Validating a novel tool for coding body worn camera footage of police-community member interactions

Objectives

This study aimed to validate a tool for coding police body-worn camera (BWC) footage to measure the dynamics of police–community encounters, including items related to community members, officer performance, and situational outcomes.

Methods

Over 1000 BWC videos were scored by five coders who participated in an iterative interrater reliability exercise to improve the agreement. Krippendorf's alphas and a multilevel simultaneous component analysis were used to assess interrater reliability and the component structure of ratings, respectively. Bootstrapped and multilevel exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to ascertain any underlying dimensions supporting officer and community member behavior, and cluster analyses were performed to examine whether interactions could be grouped into coherent categories.

Results

The lower bound of unweighted means of bootstrapped alphas ranged from 0.67 to 0.96 depending upon item type, and 21.60% of the total variance in raters was between-subjects. Factor analyses revealed only a single factor (“defensiveness”) underlying four items related to hostility directed toward officers by community members. Cluster analyses described seven categories that were highly overlapping but conceptually plausible with cluster silhouette means ranging from −0.06 to 0.13.

Conclusions

We validated a collection of interval-level coding metrics on a random sample of over 1000 interactions between police officers and community members recorded through BWCs. In doing so, we provide a roadmap for researchers and practitioners to effectively measure the dynamics of police–community encounters and officer performance within those encounters and a framework for addressing the validity and reliability of items in future studies involving the measurement of BWC footage.     

Development Cooperation and Dependency: An Analysis of Brazilian-Spanish Cooperation in Latin America Between 2010 and 2018

Based on analysis of Brazilian-Spanish cooperation in Latin America, this article aims to contribute to the discussion on whether South–South Cooperation (SSC) represents an alternative model with specific and differentiated objectives, or if it largely reproduces the constraints and interests traditionally associated with the North–South model, but with new institutions and actors. We start by analysing the main criticisms levelled at cooperation in the literature, emphasising the identification, review and comparison of the mechanisms of domination and dependency that derive from the bilateral and multilateral practices of traditional development cooperation. We then construct a synthetic dependency index to measure the ability of Spain and Brazil – as representative cases of North–South Cooperation (NSC) and SSC with Latin America – to influence the foreign trade, investment and foreign policy decisions of aid recipients, and to empirically contrast the lower level of verticality that much of the available literature assumes about SSC schemes. The empirical analysis suggests significant differences between NSC and SSC in terms of their ability to reproduce dependency patterns and validate the discourse that tends to identify the latter as an alternative cooperation model.     

Lipidic compounds found in soils surrounding human decomposing bodies and its use in forensic investigations – A narrative review

Following decomposition of a human body, a variety of decomposition products, such as lipids, are released into the surrounding environment, e.g. soils. The long-lasting preservation in soils and their high diagnostic potential have been neglected in forensic research. Furthermore, little is known about the preservation, chemical transformation, or degradation of those human derived lipids in soils. To date, several studies identified various lipids such as long-chain free fatty acids and steroids in soils that contained decomposition fluids. Those lipids are preserved in soils over time and could serve as markers of human decomposition in forensic investigations, e.g. for estimating the post-mortem interval or identifying the burial location of a human body. Therefore, this review focuses on the current literature regarding fatty acid and steroid that have been detected in soils and associated with human body decomposition. After a short introduction about human decomposition processes, this review summarises fatty acid and steroid analysis applied in current case studies and studies related to taphonomic research. This review provides an overview of the available studies that have used fatty acids and steroids as identifiers of human decomposition fluid in soils in a forensic context and discusses the potential for developing this innovative field of research with direct application in a forensic context.     

Business model–dynamic capabilities and open innovation initiatives in research-intensive organisations: A case of Australia's national science agency

Publicly funded national science agencies create value as innovation catalysts and through their scientific and research missions, they tackle wicked problems. Understanding how dynamic capabilities and business model innovation enable research-intensive organisations to seize the market in the mission is key to translating bold new science that has impact. We qualitatively explore how Australia's national science agency—the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)—has pursued open innovation to support business model–dynamic capabilities in an evolving publicly funded landscape. We reflect on the value of open innovation initiatives that have allowed the CSIRO to ambidextrously pursue world-class science while achieving impact.

Points for practitioners

• Dynamic capabilities and business model innovation are strategic tools for publicly funded national science agencies seeking to seize the market in the mission.
• We examine a case of business model–dynamic capabilities in CSIRO.
• Open innovation has been important for CSIRO as part of an ambidextrous approach.

     

Place and Policy Preferences – Spatial Divides in Attitudes towards Social Policies in Germany

The rise of the knowledge economy has led to a bifurcation between prosperous, often urban, areas and “left-behind” regions. While the literature has started to analyse the political implications of these developments for electoral behaviour and socio-cultural attitudes, the structuring of social policy preferences by place remains unclear. Distinguishing between an economic (booming-declining) and a geographic (urban–rural) dimension, I argue that differences in material self-interest and ideological predispositions explain spatial divides in support for different types of social policies. Combining original survey data on voters' preferences with municipal-level data in Germany, I show that general support for social policy is higher in declining than in booming regions. However, social investments (e.g., active labour market policies) are preferred over consumption policies (e.g., unemployment benefits) in booming and, to a smaller degree, in urban than in declining and rural regions. These findings contribute to a bigger discussion on compensating “left-behind” regions.