A Situational Model for Distinguishing Terrorist and Non-Terrorist Aerial Hijackings, 1948–2007

Despite the centrality of situational variables to crime theories, they remain uncommon in criminology. Based on the hypotheses drawn from the literature on situational determinants of crime, we examine whether aerial hijackings perpetrated by terrorists are situationally distinct from other aerial hijackings. We define terrorist hijackings as those that include threatened or actual use of illegal force or violence to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation. Other aerial hijackings include those perpetrated for transportation or extortion purposes. Using a newly updated dataset, we examined 1,019 aerial hijackings that occurred around the world from 1948 to 2007, out of which we classified 122 as terrorism. Results provide strong support for the argument that situational factors measuring organizational resources distinguish terrorist from non-terrorist aerial hijackings, and partial support for the argument that situational factors measuring publicity distinguish these events.     

打击危害国际民航安全非法行为的国际公约与我国刑法相关规定的完善

危害国际航空安全非法行为的产生.既有一定的客观条件,也有一定的社会根源,它不仅表现为对机场秩序、航空器的破坏,更多的是对航空器的劫夺、在航空器上放置爆炸物,甚至如美国"911"事件将航空器当成武器,社会危害极大,及时地加以防止和打击刻不容缓.目前国际社会经过努力已经制定了一系列防止、制止航空领域中的危害行为的国际公约,规定了危害国际航空安全犯罪行为为国际犯罪,并就有关的罪名、管辖权的行使、起诉或引渡等问题进行了规定,推进了惩治和打击危害国际民航安全非法行为的国际合作.我国是国际公约的缔约国,国内刑法对如何惩治危害国际民航安全犯罪行为也作出了相应的规定,但与国际公约的衔接方面仍存在一些问题,有待于进一步完善.     

Do Drone Strikes Degrade Al Qaeda? Evidence From Propaganda Output

The United States has used unmanned, aerial vehicles—drones—to launch attacks on militants associated with Al Qaeda and other violent groups based in Pakistan. The goal is to degrade the target's capacity to undertake political and violent action. We assess the effectiveness of drone strikes in achieving this goal, measuring degradation as the capacity of Al Qaeda to generate and disseminate propaganda. Propaganda is a key output of many terrorist organizations and a long-standing priority for Al Qaeda. Unlike other potential measures of terrorist group activity and capacity, propaganda output can be observed and measured. If drone strikes have degraded Al Qaeda, their occurrence should be correlated with a reduction in the organization's propaganda output. The analysis presented here finds little evidence that this is the case. Drone strikes have not impaired Al Qaeda's ability to generate propaganda.     

Breathing materiality: aerial violence at a time of atmospheric politics

The gassing events in Ferguson, Hong Kong, Istanbul and Syria, among countless other places, have made it clear that policing can no longer be simply understood as a bodily disciplining of individuals, but that the target has shifted to the medium of the air. The air has for a long time been the neglected element of politics. Modern politics historically arises as a practice that is rooted in the soil on which borders are drawn and in which national identities are shaped. This article looks at the ways in which politics is swiftly becoming something that is inhaled, rather than something that occurs on the ground. I argue that we are witness to an arrival of a politics of the air one breathes. This move requires a thinking through the air or what I call an “air-thinking”. The article is set in the context of a growing occurrence of attacks on the breath in the aftermath of the strangulation of Eric Garner earlier last year. His now famous last words “I can’t breathe”, which he repeated 11 times, have unleashed a counter politics that reacts to the state’s tightening grip on what Sloterdijk calls the “negative air-conditioning” of breathing bodies.     

谈劫持案件处置模型

各种劫持人质犯罪活动不断增多,实施手法不断翻新,它对政活、经济、社会秩序、公共安全造成的负面影响也越来越大,探索劫持案件处置模型,有针对性地加强训练,具有积极的意义.     

