In the Media
Washington Independent: An Interview with Paul Bleakley
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, was interviewed on his new book, No Haven: The Connecticut Mob and the Rise of America’s Model City.
Paul Bleakley, Ph.D.
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, University of New England
Master of Arts (English), University of New England
Master of History, University of New England
Master of Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism
Graduate Diploma of Education, English/History, Griffith University
Bachelor of Journalism, Politics, Griffith University
About Paul
Dr. Paul Bleakley is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice with an expertise in policing, corruption and abuse studies. He has a particular focus on historical criminology, and especially the use of historical research methods to examine police corruption and cold case crimes. Dr. Bleakley has written two books on this subject, Under a Bad Sun: Police, Politics and Corruption in Australia (2021) and Policing Child Sexual Abuse (2022). He has published his research in a range of leading journals such as Criminology & Criminal Justice, Critical Criminology, Deviant Behavior, Policing, and Criminal Justice Studies. Dr. Bleakley's research spans across many aspects of law enforcement culture and practice, with an emphasis on anti-corruption, police ethics, and reform. He is also very active in the field of historical criminology, serving on the steering committee of the Australian and New Zealand Historical Criminology Network and as current Vice Chair of the American Society of Criminology's Division of Historical Criminology (DHC).
Aside from this, Dr. Bleakley also has a research interest in the policing of stalking, and has worked in conjunction with police organizations in the United Kingdom to evaluate a pilot stalking screening tool designed to enhance responses to stalking behavior. He is also currently working on a research project funded by the Tech Coalition and End Violence Against Children (EVAC), investigating the role of online content moderators in protecting the community from illicit content (such as child sexual abuse material), and developing strategies to improve the conditions that these private content moderators work under, with the goal of avoiding secondary trauma. He is working on this project in association with the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, based at Middlesex University, London.
Selected Publications
BooksBleakley, P. (2024) No Haven: The Connecticut Mob and the Rise of America's Model City (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
Bleakley, P. (2022) Policing Child Sexual Abuse: Failure, Corruption and Reform in Queensland (Routledge, Abingdon).
Bleakley, P. (2021) Under a Bad Sun: Police, Politics and Corruption in Australia (Michigan State University Press, East Lansing).
ArticlesBleakley, P. (2022) Applying collaborative police-practitioner models with fidelity in the management of public-figure oriented fixation, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-022-09524-8.
Bleakley, P., Frost, S., Bradbury, P., Short, E., and Martellozzo, E. (2022) The right tool for the job: Evaluating police experiences of a pilot tool for responding to stalking, Policing: A Jour nal of Policy and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paac022.
Bleakley, P. (2021) The fight to remain compliant: Public sentiment, pandemic and policing the second 2020 Victorian lockdown, Journal of Contemporary Crime, Harm, and Ethics, 1 (1), 23-44.
Bleakley, P. (2021) Cleansing and corridors: assessing the state (and future) of human source management in Australia, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2021.1949795.
Bleakley, P. (2021) Panic, pizza and mainstreaming the alt-right: a social media analysis of Pizzagate and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy, Current Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00113921211034896.
In the Media
In the Media
NBC News: More AI-generated child sex abuse material is being posted online
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments that the illegal use of AI to generate child sexual-abuse material is on the rise.
In the Media
The Sydney Morning Herald: How to avoid eating endangered seafood at the fish and chip shop this Easter
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, had his paper mentioned in this article, as he has questioned the financial connections between the farmed salmon trade and the certification bodies declaring their products sustainable.
In the Media
Middlesex University London: Disturbing confessions from chatroom users seeking legal advice online after sexual interactions with children
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, was a co-researcher at Middlesex University's Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS). His findings were included in the study that was published in the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.
In the Media
Fortune: Meta and OpenAI have spawned a wave of AI sex companions—and some of them are children
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments that using juvenile bots in AI-created pornography may lower the bar for protecting real children from predators.
In the Media
NBC News: Jeffrey Epstein document release continues to keep online conspiracy theorists invested
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments that it is dangerous to jump to conclusions about the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients the court released as it may 'take away from the ongoing fight for justice for Epstein’s victims.'
In the Media
Washington Examiner: How to identify a deepfake
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on some clues that could indicate a video is a deepfake, but it is increasingly harder to detect due to technological advances.
In the Media
DW: Fact check: No, “Pizzagate” is not real
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on code words used in internet forums on the sexual abuse of minors. But, he says, to 'make a connection with these words in every instance is far-fetched.'
In the Media
Rolling Stone: Her Murder Went Viral on Instagram. Should Her Killer Be Allowed to Speak?
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on social media posts that can re-victimize victims. A murder victim’s family declined to be a part of a documentary, which led producers to interview the killer instead.
In the Media
U.S. News & World Report: All the President’s Henchmen
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on the reasons charges have been filed against former President Donald Trump, including alleged violations of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law in Georgia.
In the Media
CBS News New York: What are investigators digging for in Rex Heuermann's backyard? Experts weigh in
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, discusses the investigation at a Massapequa Park home as detectives search for evidence in the Gilgo Beach murder cases.
In the Media
WICC 600AM Connecticut Today with Paul Pacelli: More Accusations In Bridgeport
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, talks about the Gilgo Beach murders and the ongoing investigation as the sear ch continues for additional evidence.
In the Media
New York Post: Real child murder victims recreated by AI in sick true-crime deepfake trend
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on a TikTok trend that revictimizes people who have already been victimized before.
In the Media
The U.S. Sun: Disturbing TikTok trend sees child murder victims recreated with character AI image generator – including their voices
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on videos that use AI characters, primarily children, about how they were abused and killed are trending on TikTok and have no warning about graphic content.
In the Media
Rolling Stone: AI Deepfakes of True Crime Victims Are a Waking Nightmare
Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on the ethics of TikTok users posting true-crime videos of murder victims, including children, using artificial intelligence to create a first-person recounting of how they died.