Politics and the police in Scotland: The impact of devolution

The creation of a Scottish Parliament and Scottish government in 1999, under the process of devolution within the UK, created a significantly different constitutional and political landscape from that which preceded it. The impact on domestic issues in Scotland, such as policing, has been considerable. This is partly because of new structural arrangements, including the creation of a Justice Minister and a Justice Committee of the Parliament, and partly because of the significance of the law and order agenda within Scottish politics. This paper discusses the impact of these developments on the Scottish police. Analysis focuses on the growing involvement of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish governments in key areas such as constabulary independence, police accountability and the management of police resources. Through this discussion, the paper seeks to make a contribution to the debate about the relationship between the police and politics, and the extent to which policing in Scotland is becoming increasingly politicised.     

A Commentary on the MND Model and the Boone Critique: “Saying It Doesn’t Make It So”

We appreciate Boone’s (2011, this issue) critique of Rogers, Bender, and Johnson’s (2011, this issue) analysis of the Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction (MND) criteria. She raised good points and appeared in general agreement regarding several crucial limitations of the MND model. However, Boone remained mostly silent on several issues including the compelling results from our methodological review of MND studies and Criteria A through D. When provided, her comments tended to be very selective and were often presented with little or no empirical support. This contrasting pattern of strong statements and weak evidence appears to unintentionally parallel the MND model, which was documented in our original analysis. As a result of her criticism, however, we clarified our point regarding methodological limitations in establishing levels of TBI and its potential relevance to determinations of feigned cognitive impairment. We hope that these spirited discussions will stimulate a much-needed review and a fundamental revamping, if not replacement, of the MND model.     

Grizzly Bear conservation in the Foothills Model Forest: appraisal of a collaborative ecosystem management effort

In west-central Alberta, Canada, an ambitious collaborative conservation program for grizzly bears began in 1999, after extensive controversy over the Cheviot coal mine project and successful negotiation of a unique federal–provincial strategic framework for grizzly bear conservation. Unfortunately that program was effectively terminated without any substantive implementation of its research findings. The regional ecosystem approach for conserving grizzlies in the Foothills Model Forest originated in federal and provincial legislative processes but proved vulnerable to shifting goals and containment by a single powerful participant. This case study’s results demonstrate vulnerabilities of the ecosystem management approach to conserving large carnivores. To enable other such conservation efforts to achieve their goals, we recommend supporting emergent small-scale initiatives and designing collaborative institutions that limit the potential for containment of decision processes.     

Gunshot residue in Chicago police vehicles and facilities: an empirical study

Suspects in shooting investigations in Chicago are routinely transported in department vehicles and detained in department facilities prior to gunshot residue (GSR) evidence collection. The GSR test results are used to associate the suspect with primary exposure to GSR. The potential for these vehicles and facilities being sources of secondary GSR contamination needed to be determined. A total of 201 samples were collected from randomly selected vehicles and detention facilities. The sampling collected trace materials from surfaces that suspects' hands may contact during the arrest process. These samples were examined for the presence of GSR particles using scanning electron microscopy. Upon completion of the automated analysis, those particles that met an initial GSR screening criterion were relocated and reanalyzed. The locations where GSR particles were recovered allowed us to make recommendations to the Chicago Police Department with regard to transporting and detaining these suspects. The low number of GSR particles recovered suggests that the potential for secondary contamination, although present, is relatively low.     

Recovery of Environmental Human DNA by Insects*,†

Abstract: We tested the hypotheses that foraging insects can acquire human DNA from the environment and that insect‐delivered human DNA is of sufficient quantity and quality to permit standard forensic analyses. Houseflies, German cockroaches, and camel crickets were exposed to dusty surfaces and then assayed for human mitochondrial and nuclear loci by conventional and qPCR, and multiplex STR amplification. Over two experiments, 100% of insect groups and 94% of dust controls tested positive for human DNA. Of 177 individuals, 33–67% tested positive and 13 yielded quantifiable human DNA (mean = 0.022 ± 0.006 ng; mean dust control = 2.448 ± 0.960 ng); four had at least one positive allele call for one or more locus; eight others showed multiple peaks at some loci. Results imply that application to routine forensic casework is limited given current detection methodology yet demonstrate the potential use of insects as environmental samplers for human DNA.     

The organizational structure of international drug smuggling

While most group offending is not well organized, it is generally assumed that high levels of organization can be found in group offending that generates revenue, such as white-collar crime, drug sales, and smuggling drugs or humans. The organizational structure of international drug smuggling has typically been viewed as highly rational and formally structured. Employing interviews with thirty-four federal prisoners convicted of smuggling large volumes of cocaine into the United States, this study explored the organizational structure of high level international drug smuggling. The subjects described a general lack of formal structure and depicted the drug smuggling operations as composed of isolated work groups without formal connections among each other. These findings bring into question the idea that these groups are rationally organized around pursuing efficiency and support recent research that suggests network security or minimizing risk are key organizing principles of drug trading organizations.