Police services detention centres: a proposed solution for action

Police services face daily challenges dealing with the health issues displayed by individuals in their custody. They often find themselves isolated from the services that can help the most. This paper scopes relevant literature on these challenges and some of the interprofessional interventions which have emerged to address them, such as the diversionary practices of crisis intervention teams, street triage, nurses in custody suites, and court liaison and diversion. Remote presence technology is proposed to be an innovative solution that can help to provide more efficient and effective pathways for care in Police Detention Centres. Remote presence technology has the ability to significantly affect the way interprofessional collaboration can take place for those in police custody.     

'What's in a name?' The curious tale of the office of high commissioner

Members of the Commonwealth do not use the title 'ambassador' for the heads of diplomatic missions which they send to one another. Instead, they use the title 'high commissioner'. This article firstly examines how the office of high commissioner emerged to meet the representational needs of states owing allegiance to a common sovereign. Secondly, it explains why the office survived the transformation of the British empire into the modern Commonwealth of sovereign states. Thirdly, the article considers the factors that continue to make the office appealing to its holders and a diplomatic asset to their states.     

Digital Privacy and Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This article considers the impact of digital technologies on privacy and, specifically, the issues arising from metadata. It takes the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act as an exemplar and argues, by reference to European case law, that while data arising from new technologies undoubtedly fall within the scope of privacy protections, there are questions as to the level of protection awarded. Questions arise from how the nature and intensity of intrusion is understood against a backdrop of ‘dataveillance’, as well as the underlying issue of whether ex post controls—through oversight mechanisms—are sufficient to safeguard privacy.     

Chemical enhancement of soil based footwear impressions on fabric

This study investigates the enhancement of footwear impressions prepared with soils from different locations on a variety of fabric surfaces with different morphology. Preliminary experiments using seventeen techniques were carried out and the best responding reagents were evaluated further. Results indicated that the soils investigated (a cross-section of soils from Scotland) are more likely to respond to reagents that target iron ions rather than calcium, aluminium or phosphorus ions. Furthermore, the concentration of iron and soil pH did not appear to have an effect on the performance of the enhancement techniques. For the techniques tested, colour enhancement was observed on all light coloured substrates while enhancement on dark coloured fabrics, denim and leatherette was limited due to poor contrast with the background. Of the chemical enhancement reagents tested, 2,2'-dipyridil was a suitable replacement for the more common enhancement technique using potassium thiocyanate. The main advantages are the use of less toxic and flammable solvents and improved clarity and sharpness of the enhanced impression. The surface morphology of the fabrics did not have a significant effect on the enhancement ability of the reagents apart from a slight tendency for diffusion to occur on less porous fabrics such as polyester and nylon/lycra blends.     

Limitations to developing virtual communities in the public sector: A local government case study

Abstract: This article explores how new information and communication technologies affect public administration practice. It examines efforts by the University of Alberta to develop a web‐based “meeting place,” an on‐line community of practice in the local government sector that was to be a forum for practice‐building discourse and a resource for professional development courses. While the MuniMall project was not an unequivocal success, it does provide important lessons for others who are contemplating similar projects. There are important differences between “open” and “closed” virtual communities, as well as differences among professional groups with respect to their receptivity to engaging in discourse in an open forum. For virtual communities targeted towards a specific professional community, critical factors for ensuring success include the readiness of site architecture upon rollout, as well as the culture, capacity and readiness of the audience. Sommaire: Le présent article approfondit la maniére dont les nouvelles technologies de I'information et de la communication influent sur I'exercice de l'administration public. I1 examine les efforts déployés par 1'Université de l'Alberta pour mettre en place un « lieu de rencontre » sur Internet, réseau en ligne d'échanges de pratiques dans le secteur de l'administration municipale qui devait être un forum de discussions sur le renforcement des pratiques et une resource pour les cours de perfection‐nement professionnel. Alors que le project « MuniMall » n'a pas été un succès sans équivoque, il foumit des leçons importantes à ceux qui envisagent des projects simi‐laires. I1 existe de grandes différences entre les communautés virtuelles « ouvertes » et « fermées », ainsi que des différences parmi les groupes professionnels en ce qui conceme leur réceptivitéà s'engager dans un discours au sein d'un forum ouvert. Pour les communautés virtuelles visant une communauté professionnelle particulière, les facers critiques de succès comprennent l'état de preparation de l'architcc‐ture ciu site dès sa mise en place, ainsi que la culture, la capacité et l'état de préparation de l'audience.     

HUNTER‐GATHERER COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE

This article describes the development of a practice group based on a hunter‐gatherer model, with the mission of providing high quality collaborative divorce services, with an emphasis on protecting children and divorcing partners, and expanding access to middle‐ and lower‐income families. The practice group professional disciplines include law, mental health divorce coaching, co‐parent coaching, financial analysis, and case administration. These professionals have collectively associated their individual practices to address challenges facing their collaborative practices. With common purpose, the practice group builds skills, generates client base, nurtures trust, and lays a common knowledge base. Collaborative divorce teams formed from its members serve divorcing families with efficient, cost‐conscious, interest‐based negotiation processes that protect children and help parties productively move on with their lives.     

Financial Advice,Differentiated Consumers,and the Regulation of Equity‐release Transactions

In an asset‐based welfare context, which encourages the drawdown of housing equity to meet financial needs in later life, it is anticipated that the use of equity‐release products will become increasingly prevalent. In the last decade, and reflecting the strategic significance and high risk associated with this section of the home finance market, targeted equity‐release products (lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans) have come under the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA's approach to equity release is geared around professional financial and legal advice. Drawing on findings from a new qualitative study, purposively sampled according to socioeconomic circumstances at the time of the transaction, this article explores the role of financial advice within the factors that shape equity‐release decision making, and considers the implications of the FCA's regulatory commitment to the ‘advice paradigm’ in meeting (or not) the needs of a differentiated consumer population.     

Latino Immigrant Acculturation and Crime

Recent debate on the future of immigration policy in the United States has spawned much discussion on social costs and consequences for immigrants, such as employment, education, health care, and most notably, crime. Although recent Latino immigrants are often portrayed as outsiders in popular media, their successful acculturation into the American way of life may present more crime-related risk rather than less. This study examines arrest records for Latinos in two southwestern American cities to determine the extent to which Latino acculturation is related to arrests and convictions for both misdemeanors and felonies after controlling for certain legal and extra-legal factors. Results indicate that acculturation is consistently and positively associated with all four crime-related outcomes in this sample. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

Cultural intertexts and scientific rationality: the case of pregnancy ultrasound

The text begins a line of dialogue between feminist and epistemological work in the life sciences using a case study of the concepts ‘foetus’ and ‘baby’ in diagnostic ultrasound and parental discourse. The case material illustrates the multiple, coexisting registers of clinical discourse and the significance of cultural intertexts, the insertion within biomedical discourse of concepts from other cultural domains. It follows that biomedical rationality lacks the autonomy that Canguilhem argued it has; rather than giving itself its own laws, biomedical rationality is heteronomous, receiving and using cultural intertexts from many and varied domains.