapters.

There is some material in the collection that Charles Sturt does not subscribe to. To limit your searching to full-text articles and book chapters, select Only search content I have access to beneath the search box, or use the filter at your results list. Items in full-text are marked with a green tick Access icon.
Oxford Academic - Books This link opens in a new window
Previously available as Oxford Scholarship Online eBooks, this is the eBooks collection within Oxford Academic. Charles Sturt has access to approximately 2000 eBooks across a range of subjects, with unlimited user access.
In Oxford Academic - Books you can search using basic or advanced search, or browse the journals by subject area. The top-level subject areas are:
• Arts & Humanities
• Law
• Medicine & Health
• Science & Mathematics
• Social Sciences.

You can filter your results by various criteria, including availability, format, subject, and publication date.

Charles Sturt does not have full-text access to all content on the site. In results lists, availability is designated by icons: full-text availability is indicated by a green Unlocked (Purchased) icon, a green Free icon, or an Open Access icon. Items that are NOT available to Charles Sturt users are marked with a blue Get access label. You can filter results by availability.

The search box gives you the option to search across the whole of Oxford Academic or the Journals collection. You can also access these at Oxford Academic and Oxford Academic - Journals.
Springer eBooks This link opens in a new window
A collection of thousands of eBooks published by Springer, covering biomedical & life sciences, computer science, earth & environmental science, humanities, social sciences & law, and medicine.
These eBooks are available in the SpringerLink database, which contains journals and reference works as well as books. It also contains some content that Charles Sturt Library does not subscribe to.

The link here takes you to a browse list of available eBooks, and if you search using the search box at the top of screen, your searching should be across available eBook titles.

However, if you use the Search Options > Advanced Search at the right of the search box, your search will be across all content in SpringerLink, including journals and articles and unsubscribed ("preview-only") content.

You can limit your search to subscribed material by unticking the "Include preview-only content" box at the bottom of the search screen, and you can refine your results to show only book, or book chapter, material, by using the refiners in the panel at the left of a results list.

See more tips on finding and using eBooks.

Library databases

ProQuest Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Criminal Justice Database is one of many databases available in the ProQuest interface. It covers research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends.
This database was previously known as ProQuest Criminal Justice Periodicals Index (CJPI).

This database indexes more than 250 periodicals, with more than 100 available in full-text. Sources include U.S. and international scholarly journals, corrections and correctional and law enforcement trade publications, and crime blogs, while content includes journal articles, reports, news, and statistics.

Subject coverage includes: addictions; alcoholism; child abuse; corrections & law enforcement; criminal law; criminal justice; criminal rehabilitation; criminology;
gambling; industrial crime; psychology; sociology; and terrorism.

Once you are in the ProQuest platform, you can change to any other ProQuest database by clicking on the hamburger menu at the top left of screen, then on Change databases. All ProQuest databases can be searched individually or in combination.
Australian Criminology Database (CINCH) This link opens in a new window
Australian database of citations and article summaries, with some full-text. Produced by the JV Barry Library, Australian Institute of Criminology. The link here will take you to the Informit platform with CINCH selected. See more ... below.
CINCH indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished material on all aspects of crime and criminal justice in Australia.

Specific topics covered include corrections; crime; crime prevention; criminal law; criminology; juvenile justice; law enforcement; police; and victims of crime.

Source documents include journal articles, books and book chapters; conference papers, government documents, book reviews, and theses. Statistical publications in serial form such as annual statistical reviews are also included.

Your searching from this link will be within CINCH only. You can change the database(s) you are searching using the Change Databases button. Unless you have changed databases, you will continue to search in CINCH. When you have run a search, your results list will include, at the top, which database(s) you have searched in.

You can use Basic Search or Advanced Search. Advanced Search offers more options for searching, and more limiters. When you have run a search, there are further options for filtering your results. For searching help, there is a useful set of Search Tips at the bottom of the Advanced Search Screen.

Coverage is from 1968 present.
Judicial Information Research System (JIRS) This link opens in a new window
An online database and research tool developed by the Judicial Commission of NSW containing case law, legislation, sentencing principles, and sentencing statistics and other reference material.
This resource has been developed for judicial officers, the legal profession, the courts, and government agencies involved in the justice system, and is designed to communicate changes to the criminal law in NSW.

It contains both primary and secondary legal reference material. Primary material includes the full-text of judgments from various NSW courts, plus the full-text of NSW and Commonwealth Acts and Regulations, while secondary material includes case summaries, commentary, and online publications such as the Judicial Officers Bulletin.

These primary and secondary sources, and statistics, are available from the left menu in JIRS.

The use of JIRS is subject to the following disclaimer:
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, the State of New South Wales, the Crown, the Government of New South Wales and any authors, consultants, editors and other persons involved in the preparation and dissemination of the information in this database give no express or implied warranty of any kind with respect to the information in this database and expressly disclaim all liability (whether by statute, negligence or other tort, in contract or otherwise) to any person with respect to it and any consequences arising from its use or any reliance on it. Without limiting the generality of the above, to the fullest extent permitted by the law, none of the persons named above shall be responsible for any liability with respect to any of the other named persons above. No person should act specifically on the basis of any information in this database without taking and considering professional advice on it.
International Security and Counter Terrorism Reference Center This link opens in a new window
A database which includes full-text articles; news feeds; reports; summaries; books; FAQs; images; and proprietary Background Information Summaries that pertain to terrorism and security. Available here in the standard EBSCOhost interface.
International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center provides a comprehensive open source intelligence resource for analysts, risk management professionals, and students.

