Can We Identify Bad Cops Based on History? Base Rates of Historical Markers in Law Enforcement Pre-employment Evaluations

While psychometric police selection processes have progressively evolved, the efficacy of simple background information has not been extensively evaluated. This study examined the utility of base rate information to predict job performance among law enforcement officers. Pre-employment historical markers from bad hires were compared to good hires from a large sample of 1536 officers. Of this sample, 205 officers were categorized as bad hires if they were arrested, had greater than five misconduct episodes, or were terminated for cause within 5 years following hire. Base rates of 40 pre-employment history variables were compared for good and bad hires. Analysis of markers showed that bad hires had a significantly higher frequency of markers across family factors, mental health variables, conduct problems, and criminal justice outcomes compared to good hires. Among the largest differences were history of multiple physical altercations, outpatient psychiatric treatment, and events related to previous law enforcement employment such as employer reprimands, suspensions, or fitness for duty evaluations. Many other intuitive markers occurred too infrequently to analyze or showed no significant difference between good hires and bad hires in law enforcement settings. Base rates in addition to psychological test data are necessary aspects of the police pre-employment evaluation.     

Determining the order of deposition of natural latent fingerprints and laser printed ink using chemical mapping with secondary ion mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) chemical mapping was used to investigate the order of deposition of natural latent fingerprints and laser printed ink on paper. This feasibility study shows that sodium, potassium and C₃H₅ positive ions were particularly abundant endogenous components of the natural fingerprints and also present in the paper examined, but were mostly absent in the laser printed ink. Mapping of these ions enables the observation of friction ridges from latent prints on the ink surface, only when a fingerprint was deposited above the layer of ink. As a demonstration of proof of concept, blind testing of 21 samples from three donors resulted in a 100% success rate. The sensitivity of this technique was investigated within this trial through the examination of up to fifth depletion fingerprints and ageing of up to 28 days. Migration of fingerprint and paper components to the ink surface, although observed with increased ageing time, was not found to compromise determination of the deposition sequence.     

OBITUARIES

The Indian Federation. An Exposition and Critical Review. By Sir Shafa'at Ahmad Khan, Litt.D. Pp. xii + 450. 6?” × 9”. Macmillan and Co. 1937. 15s.

The Spirit of Zen. By Alan W. Watts. Wisdom of the East Series. Edited by L. Cranmer‐Byng and Dr. S. A. Katadia. 73/4” × 5”. Pp. 136. John Murray, 1936. 3s. 6d.

When Japan Goes to War.* By O. Tanin and E. Yohan. 8/1/4>” × 5/1/2>”. Pp. 271. Lawrence and Wishart. 5s.

Japan at the Cross Roads. By Walter Smith. Published by Lawrence and Wishart, London. 1936. 3s. 6d.

The Far East Comes Nearer. By H. Hcsscll Tiltman. Pp. 314. Illustrated. London: Jarrolds. 1936. 12s. 6d.

The China Year Book, 1936

Problems of Chinese Education. By Victor Purcell, Ph.D. 8 /3/4>” ×5/3/4>. Pp. viii+261. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd. 1936. 10s. 6d.

Attack on Everest. By Neil Macintyre. Pp. 172. Methuen. 5s.

Tibetan Journey. By Madame Alexandra David‐Neel. 9” × 5 ?”. Pp. 276. Maps and illustrations. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head. 12s. 6d.

Social Organization and Customary Law of the Nepalese Tribes. By Dr. Leonhard Adam, American Anthropologist. No. 4. 3$

Khyber Caravan: Through Kashmir, Waziristan, Baluchistan and Northern India. By Gordon Sinclair. 8 3/4” × 6”. Pp. xvi+287. Maps. Hurst and Blackett. 12s. 6d.

The Clear Mirror: A Pattern of Life in Goa and in Indian Tibet. By G. E. Hutchinson. 9” × 5 ⁷/_8". Pp. xii+171. Cambridge University Press. 8s. 6d.

Ganésa: A Monograph on the Elephant‐Faced God. By Alice Getty. With an Introduction by Alfred Foucher. Oxford : Clarendon Press. 1936.

Afghanistan. A Brief Survey. By J. D. Ahmada and M. A. Aziz. With a Foreword by Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal. 10” × 7/1/2>". Pp. xx + 159. First published by Dar‐ut‐Talif, Kabul, September, 1934. New impression, Longmans, Green and Co., printers in India, April, 1936. Three maps and seventy illustrations. 12s. 6d. Library edition, 15s. 6d.

The Harēm. By N. M. Penzer. Pp. 260. Index. Map. Forty‐two plates. Harrap and Co. 1936. 21s.

Moslem Women Enter a New World. By Ruth Frances Woodsmall. Publications of the American University of Beirut, Social Science Series, No. 14. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 12s. 6d.

The Effects of Centralization on Education in Modern Egypt. By Russell Gait, Ph.D. 9?"× 6”. Pp. vi + 134. Cairo: Department of Education, American University. 1936.

The Nile : From the Source to Egypt. The Life‐Story of a River. By Emil Ludwig. Translated by Mary Lindsay. London: Allen and Unwin. 1936. Price 16s.

