Border Enforcement,Organized Crime,and Deaths of Smuggled Migrants on the United States – Mexico Border

In response to ever increasing numbers of illegal immigrants entering the United States from Mexico, the United States adopted a border enforcement strategy in the 1990s that sought to bring the problem under control. This strategy relied primarily on increasing the number of Border Patrol agents directly on the border, the erection of walls at heavy traffic areas, and insertion of electronic surveillance systems. While these efforts succeeded in making it more difficult for illegal migrants to gain entry into the United States undetected, it also resulted in an increased reliance on human smugglers. Thus, the nature of the problem has shifted from one of illegal immigration to one of human smuggling. In an effort to gain entry successfully, smugglers have continued to lead migrants through hazardous terrain along the border where surveillance is less intense. Anecdotal evidence is presented which suggests that smugglers' drive for profit often results in the abandonment and death of migrants. Implications for future border policing strategy and research are discussed. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the International Conference on Organized Crime and Humanitarian Disasters at the initiative of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (ISPAC) in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy, December 3–5, 2004.     

Does public criticism Erode trust in the police? The case of Jari Aarnio in the Finnish news media and its effects on the public’s attitudes towards the police

A significant part of the general public’s observations and image concerning the police comes through the mass media. It has been assumed that one factor affecting the level of trust is the way the media handles the police. This article describes the media uproar that arose in Finland in November 2013 about police misconduct, and its effects on the public trust in the police. Two hypotheses were tested in the study: (a) negative publicity always decreases trust, and so, too, in this case; and (b) a change in trust is affected by the public’s independent interpretation of the publicity battle, in which case criticism might also increase trust. The study materials comprise the news coverage concerning the uproar and four opinion surveys collected after it occurred. The first survey was conducted immediately after the press conference of the case in week 48/2013 and the other ones in three-week intervals. The results show that following the uproar, compared to the earlier results of the European Social Survey, trust in the police did not decrease—on the contrary, it increased slightly. Our results suggest that in this case a large part of the audience has taken, to use the term of Stuart Hall, the oppositional position when interpreting negative news about the police.     

Institutional weakness and organized crime in Mexico: the case of Michoacán

In the case of Mexico, the prevalence of organized crime and drug trafficking can be explained more as a consequence of the weak and insufficient institutional bureaucracy that impedes the application of the law than the demand for narcotics in the United States. In this context, a study was undertaken in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, the state where one of the most violent criminal groups, Los Caballeros Templarios (the Knights Templar), a splinter group of La Familia Michoacána (the family Michoacán), is located. This article, which draws upon LaFree’s ‘social control’ research, raises the question of the urgent need to strengthen state and municipal government within an integrated strategy to combat organized crime. Failure to reform bureaucracies and the continued lack of local and state institutions that guarantee a modicum of compliance with the law will result in an institutional environment which continues to favor impunity and delinquency.     

‘Standing’ by: disability hate crime and the police in England

This article discusses the Don't Stand By: Hate Crime Research Report (DSB) (Mencap, 2011), which documents failings in policing practices related to reporting and responding to disability hate crime. Such failings, we argue, constitute not so much direct discrimination but acts of ‘normalcy’. Normalcy is the process whereby taken for granted ideas about what is normal become naturalised; in this respect being non-disabled is seen as normal. Acts of normalcy, whilst less tangible, are by no means less violent or harmful than acts of ‘real discrimination’ or ‘real violence’ (Goodley and Rumswick-Cole, 2011). Systemic and cultural normalcy within the police is not new, as can be seen in the case of Stephen Lawrence.     

Public servants or police soldiers? An analysis of opinions on the militarization of policing from police executives,law enforcement,and members of the 114th congress U.S. house of representatives

Despite the dramatic rise in use of militarized weapons, equipment, and tactics by police departments across the nation, no study has examined the opinions of those responsible for designing, funding, and implementing police militarization in the United States. Therefore this study collected and analyzed opinion data from 465 key stakeholders from the 114th Congress U.S. House of Representatives, law enforcement executives, and local police officers regarding police militarization. Results suggest that while most practitioners and policymakers favor police militarization, Congress and law enforcement differ in support of critical issues such as oversight of military procurement programs, use of surplus military weapons and vehicles, and overall support for the militarization of policing in the United States.     

