Fragmentation and cooperation: the evolution of organized crime in Mexico

Some researchers suggest that the observed boom in the levels of violence in Mexico since 2008 are a consequence of placing federal military forces in states with a significant organized crime presence. However, little has been said about the role of the changeable, competitive, and violent nature of criminal organizations on this increasing violence. Using the literature on inter- and intra-state conflicts as matter of analogy to explain organized crime developments in Mexico, fragmentation and cooperation seem to be determinant forces that alter the equilibrium within Mexican criminal groups, affecting their territorial control. By using a private dataset gathered by the Drug Policy Program at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), we examine the evolution of criminal organizations in Mexico by focusing on their different alliances and fragmentations from December 2006 to December 2011. Our analysis suggests that violence is a consequence not only of the law enforcement actions, but also of the fragmentation and cooperation within and between private groups.     

论我国反垄断执法机构的设置--对现行设计方案的质疑

反垄断执法机构的科学设置 ,事关反垄断法的命运 ,其重要性是显而易见的。发达国家和地区的反垄断法在对该机构的性质定位、职能设置、程序安排诸方面都进行了周密的设计 ,赋予该机构显要的地位和超强的权力 ,以保障其执法的有效性。我国的特殊国情决定了我国反垄断法的主要使命将是如何消除和防范行政垄断 ,其斗争将是异常惨烈的。反垄断执法机构也将经受严峻考验。反垄断法讨论稿设计的反垄断执法机构设置方案 ,存在着严重缺陷 ,据此而行 ,反垄断法实施的效果是令人疑虑的。我国反垄断执法机构的设计必须废弃作为现有行政机关下属机构的思路 ,凸现其权威性、独立性和专业性     

检察机关案件管理机制之法理探讨

检察机关案件管理机制的建立是检察机关创新工作思路、转变工作方式、改革工作体制的一项重要内容,使检察机关执法办案行为更加规范化、合法化,提高案件办理质量和效率,提升执法公信力。为了进一步规范执法办案行为,强化检察内部监督,有必要对案件管理机制从法经济学和法理学两个层面进行探讨,以使其运行能确保检察权的良性运行。     

Regulatory enforcement in the presence of a court system

The responsibilities of a regulatory agency involved in the law enforcement process vary considerably. In this paper we consider three different legal procedures in the process of law enforcement: First, we assume that the regulatory agency is in charge of the detection of offenses. Conviction takes place via court trial. Second, we assume that the regulatory agency has the power to fine an individual if there is some evidence that he did not comply with the law. An individual who has been fined by the agency has the right to lodge an appeal. If he makes use of this right, the question whether or not he complied with the law will be reconsidered. Here we discuss two different legal procedures: The case is decided by court, and the regulatory agency is required to provide sufficient evidence for its decision. Or, the agency reconsiders its decision and decides whether or not to press charges in court. We formalize these three legal procedures in a game-theoretic context and analyze the implications of the procedural regulations on the decision of a potential offender to behave illegally.     

执法者心态变迁对执法活动的影响

我国目前正处于一个由传统社会向现代社会过渡的转型时期。在这一时期,执法者的心态一方面会产生由单一型转向多元宽容、由浮躁非理性转向成熟理性等积极变化;另一方面,也会产生由相对平衡转向失衡、由心理平和转向心理矛盾增多等消极变化。相应的,执法者心态的变迁会对执法活动产生或正面或负面的影响,这就需要针对不同的情况,采取相应的措施,扬长避短。     

Criminal justice and the law in Mexico

Law enforcement in Mexico has not effectively prosecuted participants in organized crime and drug trafficking. Enforcing current laws to prosecutecriminals is difficult because members of the cartels have infiltrated andcorrupted the law enforcement organizations that are supposed to prosecutethem, such as the Office of the Attorney General. Changes in Mexican criminallaw in 1996, like harsher sentences for those who participate in organized crime, offer a legal foundation for improvement; additional changes shouldbe considered.     

Building institutional capacity: knowledge production for transnational security governance in Mexico

ABSTRACT

This article engages with institutionalist knowledge production in US-Mexican security relations, demonstrating how anti-crime governance in the Americas has shifted from a heavy-handed military rationale to a good governance and civil society–centred approach. This shift has been facilitated by the newly emerging resilience discourse which advocates turning local communities from passive beneficiaries of government-sponsored law enforcement into pro-active security partners. It will be argued that the rise of good governance and society-centred policy thinking has enhanced the epistemic authority of a heterogeneous, but ideologically aligned set of human rights advocacy groups, think tanks, policy-oriented academics and for-profit development NGOs – both in Mexico and the United States. This transnational expert community has been instrumental in inserting the issue of drug-related violent crime in Mexico into a globally dominant statebuilding framework. In consequence, security governance in Mexico has taken on a more transnational character and become the object of a highly intrusive international monitoring regime.     

