A broken system? Examining the perilous state of quality assurance in crime scene practice

Quality assurance in crime scene practice is an underdeveloped and underexamined field despite the cruciality attributed to scene work in achieving criminal justice goals. Formulation of robust strategies has been a shortcoming of oversight bodies, with a marked history of failure to address scene-specific requirements. This paper explores quality assurance mechanisms in the United Kingdom (UK) in order to uncover the longstanding status quo, and sustained challenges facing quality control regimes both on an organisational and personal level. Recommendations on a change in policy, implementation and philosophy are examined to assist with the formulation of effective quality assurance schemes in crime scene practice and align it closer to its laboratory counterparts.     

A model of local crime displacement

In this paper, we develop a two-region model of crime spatial displacement. For high crime regions, the crime rate in one locality is negatively influenced by the crime rate of the other. The magnitude of the displacement depends on the distance between the two regions and on their relative size. For given sized neighbors, a closer distance implies greater displacement. When one region is larger, relative to the other, this increases the displacement, holding distance fixed. Examples show that the displacement from the treated to the adjacent areas can be small, if the relative size of the former is small. Nonetheless, the displacement can be large for other nearby areas, provided that the treated region is relatively big. Neglecting this result can cause an upward bias at the estimated impact of a policy. We also analyze the consequences for the design of public policies.     

Crime Story: The role of crime and immigration in the anti-immigration vote

Some scholars have found that mass immigration fuels the success of anti-immigration parties, whereas others have found that it does not. In this paper, we propose a reason for these contradictory results. We advance a set of hypotheses that revolves around a commonly ignored factor, crime. To test these hypotheses, we examine a setting where an anti-immigration party, the LPF, participated in simultaneous elections in all Dutch municipalities, which form a single constituency. According to our results, the impact of immigration rates on the individual vote for the LPF only manifests itself among those voters who are very ‘tough on crime’. In addition, we demonstrate that high local crime rates make an anti-immigration vote more likely, but only among voters who are very ‘tough on immigration’. This suggests that immigration and crime rates do not make all citizens more likely to cast an anti-immigration vote, but only those who perceive a link between the two issues. Thus, if one wishes to reduce anti-immigration leaders’ electoral support, countering their criminalization of immigrants may be a more fruitful strategy than trying to stop immigration – if at all possible.     

Data attack of the cybercriminal: Investigating the digital currency of cybercrime

It is increasingly argued that the primary motive of the cybercriminal and the major reason for the continued growth in cyber attacks is financial gain. In addition to the direct financial impact of cybercrime, it can also be argued that the digital data and the information it represents that can be communicated through the Internet, can have additional intrinsic value to the cybercriminal. In response to the perceived value and subsequent demand for illicit data, a sophisticated and self-sufficient underground digital economy has emerged. The aim of this paper is to extend the author’s earlier research that first introduced the concept of the Cybercrime Execution Stack by examining in detail the underlying data objectives of the cybercriminal. Both technical and non-technical law enforcement investigators need the ability to contextualise and structure the illicit activities of the cybercriminal, in order to communicate this understanding amongst the wider law enforcement community. By identifying the potential value of electronic data to the cybercriminal, and discussing this data in the context of data collection, data supply and distribution, and data use, demonstrates the relevance and advantages of utilising an objective data perspective when investigating cybercrime.     

有毒有害食品犯罪实践问题探究

在食品安全令人忧心忡忡的社会现实下,量刑反制的思路悄然而生,具体表现为在区分生产、销售有毒有害食品罪与生产、销售伪劣产品罪区分的过程中对明知的主观内容进行曲解。在与生产、销售不符合卫生标准的食品罪的区分过程中,由于添加物质的标准不够明晰,也导致了罪刑关系的确定性被损害,甚至有毒有害食品犯罪的关联行为被适当地确定为以危险方法危害公共安全罪。目前我国司法实践中对生产、销售有毒、有害食品罪的基本犯罪的处罚较轻是符合实际的,但对于结果和情节加重犯应当慎用死刑。     

关于上海市未成年人重新犯罪情况的调研报告

随着社会经济的不断发展和人口的持续导入,2010年至2012年间,上海市未成年人重新犯罪率均高于全国未成年人重新犯罪率。我们通过分析这三年重新犯罪的305名未成年人的基本情况,并结合其主体、家庭、环境、司法执法等因素,提出了相应对策与建议。     

危险驾驶罪的立法与司法省思

随着《刑法修正案（八）》的生效,刑法对危险驾驶行为的规制迈出了重要一步.一般认为,危险驾驶罪是为了应对风险社会的交通状况而增设的新罪名,具有历史的必然性.但由于危险驾驶罪的设置与刑法规范体系之间缺乏协调性,导致了在罪状和法定刑等方面存在诸多问题,这也致使司法人员对危险驾驶犯罪的适用上仍存在较大分歧.对《刑法修正案（八）》生效以来的危险驾驶罪司法实践进行反思,会发现现存的诸多问题仍然需要从立法的角度予以展开和诠释.在调整立法之前,目前的当务之急则是对危险驾驶罪的罪状加以精确确定,自然就需要将其与行政法和刑法中其他犯罪进行协调.     

Explaining the cultural and symbolic resonance of zero tolerance in contemporary criminal justice

Zero tolerance has been described as a "popular slogan for politicians talking tough." It is also a slogan with international advocates. In addition to the US, politicians from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa have praised this aggressive policing strategy. While this is a testament to the ease with which ideas diffuse between nations in the contemporary world, it does not explain why this particular idea is so popular. Nor does it explain why zero tolerance animated so many in the mid- to late-1990s. In order to answer these questions adequately, it is important to place zero tolerance in a wider social, political, and economic context. As this article argues, zero tolerance resonates in contemporary culture because it symbolizes a variety of tensions and anxieties found in late modern society. These anxieties are revealed through the often volatile and contradictory politics of law and order; through the routine scrutiny of marginal populations in society; and through the high degree of public tolerance for both of these developments. Recent research suggests that the rise of free market neoliberalism and social conservatism in western industrialized democracies provides an important backdrop against which these anxieties emerge. Imbued with meaning and populist appeal, it is the idea of zero tolerance, along with its cultural and symbolic resonance in contemporary criminal justice, which requires explanation.