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Month: July 2017

Section 7 Homicide Circumstance Elements

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Uses

These data elements characterize the precipitants of violent deaths and help to identify trends in subtypes of violence over time. They will aid in planning and evaluating prevention programs targeted at specific subtypes of violence.

Discussion

Hate – A crime of aggravated assault, arson, burglary, criminal homicide, motor vehicle theft, robbery, sexual assault, or crime involving bodily injury in which the victim was intentionally selected because of their actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. Specify the type of hate crime in the Incident Narrative.

Brawl – Persons were involved in a mutual, physical fight. The brawl may or may not escalate to involve weapons. Do not code Brawl if the attack was one-sided (e.g., a group beats a single victim to death).

Terror – The victim was injured in a terrorist attack, whether with conventional, chemical, biological, or other weapons. This would include those who died while assisting in rescue operations from the attack. The NVDRS uses the FBI definition of terrorism:

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Homicide Process Mapping: Best Practices For Increasing Homicide Clearances

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The United States has experienced tragic mass homicides such as Newtown, Connecticut, and Aurora, Colorado—that focus national attention on the crime. However, receiving much less national attention is the fact that on average there are more than 40 homicides occurring on a daily basis in the United States. This number surpasses the deaths that occurred in these horrific mass incidents. Although over the last several years the numbers of homicides nationwide have continued to drop, the numbers of victims still remain high (16,799 homicides in 2011) (Cooper and Smith, 2011). Moreover, another disturbing trend has emerged. While the frequency of homicides is decreasing, clearance rates have also dropped (to less than 65 percent on average); hence, fewer homicide offenders are being identified and arrested. Although the national clearance rate average has continued to drop, some individual law enforcement agencies have excelled in clearing homicides, with clearance rates of 80 percent and higher. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) wanted to understand how some agencies were...

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MDCT Analysis of Projectile Injury in Forensic Investigation

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MDCT is an effective imaging technique to localize gunshot wound tracks and aid in the forensic autopsy of gunshot wound victims [1–3]. Projectiles include a diverse group of metallic objects such as bullets, components of explosive devices, or secondary projectiles from explosions that may inflict injury or cause death. In the forensic investigation of death by suspected projectile injury, determination of the projectile’s entry and exit locations, path, and associated tissue injury is important in the determination of the cause and manner of death [4, 5]. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the noninvasive characterization of projectile wounds on postmortem full-body, thinsection MDCT images. In all cases, imaging was performed on a 16-MDCT scanner. Images were interpreted using multiplanar 2D reconstruction, minimum intensity projection, and 3D volume rendering to critically and accurately analyze the 3D paths and features of projectile injury. The study was performed with the approval of the institutional review board of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and was HIPAA-compliant. Total-body MDCT...

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Offender Employment Prepreparation Program

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to adapt and experimentally test the effectiveness of a research-based, employment-focused group counseling intervention (OPTIONS). OPTIONS was designed to increase male inmates’ exploration and identification of employment interests and options, identification and development of employment-search skills, and knowledge of vocational options, goal planning, and identification and use of contextual supports. A randomized block design and measurements at pretest, post test, and 1-month follow-up were used to examine the effects of OPTIONS. Participants included 77 (n = 38 treatment, n = 39 control) adult male inmates. Results indicated that OPTIONS participants had higher career search self efficacy, problem solving, and hopefulness scores at post test and follow-up than did treatment-as-usual control group participants.As indicated in the statistics presented in the introductory article (Varghese & Cummings, XXXX), the United States has experienced exponential growth of incarcerated offenders in recent decades, with the vast majority of these offenders likely to be released. Stable employment is one of the strongest predictors of offenders’ post release success, including recidivism, whereas...

Additional Resource: OPTIONS for Preparing Inmates for Community Reentry: An Employment Preparation Intervention (2048 downloads ) ...

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Liability Insurance: Effect Of False Statements On Duty to Cooperate

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Whether and when discrepancies in statements by an insured to his insurer constitute a breach of the liability insurance cooperation clause' is the subject of this article. A distinction is drawn at the outset, between wilful, intentional or fraudulent material variances, here discussed, and those variances which are unintentional, accidental, unimportant or inconsequential. The latter categories are considered not sufficient to constitute a breach of the clause under discussion. As a practical matter, the question is fundamentally one of reconciling rights, that is to say: When the question arises as to whether or not an insured has breached the cooperation clause, sufficient to relieve the insurer of liability, courts are confronted with the problem of balancing the injured third party's interest in recovery and collection as opposed to the insurance carrier's interest in compliance and enforcement of the cooperation clause. The primary obstacle inherent in the resolution of these opposing interests has been expressed in the following manner: The clause cannot be interpreted in a way that...

