Acute dissociative responses in law enforcement officers involved in critical shooting incidents: the clinical and forensic implications

The authors examine the prevalence of acute traumatic dissociative responses in a group of 115 law enforcement officers involved in critical incidents. Law enforcement officers were retrospectively surveyed for the presence of dissociative symptoms at the time of the critical incident, as well as for the presence of acute stress symptoms and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results show that 90% of the officers reported experiencing a dissociative response during the critical incident. Thirty percent meet the Dissociative Criterion B of acute stress disorder under the DSM-IV. The mean number of dissociative symptoms in this group was two and one-half. In addition, 19% of the law enforcement officers reported varying forms of memory impairment for details of the incident. There were no reports of amnesia for the entire event. The clinical, forensic, and legal implications of these preliminary findings are discussed in this paper.     

Comparative Analysis of Insect Succession Data from Victoria (Australia) Using Summary Statistics versus Preceding Mean Ambient Temperature Models

Minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) can be estimated with preceding mean ambient temperature models that predict carrion taxon pre‐appearance interval. But accuracy has not been compared with using summary statistics (mean ± SD of taxon arrival/departure day, range, 95% CI). This study collected succession data from ten experimental and five control (infrequently sampled) pig carcasses over two summers (n = 2 experimental, n = 1 control per placement date). Linear and exponential preceding mean ambient temperature models for appearance and departure times were constructed for 17 taxa/developmental stages. There was minimal difference in linear or exponential model success, although arrival models were more often significant: 65% of linear arrival (r² = 0.09–0.79) and exponential arrival models (r² = 0.05–81.0) were significant, and 35% of linear departure (r² = 0.0–0.71) and exponential departure models (r² = 0.0–0.72) were significant. Performance of models and summary statistics for estimating mPMI was compared in two forensic cases. Only summary statistics produced accurate mPMI estimates.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

Since the Grabiner Report in 2000 Grabiner, Lord. 2000. The Informal Economy: A Report by Lord Grabiner QC, London: HM Treasury/The Stationery Office Ltd..  [Google Scholar] there has been growing concern on the part of government over the scale of the informal economy. Most of the proposals to address this growth have focused on ways to deter such activity. But there have also been efforts to assist those who wish to legitimise their activities. This paper argues that a social enterprise approach to formalisation would be of benefit to tackling joblessness and social exclusion as well as generating further social economic activity in deprived neighbourhoods. The paper draws upon review research and original research work currently being conducted into formalisation strategies.     

French arms, war and genocide in Rwanda

France is now the world's second largest armsexporter, and the largest supplier of weapons to thedeveloping world. The record of France's involvementin Rwanda from 1990 to 1994 has motivated the NGOlobby within France to subject French governmentpolicy – towards the developing world in general, andon arms supplies in particular – to unprecedentedscrutiny. Accordingly, the level and volume ofcriticism of French involvement in Rwanda resulted inthe first ever parliamentary commission to scrutiniseFrench military activity overseas, although this andother official inquiries stopped short of identifyingarms supplies as instrumental in exacerbating theRwandan crisis. A consideration ofFrench arms supplies to Rwanda can offer a template bywhich to measure the nature and degree of France'ssupport for the Habyarimana regime which planned, andthe Sindikubwabo interim government which oversaw, the1994 genocide in that country. Moreover, French armssupplies after France's own and the UN's arms embargodemonstrate how a process of unchecked militarisationmay involve the supplier as well as the supplied inillegality.     

The effect of time after body discovery on the accuracy of retrospective weather station ambient temperature corrections in forensic entomology

Weather station data are used by forensic entomologists to estimate ambient temperatures at body discovery sites. Correlation data from sites may also be collected to correct for site and station differences. This experiment tested the accuracy over time of retrospective weather data correction using linear regression between stations and sites. Temperatures were logged at six hypothetical body discovery sites during a seven-day period for which a hypothetical body lay in situ, and a further four correlation periods. The accuracy of weather data for hypothetical body in situ periods improved after correction in 22 of 24 correlations; however, mean predicted body in situ temperatures for sites differed significantly between correlation periods. Predicted temperatures generally rose with time after body removal, which correlated with rising site temperatures accompanying seasonal change. Therefore, practitioners should be cautious in making correlations if weather patterns during correlation differ greatly from those while the body was in situ.     

Daniel R. Hammond,Politics and Policy in China’s Social Assistance Reform; Providing for the Poor?

Journal of Chinese Political Science -