Utilising local community knowledge to support policing during the climate crisis
Climate change is already having an impact on policing and public services in the UK. From one-off extreme weather events requiring emergency assistance, to tackling social unrest and disruption due to climate anxieties, as well as managing the effects of environmental crimes such as illegal logging and industrial waste disposal. The Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), at least in policy terms, have the potential to serve as sites of coordination for local police and emergency responders to utilise diverse forms of knowledge to inform locally-led climate change preparedness and adaptation efforts.
Across the UK, the intensity and the frequency of extreme weather events due to human-induced climate change have increased. Winter storms, torrential rains, heatwaves, wildfires, and flooding have the potential to strain or overwhelm police and partner resources and capacity. In response to Storm Arwen in 2021, local authorities sought assistance from military personnel due to limited resources, capacity, and expertise among the police and local emergency responders. Addressing both the short-term singular events and prolonged cascading threats requires police and partner agencies to develop adaptive capacity to effectively manage the impacts of infrequent devastating events while simultaneously handling day-to-day operations. In our recent paper in Policing & Society, Dr Julie Berg (University of Glasgow) and I call for police and partner agencies to harness the epistemic potential of Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) for a whole-of-society approach to better prepare for the climate crisis.
Learning from place-based and context-specific initiatives may highlight ways in which police and LRF partner agencies can access and harness intergenerational knowledge within communities to inform community-led initiatives towards climate resilience and adaptation.
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including blue light emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the Environment Agency, and others. Established under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, they are responsible for planning and preparing for localised incidents and catastrophic emergencies. They work to identify potential risks and produce emergency plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of any incident on their local communities. In England and Wales, LRFs are organised along police force boundaries, but they are intended to draw on the expertise of all partner agencies.
The climate crisis and the challenges for policing
As the impacts of climate change continue to evolve and existing threats and harms are amplified, there is a growing need for a realignment of priorities and a reimagining of what constitutes 'crime' and ‘harm’ for policing and law enforcement agencies. In terms of the more traditional environmental crimes, there has been a proliferation of illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, pollution offences such as improper waste disposal, and emerging offences such as illegal resource extraction and carbon trading fraud. However, there have been longstanding concerns about wider harms, such as industrial waste management and the destruction of ecosystems, which require a broader model of harm reduction as opposed to a narrow crime-centric approach.
Critical criminologists have persistently called for 'ecocide'—defined as "the extensive damage, destruction to, or loss of ecosystems"—to be recognised as a criminal offence in both national and international legal frameworks. Climate change also poses a threat to critical infrastructure and key assets, including transportation networks, energy facilities, and water resources. Climatic disasters, extreme weather events, and associated resource shortages such as water and food scarcity are linked to social unrest and disorganisation, displacement of populations, and conflict. Growing climate anxieties also contribute to social unrest, protests, and climate activism. The tactics employed by climate activist groups are increasingly disruptive, posing a challenge for public order policing. Consequently, this raises concerns about police legitimacy and broader questions regarding governance, accountability, and responsiveness to increasingly diverse communities, particularly during periods of social unrest and crises arising due to recurring natural disasters or conflict.
Impact on existing vulnerabilities
A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that climate change exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities, disparities, and social inequalities. The cascading effects of climate change can intensify and perpetuate deprivation and poverty, leading to food insecurity and adversely affecting the health and wellbeing of marginalised groups and at-risk populations, with implications for policing and first responders. For example, the elderly and those living in poverty are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme weather, such as heatwaves and flooding, due to the costs associated with heating and cooling poorly insulated homes. Moreover, recent studies conducted in Southern Europe, East-African agrarian societies, and three South Asian countries have demonstrated an association between high temperatures and heatwaves and an increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. While the connection between heat and aggression continues to be explored within social psychology, policing and law enforcement agencies are increasingly wary of the link between warm weather and social disorder, including the recent far-right riots.
A transdisciplinary research agenda
There is very little research on how police and LRFs prepare for and respond to climate disasters and extreme weather events in the UK. My ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre-funded project is examining how the police, LRFs, partner agencies, and community-based groups understand, prepare for, and respond to climate vulnerability. This research will deepen our understanding of vulnerability in the context of climate change. Furthermore, it will contribute to a better understanding of disaster recovery strategies, plans, and processes that are rooted in local contexts.
Climate change presents significant challenges for policing, ranging from managing the impacts of extreme weather events to combating environmental crimes and addressing social disruptions. While most of these issues are recognised at a national strategic level, it remains unclear how these strategies translate into operational policing, localised preparedness, and capacity-building. LRFs provide a useful and joined-up approach to tackling the complex and multidimensional harms linked to the changing climate. However, as Dr Berg and I argue, they need to incorporate diverse forms of knowledge in their emergency planning processes: “Learning from place-based and context-specific initiatives may highlight ways in which police and LRF partner agencies can access and harness intergenerational knowledge within communities to inform community-led initiatives towards climate resilience and adaptation.”
Written by Dr Ali Malik, School of Law, University of Leeds