Diversity in Policing

Abstract

Police and minority relations have received much interest among public and academic audiences, yet little is known about policing in Latino communities. As Latinos emerge as the largest minority group in the United States, researchers and police agencies are increasingly concerned with the experience of Latinos in the criminal justice system. One strategy for improving police and community relations is to enhance the diversity of law enforcement agencies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the ethnic composition of law enforcement agencies in major U.S. metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2000. Using data from the U.S. Census and the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, it appears that the growth in the U.S. Latino population has been met with an increase in the percentage of Latinos as sworn full-time police officers. Further, the degree of enhanced diversity varies by the ethnic composition of the community served. Implications of findings for improving relations between police and the Latino community are discussed.     

Perceptions About Changing the MirandaWarnings Among Police Chiefs

Abstract

A number of studies have considered whether the race of a police officer influences police decision-making processes. The current study assesses whether a police chief's race influences perceptions about the Mirandawarnings. Police chiefs from the Commonwealth of Virginia completed questionnaires assessing various aspects about the Mirandawarnings when the fate of the warnings was to be determined by the Supreme Court. Results suggest that race only moderately influenced chiefs' perceptions. Implications are provided.     

Dynamic Attenuation: Terrorism,Transnational Crime and the Role of the US Army Special Forces

This article analyses the ability of the US Army Special Forces to combat illicit networks (criminal and terrorist) through ‘dynamic attenuation’. It is argued that a process of dynamic attenuation, where network ties and not the actors in the network are targeted, should replace the current US strategy of ‘killing or capturing’ criminal agents threatening US interests. By dynamically attenuating (not destroying) the ties between and among criminal actors and criminal organisations, the US can effectively reduce the capability of criminal organisations to operate and achieve their missions (profit and/or terror). This argument is substantiated by assessing the environments where criminal networks thrive, the characteristics of criminal networks, the utility of targeting networks instead of individual actors, and through a comparison of criminal organisations' and US Army Special Forces' strengths and weaknesses. This article concludes with implications and recommendations for US policy in the fight against criminal organisations.     

Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

The police restructuring efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina driven by the international community, using in particular the leverage of European integration, attempted to achieve a reform that would transform a very fragmented police system into a de-politicized single structure and ended in the signing of a rather weak political agreement. The main reason why the process proved to be so difficult was that police restructuring touched upon the fundamentals of a delicate ethno-political power-sharing model in a post-conflict situation. But also, the approach chosen by the international community had serious deficiencies as the international community was far from speaking with one voice, thereby limiting its leverage.     

警察执法作战指挥训练方法构成探索

警察执法作战指挥训练方法是保证训练效果的重要因素。由于警察执法作战指挥训练内容的广博性,以及训练对象的多层次性,警察执法作战指挥训练的方法构成应具有很大的灵活性,探索其训练方法构成,对有效提高训练效益,提高警察指挥员的指挥能力具有重大作用和现实意义。     

湖南省基层交警警力不足的成因及解决对策

近年来,交通管理工作任务日益繁重与警力不足之间的矛盾日渐凸现。执法环境严峻、非警务活动多等是造成基层交警警力不足的外部因素;工作任务繁杂、源自工作本身以外的压力过重、警力配置不科学、经费保障不足等是公安机关内部的因素。要通过科学配置警力、完善管理机制以及落实从优待警等途径从根本上解决基层交警警力不足的问题。     

高度重视反腐倡廉这一重大政治任务

反腐倡廉是我党一贯坚持的鲜明政治立场,是人民关注的重大政治问题。当前,我国腐败问题呈现多种特点,其危害性在于：它离间党和人民群众的关系,损毁党的执政基础;破坏社会主义经济体制机制,损害人民群众的利益;干扰依法治国,影响社会稳定;毒化思想道德,败坏社会风气。因此,应进一步加强反腐倡廉的制度建设;加强党员干部反腐倡廉的思想建设;加强党的作风建设;加强党内民主建设强化党内监督机制;进一步发挥人民群众在反腐倡廉建设中的作用。     

把警察权力关进制度的笼子——以警察权力扩张引发涉警群体性事件为视角

警察权力是国家权力的重要组成部分,它来源于公民权利,又服务于公民权利,两者既相互依存,又须保持动态平衡.而近年来涉警群体性事件的频发,从深层原因来分析,主要是由于警察权力的盲目扩张、高度扩张,造成警察权力的滥用,严重侵犯了人民群众自身的利益,因此一定要把警察权力关进制度的笼子,防止其侵害公民权益.     

司法警察类院校开设警务技战术课程刍议

警察警务技战术教学与研究是现代警务教学与研究的重要内容之一。警务技战术课程应包括：体能训练、警察防卫与控制技术、射击、警务战术四个部分。提高监狱人民警察警务技战术能力,在司法警察类院校开设警务技战术课程十分必要。     

The regional outcome of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement five years down the road: Are external forces playing a progressive role?

ABSTRACT

The Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 2005 is the outcome of regional and international mediation led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)1 and the IGAD Partners’ Forum broadened to include the United States of America, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and the United Nations. Five years into its implementation the peace agreement appears to have transformed the war between North and South Sudan into a series of engagements of conflicting nature. Numerous contradictory actions by both the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP) (the main political forces behind the CPA) have been noted during the ongoing implementation process (Grawert forthcoming 2010; Grawert and El-Battahani 2005; Wassara 2008). Although internal Sudanese forces are the key actors in implementing the CPA, external forces are critical in providing the support and pressure needed for a complete realisation of the peace deal. The New Regionalism Approach (NRA), as advanced by Grant and Soderbäum (2003), is instrumental in understanding this dynamic. This article is based on the result of a study that seeks to examine why positive engagements of external forces are needed for a timely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.