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Department of Justice Policy Guidance: Use of Cell-Site Simulator Technology

February 6, 2019June 28, 2017 by admin

Cell-site simulator technology provides valuable assistance in support of important public safety objectives. Whether deployed as part of a fugitive apprehension effort, a complex narcotics investigation, or to locate or rescue a kidnapped child, cell-site simulators fulfill critical operational needs. As with any law enforcement capability, the Department must use cell-site simulators in a manner that is consistent with the requirements and protections of the Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment, and applicable statutory authorities, including the Pen Register Statute. Moreover, any information resulting from the use of cell-site simulators must be handled in a way that is consistent with the array of applicable statutes, regulations, and policies that guide law enforcement in how it may and may not collect, retain, and disclose data. As technology evolves, the· Department must continue to assess its tools to ensure that practice and applicable policies reflect the Department's law enforcement and national security missions, as well as the Department's commitments to accord appropriate respect for individuals' privacy...

Plea Bargaining in the United States

January 29, 2019June 28, 2017 by admin

INTRODUCTION

The issue of plea bargaining occupies a central position among those concerned with the operation of the criminal justice system. There appears to be some uncertainty and confusion both inside ,~e criminal justice system and with the public as to the nature, scope, purpose and value of plea bargaining as a form of case resolution in our system. Existing attitudes toward plea bargaining form a continuum spanning an entire range of positions from total endorsement to complete rejection. The controversy over plea bargaining has become more intensive within the last ten years. The extent of the interest and controversy revolving around plea bargaining is evidenced in the enormous explosion of literature in the area. Over two-thirds of the books, articles, and studies on plea bargaining annotated in the project bibliography have been written in the last decade. And the research reflects numerous disciplines, including law, economics, political science and sociology. All indications are that the proliferation of research in plea bargaining..

Attack And Enforcement Of Plea Bargains

February 6, 2019June 28, 2017 by admin

A. What is a Plea?

A guilty plea is “more than a confession which admits that the accused did various acts,” it is a “stipulation that no proof by the prosecutor need be advanced.” (Boykin v. Alabama (1969) 395 U.S. 238, 243, 242-243 & fn. 4.) “A guilty plea is the

There are also slow pleas:

“[T]he term ‘slow plea’ . . . is an agreed-upon disposition of a criminal case via any one of a number of contrived procedures which does not require the defendant to admit guilt but results in a finding of guilt on an anticipated charge and, usually, for a promised punishment.” Perhaps the clearest example of a slow plea is a bargained-for submission on the transcript of a preliminary hearing in...

Political Information Cycles: When Do Voters Sanction Incumbent Parties For High Homicide Rates?∗

February 6, 2019June 26, 2017 by admin

How voters hold governments to account depends upon when they consume information about the relevant incumbent party. If news consumption follows electoral cycles, short-term performance indicators in the news prior to elections may powerfully shape voting behavior, especially among voters that principally engage with politics around elections. Exploiting three sources of plausibly exogenous variation, I examine when Mexican voters sanction municipal incumbents for local violent crime. I show that voters indeed consume more news before local elections, and that homicides before such elections increase the salience of public security and reduce confidence in the mayor. Electoral returns confirm that pre-election homicide shocks substantially decrease the incumbent party’s vote share and re-election probability. However, such sanctioning is limited to mayoral elections and is barely impacted by longer-term homicide rates. Finally, I show that the punishment of homicide shocks requires local broadcast media stations, and is greatest among the least informed voters. These findings demonstrate the importance of when voters consume news about an under-studied performance...

Terrorist Factions

February 6, 2019June 24, 2017 by admin

ABSTRACT

I study how a variety of structural and strategic factors affect terrorist mobilization, the likelihood of a splinter faction forming, and the positions adopted by terrorist leaders. The factors considered include the state of the economy, the viability of institutions for the nonviolent expression of grievance, the ability of the factional leaders to provide nonideological benefits, and the risks associated with splintering. The model highlights that, for strategic reasons, changes in the structural environment often entail trade-offs between decreasing terrorist mobilization and increasing extremism. For instance, strengthening the economy or institutions for the nonviolent expression of grievance is found to decrease terrorist mobilization, increase the extremism of terrorist factions, and decrease the likelihood of a splinter faction forming. These results suggest competing micro-level effects of such changes on the expected level of violence that, because they are offsetting, might not be observed in macro-level data analyses, which have been the mainstay of empirical studies of terrorism.