Armed,but too dangerous? Factors associated with citizen support for the militarization of the police

Images of police officers riding in armored vehicles and carrying military-grade weapons have become part of the public consciousness following the events in Ferguson, Missouri and several other high-profile police–citizen encounters. Although a great deal of research has investigated how and why US citizens perceive the police in various ways, almost no empirical work has asked how citizens perceive the militarization of the police. The current study analyzes data from a survey of 1005 US citizens to identify characteristics that are related to support for the use of military weapons and vehicles by local police departments. The results indicate that several demographic factors and perceptions of crime and the police are significantly related with citizen support for the militarization of the police. The implications of this research are discussed.     

“Shaping history” or “Riding the wave”?: President Bush's influence on the public opinion of terrorism, homeland security, & crime

The theory of presidential influence over public opinion is used to predict the impact of presidential rhetoric on the public's concern for terrorism, homeland security, and crime as the “most important problems facing the country.” Using OLS time-series regression, the authors find consistent results that President Bush influenced public opinion in relation to terrorism, homeland security and crime, despite the overwhelming events of September 11th and its impact. The article concludes by discussing the president's ability to shape events and how some events shape the presidency.     

The police,social services and psychiatry cooperation in Denmark—A new model of working practice between governmental sectors. A description of the concept,process, practice and experience

In 2004 a new model of working practice between three public sectors, the local Police Department, Social Services and Psychiatry/Mental Health Services (PSP) was introduced in the municipality of Frederiksberg, Denmark. The aim of this cooperation was to enhance support to vulnerable citizens, who do not belong solely to one of the three sectors and thereby often get lost in the system. The PSP cooperation was introduced to ensure that relevant information concerning vulnerable citizens was shared between the three sectors and to improve collaboration between the sectors involved in order to provide the needed support to the individual citizen. Due to the success of the PSP cooperation in Frederiksberg, the PSP model was implemented by law in Denmark in 2009.In order to evaluate the model, a qualitative study based on structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations, was performed in four selected municipalities in Denmark: Frederiksberg, Odense, Amager and Esbjerg. The evaluation was undertaken by the Danish National Centre for Social Research.It is concluded that the PSP cooperation draws attention to marginalized groups of citizens and helps to prevent social downfall and crime. Participants of the PSP cooperations further highlight positive changes in the cooperation between the involved sectors, which is thought to further improve the support to vulnerable citizens and thereby enhance both prevention and follow up of cases. Furthermore, the recommendations drawn from the evaluation are to adapt PSP cooperations to local conditions, avoid unnecessary red-tape, keep a constant focus on citizens' ethics, as well as involve the frontline workers in the individual sectors, i.e. those who are actually in contact with marginalized citizens.     

Public perceptions of police efficacy and image: The “fuzziness” of support for the police

Most studies concerning police-community relations have operationalized support for-law enforcement agencies in unidimensional terms. The present study dissects the notion of support for the police into two distinct dimensions: efficacy and image. Efficacy includes perceptions of the police ability to protect citizens, solve crime, and prevent crime. Image includes perceptions of friendliness and fairness of the police. A series of conventional individual-level and contextual variables are modeled in an effort to explore their relative influence on citizen perceptions of police efficacy and image. Data gathered from a national telephone survey of 1,005 citizens reveal that support for local police is both complex and multidimensional. Moreover, the results demonstrate that efficacy and image are independent dimensions, and that each is susceptible to quite different ratings depending upon which independent and dependent variables are modeled. Thanks go to Dennis Longmire, Barbara Sims, and Timothy Flanagan for providing the data used in this study.     

