Exploring law enforcement and public health as a collective impact initiative: lessons learned from Tasmania as a case study

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice,Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential benefits as well as some of the practical barriers to the implementation of a collective impact initiative in law enforcement and public health (LEPH) in Tasmania, Australia. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a review of programs, agencies and initiatives that are at the intersection of law enforcement and public health in Tasmania, through (i) an analysis of the findings in evaluation reports, and (ii) the views of practitioners identified at a workshop on LEPH held at a national AOD conference and facilitated by the authors. Findings The strengths of collective impact initiatives, particularly in law enforcement and public health, are presented and some weaknesses identified. Some major obstacles to the consolidation of law enforcement and public health initiatives include siloed ways of working and budgets, lack of leadership and political will. Some progress has been made in addressing these weaknesses, although addressing complex social problems by moving beyond inter-agency collaboration towards an integrated model of service provision remains challenging. Practical implications There are practical benefits to the adoption of a collective impact model to address problems in Tasmania that lie at the nexus between law enforcement and public health. In reviewing existing collaborations, we demonst...
Source: Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice - Category: Criminology Source Type: research