Multi-sector cooperation in preventing crime: the case of a South African Neighbourhood Watch as an effective crime prevention model

Abstract

This case study describes the experience of effective and sustainable multi-sector co-operation in the prevention of crime between the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch (RNW) in Roodepoort, South Africa, the South African Police Service, private security businesses and the local business sector. This case study is illustrated in the context of empowering communities to take ownership of community safety by facilitating a multi-sector approach. Many studies have highlighted the role of the police in driving crime prevention, however, this paper focuses on the role and contribution of communities themselves as an effective vehicle of crime prevention drawing on multi-sector co-operation. Knowledge regarding best practices in this field of crime prevention remains a work in progress, therefore this paper aims to contribute to the general framework for the growth of successful multi-sector community-based crime prevention initiatives.     

Respect for Persons in Bioethics: Towards a Human Rights-Based Account

Human rights have increasingly been put forward as an important framework for bioethics. In this paper, it is argued that human rights offer a potentially fruitful approach to understanding the notion of Respect for Persons in bioethics. The idea that we are owed a certain kind of respect as persons is relatively common, but also quite often understood in terms of respecting people’s autonomous choices. Such accounts do however risk being too narrow, reducing some human beings to a second-class moral status. This paper puts forward a political approach to our standing as persons and a strongly pluralistic account of human rights that lays the ground for a more broadly applicable conception of Respect for Persons. It is further argued that this model also provides an example of a more general approach to philosophical ethics, an approach which is here called taxonomical pluralism. When it comes to Respect for Persons specifically, this principle is developed in terms of five distinct core concerns (autonomy, dignity, integrity, privacy, and vulnerability).     

Bad neighbors? How co-located Chinese and World Bank development projects impact local corruption in Tanzania

The rise of China as a "non-traditional" development partner has been one of the most important phenomena in the field over the past decade. The lack of transparency in Chinese development projects, coupled with an uninterested stance towards governance, lead many to wonder if Chinese engagement will contribute to or undermine existing development efforts. This paper adds to the debate by inquiring as to the relationship of Chinese development efforts with perceptions of, and experiences with, corruption when projects are closely-located to those from a traditional donor, the World Bank. Taking advantage of spatial data, the paper evidences an association between the location of a larger number of Chinese projects and higher experiences with and, to some extent, perceptions of corruption when accounting for co-located World Bank projects. Likewise, while World Bank projects are associated with lower levels of corruption in the absence of Chinese projects, this relationship disappears when Chinese projects are nearby. However, these relationships only hold for Chinese projects which are not "aid-like," suggesting that the differentiation of Chinese overseas flows is an important consideration when studying China as a development partner.     

The Invisible Hand? Critical Information Infrastructures,Commercialisation and National Security

Corporatisation of critical information infrastructure (CII) is rooted in the ‘privatisation wave’ of the 1980s-90s, when the ground was laid for outsourcing public utilities. Despite well-known risks relating to reliability, resilience, and accountability, commitment to efficiency imperatives have driven governments to outsource key public services and infrastructures. A recent illustrative case with enormous implications is the 2017 Swedish ICT scandal, where outsourcing of CII caused major security breaches. With the transfer of the Swedish Transport Agency’s ICT system to IBM and subcontractors, classified data and protected identities were made accessible to non-vetted foreign private employees – sensitive data could thus now be in anyone’s hands. This case clearly demonstrates accountability gaps that can arise in public-private governance of CII.     