Sea Adventures. By Henry de Monfried. Translated by Helen Buchanan Bell. Thirteen illustrations and endpaper map. Methuen and Co., Ltd. 10s. 6d.

The Dangerous Sea: The Mediterranean. By George Slocombc. 8/3/4> × 5/3/4>”. Pp. xxx+286. Hutchinson. 1936. 10s. 6d.

Aden Protectorate: A Report on the Social, Economic and Politica Condition of the Hadhramaut. By W. H. Ingrams, O.B.E. Colonial No. 123. Pp. 1–127. With map. H.M. Stationery Office. 3s.

The Arabian Knight: Sir Richard Burton. By Seton Dearden. Pp.334. Arthur Barker. 12s. 6d.

The Gates of Jerusalem. By Jacqueline Cockburn. With an appreciation by Sir Ronald Storrs, K.C.M.G., C.B.E. Pp. x + 300. John Murray. 7s. 6d.

Who is Prosperous in Palestine ? Labour Pamphlet No. 7.

The Palestine Mandate : Invalid and Impracticable. By W. F. Boustany. Palestine Information Centre. 1936. IS. 6d.     

Investigating the Roles of Neighborhood Environments and Housing-Based Social Support in the Relocation of Persons Made Homeless by Hurricane Katrina

This study examined whether social support tied to relocation efforts and neighborhood social climate may mediate the effects of stressful life events on mental health outcomes following Hurricane Katrina. Participants were 108 adult persons made homeless by Hurricane Katrina and evacuated to Columbia, South Carolina. Civic leaders developed an intervention model that emphasized (a) a one-stop point of entry, (b) living in hotels and apartments rather than shelters, and (c) matching hotels with volunteer “hosts” to assist in relocation efforts. Results revealed that perceived neighborhood factors and satisfaction with host relationship were related to several mental health outcomes. Neighborhood social climate partially mediated several mental health outcomes. Implications of this intervention model and the utility of social ecological perspectives on homelessness interventions are discussed.     

Acculturating Contexts and Anglo Opposition to Immigration in the United States

This article explores the impact of novel change in the ethnic composition of Americans’ local context on their attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy preferences. Adapting the “defended‐neighborhoods hypothesis” regarding residential integration and black‐white interracial relations to the context of immigration and intercultural relations, this article advances the acculturating‐contexts hypothesis. This hypothesis argues that a large influx of an immigrant group will activate threat among white citizens when it occurs in local areas where the immigrant group had largely been absent. This theoretical argument is explored within the context of Hispanic immigration and tested using national survey and census data. This article demonstrates that over‐time growth in local Hispanic populations triggers threat and opposition to immigration among whites residing in contexts with few initial Hispanics but reduces threat and opposition to immigration among whites residing in contexts with large preexisting Hispanic populations.     

The formation of an ‘Islamic sphere’ in French Colonial West Africa

One of the most unintended consequences of colonial rule in French West Africa was the Islamization of large parts of it. Islamic movements have often been interpreted in specifically plitical terms, as instances of ‘collaboration’ with or ‘resistance’ to colonial domination. They can better be understood in terms of the emergence of a qualitatively new ‘Islamic sphere7rsquo; conceptually separate from ‘particular’ affiliations such as ethnicity, kin group membership or salve origins, as well as from the colonial state. This paper considers two cases in detail: the Hamawiyya, a branch of the Tijani Sufi order whose leader was exiled by the French and which was brutally repressed in the 1940s; and the ‘Wahhabiyya’, an anti-Sufi movement which emerged after World war II.     

Point of Departure: A Reassessment of Charles de Gaulle and the Paris Summit of May 1960

This article argues that the Franco–American antagonism of the 1960s, which culminated with France's partial withdrawal from NATO in 1966, stems from French president Charles de Gaulle's decision in the aftermath of the failed May 1960 Paris Summit to radically redirect French foreign policy away from its post-World War Two Atlantic orientation to a more European one. By linking the failed summit to de Gaulle's new perception of the Cold War, this article moves de Gaulle scholarship away from interpretations of his foreign policy as the product of anti-Americanism or an anachronistic vision of French power to an understanding rooted in his recognition that the changing dynamics of the Cold War required the Western Europeans to reduce their military dependence on the United States. Since American leaders would never willingly relinquish their dominant position in European security affairs, de Gaulle's new design almost ensured a rising Franco–American tension.     

Editors' Note

Examining the relationship between regime type and defense effort provides evidence for reformulating theories of democratic peace. Consistent with liberal theories, regime type has substantively and statistically significant effects. In times of peace, democracies bear lower defense burdens than other states and keep proportionately fewer soldiers under arms. During times of war, however, democracies try harder and exert greater defense effort than non-democracies. Contrary to the results of some recent studies, all other things being equal, the arsenal of democracy appears to out-gun its opponents when it counts. Examining three components of democracy separately indicates that a largely overlooked factor, political competition, tends to drive these outcomes. Executive constraints are also associated with increased defense effort during war. But there is little evidence that wide participation or large winning coalitions have the predicted effects on defense effort. The results point to the flexible quality of defense effort in democracies, which is theoretically and empirically accounted for by the competitive political environment rather than institutional factors favored by existing theories.