Situational factors and police use of force across micro-time intervals: A video systematic social observation and panel regression analysis

The current study analyzes police use of force as a series of time-bound transactions between officers, civilians, and bystanders. The research begins with a systematic social observation of use-of-force events recorded on police body-worn cameras in Newark, New Jersey. Researchers measure the occurrence and time stamps for numerous participant physical and verbal behaviors. Data are converted into a longitudinal panel format measuring all observed behaviors in 5-second intervals. Panel logistic regression models estimate the effect of each behavior on use of force in immediate and subsequent temporal periods. Findings indicate certain variables influence use of force at a distinct point in time, whereas others exert influence on use of force across multiple time periods. The most influential variables relate to authority maintenance theoretical constructs. This finding supports prior perspectives arguing that police use of force largely results from officer attempts to maintain constant authority over civilians during face-to-face encounters. Nonetheless, a range of additional variables reflecting procedural justice, civilian resistance, and bystander presence significantly affect when police use force during civilian encounters. Results provide nuance to theoretical frameworks considering use of force as resulting from the interplay between officer and civilian actions and reactions.     

Compounds identified in an illicit generic Xanax tablet are the result of a failed synthesis of alprazolam

Unintended compounds produced by inexperienced clandestine chemists may present a challenge in laboratories tasked with their identification. In March 2020, an anonymously submitted tablet purchased as a generic form of Xanax was analyzed by Erowid's DrugsData.org . The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) results publicly released online indicated several unidentified compounds due to a lack of database references at that time. Elucidation by our group indicated the presence of several structurally related compounds that were linked to a failed synthesis of alprazolam. For this case study, a published procedure for the synthesis of alprazolam starting with the chloroacetylation of 2-amino-5-chlorobenzophenone was identified as a potential source of this failure. The procedure was reproduced to identify pitfalls of the methodology and examine its possible link to the illicit tablet. Reaction outcomes were analyzed via GC–MS and compared to the tablet submission data. The major compound in this submission, N-(2-benzoyl-4-chlorophenyl)-2-chloroacetamide, along with several related byproducts were successfully reproduced indicating that the tablet contents potentially stem from a failure to synthesize alprazolam.     

Piercing the surface: A mechanical analysis of stabbing with household tools

Estimating the applied power during a stabbing incident, or estimating the minimal force necessary to penetrate the body with a certain weapon is a challenging task in forensic practice. A thorough forensic evaluation of stabbing forces needs objective numerical experimental data. Stabbing tests of 12 different weapons – including knives, a pair of scissors, a fork, screwdrivers, a rasp, a corkscrew, and a utility knife blade – were performed with a Mecmesin MultiTest-dV material tester on pork loin and ballistic gel to estimate the stabbing forces and dynamics. Penetration force (F_p) and maximal force (F_max) were recorded, and the registered force curves were analyzed. F_max was 159.8–212.07 Newton (N), 30.56–30.58 N, 168.9–185.48 N for various knives; 171.39–190.43 N for the pair of scissors, 233.6 N for the fork; 532.65–562.65 N, 370.31–367.19 N and 314.51–432.89 N for various screwdrivers, 44.14–56.62 N for utility knife during pork loin stabbing. The butter knife, corkscrew and rasp were not able to penetrate the pork loin, and the curved fork bent during stabbing. The results prove that weapon characteristics greatly influence the force necessary for penetration. Maximal stabbing force depends mostly on tip sharpness, and the force sharply decreases after penetration occurs, which indicates that edge sharpness is not as important as tip characteristics during stabbing perpendicular to skin surface. The penetration force during stabbing with a pair of scissors is comparable to the penetration force of knives. Stabbing with screwdrivers generally needs larger force than average knives but depends greatly on screwdriver size.     

Voter Buying: Shaping the Electorate through Clientelism

Studies of clientelism typically assume that political machines distribute rewards to persuade or mobilize the existing electorate. We argue that rewards not only influence actions of the electorate, but can also shape its composition. Across the world, machines employ “voter buying” to import outsiders into their districts. Voter buying demonstrates how clientelism can underpin electoral fraud, and it offers an explanation of why machines deliver rewards when they cannot monitor vote choices. Our analyses suggest that voter buying dramatically influences municipal elections in Brazil. A regression discontinuity design suggests that voter audits—which undermined voter buying—decreased the electorate by 12 percentage points and reduced the likelihood of mayoral reelection by 18 percentage points. Consistent with voter buying, these effects are significantly greater in municipalities with large voter inflows, and where neighboring municipalities had large voter outflows. Findings are robust to an alternative research design using a different data set.     

