Measuring the Geographical Displacement and Diffusion of Benefit Effects of Crime Prevention Activity

The displacement of crime is an important criminological phenomenon. However, while there has been theoretical discussion of this issue in the research literature, there has been little in the way of either standardized empirical work that investigates the incidence of displacement or in the development of techniques that can be used to measure it. In the current paper we discuss a new technique, the weighted displacement quotient (WDQ), that was developed to measure the geographical displacement of crime. A critical feature of the rationale is that displacement can only be attributed to crime prevention activity if crime is reduced in the target area considered. Thus, the WDQ not only measures what occurs in a buffer (displacement) zone but also relates changes in this area to those in the target area. Part of the appeal of the measure is that it can be used either with aggregate or disaggregate crime data and for any geographical boundary selected, provided the appropriate data are available. In addition to detecting displacement, when detailed data are available, the technique can also be used to identify where the effect was most prominent. The WDQ can equally be used to measure the diffusion of benefit of any crime prevention activity. A series of examples are presented for illustration purposes.     

The Doha Development Agenda: Reflections on the Road Ahead

From 9 to 14 November 2001, Qatar hosted the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a new trade round, the successor to the Uruguay round, was successfully launched in Doha. This was by no means a foregone conclusion and was a major feat. The outcome of the Doha Ministerial Conference was in doubt until the very end. Failure at Doha to resolve the issues left over from the inconclusive Seattle Ministerial Conference of 1999 would have seriously weakened the WTO and threatened the future of the multilateral trading system. In this article, WTO Director-General Mike Moore, describes the steps taken in a more transparent and inclusive preparatory process for the Doha meeting and the key achievements of the new round--the Doha Development Agenda. He concludes that as a ''member-driven'' organization, all WTO members share joint responsibility for a successful and inclusive multilateral trading system and describes the current preparations being made for the conclusion of the new round by the three-year time-frame, as agreed by ministers.     

Icons of control: Deleuze,signs, law

This paper is broadly concerned with Deleuze’s distinction between ‚la loi et les lois’ on the one hand, and jurisprudence on the other. Jurisprudence is the␣creative action of legal practice, the process by which it is forced to think constructively and anew. In such circumstances legal thought is akin to Deleuze’s concept of the event. I explore the distinction between law and jurisprudence by way of Deleuze’s comments on control societies, arguing that, under control, law ceases to be a juridical hierarchy conforming to disciplinary modes to become a regulatory practice of interminable modulation. In order to begin to explore the relations and connections between law/jurisprudence and control, the paper will look to the semiotics of C.S. Peirce (who influenced Deleuze’s work on cinema). In particular it will argue that control operates predominantly through icons. As a consequence I argue that the proper ground of the sign, the event, is co-opted and, following from this, that control functions through the confusing of sense and meaning. Thanks to Anne Bottomley, Ronnie Lippens and Jamie Murray.