Governance Arrangements for Transboundary Issues: Lessons from the Food Waste Programs of Italian Regions

Focusing on transboundary issues contributes to highlighting how new governance modes can emerge from increasing interdependence and complexity in public policies. This article analyzes food waste as a transboundary issue that cuts across different policy subsystems (PSs), intersects multiple levels of government, and calls into question consolidated policy making for new modes of governance. The analytical framework provides a multidimensional approach and a new typology of governance arrangements to be used in empirical research. Evidence from an Italian case study and an empirical investigation of 20 regional food waste programs shows that regions can adopt different driving ideas and can activate a variety of governance arrangements and differentiated, as well as viable, modes of integration between consolidated PSs. The article argues that different tool mixes combined with different levels of governance complexity may lead to a variety of governance arrangements and a differentiated likelihood of policy integration.     

Development and testing of a comprehensive ageing problem scale for community-living older adults in South Korea

This study was undertaken to develop and validate an instrument for gerontological policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to comprehensively assess the nature and severity of problems experienced by older adults. The Comprehensive Ageing Problem Scale (CAPS) for older adults living in the community was created as a reliable and valid instrument that is easy to use. A cross-sectional strategy was utilized, in which a total sample of 1060 older South Korean adults was selected (through a proportionate random-stratified sampling method) from four regions nationwide. The psychometric properties of the instrument were verified using item analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To achieve cross-validity, the total sample was randomly divided into two groups. The first group (for the EFA) was employed to identify the factor structure of the initial scale. The second group (for the CFA) was used to confirm the factor structure of the revised scale with the first group. The final version of the 19-item CAPS with four factors showed good internal consistency and a CFA confirmed the acceptability of the model fit.     

数码相机在痕迹物证照相中的应用

痕迹物证照相是痕迹检验的重要一环。使用数码相机进行物证照相,痕迹检验人员可以根据需要自行拍照曾经由专业技术人员拍照的物证相片,这对于提高检验效率和检验质量具有重要意义。本文从基层痕迹检验技术人员的角度出发,着重研究如何使用消费级的数码相机拍照微小的痕迹物证。     

Friction Marks of Stabbing Tools in Tires

When receiving a stabbed tire for examination, forensic toolmark examiners can determine whether a suspect tool was used in a specific crime based on class-characteristics and individual-characteristics marks that have been left by the tool on the tire. This study discusses friction marks and their forensic value during the examination of a punctured tire. The term friction mark refers to the noticeable mark around the penetration area on a tire's surface. Tires designed to create high friction when contacting a road. Due to this design, friction is created between the stabbing tool shank and the sides of the hole. As a result of this friction, the shank of the stabbing tool wears the outer layer of tire around the hole. This leaves a friction mark whose general shape reflects the cross-sectional shape of the stabbing tool’s shank. This phenomenon was observed and named by Locke (7) in his evaluation of tire puncture marks with knives. This article demonstrates the same phenomenon with other types of stabbing tools. Test stabs were produced with different tools representing a variety of cross-sectional shapes of shanks, and the resulting friction marks were photo-documented and discussed. Correlations between the various cross-sectional shapes and their corresponding friction marks are shown. Based on friction mark examination, the examiner: (i) can infer suspect tool shank cross-sectional shape with the evaluation of the friction mark shape and (ii) can deduce the maximum dimensions of the shank. This examination simplifies and accelerates the forensic comparison procedure and the investigation time.     

Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) for the Documentation of Saw Mark Characteristics

Photography is widely accepted as a means of forensic case documentation and evaluation. In cases of criminal dismemberment digital microscopy is commonly used to assess marks left on the bone. Reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) is a computational photography technique which documents and enhances the three-dimensional (3D) reflectance properties of the surface of an object. RTI has primarily been used in the cultural heritage sector but has recently transitioned into forensic science. This study examines the use of RTI for the documentation and presentation of cut surface characteristics on fully sectioned long bones. Juvenile pig radii were bisected using three different handsaws, chosen as handsaws are the most common implement used in criminal dismemberments. The resulting 42 cut surfaces were then documented with a digital microscope and RTI. Four rendering modes were applied to the default RTI image, with diffuse gain being the most beneficial to accentuate cut surface features. Although great care must be taken when obtaining the photographic sequences necessary for detailed RTI analysis, RTI is relatively inexpensive, expeditious, and easy to use, and creates highly detailed, virtually interactive images. RTI may not replace microscopic methods of saw mark analysis, however could prove useful for the documentation, image sharing, and presentation of forensic evidence.     

影响犯罪现场足迹特征的因素

足迹在犯罪现场遗留是必然的,因此是现场中最常见的痕迹之一,它在刑事侦查中的作用也不言而喻。在足迹检验技术中,足迹检验的重点是对足迹各部位重压面的形态、特征进行检验,但足迹各重压面的形成又受诸多因素的影响,并且足迹形成后,与其他痕迹一样,其信息系统处于开放状态,也易受外界自然和人为等因素的影响。     

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.