The authoritarian logic of regulatory pluralism: Understanding China's new environmental actors

Over the last decade, Chinese citizens, judges, and prosecutors have started to take action against industrial pollution, pluralizing a regulatory landscape originally occupied by administrative agencies. Regulatory pluralism here has an authoritarian logic, occurring without the retreat of party‐state control. Under such logic, the party‐state both needs and fears new actors for their positive and negative roles in controlling risk and maintaining stability. Consequently, the regime's relation to regulatory pluralism is ambivalent, shifting between support and restriction. This prevents a development of a regulatory society that could bypass the regulatory state. Theoretically, this special edition argues for a subjective definition of regulation in a context of pluralism. Moreover, it finds that regulatory pluralism need not coincide with a decentring of regulation. Finally, it highlights how entry onto the regulatory landscape affects the non‐regulatory roles of new actors, creating unintended consequences for regulatory pluralism.     

Europe’s Leadership Deficit

The European Project is currently experiencing the most serious crisis in its sixty year existence. Past crises have produced transformational leaders who used them to build more Europe. Today transformational leadership at the European level has been replaced with transactional and laissez faire leaders and is being challenged by charismatic populist ‘strong men’ who oppose more Europe. The structure of the EU, the rise of new media, the large flows of immigrants and refugees combined with economic stagnation and the decline of traditional ideologies have undermined the ability of leaders to shape effective policies. Emerging leaders will be grounded in the nation state and in a more Gaullist Europe.     

Reloading the Armalite? Victims and Targets of Violent Dissident Irish Republicanism, 2007–2015

The centenary of the 1916 Rising marks a time of peaceful commemoration, across the island of Ireland. However, several violent dissident republican groups wish to seize it as an opportunity to re-organise in an attempt to bolster and legitimise their sustained paramilitary campaign. This study seeks to provide a greater understanding of how this paramilitary activity has manifested from 2007 to mid-2015. We do this by assessing target selection, through analysis of the Violent Dissident Republican (VDR) events database. The data suggest that civilian targets are the most regularly attacked. However, when exclusively analysing targets of detonated explosives, the data show that police, security personnel, and their infrastructure are more consistently targeted. The target selected can and does have an effect on attack method. These findings can both assist in protecting the potential targets of VDR attacks and contribute to the development of a strong nationalised, and localised, counter VDR narrative.     

Position Effect on Facial Soft Tissue Depths: A Sonographic Investigation

The head is positioned erect for an approximation; yet most facial soft tissue depths (FSTD) used are measured from supine subjects. Depth difference might be significant, but there is a paucity of data to verify. This study compared erect and supine values for 17 landmarks from 30 healthy New Zealand (European population affinity) women (18–30 or 40–55 years) in erect then supine positions. Height, weight, and sonographic FSTD data, totaling 1020 measurements, were obtained. Three midline and seven averaged bilateral values were compared using ANOVA, p values, and Pearson's correlations. Correlative strength of age and body mass index, BMI (kg/m²), was determined by values. Results showed averaged erect and supine differences were significant for four of ten FSTDs. Between individuals, difference was various and not unidirectional. In conclusion, depth differences were observed but not all significant or unidirectional, BMI significantly influenced nine FSTD values, but age group did not.     

Nondestructive Biological Evidence Collection with Alternative Swabs and Adhesive Lifters

In forensic science, biological material is typically collected from evidence via wet/dry double swabbing with cotton swabs, which is effective but can visibly damage an item's surface. When an item's appearance must be maintained, dry swabbing and tape‐lifting may be employed as collection techniques that are visually nondestructive to substrates' surfaces. This study examined the efficacy of alternative swab matrices and adhesive lifters when collecting blood and fingerprints from glass, painted drywall, 100% cotton, and copy paper. Data were evaluated by determining the percent profile and quality score for each STR profile generated. Hydraflock^® swabs, BVDA Gellifters^®, and Scenesafe FAST? tape performed as well as or better than cotton swabs when collecting fingerprints from painted drywall and 100% cotton. Collection success was also dependent on the type of biological material sampled and the substrate on which it was deposited. These results demonstrated that alternative swabs and adhesive lifters can be effective for nondestructive DNA collection from various substrates.     

Forensic Features of Lethal Late‐Presenting Diaphragmatic Hernias

Diaphragmatic defects are a relatively common and benign finding in adults which may be congenital or secondarily acquired. The case files at Forensic Sciences South Australia were reviewed over a 10‐year period from July 2005 to June 2015 for all adult (>17 years) cases in which diaphragmatic hernias were identified at postmortem examination that had either caused or contributed to death. Five cases were found: age range 49–90 years (average 67.2 years); male:female ratio 2:3. Herniated organs included the stomach (N = 3), small (N = 3) and large intestines (N = 2). Mechanisms of death involved lung compression with respiratory failure and/or mediastinal shift, and vascular compromise with gastric or intestinal infarction and/or perforation. Diaphragmatic hernias may not be identified until the time of autopsy and may be quite complex entities to evaluate due to a lack of clinical history and to difficulties in determining their origin and possible contributions to mechanisms of death.