The Unraveling of Public Security in the United States: The Dark Side of Police-Community Co-Production

In this article we review the emergence of police-community ‘co-production’, as a prominent crime control paradigm in the United States. We argue that although allowing citizens to co-produce through programs like Neighborhood Watch may be beneficial in many respects, such co-production is not an unmitigated virtue. While its proponents contend that co-production promises to enrich the provision of public security in the United States, recent events have reinforced warnings voiced by policing scholars and practitioners of a dark side that also continues to threaten, not enhance, public security. As such, we advocate that the future co-production should be embraced cautiously, and its downside risks managed with care.     

Crime,Confiscation, and Frowth: For and Against Leviathan

This paper presents a dynamic general equilibrium model ofrent seeking in which the payoffs and the choices between productiveand non-productive activity are endogenous. The economy has the potential for endogenous growth, but when agents can choose between confiscation and productive investment, growth is no longer possible. The confiscation activity has multiple interpretations.In one, confiscation occurs as a result of theft;the lack of sufficient property rights eventually makesinvestment in productive activity unpalatable.Alternatively, confiscation is the result ofgovernment activity (e.g., taxation). The paper underlines the difficulty of creating aninstitutional structure conducive to growth.     

Strategy,Security, and War in Iraq: The United States and the Gulf in the 21st Century

Over the course of events taking place in and around the Persian Gulf over the last three years, the United States has used force to replace a despotic dictator who once served Western interests, placed considerable distance between itself and its erstwhile regional partner Saudi Arabia, and reduced its role as arbiter in the Arab–Israeli dispute. Operation Iraqi Freedom would seem to reveal that the United States has chosen a broader vision for the role that force could play as part of a more aggressive security strategy. The Gulf littoral's forward-deployed footprint, set into place during the first Gulf War, enabled effects-based capabilities to be tested in Iraq that have come online since the 1990s, enabling the US military to begin to operationalise what was initially dubbed the ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ and now is called ‘Transformation’. As such, the Gulf infrastructure provides the US with a model to emulate around the world as it seeks to realign its forces to better address new threats in the global theatre. The Gulf facilities will become central hubs in the network of bases stretching throughout Central and South Asia and the Horn of Africa which will perform missions associated with the global war on terror. Operation Iraqi Freedom represents only the beginning of this phenomenon in an emerging new global defense strategy that may see forward-deployed forces around the world used with increased frequency to manage an uncertain security environment.     

Legal training and perceptions of Chief Housing Officers: A southwestern United States study

This study examined the legal training of Chief Housing Officers (CHOs) employed by colleges and universities in the southwest USA. The study also investigated the perceptions of CHOs with regard to legal issues that might confront their institutions in the next five years. The study further examined the possible differences in perceptions of CHOs who have held that position for less than five years versus individuals who have held the position for more than five years. Finally, the study makes recommendations for future research.     

The Strange Death of Blasphemy

Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth in legislation and litigation concerning religion. This article examines the implications of the latest change, namely the abolition of the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel by section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. First, the article provides the context by examining what has been lost, analysing the ambit of the offence, focussing on litigation in the twentieth century both in domestic courts and at the European Court of Human Rights. Second, the article seeks to explore why blasphemy has been abolished now, scrutinizing five developments that led to the abolition. The article concludes by examining the extent to which the criminal law continues to protect religious beliefs and believers, contending that while the body of the blasphemy laws is dead, its soul lives on in a plethora of other criminal laws and, more problematically, in non‐legal means of control.