A Stone’s Throw from the Metropolis: Re-Examining Small-Agency Homeland Security Practices

Police agencies nationwide have enhanced their homeland security preparedness capacity since the 9/11 attacks. Evidence suggests that departments have not uniformly adopted measures to prepare for and respond to critical incidents. Rather, larger agencies are more likely than their smaller peers to take such steps. Small agencies do not constitute a homogenous group; some experience geographic isolation while others are near major metropolitan areas. Unclear is whether small agencies (25 or fewer full-time sworn personnel), those that are commonly found to be less prepared, benefit from proximity to large-agency peers. This study examined whether physical and relational proximity to large departments contributed to homeland security preparedness in over 300 small departments. A structural equation model revealed that interactions with large agencies facilitated preparedness but physical proximity had no direct effect. Increasing geographic isolation from large-agency peers indirectly affected preparedness by stifling the level of inter-department interactions.     

Measuring Procedural Justice in Police-Citizen Encounters

Procedural justice has dominated recent discussions of police interactions with the public. It has mostly been measured from the perspective of citizens (using surveys or interviews), but several important questions about predictors and outcomes of fair police treatment are best answered using direct observations of police-citizen interactions. Building on prior observational studies, we develop and validate an instrument for measuring procedural justice as it is exercised by the police in the natural setting of their encounters with the public. In doing so, we adopt a “formative” rather than the common “reflective” approach, based on the assumption that specific behaviors that make up procedural justice do not reflect a single underlying construct but rather form one. We justify this approach and validate our instrument accordingly. We also discuss the implications of our measurement for future research on procedural justice in police behavior.     

管辖选择权：行政案件管辖制度改革之一剂良方——基于行政诉讼中“官官相护”滋生“告状难”现象的分析

从行政诉讼原被告及法官三方力量博弈的角度看,受制于现行行政案件管辖制度,"当地法院管辖"、"法院裁定管辖"使得强势的行政权与次强势的司法权强强联合成为现实,进而导致弱势的原告"告状难"。司法权行使去当地化,阻断行政权对司法权的不当干扰;司法权行使去裁定化,杜绝司法权不当行使;赋予原告充分的案件管辖选择权,提升其对抗行政权、司法权的能力,促成三方力量平衡,是解决民告官"告状难"的一剂良方。     

Researching counterterrorism: a critical perspective from the field in the light of allegations and findings of covert activities by undercover police officers

The article addresses some of the key issues that are raised for researchers engaging with counterterrorism police officers and initiatives, when undertaking research. A significant area to explore in this context is, in fact, the issue of relationships with counterterrorism police officers who may themselves directly have been covert police officers in the past and/or who may be continuing in their current, apparently more open, role (wittingly or otherwise) as agents of broader state strategies of exploiting trust for intelligence-gathering purposes. This article suggests that it is important for researchers to understand that working within the counterterrorism field involves degrees and shades of risk in the service of trust-building, sensitivity and the empowerment of communities, and that researchers themselves can (wittingly and unwittingly) be part of wider strategies instigated by security-minded individuals or groups of counterterrorism police officers. Reflecting upon the research that we have undertaken individually and collectively over the last number of years, in the light of the most recent spate of allegations about counterterrorism police officers infiltrating activist and political protest groups, having sexual relationships, and indeed, on occasion, children, with women whilst undercover and of potentially working to entrap vulnerable individuals into planning terrorist acts, this article raises questions around trust, credibility, legitimacy, the prevalence and near unavoidability of dysfunctional agendas and the implications of all of the above for community-based approaches to counterterrorism.     

Public assistance of police during criminal investigations: Russian experience

This study examines the high levels of public unwillingness to assist police in criminal investigations in Russia. Variables of public trust of police, fear of crime, victimization, and prior contact with police are used to explain this phenomenon. Also included in the study are variables of police fear and avoidance of police. The findings suggest that higher levels of distrust in, as well as fear and avoidance of police are strong predictors of citizens’ unwillingness to assist police in Russia. The paper discusses potential implications of these findings for the 2011 police reform in Russia.     

基于Internet的CAI软件的实现技术

随着Internet网络技术的发展,远程多媒体教学成为当前的研究热点。基于Internet的多媒体CAI课件是多媒体CAI课件与网络技术的结合,它将成为网络教学多媒体CAI课件的主要形式。文中介绍的CAI软件采用J＋＋编写实现,由服务器部分、学生部分、教师教学部分、课件维护部分四部分组成,并详细论述了系统的实现技术。     

对社区治安防范的思考

随着我国建设社会主义和谐社会的深入以及社区建设的推进,社区居民对安全的需求越来越高。社区在社会治安防范控制中发挥日益突出的基础性作用。我国政府有关部门特别是各级公安机关也应继续致力于科学化、专业化研究,探求多元控制手段和措施,更好地预防控制犯罪,维护良好社会治安秩序。     

论警务实战指挥决策风险与控制

指挥决策风险在警务实战行动中是客观存在的。风险与决策风险是由若干要素构成的。在实战中,决策风险直接影响和制约指挥活动的成效,决定实战行动的成败。通过分析,我们可以了解和掌握影响决策风险的要素。对指挥决策风险进行有效控制,这是公安机关指挥员的一个重要任务和课题。