John Coyne

ASPI’s Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program examines the contribution of law enforcement to national security and to broader strategic policy. The program has three main aims:

  Develop understanding of the link between law enforcement issues and national security concerns.
  Explain the contribution of law enforcement agencies to Australia’s international strategic objectives.
  Help law enforcement agencies position themselves for the future.

In 2019–20, the program focused on technological innovation, regional security-sector reform and illicit drug production in the Mekong region. The program contributed to a security-sector reform analysis in the Philippines, illicit drug production discussions in the Mekong and national assessments for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

During the year, we made significant policy and opinion contributions to domestic and international print, radio and television media.

Our research resulted in the production of the following reports during the year:
  Special Report: Towards a Commonwealth law enforcement innovation framework
  a chapter for the 2020 Counterterrorism yearbook
  a chapter for the book After Covid-19: Australia and the world rebuild (volume 1)
  Special Report: National security agencies and the cloud: an urgent capability issue for Australia.
The program continued to produce opinion pieces and The Strategist posts, to provide media commentary on law enforcement and organised crime issues and to deliver invited presentations at national and international forums on emerging issues in this field.