War, Vigilantes, and the Fallen

Police cooperation across the Green Line in Cyprus.
The beautiful Mediterranean island of Cyprus is most well known for the fantastic weather, the gorgeous beaches and, for the younger crowd, the party life of Ayia Napa. What is not so readily known is the fact that the island is divided by a UN controlled buffer zone since 1974 and that this boundary across the island is known as the Green Line. On a divided island, where the Republic of Cyprus in the South and the ‘TRNC’ in the north won’t recognise each other on any formal level, what happens when the police agencies of the two communities need to cooperate? Human trafficking and illegal migration are only two of the crime types that occur across the porous Green Line. In the Nicosia buffer zone, an internationally unique mechanism exists: The Joint Communications Room. Here, under the auspices of the UN, volunteers from both communities have succeeded in doing what political elites have been unable to do for 50 years. To look beyond politics and focus on getting the job done. Criminals do not pause for wars or stop at borders. Join me to discuss how police forces can continue to share vital information, even when they belong to countries that are involved in ongoing conflict. While Peace among Nations may be late in coming…crime control must continue.

The UK government has failed in its duty to protect children online from child sex offenders. It also refuses to make the owners and executives of social media companies criminally accountable for online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE). I will show you how members of the public have filled the austerity gap by detecting and investigating online childsexual groomers. It will do this by looking at paedophile hunter groups. This talk will explore their ‘hunting’ practices and examine why they have become very successful. What are the key implications for allowing such groups/members of the public becoming part of the mainstream criminal justice fight against online child sexual grooming?

Over 71,000 American military personnel from WWII are still missing, but teams around the world are working to find them and send them home. This engaging talk takes you behind the scenes of crash site investigations across Europe, where archaeology and a bit of detective work come together to recover the lost. Hear real case studies, learn about the tools and techniques used, and explore the powerful stories behind the mission, all with a drink in hand. No digging required!