Weblogs: UK
Bent Society, a highly entertaining blog devoted to "Looking into the Bent Side of Everything", is authored by "a Growing Band of Concerned and Dedicated Gonzo Criminologists, Sociologists, Other Academics and Upstanding Citizens." How can you resist?
Blues And Twos - Police Officer's Blog is an amalgamation of thoughts, feelings and observations on news, current affairs and UK policing.
Diary of a Criminal Solicitor is written by a London solicitor who does criminal defence work, and often finds himself "in utter amazement or red faced with anger working at Police Stations, Magistrates Courts, Crown Courts.."
John Hirst's Jailhouse Lawyer's blog offers a mix of law, politics, autobiography and humour. After mamy years in prison, the author rehabilitated himself and is now committed to prisoners' rights and penal reform. The responses he evokes, he wryly notes, "sometimes come from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee".
The Justice of the Peace (Magistrate's) blog is penned by "a magistrate of independent mind and a libertarian bent". The author focuses on "the declining freedoms enjoyed by the ordinary citizen and a corresponding fear of the big brother state's ever increasing encroachment on civil liberties".
The Leftwing Criminologist blog provides an analysis of crime and criminal justice issues from a socialist perspective.
The Magistrate's Blog describes itself as "Musings and Snippets from an English Magistrate (Justice of the Peace)", who sits in a court near London. Where Bystander's views “differ from the letter of the law, he will enforce the letter of the law because that is what he has sworn to do”. This weblog offers real insight into a magistrate’s daily experience.
Napo's Jonathan Ledger offers an incisive perspective from the front line of rehabilitation. Jonathan is the General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers.
The Police Inspector Blog is penned by a police inspector in an English county force ("Ruralshire") in England. It cheerfully admits to being "the only unauthorised police inspector blog on the web".
The Policeman's Blog is written by a serving officer who frankly describes his blog as a “Journey into the mad, mad world of the British underclass and the Public sector, where nothing is too insane for it to be written down and copied in triplicate”, then rather unnecessarily assures us that his views "probably don't reflect official policy”.
Psychology and Crime News is a superbly well informed blog which collates information of interest in a forensic psychological context. Aimed mainly at an academic audience, but also useful for anyone who works with offenders and wants to keep up to date with developments in both forensic psychology and practical forensic developments with psychological relevance.
The Reducing Reoffending Blog explores issues around rehabilitation and reoffending.
The Thin Blue Line documents the experiences of a new police officer in London, who describes himself as “coming from the sticks to the big smoke to see if he can really be all he can be”.
The UK Criminal Justice Weblog has news on UK criminal justice issues drawn from media websites, government sources and criminal justice agencies and organisations. It is supported by Rethinking Crime and Punishment and produced in association with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. A superb source of information.
The University of Crime provides an unusual perspective, offering "unique and highly valuable offender data" on which universities have educated "nationally and internationally notorious criminals."
Weblogs International
Chris Uggen's Blog aptly describes itself as featuring "sociology, criminology, self-indulgery" and features some interesting perspectives on crime and criminal justice.
The General Blog of Crime is a quirky American criminology blog is maintained by "criminologists who are grad school friends" and covers a range of interesting and relevant topics.
The official Los Angeles Police Department blog offers some frank insights into the everyday realities of policing a west coast American city.
The Los Angeles Police Department E-Policing blog demonstrates LAPD's method of bringing community policing to the Internet.You can sign up to receive e-mail newsletters, crime trends and other information.
Peacemaking and Crime explores alternatives to the war on crime and juvenile delinquency and emphasises conflict resolution, rehabilitation, restorative justice and social justice
Public Defender Dude is a California-based weblog which frankly acknowledges it presents “The rantings of a Public Defender constantly fighting against society's pervasive Police Industrial Complex” and invites the reader to “Enjoy the unique perspective of one who's life's work is to fight the system through the system."