The world famous Mayo Clinic has taken the healthcare initiative and started a Social Media Center focused on healthcare.

The United States Department of Defense has created a Social Media Hub for military related issues

Who will sieze the moment and create one for UK policing?

The Home Office has launched a consultation asking for opinions on government plans to overhaul the current licensing regime, in order to give more power to local authorities and police. The aim is to deal more effectively with alcohol-related crime and disorder, while also promoting responsible business.

The proposals include:

overhauling the Licensing Act to give local authorities and the police much stronger powers to remove licences from, or refuse to grant licences to premises that are causing problems allowing councils and the police to permanently shut down any shop or bar that is repeatedly selling alcohol to children doubling the maximum fine ...

Software that can predict when and where future violent crimes will be committed is being used in Britain for the first time.

Two police forces have begun trialling the sophisticated programme, which has echoes of the Tom Cruise film Minority Report, where psychics are used to stop criminals before they commit a crime. The system, known as Crush (Criminal Reduction Utilising Statistical History) evaluates crime records, intelligence briefings, offender profiles and even weather reports, to identify potential flashpoints where a crime is most likely to occur.

The “predictive analytics” technology has been credited as a key factor behind a 31 per cent fall ...

The future is getting scary.

A large advertising sign in a Tokyo subway station has been fitted with cameras that “read the gender and age group of people looking at them to tailor their commercial messages”.

So, a female teenager might see the latest fashion item and a teenage boy might see the latest bit of technology (I know that was stereotyping but…), whilst an elderly person would see something appropriate to their perceived needs.

How long before some genius links the age & gender capability to a bit of facial recognition software and the relevant criminal database. ...

The Home Office now has full responsibility for alcohol licensing and enforcement which ministers hope will lead to a more consistent approach.

This was formerly a shared responsibility with the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

Minister for crime prevention James Brokenshire said, ‘We continue to be concerned about the number of alcohol-related incidents and the drink-fuelled violence and disorder that blights many of our towns and cities.

‘The government believes that the power to make licensing decisions needs to be rebalanced in favour of local communities, so that they can decide on the night ...

As a former serviceman myself (Royal Air Force), I was shocked by the results of a recent pilot scheme run by Kent Police in conjunction with the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help.

The 12 week pilot scheme looked at how many ex-service personnel were entering the criminal justice system. To capture the necessary data, throughout the pilot Kent Police adapted the custody computer system to ask detainees if they had served in the forces. The results surprised me.

The findings showed that in the three months from April and June, 232 former and current servicemen and women were ...

The full speech of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Ken Clarke’s recent speech on criminal justice reform.

“We want to be so radical that we spend less and do things better at the same time.”

Interesting read.

Grateful to @christammiller for tweeting this story to my attention. Full article here

As Foursquare goes mainstream, some subversive segments of the tech community are using the social-networking software to turn its fundamental conceit — that it helps you hang out with your friends — upside down. San Francisco–based technologist Jesper Andersen last month designed a site called Avoidr, which allows Foursquare users to select the “friends” they want to avoid. By showing where those “friends” have checked in, users know where not to go.

According to Andersen, the site ...

Housing Minister Grant Shapps this week chaired the first cross government meeting aimed at tackling homelessness.

The Prime Minister had tasked Ministers in eight government departments with stepping up action to address the issue. On Wednesday, Ministers met for the first time as the Homelessness Working Group, to see how policies across their departments can help tackle the complex problems that cause people to lose their home.

The Ministers making up the new Homelessness Working Group are:

Grant Shapps MP (Con) - Department for Communities and Local Government (housing and homelessness) (Chair) Andrew Robathan MP (Con) - Ministry of Defence (welfare of veterans) John Hayes MP (Con) - ...

From the Ministry of Justice web site

Mental Health Today describes how pilot schemes are testing new ways for courts to address offending behaviour in people with mental health issues.

The Mental Health Court pilot model has been designed to tackle underlying issues in order to reduce re-offending among mentally disordered defendants.

The starting point is the effective identification of those with mental health needs. A whole range of staff from across the trial process can play a part in initiating referrals where they have concerns – for example police, court ushers, solicitors, and Crown Prosecution Service staff.

A dedicated Mental ...