Republican militants in Northern Ireland have experienced a variety of splinterings. In the late 1960s, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) split from the Original IRA...

The Murder In Merger: Mergers And Acquisitions As Violent Events Of Organisational Transition

February 6, 2019June 24, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Drawing on my work as an organisational development practitioner, my PhD research and an international research project this paper considers participant and media generated ‘texts’ of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Using an interpretative textual analysis based on a psychoanalytic framework the paper explores re-presentations of M&As and the impact this has on our understanding of this area of organisational activity. Four M&A cases (Nestles/Pfizer’s Baby Food, AOL/Time Warner, Body Shop/L’Oreal and London Film Makers Co-op/London Electronic Arts) are used as illustrative studies. Although M&As are widely understood to be emotional and often destructive events (Sinkovics, Zagelmeyer, & Kusstatscher, 2011) the public discourse as represented by the media is often depersonalised and focussed on rational, objective strategy. The emotions and anxieties experienced by those affected are ‘frequently disposed of via denial, rationalisation, and intellectualisation and not open to discussion.’(Allcorn, 2005: 95) However, these public texts ‘have also been identified as critical sites where the (re)construction and legitimization of organizational change such as...

Confidentiality Issues When Minor Children Disclose Family Secrets in Family Counseling

February 5, 2019June 24, 2017 by admin

Individuals involved in family counseling have the right to confidentiality, but do minor children within the family have that same right? Various professional counseling specialties are faced with confidentiality issues when children and adolescents are involved in counseling including school counselors, clinical mental health counselors, and family counselors. Counselors are often faced with minors disclosing family secrets and other controversial information during counseling sessions. Fall and Lyons (in press) discussed the ethical considerations of family secret disclosure from an adult perspective and in the larger family counseling group session context. This article continues to address a variation of the theme of family secrets while bringing to light how confidentiality relates to minor children expressing family secrets during individual sessions. Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the counseling relationship be it individual, group, or family counseling (Smith, 1999). Family counselors are generally trained how to address confidentiality from an adult perspective when it comes to the family context. How confidentiality with minors is viewed in the...

Undue Influence, Involuntary Servitude and Brainwashing: A More Consistent , Interests-Based Approach

February 6, 2019June 23, 2017 by admin

I. INTRODUCTION

A "psychotherapeutic community" located in New York City's Upper West Side believes that "parent-child bonds... are the root of all evil and the mainspring of psychological maladjustment."' Accordingly, parents who are excessively demonstrative towards their children may have their babies taken from them for foster parenting or adoption by other members of the group. Thereafter, parents' subsequent contact with their children may be limited to closely supervised visits where the parents may see the child but physical contact is forbidden. Would any parent, absent the "psychotherapeutic community's" influence, ever consent to such an arrangement? Two mentally retarded men are found laboring on a farm in poor health, in squalid conditions and isolated from the rest of society. At trial, the evidence shows that the two men worked "seven days a week, often 17 hours a day, at first for 15 dollars per week and eventually for no pay." One of the men had lived and worked on the farm for sixteen years; the other...

RMS Technical Requirements for Crime Analysis

February 5, 2019June 23, 2017 by admin

Overview

This document has been prepared by the IACA SMT Committee to address the requirements of records management systems (RMS) as used by law enforcement agencies for crime analysis. A RMS is an agency-wide system that provides for the storage, retrieval, retention, manipulation, archiving, and viewing of records, documents, or files pertaining to law enforcement operations.

The primary intended use of this paper is to provide crime analysts, administrators, and other key decision-makers with fundamental RMS requirements for successful crime analysis. This document explains some of the key applications and functionality needed to support and facilitate sophisticated crime analysis. There are recommendations throughout the paper with regard to workflow within the agency, questions to ask vendors and information technology (IT) personnel, and key things to consider when upgrading or replacing a RMS. At the end of this paper is a list of relevant literature covering these topics in detail; throughout, there are footnotes that point directly to key readings. A checklist that can be used to evaluate...