Development of a harmonised method for the profiling of amphetamines: III. Development of the gas chromatographic method

This study focused on gas chromatographic analysis of target compounds found in illicit amphetamine synthesised by the Leuckart reaction, reductive amination of benzyl methyl ketone, and the nitrostyrene route. The analytical method was investigated and optimised with respect to introduction of amphetamine samples into the gas chromatograph and separation and detection of the target substances. Sample introduction using split and splitless injection was tested at different injector temperatures, and their ability to transfer the target compounds to the GC column was evaluated using cold on column injection as a reference. Taking the results from both techniques into consideration a temperature of 250 degrees C was considered to be the best compromise. The most efficient separation was achieved with a DB-35MS capillary column (35% diphenyl 65% dimethyl silicone; 30 m x 0.25 mm, d(f) 0.25 microm) and an oven temperature program that started at 90 degrees C (1 min) and was increased by 8 degrees C/min to 300 degrees C (10 min). Reproducibility, repeatability, linearity, and limits of determination for the flame ionisation detector (FID), nitrogen phosphorous detector (NPD), and mass spectrometry (MS) in scan mode and selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode were evaluated. In addition, selectivity was studied applying FID and MS in both scan and SIM mode. It was found that reproducibility, repeatability, and limits of determination were similar for FID, NPD, and MS in scan mode. Moreover, the linearity was better when applying FID or NPD whereas the selectivity was better when utilising the MS. Finally, the introduction of target compounds to the GC column when applying injection volumes of 0.2 microl, 1 microl, 2 microl, and 4 microl with splitless injection respectively 1 microl with split injection (split ratio, 1:40) were compared. It was demonstrated that splitless injections of 1 microl, 2 microl, and 4 microl could be employed in the developed method, while split injection and splitless injections of 0.2 microl should be avoided.     

Cause of death and drug use pattern in deceased drug addicts in Sweden, 2002-2003

Compared with their contemporaries, individuals abusing illicit drugs suffer a higher risk of premature death. In Sweden, a simple protocol for registration of fatalities among abusers of alcohol, pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, or other substances, has been used by the forensic pathologists since 2001. This routine was introduced to allow for an evaluation of the cause and manner of death, and patterns of abuse among different groups of abusers. We explored the data on drug abusers (i.e. abusers of illicit drugs) subjected to a forensic autopsy 2002-2003. The Swedish forensic pathologists examined 10,273 dead victims during the study period and 7% (743/10,273) of the cases were classified as drug abusers. Toxicological analyses were carried out in 99% (736/743) and illicit drugs were detected in 70% (514/736) of these. On average, 3.8 substances (legal or illegal) were found per case. The most common substances were ethanol and morphine, detected in 43 and 35% of the cases, respectively. When exploring the importance of the different substances for the cause of death, we found that the detection of some substances, such as fentanyl and morphine, strongly indicated a poisoning, whereas certain other substances, such as benzodiazepines more often were incidental findings. In total, 50% (372/743) died of poisoning, whereas only 22% (161/743) died of natural causes. Death was considered to be directly or indirectly due to drug abuse in 47% (346/743), whereas evidence of drug abuse was an incidental finding in 21% (153/743) or based on case history alone in 33% (244/743). We believe that this strategy to prospectively categorize deaths among drug addicts constitutes a simple means of standardizing the surveillance of the death toll among drug addicts that could allow for comparisons over time and between countries.     

Palliative sedation in the Netherlands: starting-points and contents of a national guideline

In December 2005 the first national guideline for palliative sedation in the Netherlands was published. This guideline was developed by a committee of the Royal Dutch Medical Association, at the request of the Dutch government. The guideline defines palliative sedation as 'the intentional lowering of consciousness of a patient in the last phase of his or her life'. According to the guideline the objective of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering, and lowering consciousness is a means to achieve this. It is very important that palliative sedation is given for the right indication, proportionally, and adequately. It is the degree of symptom control, not the level to which consciousness is lowered, which determines the dose and combinations of the sedatives used and duration of treatment. The assessment and decision-making processes must focus on adequate relief of the patient's suffering, so that a peaceful and acceptable situation is created. Palliative sedation is given in the last phase of life, in the imminently dying patient. Palliative sedation raises several legal questions. In this article we describe the structure and contents of the guideline, with special attention for the main legal issues involved, like the distinction between palliative sedation and euthanasia and the process of informed consent.