Methods for Understanding and Analyzing NIBRS Data

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is an incident-basedcrime reporting program for local, state, and federal law enforcementagencies. Within each criminal incident, NIBRS captures information onoffenses, victims, offenders, property, and persons arrested, as well asinformation about the incident itself. The ability to link and analyze thisdetailed information is a significant improvement to the existing UniformCrime Reporting (UCR) summary reporting system. As one might expect,however, this increase in crime data significantly complicates the life ofthe data analyst, particularly when cross tabulating the NIBRS data. To dealwith the complexity of NIBRS data, one must understand its structure. Thisarticle provides an overview of the NIBRS structure and methods formaneuvering within it to present and interpret correctly cross tabulationsof the NIBRS data.     

Examining Space–Time Interaction in City-Level Homicide Data: Crack Markets and the Diffusion of Guns Among Youth

This paper examines the linkage between crack market activity and gunhomicide suggested by Blumstein (1995), who argues that the arrival ofcrack stimulated an increased availability of guns among juveniles. Thisgreater availability of guns, the argument continues, is responsible for thesharp upswing in juvenile homicide experienced in the United States in themid-1980s. Using city-level data on crack arrests and gun-related juvenilehomicide, we fit a change-point version of the Bass (1969) model ofinnovation diffusion. We find that, in most large American cities, thediffusion process for crack cocaine experienced an onset of dramatic growththat was followed by a similar, slightly slower growth in gun homicidescommitted by juveniles. We further use cluster analysis to find that thespatial patterning of the two processes is similar, starting on the East andWest Coasts and working their way toward other regions of the nation. Gunuse in homicide among slightly older offenders (ages 18–24) alsoexperienced a change at roughly the same time as the juveniles, but the rateof diffusion was considerably milder than for the younger group; offendersages 25 or older generally show no growth in gun-related homicide whatsoever. In addition, there is no detectable surge in juvenile nongun homicide activity. Based on these findings, we conclude that the crack cocaine markets–gun availability linkage is highly plausible, and we suggest directions for future research in clarifying the dynamics of the late-1980s surge in juvenile homicide.     

Opinion formation in foreign policy: the Swiss experience

Applying John Zaller's model of opinion formation to survey data covering 15 years (1981–95) of direct democracy in Switzerland, this paper provides a contribution to the debate about opinion formation in foreign policy. On the one hand, the Swiss experience contradicts the widespread view that citizens are poorly informed about and little interested in foreign affairs. On the other hand, direct democracy often translates into governmental defeats in this field. We address these mixed results and show that opinion formation in foreign policy is not a special case, and differs from that in domestic policy only with respect to the circumstances under which it occurs. In particular, we highlight the unusual type and level of conflict within the elite on foreign policy issues, which translates into distinct patterns of attitudes among the public.     

论网络电子数据收集程序的完善

电子数据收集程序的规范对于保障网络犯罪案件处理的质量有着重要意义。有别于传统的刑事证据,电子数据具有收集主体多元化、收集范围广泛化、收集方法科技化的特点。从我国当前司法实践情况来看,电子数据在收集过程中存在一系列问题。当前可参照他国立法经验,通过明确第三方的技术协助义务和保密义务、规定全面收集原则、确立快速保护机制、建立提交技术鉴定的标准这四个方面对我国电子数据收集程序予以规范。     

16 STR data of a Greek population

Allele frequencies for 16 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, FGA, and SE33) were calculated for a sample of 300 unrelated individuals from Greece. No deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were observed for all loci. The combined power of discrimination (PD) and the combined power of exclusion (PE) for the 16 tested STR loci were 0.999999999 and 0.999999816, respectively. Population comparisons were carried out and low genetic distances were found between our data and those previously published for other neighbouring European populations.     

网络格式合同若干法律问题的探讨

消费者进行网上访问、参与电子商务交易活动大多通过订立网络格式合同进行,而网络格式合同作为人们从事电子商务活动的最主要的手段,在迅速发展起来的同时被赋予了新的内容和形式,不可避免地对传统的合同法律制度提出了挑战。基于此在探析网络格式合同的新内涵并分析和审视网络格式合同法律效力的基础上,提出借鉴外国相关立法和实践经验,针对电子商务交易进行单独立法和课以网络格式合同提供方以合理提示义务,加强行业协会监管作用等措施来规范网络格式合同使用过程中产生的法律关系。     

ALL OFFENDERS ARE EQUAL,BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS: VARIATION IN JOURNEYS TO CRIME BETWEEN OFFENDERS*

The results of this study reveal a major methodological problem with an established body of criminological literature—the journey to crime. The dominant finding of such research is that most crimes occur close to an offender's home. Consequently, journeys to crime typically display a distance-decay function that is assumed to exist between and within offenders. However, most journey-to-crime studies use nested data—individual offenders contributing multiple crime trips—yet employ analytic methods that fail to account for this property, leading to inference and aggregation concerns. In the study outlined in this article, we demonstrated the implications of using nested data for analyzing the journey to crime. We showed that once controlling for nesting, only a few (prolific) offenders display a distance decay pattern. Implications of the findings for theory and future research are discussed.     

Population data of eight X-chromosomal STR markers in Ewe individuals from Ghana

The investigation of the X-linked DNA markers are well established in the forensic routine case work. We studied an Ewe population sample from Ghana. The eight X-chromosomal STRs DXS10135, DXS8378, DXS7132, DXS10074, HPRTB, DXS10101, DXS10134 and DXS7423 were analyzed in 182 Ewe individuals (108 females and 74 males) from the region of Sogakofe (Ghana). Allele frequencies and statistical parameter as well as comparison with known data from Germans and with data from an Amharic population (Ethiopia) are presented.     

个人信用信息数据库在我国征信体系构建中的法律定位分析

个人信用信息数据库的法律定位分析系指对数据库保护的具体法律关系定位而言。在我国征信体系构建的过程中,个人信用信息数据库的权利主体是谁,具体权利及权利内容如何,需要在借鉴美国、欧盟、日本等征信国家信用立法、管理等经验的基础上,结合我国的实际情况进行路径选择并给出具体设计。