Interrelations Between Local Soviets and Law Enforcement Agencies

The question of interrelations between local soviets and law enforcement agencies is of both general theoretical and practical importance for the intensification and development of the struggle against criminal and other antisocial phenomena. The Political Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the Twenty-seventh Party Congress voiced the demand "to steadfastly raise the responsibilty of law enforcement and other agencies, to strengthen state arbitration and the legal services in the soviets and in the national economy, and to improve the legal education of the population. The use of the entire force of Soviet laws in the struggle against crime and other legal infractions, so that people in every population center feel the concern of the state for their peace and inviolability, so that they be assured that not a single law breaker will escape the punishment he deserves, is an unceasing task."¹     

Safe at home? Policing the U.S. hometown in a post 9/11 environment

Despite the prominence of terrorism concerns on the national agenda, three areas of public policy pose more significant challenges for local law enforcement in the United States: illegal gun proliferation and distribution; offender incarceration and re-entry paths; and investments in the lives of children. This paper argues that the current direction of public policy in these latter areas should be a primary concern, because these policies not only impact law enforcement in a negative way, but also threaten the strength and vitality of the communities law enforcement is trying to serve. Moreover, the dangers posed by these policies are far more calculable, more likely and more destructive over the long run than those posited for more extreme, though less-likely threats, to which the U.S., as a nation, is committing enormous sums of money, for seemingly incremental, public safety benefits. The role of law enforcement executives is critical to how these issues will be addressed.     

On the employment effect of noncompliance with the minimum wage law

A major result of the economic literature on minimum wage noncompliance is that a competitive employer who opts not to comply with the minimum wage law will employ less labor than he would have in the absence of a law. The reason for this is that noncompliance entails the risk of getting caught and punished, consequently raising the marginal cost of labor to the employer. An implicit assumption underlying this result is that noncompliance does not affect the free market wage rate facing the competitive employer. The present note shows that noncompliance will bring about a fall in the market wage rate and that if employers and workers are risk neutral, the market wage rate will fall in a way that leaves the marginal cost of labor intact. Consequently, the enactment of a minimum wage law, if not accompanied by sufficient enforcement to induce compliance, will have no effect on the level of employment.     

法治政府目标体系——中国法治政府建设十大成就之一

法治政府建设是中国特色社会主义法治国家建设的基础性环节。根据《法治政府建设实施纲要(2015—2020年)》的要求,到2020年基本建成以“职能科学、权责法定、执法严明、公开公正、廉洁高效、诚实守信”为目标体系的法治政府。经过多年的不懈努力,通过深化“放管服”改革和建立权力清单制度,有力地推动了政府职能科学、权责法定的组织性目标的实现;通过行政执法体制改革,构建行政执法三项制度,切实地完成了执法严明、公开公正的过程性目标;通过完善行政监督体系,深入政务诚信建设,有效推进了廉洁高效、诚实守信的伦理性目标的制度化。以此为标志,中国法治政府建设已经达成了预期目标。     

中国土地执法摇摆现象及其解释

中国土地执法实践呈现“摇摆现象”,即有时执法有效,有时执法失灵。执法摇摆现象的发生,并非完全因为法律不完备或者土地执法部门能力有限,还在于中国集中体制下的“嵌入式执法”。在中国国家体系中,土地执法部门被嵌入在集中体制及其建构的中心工作中。在中心工作完成过程中,土地执法部门真正完成的并非其职能目标,而是集中体制目标。不同中心工作的建构,导致土地执法效果可能有效也可能失灵,呈现出摇摆不定的执法效果。集中体制本身的分化,即中央和各级地方政府目标重点的不同,也使得土地执法效果更不可预期。     

Crime Mapping and the Training Needs of Law Enforcement

This paper explores some of the more recent developments within crime mapping and the broader application of geographical information technology within law enforcement. The information technology (IT) revolution and the reduction in computing costs since the 1980s has brought a range of analytical tools within the budgets of most police services, and one of the most significant changes has been in the way that spatial data are handled. Law enforcement has strong geographic currents at all levels of the organisation, and this paper examines three applications of geographical information systems (GIS) within policing: hotspot mapping; CompStat; and geographic profiling. The paper concludes by discussing the future training needs using a simple model of intelligence-led crime reduction. This model suggests that training for managers to enable a greater understanding of the analyses presented to them, and how to use mapping to further crime prevention and reduction, may be as important as increasing the technical ability of crime analysts. The challenge for the immediate future of crime reduction practice in law enforcement is less to worry about the training of analysts, and more to address the inability of law enforcement management to understand and act on the crime analysis they are given.     

