Routine Activities and Proactive Police Activity: A Macro-scale Analysis of Police Searches in London and New York City

This paper explored how city-level changes in routine activities were associated with changes in frequencies of police searches using six years of police records from the London Metropolitan Police Service and the New York City Police Department. Routine activities were operationalised through selecting events that potentially impacted on (a) the street population, (b) the frequency of crime or (c) the level of police activity. OLS regression results indicated that routine activity variables (e.g. day of the week, periods of high demand for police service) can explain a large proportion of the variance in search frequency throughout the year. A complex set of results emerged, revealing cross-national dissimilarities and the differential impact of certain activities (e.g. public holidays). Importantly, temporal frequencies in searches are not reducible to associations between searches and recorded street crime, nor changes in on-street population. Based on the routine activity approach, a theoretical police-action model is proposed.     

Living victims of strangulation: a 10-year review of cases in a metropolitan community

The prevalence of reported domestic violence or intimate partner violence has greatly increased, with approximately 1.5 million women violently assaulted annually in the United States by an intimate partner. Strangulation is often seen in violence against women, including domestic violence cases. Strangulation is defined as "a form of asphyxia characterized by closure of the blood vessels or air passages of the neck as a result of external pressure on the neck." This is a 10-year case review of 102 living victims of strangulation who underwent medicolegal evaluation at the Clinical Forensic Medicine Program at a State Medical Examiner's Office serving Southern Indiana and all of Kentucky. The majority of victims (79%) were strangled by an intimate partner, and manual strangulation was the most common method (83%). A total of 38 victims (38%) described a history of domestic violence, and the same number lost consciousness while being strangled. Nine (9%) women were pregnant at the time of the attack, while 13 (13%) had a history of being sexually abused in addition to being strangled. A paucity of cases involved only strangulation, as most of the victims were subjected to myriad forms of blunt force trauma which included not only the head and neck but also other bodily regions. This is a unique presentation of strangulation of living persons as most evidence of strangulation in the forensic literature has been derived from postmortem examinations of the victims. This comprehensive study discussing the examination of a living strangulation victim offers valuable insight into the mechanism and the physical findings involved in the strangulation process.     

Making the Case for Socio‐legal Research in Land Law: Renner and the Law of Mortgage

The aim of this article is to enhance knowledge of and to encourage further research into two areas not traditionally the subject of socio‐legal research, namely, the work of Karl Renner and the English law of mortgage, for three reasons. First, an account of them supports the proposition that a true understanding of law requires knowledge of its origins, content, and function. Second, Renner's theory can contribute significantly to our understanding of law by offering an alternative to the polarized debate between legal autopoiesis and other sociological conceptions of law. Third, it has much to tell us about the relationship between legal and social change. In particular, Renner's work suggests that those seeking legal reform should look not to the legislature, but to those capable of influencing its ‘social function’. Those frustrated by the lack of doctrinal reform within the law of mortgage can take heart, therefore, from the continual process of change evident in its social function. Ultimately, however, further socio‐legal research is required, for a more developed understanding of the law of mortgage.     

Do cities influence co-offending?

The nexus between urbanity and crime is interpreted as being congruent with either social breakdown or subculture theory. Each of these perspectives offers differing conceptualizations of the causal mechanisms responsible for this linkage, but adjudicating between them has proven exceedingly difficult because their respective predictions are similar. Each theory posits that an urban environment amplifies criminal activity. Using data derived from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study contributes to the literature by investigating whether urbanization influences co-offending behavior. The determination of whether urbanity affects co-offending has theoretical relevance because social breakdown theory argues that urbanity produces interpersonal estrangement that impedes the development of friendship networks needed to facilitate group-based criminal offending. Conversely, subculture theory postulates that an urban environment propagates deviant subcultures that act to engender group-based rather than individualist criminality. Multivariate regression results furnish evidence supporting social breakdown theory by demonstrating that urbanity decreases co-offending behavior.     

EMPOWERMENT,INNOVATION, AND SERVICE: LAW SCHOOL PROGRAMS PROVIDE ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND INSTILL A COMMITMENT TO SERVE

Law schools around the country seek to fill the legal needs of their communities in ways that are both innovative and mutually beneficial to clients and students. This article describes five pro bono and clinical programs, at the University of Richmond School of Law, The Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, Catholic University Columbus School of Law, the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and Vermont Law School, where law students, under the supervision of law professors or community professionals, provide assistance or legal representation to underserved and often marginalized populations needing help with family law problems, including parents accused of abuse and neglect, youth aging out of foster care, homeless families, survivors of domestic violence, homeless veterans with addiction problems, and female prisoners. To develop their programs, the five law schools from the outset collaborated with partners in the community, and they continue to do so as their programs expand and evolve. In addition to helping and empowering clients, these law schools are providing experiential learning opportunities that are transformative for their students. The authors hope that these programs will be instructive for law schools, other academic institutions, the legal community, and community organizations in developing creative collaborations to ensure better access to justice.     