TESTING A RATIONAL CHOICE MODEL OF AIRLINE HIJACKINGS*

Using data that combines information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the RAND Corporation and a newly developed database on global terrorist activity, we are able to examine trends in 1,101 attempted aerial hijackings that occurred around the world from 1931 to 2003. We have especially complete information for 828 hijackings that occurred before 1986. Using a rational choice theoretical framework, we use continuous‐time survival analysis to estimate the impact of several major counterhijacking interventions on the hazard of differently motivated hijacking attempts and logistic regression analysis to model the predictors of successful hijackings. Some of these interventions use certainty‐based strategies of target hardening to reduce the perceived likelihood of success. Others focus on raising the perceived costs of hijacking by increasing the severity of punishment. We also assess which strategies were most effective in deterring hijackers whose major purpose was related to terrorism. We found support for the conclusion that new hijacking attempts were less likely to be undertaken when the certainty of apprehension was increased through metal detectors and law enforcement at passenger checkpoints. We also found that fewer hijackers attempted to divert airliners to Cuba once that country made it a crime to hijack flights. Our results support the contagion view that hijacking rates significantly increase after a series of hijackings closely clustered in time—but only when these attempts were successful. Finally, we found that the policy interventions examined here significantly decreased the likelihood of nonterrorist but not that of terrorist hijackings.     

Location and Assessment of an Historic (150–160 Years Old) Mass Grave Using Geographic and Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation,NW Ireland*

Abstract: Reburial of human remains and concerns regarding pathogens and pollution prompted the search for, and assessment of, a 156-year-old graveyard. To locate this graveyard, historic and anecdotal information was compared to landscape interpretation from aerial photography. To assess and map the contents, surface collapses, metal detector indications, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were used. Some 170 anomalies compatible with burials were identified on 200 MHz GPR data, 84 of which coincided with surface collapses, suggesting both noncollapsed ground, subsequent infill, and multiple inhumations. The graveyard was possibly split into Roman Catholic plots with multiple inhumations; Protestant plots; and a kileen, or graveyard for the unbaptized (often children). The work serves as one approach to the location and mapping of recent and historic unmarked graves.     

试析我国劫持民用航空器犯罪的类型及防范

劫持民用航空器犯罪对航空安全构成极大威胁，通常分为“逃亡型”和“政治斗争手段型”。我国早期的劫持民用航空犯罪基本属于“逃亡型”，随着国际形势的变化“政治斗争手段”成为了发展的主要趋势。因此，应当从立法规制、措施调整以及完善管理体系等多方面建构我国劫持民用航空器犯罪的防控体系。     

论劫持人质事件应急处置机制

在劫持人质事件应急处置工作中,机制起着基础性的作用。劫持人质事件应急处置机制的科学构建将有助于提高处置措施的针对性和适用性,降低处置成本,减少处置中的随意性,提高处置效率。劫持人质事件应急处置是以劫持人质犯罪的构成为切入点,包括事先科学筹划措施、事中有效控制事态以及事后及时做好善后工作三个方面的处理机制。必须将各方面处理机制有机结合起来才能更好地实现预期的处置效果。     

Unmanned aerial vehicles: A preliminary analysis of forensic challenges

As unmanned aerial vehicles have become more affordable, their popularity with the general public and commercial organisations has seen significant growth in recent years. Whilst remaining a device for both the hobbyist and aircraft-enthusiast to enjoy, they are now also used for carrying out activities such as law enforcement surveillance, agricultural maintenance, acquiring specialist movie and sports event footage along with search and seizure activities. Conversely, despite maintaining many legitimate uses, there are also increasing media reports of unmanned aerial vehicle technology being abused, ranging from physical assaults due to negligent flights to breaches of Civil Aviation Authority Air Navigation Regulations, requiring a forensic analysis of these devices in order to establish the chain of events. This article presents an introductory discussion of unmanned aerial vehicle analysis and provides the results of a digital forensic investigation of a test Parrot Bebop unmanned aerial vehicle. Directions for the acquisition and analysis of the device's internal storage are provided along with an interpretation of on-board flight data, captured media and operating system. Further, as the device can be controlled via Android and iOS devices using the application FreeFlight3, forensic analysis of these devices is also presented. Results showed the ability to recover flight data from both the unmanned aerial vehicle and controller handsets along with captured media, however problems exist with establishing the definitive owner of the device, particularly if a user had abandoned it at the scene of a crime.