我国反垄断执法机制的不足与完善

随着我国《反垄断法》正式实施,我国的反垄断法律体系建设加速。而建立一个权威、独立的执法机构是发挥反垄断法功效的关键。因此,反垄断执法机构的科学设置及其职责的合理确定是中国反垄断法制建设中的重要一环。目前,《反垄断法》为我国设计了三家联合执法的机制,权威性和独立性尤为不足。加之目前我国反垄断执法体制缺乏具体的分级设计,没有配套的实施细则,人员素质与结构不合理等等。诸多问题势必影响我国反垄断法的实施。因此,探讨中国反垄断执法机构的问题与不足,对于完善中国反垄断执法机构确有必要。     

Police Body-Worn Cameras: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Leadership

Many people are enthusiastic about the potential benefits of police body-worn cameras (BWC). Despite this enthusiasm, however, there has been no research on law enforcement command staff perceptions of BWCs. Given the importance that law enforcement leadership plays in the decision to adopt and implement BWCs, it is necessary to assess their perceptions. This is the first study to measure law enforcement leadership attitudes toward BWCs. The study relies on data collected from surveys administered to command staff representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in a large southern county. Among the major perceptual findings are that command staff believe BWCs will impact police officers’ decisions to use force in encounters with citizens and police will be more reluctant to use necessary force in encounters with the public. Respondents also believe that use of BWCs is supported by the public because society does not trust police, media will use BWC data to embarrass police, and pressure to implement BWCs comes from the media. Perceptions of the impact of BWCs on safety, privacy, and police effectiveness are also discussed.     

试论社会保障的法律保护

社会保障法律的制定,还需要强有力的行政执法手段将其贯彻落实。社会保障行政执法行为的主体是各级劳动和社会保障行政部门及法律授权行使社会保障行政管理职能的组织。据此本文提出了社会保障行政执法的主要措施、劳动和社会保障行政执法的主要形式、劳动和社会保障行政执法活动的行政监督、社会保障争议仲裁。通过社会保障的行政执法保护,使公民的社会保障权确实得到解决。     

Organizational Social Capital and Performance of Drug Law Enforcement Departments

Supply reduction efforts by drug law enforcement departments are a significant factor in improving the effectiveness of drug control policies. The performance of drug law enforcement departments is one of the most important concerns for policy makers. Therefore, improving the performance of these departments is crucial in order for governments to constrict illegal drug markets and prevent illegal drug distribution. The literature suggests that social capital may have significant impacts on organizational performance. Using survey data from 12 city law enforcement departments in Turkey, this study examines the effects of three social capital dimensions (structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions) on the perceived performance of drug law enforcement departments by using structural equation modeling. The results of this conceptually grounded and empirical study suggest that drug law enforcement departments should pay close attention to promoting social capital among officers in order to fight effectively against drug trafficking.     

论反垄断法的谦抑性适用——基于总体执法观和具体方法论的分析

反垄断法的谦抑性适用是指在总体执法态度和方法路径上的必要、适度、克制和非冒进的适用姿态。反垄断法执行的理想状态是不枉不纵、恰如其分和精准定位,但这种目标只可尽量接近而又难以企及,因而只能在总体执法效果上退而求其次。由于市场认知的困难性以及市场强大的自愈能力,在次优效果的追求中总体上可以采取必要的"宁纵不枉"的谦抑执法观,以尽量减少错误成本。反垄断法是经济与法律的结合体,经常以经济学分析为体,以法律方法为用,其谦抑性需要进行方法论上的贯彻。反垄断法兼具刚性和柔性,以法律解释为核心的法律方法是调和刚柔的路径与载体,通过谦抑的解释实现刚柔相济。经济学分析是反垄断法执行的重要支撑,但仍有其局限性。执法毕竟涉及"生杀予夺",运用经济学分析应当谨慎和适度,在反垄断法施行初期尤其要防止经济学分析"拜物教"。     

Measuring double consciousness among black law enforcement officers to understand the significant role of race in law enforcement occupational cultures

The current study correlates Merton's anomie theory and W. E. B. Dubois's double-consciousness theory to measure black law enforcement officers' reactions to occupational strain resulting from officers' ethnic-identification. Measuring levels of anomic behavior provides a scale for identifying levels of risk affecting the well-being of individual officers and organizations. Testing hierarchal regression models with a national sample of black state- and federal-level law enforcement officers (n = 84) reveals a presence of double consciousness as a significant predictor for levels of anomic behavior in law enforcement occupational cultures. It also further suggests that race remains a significant factor in law enforcement organizations and cultures, whereas many police executives would prefer to believe that race issues in policing are settled.     

Prediction of Police Officer Performance Among New Mexico State Police as Assessed by the Personality Assessment Inventory

Little research has been conducted regarding the use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in law enforcement screening and selection. The limited body of research that does exist appears to support its utility in the selection process. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Psychological Rating Risk Factor Statement (PRRFS) developed by Roberts, Thompson, and Johnson (2004) in predicting and discriminating problem from non-problem New Mexico State Police (NMSP) applicants. PAI profiles for each officer were obtained and transferred into the PAI Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Public Safety Selection software program, which generated probability estimates (PRRFS) to predict the likelihood that participants were not well-suited for a career in law enforcement. Subsequent logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) statistical analyses revealed that the PRRFS was ineffective in predicting and discriminating between problem and non-problem officers. Potential explanations for this finding are discussed.