The proposal has been designed to explore a novel and holistic approach which will engage experts across the full spectrum of their skills-base, through a suite of short-term research activities that are linked in theme and approach, yet are highly adventurous and in areas highly speculative in nature, aiming to provide an effective means for better and non-invasive human monitoring for security applications. Prior studies have shown that human odours can provide relevant biological information about their 'sender' and a key target of this approach is the fusion of the analysis of this type of olfactory communication with associated physiological and behavioural indications. This shows advantages particularly when the other two major 'senses', i.e. the visual and acoustic, are functionally restricted, most frequently the case in security screening. The interdisciplinary approach proposed addresses the detection of human 'fear' - focusing on fear pheromone as a key physiological indicator and correlating the information with human abnormal behaviour. Although simple to describe in these terms, real success envisaged is only possible when factors across the spectrum from the chemical, physical, engineering to the social sciences and psychology are effectively integrated, rather than viewed in isolation. The work will target as an outcome being able to determine the viability and efficacy of such an integrated approach to the detection of these human alarm signals: applied in assessing the stress status of an individual and interpreting this in a security-critical context. The application domain will allow addressing the feasibility of novel methods based on this approach for the rapid and accurate identification of criminal or terrorist suspects in public areas, e.g. at airports, railway stations or approaching the London Olympics, with minimum disruption to routine operations.

Body armour is essential to protect personnel in situations where they may be exposed to puncture or penetrative threats. The protective performance of armour can be split into four categories: 1. Blunt trauma protection - often achieved using an Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) foam and moulded Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) outer shell. 2. Stab resistance - typically achieved using a rigid Polycarbonate (PC) chest plate. 3. Ballistic resistance - Lower level protection via a laminated network of aramid or Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibre layers, with higher protection achieved using ceramic plates. 4. Multi-threat (stab and ballistic resistance) - Achieved using a combination of aramid/UHMWPE fibres and a PC chest plate. Whilst protection against ballistic threats can be achieved through the use of aramid-fibre armour, such armour is unsuitable at providing protection against lower velocity sharp force threats such as blades or spikes. This is due to the sharp force threat penetrating between the individual fibrous elements of the armour. Therefore, to achieve stab and ballistic resistance the use of aramid/UHMWPE fibres coupled with a PC chestplate is often required. By doing so, the improved manouverability typically offered by fibre-based armour is substantially reduced. Whilst the protective performance of these articles have progressed since their introduction, users of such armour frequently report of ill-fitting and uncomfortable garments. This, combined with the high weight and low breathability of protective articles such as PC and aramid-based armour, at best results in impaired performance such as reduced running speeds or operational manouevrability, and at worst can lead to physiological effects including nerve damage and severe musculoskeletal injuries. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the name for group of manufacturing techniques which can produce extremely complex geometries with little or no additional costs. The use of these processes for the production of clothing has already been demonstrated in the fashion arena with the development of highly articulated linkable textile-like structures. Recent work conducted by the PI has also demonstrated that AM technologies can also be utilised to achieve stab resistance to the internationally recognised UK Home Office body armour protective standards. This project seeks to utilise the design and manufacturing opportunities offered by AM technologies, coupled with the enhanced protective performance and manouverability of existing aramid-based armour. To achieve this a range of AM material optimisation and Computer Aided Design (CAD) activities, as well as stab and ballistic validation exercises will be performed within the grant period. The development of this hybrid protective system could present a significant leap in the development of the next generation of body armour in which the physical comfort of the wearer and their subsequent operational performance is as important a factor as protective performance. In summary, this research will aim to produce the first generation hybrid AM-aramid fibre body armour panel capable of providing protection against stab and ballistic threats.

In times of crisis, we know that offenders continue to commit crimes, and do so in a manner afforded by the new context (Thornton & Voigt, 2012). Sexual offenders are versatile (Lovell et al., 2019), and change their offending behaviour in accordance with the opportunity to offend (Woodhams & Komarzynska, 2014). The Covid-19 outbreak is a crisis that will alter offender behaviour, as well as who is vulnerable to sexual violence and under what circumstances. Our research is highly urgent because, in the UK and internationally, the police and other stakeholders need to know now how to protect people from increased and new vulnerabilities to sexual violence created by Covid-19, and how to best support those victimised. We will address this research gap, documenting the 'who, what, when, where and how' of stranger sexual offending (Leclerc et al. 2016), pre-, peri- (and potentially, post-) Covid-19, and across shorter time-periods defined by differing local/national restrictions. Our project partner, the Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) of the National Crime Agency, has a unique, large dataset of serious stranger sexual offences. Using this, we will document how offender modus operandi (MO) and victim vulnerability changes from March 2020 to September 2021, and compare this to one year of pre-Covid-19 data (March 2019 to February 2020). These data will be subject to repeated, multi-level analyses using our complementary expertise in analytical techniques from the social and engineering sciences. For example, relative frequencies for behaviours will be compared for periods of differing restrictions, and trends will be compared to macro-level findings regarding crime rates being produced by other research groups. The Covid-19 crisis is unlikely to impact on specific behaviours in isolation; therefore, we will also study patterns of co-occurrence between behaviours using clustering techniques. As well as being of urgent relevance to stakeholders, our research will bring new insights to the sparse literature on situational crime prevention and sexual offending (Chiu et al., 2020). Dissemination of our methodology will assist other countries where, during the Covid-19 outbreak, the proportion of stranger sexual offences is high (e.g., Kenya; Flowe et al., 2020). Our findings will be relevant for preparations and responses to future pandemics and events where a population's routine activities (locally/nationally) are changed or disrupted (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies).