Chemical Differences Are Observed in Children’s Versus Adults’ Latent Fingerprints as a Function of Time*

Abstract: The identification of aged latent fingerprints is often difficult, especially for those of children. To understand this phenomenon, the chemical composition of children’s versus adults’ latent fingerprints was examined over time using Fourier transform infrared microscopy. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that children’s and adults’ prints were distinguishable for up to 4 weeks after deposition, based on differences in sebum composition. Specifically, adults had a higher lipid content than children, but both decreased over time, attributable to the volatility of free fatty acids. The aliphatic CH₃, aliphatic CH₂, and carbonyl ester compositions changed differently in adults versus children over time, consistent with higher cholesterol and cholesteryl esters in children’s prints and wax esters and glycerides in adults’ prints. Thus, fingerprint composition changes with time differently in children versus adults, making it a sensitive metric to estimate the age of an individual, especially when the age of the print is known.     

Detection of Gunshot Residue in Blowfly Larvae and Decomposing Porcine Tissue Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP‐MS)*

Abstract: Blowfly larvae and porcine tissue contaminated with gunshot residue (GSR) were collected during summer and winter months, over a 37‐day and a 60‐day sampling period, respectively. Wound samples were microwave‐digested and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) for the detection of antimony, barium, and lead. During summer, the 37‐day sampling period encompassed all stages of decomposition, except skeletonization. The three elements were detected in larvae only on days 3 and 4 after death but were detected at significant levels in tissue samples throughout the entire sampling period. In winter, no significant decomposition was observed throughout the 60‐day sampling. Although temperatures were too low for blowfly activity, the three elements were detected in the tissue samples at relatively constant, significant levels. Hence, GSR determination in tissue was more dependent on decomposition stage rather than time since death.     

Stubs Versus Swabs? A Comparison of Gunshot Residue Collection Techniques

Abstract: The collection efficiency of two widely used gunshot residue (GSR) collection techniques—carbon‐coated adhesive stubs and alcohol swabs—has been compared by counting the number of characteristic GSR particles collected from the firing hand of a shooter after firing one round. Samples were analyzed with both scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X‐rays by an experienced GSR analyst, and the number of particles on each sample containing Pb, Ba, and Sb counted. The adhesive stubs showed a greater collection efficiency as all 24 samples gave positive results for GSR particles whereas the swabs gave only positive results for half of the 24 samples. Results showed a statistically significant collection efficiency for the stub collection method and likely reasons for this are considered.     

Integration of Pre-Employment Polygraph Screening into the Police Selection Process

The authors provide a polygraph primer for police psychologists involved in law enforcement personnel selection. Law-enforcement pre-employment polygraph examinations are a decision-support tool intended to add incremental validity to the personnel selection process. Problems stemming from the use of the polygraph may be related to misunderstanding of the polygraph test and to field practices surrounding the use of polygraphy in the police selection process. Potential problems can result from ineffective selection of test issues, poorly constructed test questions and misguided policies surrounding the use of the polygraph. The authors review the history of polygraph screening, research, and field practices, and suggest that using polygraph results alone to disqualify a candidate from employment is a misguided field practice. Suggestions are offered for maximizing the decision-support value of the polygraph. Polygraph examination targets are discussed, with emphasis on selecting actuarially derived predictors associated with increased success in law enforcement training and job performance. The authors provide recommendations for field practice, and propose that police psychologists may be most suited to effectively integrate the polygraph results and information into the hiring recommendation process.     

The Analysis of Black Powder Substitutes Containing Ascorbic Acid by Ion Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry*†

Abstract: Black powder substitutes containing ascorbic acid are a group of low explosives that utilize ascorbic acid as the fuel. The analysis of these powders is complicated by the degradation of ascorbic acid which occurs rapidly in solution and may also occur as the powder ages. Aqueous extracts of both intact powders and postblast residues were analyzed by an existing ion chromatography/mass spectrometry (IC/MS) method used at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Results have shown that while ascorbic acid itself is not detected in this method, its diagnostic degradation products (threonic acid, monohydrated diketogulonic acid, and oxalic acid) can be identified. In addition, anions from the inorganic oxidizers (perchlorate and nitrate) and combustion products such as chloride, chlorate, and nitrite, can be identified within the same experiment. While this IC/MS method shows promise, future modifications are necessary because of limitations in identifying threonate in postblast residues, as well as coeluting compounds observed in postblast residues.