Data processing by police and criminal justice authorities in Europe – The influence of the Commission's draft on the national police laws and laws of criminal procedure

The proposal for a fundamental reform of the European data protection law, published by the EU Commission on 25 January 2012 is composed of two elements. Apart from a General Data Protection Regulation, the Commission proposes a second regulatory instrument, namely a Directive with regard to data processing by police and criminal justice authorities that shall supersede the Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA. This paper seeks to analyse the draft Directive in the context of the entire reform approach and scrutinizes a number of specific issues in regard to the scope, the requirements of data processing, notification duties and data transfer to third countries.     

Can “disciplined passion” overcome the cynical view? An empirical inquiry of evaluator influence on police crime prevention program outcomes

Objectives

Investigate the degree and nature of influence that researchers have in police crime prevention programs and whether a high degree of influence is associated with biased reporting of results.

Methods

Meta-analytic inquiry of experimental and quasi-experimental studies (n?=?42), drawn from four Campbell Collaboration systematic reviews of leading police crime prevention strategies: problem-oriented policing, ??hot spots?? policing, ??pulling levers?? policing, and street-level drug enforcement.

Results

Larger program effects are not associated with studies with higher involvement on the part of the evaluator (e.g., assisting in strategy design, monitoring implementation, overcoming implementation problems).

Conclusions

This study does not find support for the cynical view, which holds that researchers have a personal stake in the program or are pressured to report positive results. Importantly, the evaluator??s involvement in the implementation of the program may be a necessary condition of successfully executed police experiments in complex field settings.     

“Demystifying” the police: a participant observation study of police stops (and searches)

Police are empowered by law to stop and search vehicles and their occupants, once reasonable grounds for suspicion come into being. However, as attested by this study, not all suspicions are followed up, nor all stops-searches follow on suspicions. Police stops-searches involve bounteous discretion of whom, where, and when to stop-search, and this process entails a long chain of judgments and actions on behalf of the constables faced with given street-level situations. A six-month complete participant observation study of the Emergency Response Unit of the Cyprus Police resulted in asserting that police stops-searches of vehicles and their occupants rest upon multiple, perplexed, and intertwined factors that range from racial predilections to heat tolerance levels of constables who may or may not be inclined to enforce the law. In all, over one hundred dimensions were found to relate to constables’ decision-making process on whether to conduct a stop-search or not.     

No body,no crime? The role of forensic awareness in avoiding police detection in cases of sexual homicide

PurposeThe study examines whether the use of forensic awareness strategies increases the chance of avoiding police detection in sexual homicide.MethodsLogistic and negative binomial regression analyses are used on a sample of 350 cases of sexual homicide – 250 solved and 100 unsolved cases – in order to determine if forensic awareness strategies are related to the status of the case (i.e., solved versus unsolved) and the number of days before body recovery, while controlling for certain victim characteristics.ResultsAlthough an offender’s use of precautions does not seem to increase the offender’s chance of avoiding police detection, some modus operandi behavior adopted by the offender at the crime scene may help to delay the discovery of the victim, and thus delay the offender’s apprehension. Moreover, the likelihood of whether or not a sexual murderer is apprehended varied significantly across victim characteristics.ConclusionSome offenders seem to exhibit rational thinking in targeting certain types of victims and in adopting certain strategies in order to delay body recovery. Number of days until body recovery is a more appropriate measure of detection avoidance than case status, as it is not biased by administrative rules or timing of data entry.     

Updating,subtyping, and perceptions of the police: Implications of police contact for youths’ perceptions of procedural justice

Individuals enter police encounters with expectations about how these interactions will unfold. These expectations are often rooted in racialized personal, vicarious, and collective experiences with the police. Bayesian updating posits that the way youth perceive treatment by the police during stops and arrests combines with prior expectations and perceptions to shape current views of the law, whereas subtyping suggests this process differs by race. This study examines intra- and interracial variability in these processes using longitudinal survey data from 3,085 Black and White youth. Regardless of race, youth who indicate they were treated with disrespect during police encounters had lower perceptions of procedural justice than did those with no contact, whereas contact perceived as respectful had no significant effects. For White but not Black youth, police encounters rated as “neutral” are associated with more negative views of the police. Other forms of legal socialization are also racialized, including messages conveyed in the media and by parents. Limited evidence exists that prior views of the police moderate the effect of police encounters on procedural justice or that these conditioning effects vary by race. Findings support updating, but race differences do not neatly align with findings expected with updating or subtyping theory.     