This project focuses on the online dating romance scam. The scam is typically conducted via online dating sites and social networking sites. Scammers lure their victims by creating a profile with a stolen photograph of a highly attractive person. At a very early stage in the relationship the scammer declares their love for the victim and requests that their relationship move from the dating site to Instant Messenger, stating that they want an exclusive relationship with the victim. Phone calls might also be made. The scam often begins with requests for gifts or small amounts of money. Following this the scammer will accelerate their demands for larger amounts of money (sometimes this involves other characters being brought into the narrative, to make the scam appear more plausible and to find new ways to demand more money). This scam can also lead to persuading the victim to visit an African country where they might be kidnapped. The scam ends only when the victim learns and finally accepts they have been scammed. When victims report this crime the local police are often unsure of how to deal with this it and do not comprehend the trauma the victim is enduring. To date, victims have not been treated differently to any other fraud case - the legal system does not recognise the stress they experience over and above that of financial loss. Given the lack of understanding of the trauma endured by these victims, there is some uncertainty as to how to treat victims of this crime. There is an urgent need to address this problem. This project will draw on findings from work supported by an ESRC grant that has been investigating: the typology of victims, the persuasive techniques used by the scammers, and the psychological impact this crime has on victims. Specifically, the three objectives of the current proposed project are to: 1. improve the quality of care for victims of the online romance scam. 2. decrease the likelihood of re-victimisation. 3. improve current policing practice with regards to dealing with victims of the online romance scam. These objectives will be achieve through the development and evaluation of two toolkits: 1. to be used by UK police when dealing with romance scam victims. 2. on how to treat these victims as intimidated witnesses in subsequent prosecutions Work package 1 will create and evaluate a toolkit that will provide information (in a multi-media format) on how to best notify victims, take statements, advise victims to act if they are contacted again, and to ensure that victims are provided with appropriate support. Work package 2 will develop a tool kit that will provide information on how to treat witnesses of the online dating romance scam. Again, an evaluation of this toolkit will be made which will involve interviewing police officers that have used the kit as well as interviewing witnesses. The beneficiaries of the project include: 1. Victims of the online romance scam 2. Our partners: SOCA, NPIA 3. ACPO 4. UK police forces 5. Anyone in the UK who has been affected by this crime (including victims and their families, friends) 6. Government and communication regulators and policy makers. 7. International partners who might consider adopting the innovative practices implemented in this project 8. Victim Support, psychologists, counsellors and other health professionals would benefit from learning more about the psychological effect such scams have on an individual. We intend to disseminate the results via the following routes: - at a seminar (with invited parties in addition to our partners, such as police, Victim Support and counsellors), - to the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group - at policing conferences both in the UK and internationally - direct delivery of toolkits to the police via NPIA - in police and counselling professional publications - in academic publications - report to the ESRC - to the media - web page

Rates of serious violent crime in England and Wales have been increasing since 2014. Although these offences account for only around 1% of total crime, they cause disproportionate harm to individuals and society as a whole. Because of this, tackling serious violence is a UK Government and police priority. It is increasingly recognised that violence is preventable and that the most effective ways to prevent violent crime are not directly related to the policing or criminal justice systems. New strategies aimed at reducing violence seek to tackle upstream risk factors, thus preventing the development of offending behaviour among young people. However, there is currently little evidence regarding what types of intervention are effective. A total of £200 million has been granted to the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) over the next 10 years to support early interventions; evaluation of these interventions is an integral part of the programme. In order to generate high quality evidence, rigorous evaluation of interventions is crucial. There are two key issues that will impact on the quality of such evaluations. Firstly, there is a need for valid, reliable data sources - that measure outcomes prior to and after the intervention has been implemented. Ideally, the data would include both short-term and long-term outcomes. Secondly, it is important to have a well-matched comparison group. Without this, it is difficult to draw any clear conclusions about the effect of the intervention because any changes in rates of offending could arise as a result of other factors (i.e. may not be due to the intervention itself). With this in mind, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Department for Education (DfE) are linking key national datasets, bringing together data from the criminal justice system, including police, prison, and court records, with data from the education system, such as school attainment, absence and exclusions. The linked dataset will contain around 15 years' of data on around 20 million individuals and will have the potential to form a resource to allow robust evaluation of YEF and other interventions. This study has two main elements. In the first stage we will evaluate and document the quality and scope of the MoJ-DfE linked dataset. In the second stage we will investigate the feasibility of using the linked dataset to generate matched control groups for the purpose of evaluating interventions aimed at reducing offending rates in young people; we will compare two different statistical approaches to doing this. Our findings will inform the future development and use of the dataset.