Content includes: hundreds of thousands of selected articles from full-text journals; news feeds; reports (including Stratfor Analysis, Stratfor Forecasts, and Stratfor Geopolitical Diary); summaries; books; FAQs; and proprietary Background Information Summaries that pertain to terrorism and security.

An Images file of over 9,000 pertinent images has been added to the database. You can access this images collection by hovering your mouse over the More heading in the blue bar at the top of the search screen.

ISCTRC is one of many databases available in EBSCOhost. Once on the EBSCOhost search screen, you can change databases by clicking on the Choose Databases link above the search boxes.
Political Extremism and Radicalism This link opens in a new window
This Gale Primary Sources database covers far-right and radical-left political groups from the US, Europe, and Australia in the twentieth century.
Subject content includes philosophical, social, political, and economic ideologies and contemporary issues surrounding gender, sexuality, race, religion, civil rights, and universal suffrage. Materials include periodicals, campaign propaganda, government records, oral histories, and various ephemera.

Sources include the Searchlight Archive at the University of Northampton, the American Radicalism Collection at Michigan State University, the Hall-Hoag Collection of Dissenting and Extremist Printed Propaganda from the John Hay Library at Brown University, and various collections from The National Archives in the UK.

The material is largely from Britain and the US but also covers factions from Europe and Australia
.
You can search using basic or advanced search. You can also use the Topic Finder and Topic Frequency search tools.

VAST: Academic Video Online: Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Criminal justice and public safety: administration of justice; corrections; crime prevention; criminology; emergency preparedness; history and theory; law enforcement.
more information...less...
VAST: Academic Video Online: Criminal Justice & Public Safety is a subset of the VAST: Academic Video Online collection of videos produced by Alexander Street Press. It features strategies, techniques, and experiences of professionals serving on the front lines of justice and public safety.

Content includes documentaries, training videos, and interviews.

The collection can be searched using Advanced Search, and/or browsed in a number of ways. The collection has a number of features that assist in its use as an educational resource:

video browse and search capabilities;
multiple points of access: browses, searches, thumbnail images, transcripts;
synchronised, searchable transcripts;
video clip-making tools;
annotated playlists: users can make, annotate, and share playlists and clips, and can include links to materials or resources outside the collection;
sharing of video by embeddable links.

Once in this database you can search/browse in other "disciplines" in the VAST collection. You can also access the full VAST collection at VAST: Academic Video Online. You can search/browse across all the Alexander Street Press video collections at Alexander Street Press Video.

See all Emergency Management, Policing and Public Safety databases and Law and Justice Studies databases.

Need some help with understanding how to use Library databases? See our Database Help Guide.

Standards and Guidelines

Lexis Federal Criminal Law
A database that deals with the primary areas of practice encompassing drugs offences, customs offences, corporations and tax offences, migration offences, social security offences, plus more. Publishing occurs (on average) at least twice a month and during periods of rapid legislative change occurs several times a month.
NSW Police Force - Code of Conduct and Ethics
This website contains a link to the NSW Police Code of Conduct & Ethics, Standards of Professional Conduct Booklet, and Statement of Values.
Victoria Police - Procedures and legislation
Learn about the Victoria Police Code of Conduct, policies and procedures, legislation and notifications on this website.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) - Professional Standards
This department is responsible for developing and maintaining professional standards throughout the AFP, including the oversight and investigation of complaints about the conduct of AFP appointees. Access the AFP code of conduct form this page.
Australian Federal Police - Fraud Investigation Standards
The Australian Government Investigations Standards (AGIS) were developed through a process with a working party from 10 agencies and widespread consultation, to ensure quality investigative practices and outcomes.
NSW Police - Policies, Procedures and Legislation
Alphabetical list of relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and other documents.

Websites

Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
The AIC is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. See their research, statistics, publications and library services from this website.
ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing (POP)
Access information about ways in which police can effectively and equitably address specific crime and disorder problems from this Arizona State University website. Browse through their best-practice tools and guides.
Australasian Legal Information Institute (AUSTLII)
Find public legal information, such as primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (law reform and royal commission reports) plus a collection of law journals.
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)
Australia's national criminal intelligence agency, that works with law enforcement partners to make Australia hostile to criminal exploitation. This website has sections on careers, services, and ACIC publications
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research
The Bureau is a statistical and research agency within the Department of Communities and Justice. Their website provides access to crime statistics, criminal court statistics, custody statistics, datasets, publications and evaluations.
Crime Stoppers
Operating throughout Australia, Crime Stoppers has become an integral part of community safety, with the information gathered and supplied by the community assisting police agencies with crime solving and prevention.

Professional organisations

Police Association of NSW
Representing the professional and industrial interests of all ranks of sworn police officers in NSW. Check out their services, resources, news, events and media centre on this website.
Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA)
Representing the professional, industrial and social interests of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and law enforcement employees across a range of agencies. Access their news and events, plus the AFPA magazine BLUESTAR from this site.
Police Federation of Australia (PFA)
Access all Australian State Police Associations from the website of this national body. You can also view their strategic plans, news, reports, and other publications.
Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency - National Institute of Forensic Science
The peak body for forensic science in Australia and New Zealand, NIFS provides information on the forensic science landscape, and produces a range or reports, guidelines and publications.