Bad moon on the rise? Lunar cycles and incidents of crime

Popular cultures in Western societies have long espoused the notion that phases of the moon influence human behavior. In particular, there is a common belief the full moon increases incidents of aberrant, deviant, and criminal behavior. Using police, astronomical, and weather data from a major southwestern American city, this study assessed whether lunar cycles related with rates of reported crime. The findings fail to support popular lore, which has suggested that lunar phase influenced the volume of crime reported to the police. Future research directions examining qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of this problem may yield further inform the understanding of whether lunar cycles appreciably influence demands for policing services.     

Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety – A comparative review of the literature

Examining the evolution of British and Australian policing, this comparative review of the literature considers the historical underpinnings of policing in these two countries and the impact of community legitimacy derived from the early concepts of policing by consent. Using the August 2011 disorder in Britain as a lens, this paper considers whether, in striving to maintain community confidence, undue emphasis is placed on the police's public image at the expense of community safety. Examining the path of policing reform, the impact of bureaucracy on policing and the evolving debate surrounding police performance, this review suggests that, while largely delivering on the ideal of an ethical and strong police force, a preoccupation with self-image may in fact result in tarnishing the very thing British and Australian police forces strive to achieve – their standing with the public. This paper advocates for a more realistic goal of gaining public respect rather than affection in order to achieve the difficult balance between maintaining trust and respect as an approachable, ethical entity providing firm, confident policing in this ever-evolving, modern society.     

When do people report crime to the police? Results from a factorial survey design in the Netherlands, 2010

Objectives  

In this paper we assess to what extent factors of the reporting process affect the willingness to report crime to the police. The focus is on the following factors: (1) duration and flexibility (i.e. possibility to report outside office hours), (2) method of reporting (i.e. phone, Internet or police station), (3) anonymous reporting, and (4) encouragement by police officers.     

Victimization and fear of crime in an entertainment district crime “hot spot:” A test of structural-choice theory

Theories of criminal opportunity and criminal victimization (lifestyles, routine activities, and structuralchoice) all stress the convergence of motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of guardianship in time and space. They each assert the chances of victimization increase as proximity to motivated offenders, exposure to highrisk environments, target attractiveness, and ineffective guardianship increase. This study tests Miethe and Meier’s structuralchoice theory by examining domainspecific victimization and fear of crime among patrons of an entertainment district crime “hot spot. ”Regression results show both victimization experience and fear of crime are associated significantly with indicators of proximity and guardianship, but not with exposure or target attractiveness. White patrons of this area are more likely to be victimized, nonwhites report significantly higher levels of fear. The research for this paper was supported by Grant No. 97PRWX0298 from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.     

“State ineffectiveness in deterring organized crime style homicide in Mexico: a vicious cycle”

Institutional weaknesses in the criminal justice system (limited court capacity and the increasingly sophisticated armament of splintering drug trafficking organizations) limit the effectivity of Mexican states to deter organized crime style homicide. Court capacity, expressed by increasing sentencing rates in states where the oral court system was institutionalized, remains insufficient against the post-2006 organized crime related homicide epidemic. The illegal arms market, combined with long-standing deficits in firepower between organized crime and municipal police forces, limit the state’s capacity to alter the arms balance toward policing forces. Taken together, limited court capacity and the tactical imbalance of weapons held by drug trafficking organizations create a vicious cycle which continually perpetuates state ineffectiveness to deter and punish organized crime style homicide.