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Methodology Of Theory Building

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INTRODUCTION

This is a how-to-do book. In it I shall present the methods of building theory. But the methods will not be bound to mindless routine, rather to intelligent usage. By setting forth the methods in the context of the logic of theoretical knowledge, understanding of the methods will be emphasized throughout. One does not build 'theory from scratch, for theorizing has been going on at least since the time of the PreSocratics. That means, of course, that theorizing was going on before 470 B.C., the probable birth date of Socrates. Theory is built upon extant theory. Consequently, to build theory one must be able to criticize theory. One must be able to achieve an understanding of extant theory and to judge what needs to be done, if anything, to the theory. Only then is one in a position to make constructive moves. To be able to achieve an understanding of extant theory ,is to be able to describe dnd interpret it. ...

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Towards a Revitalization of Theory and Research on Victimization by Crime

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INTRODUCTION
Not long ago Dr. Edward C. Stone, chief scientist of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Saturn project observed that at this stage in their work scientific creativity was largely a team effort because planetary discovery requires the peculiar talents of astronomers, geologists, physicists, meteorologists, and mathematicians. He went on to observe that: The usual creative process, the quintessential scientific process, tends to be a very individual process. . . . You have an idea yourself, you conceive of ways to test your idea, you do your experiments and you report the results. This is the classical method and it usually occurs over a long period of time. But here lots of people see the data at the same time. They begin immediately to suggest ideas and expose constraints on what the data could mean. Peer review is going on at each step of the way, not at the end of the process.Although the study of victimization is in many ways formally analogous...

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Joint Venture Liability

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Two or more businesses may find that pooling assets and resources can result in excellent market position in a particular growth area. Depending on the level of formality of the arrangement, those businesses will be considered to be in a business “joint venture.” From the point of view of the law, joint ventures are considered to be partnerships and are therefore governed by partnership law. The structure of a business joint venture can range from relatively informal agreements that govern a working relationship, to formal vehicles organized according to a joint venture plan. An example of an “informal” business joint venture would be a strategic alliance through which two businesses pool assets and services to provide a unified offering. Formal business joint ventures can range from contractual joint ventures to business joint ventures that involve the creation of a separate legal entity. Contractual joint ventures make sense when a separate legal entity will not necessarily be beneficial and may even be harmful. For example, a joint...

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PBX and Analog Lines Security Assessment

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1 Executive Summary
1.1 Overview
Deloitte & Touche LLP (D&T) was engaged to assist the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in evaluating the effectiveness of security controls over their telecommunications infrastructure, consisting of the Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and analog telephone lines (fax machines, computer dial-up, etc). The overall objective of the review was to determine the degree of protection the SEC’s existing security controls provide their telecommunications system against “hostile” threats from the public and from within the SEC. The objective was accomplished by performing a two-phased assessment: 1) Manual evaluation of the PBX and 2) Automated and manual evaluation of all identified analog telephone lines. The scope of the review included the SEC headquarters in Washington, DC, and the Operations Center (and Annex) in Alexandria, VA. Testing activities were performed between September 21 and November 19, 1999 at the SEC Headquarters located in Washington, DC and external D&T locations. Analog...

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Theorizing Media and Crime

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Why are we so fascinated by crime and deviance? If the media can so successfully engage the public’s fascination, can they equally tap into and increase people’s fears about crime? Is the media’s interest in some would say, obsession with crime harmful? What exactly is the relationship between the mass media and crime? Students and researchers of both criminology and media studies have sought to understand the connections between media and crime for well over a century. It’s interesting to note that, although rarely working together, striking parallels can be found between the efforts of criminologists and media theorists to understand and ‘unpack’ the relationships between crime, deviance and criminal justice on the one hand, and media and popular culture on the other. Indeed, it is not just at the interface between crime and media that we find similarities between the two disciplines. Parallels between criminology and media studies are evident even when we consider some of the most fundamental questions...

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U.S.Government Counter Insurgency Guide

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The U.S. Government Counterinsurgency (COIN) Guide is complementary to the doctrine in the Army/Marine Corps COIN Field Manual and provides a basic COIN overview for civilian policy makers. "This Guide, the first of its kind in almost half a century, distills the best of contemporary thought, historical knowledge, and hard-won practice. It is the best kind of doctrinal work: intellectually rigorous, yet practical." The State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs developed this interagency counterinsurgency guide in conjunction with the Department of Defense, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

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Political Parties And The Transition To Democracy

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Role of Political Parties in Democratic Societies

Democracy requires the participation of effective political parties. Parties are unique organizations that fulfill a number of interrelated functions central to the democratic process of governance. Basic partyfunctions include:

C Contesting and winning elections, in order to seek a measure of control of government agencies and institutions.
C Aggregating and representing social interests.
C Providing policy alternatives.
C Vetting and training political leaders who will assume a role in governing society.

In most countries, parties are required to fulfill legal obligations for official registration and recognition, including a minimum level of membership, a written constitution and platform, and the election of party leaders. Depending on a variety of factors C such as the type of democratic system, the electoral law, and the historical role of trade unions, religious groups, and ethnic communities C a country may have anywhere from two to a hundred registered parties. In some cases, parties may merge or divide over time and new parties may

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