Guilt By Expressive Association: Political Profiling, Surveillance And The Privacy Of Groups

February 5, 2019June 23, 2017 by admin

INTRODUCTION

Since September 11, Americans have accepted new restrictions on their freedom in return for the promise of increased security in their daily lives. Most people have reconciled themselves to increased governmental surveillance and some limitations on their daily activities, such as security screenings and enhanced video surveillance, with the belief that these measures will reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks. While people are rightly concerned that the United States (U.S.) might be subject to another attack by Al Qaeda, there is a risk that increased security measures and surveillance will unduly focus on individuals and groups unlikely to be involved in terrorism. Those likely to be targeted by law enforcement, such as Muslims attending mosques or political dissidents protesting war in Iraq, can face repercussions considerably more serious than waiting in line to pass through a metal detector.4 The history of the FBI and other law enforcement surveillance gives scant comfort to those engaged in lawful political and religious activities who are...

Psychological Aspects of Terrorism

February 5, 2019June 22, 2017 by admin

It used to be fairly common, but now hardly a day goes by without someone asking “You’re a psychiatrist—so tell me, what makes people become terrorists?” or “What’s wrong with those people?” My answer in this month’s column is the same as it has always been. First, there are many different kinds of terrorism and terror-violence (a term coined, or at least popularized, by Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni of Loyola School of Law, Chicago). The “answer,” to the extent that anyone knows it, varies from type to type and event to event. Second, although everyone has a personality, and personality is important in behavior, the idea that there are archetypal terrorist personalities, or mental illnesses that predispose one to what most people call terrorism, is simply a myth. For these reasons, this month’s column may not sound very psychiatric at times. I will talk more about what terrorism is not (vis-à-vis psychiatry and psychology) than what it is, in an effort to help readers...

Denial, Minimization, Partner Blaming, and Intimate Aggression in Dating Partners

February 5, 2019June 21, 2017 by admin

Although countering denial, minimization, and externalization of blame is a key component of most interventions for individuals who have been abusive in their intimate relationships, these attributions have only seldom been the focus of empirical investigation. Using a sample of 139 male and female university students, this study examined the associations between self-reported minimizing and blaming attributions and the perpetration of physical, sexual, and psychological aggression against an intimate partner. For men, minimization of conflict and partner blame were associated with self-reported perpetration of intimate partner aggression, even after controlling for socially desirable responding and relationship satisfaction. In contrast, women’s aggression was associated only with partner blame. Discussion focuses on overlap with similar areas of research, gender differences in minimization and blaming, and on potential directions for further empirical work on the associations of intimate aggression, relationship dissatisfaction, and attribution

.Denial of problem behavior, or of personal responsibility for such behavior, is a fundamental component of many psychological problems that a...

Clearing Murders: Is It About Time?

February 6, 2019June 19, 2017 by admin

This study uses data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to explore the impact of model selection on determining the association of victim-level and incident-level factors to the likelihood of homicide clearance. We compare both traditional operationalizations of clearance rates as well as the time to clearance as dependent variables in examinations of correlates of solvability in homicide cases. Using a different approach than most other analyses of this problem, the results affirm the consistency of some effects but also reveal some important differences when the aspect of time is factored into the model. Implications for analyses of efficiency and effectiveness of police response to homicide, cold-case analyses, and other strategies for solving crime are discussed.

In recent years crime rates have fallen from the historic highs of the late 1980s. However, crime clearances have fallen over the years as well (see Figure 1). In fact murder clearances were as high as 94 percent in 1961 and currently are at about 62 percent...

Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect: Responses to Dissatisfaction in Romantic Involvements

February 6, 2019June 19, 2017 by admin

A typology of characteristic responses to dissatisfaction in romantic relationships is discussed, and hypotheses concerning the determinants of each category of response are outlined. It is argued that the four primary reactions to relationship decline are exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Three investment model variables (Rusbult, 1980a) should predict the conditions under which each response is most likely to be enacted: (a) the degree of satisfaction with the relationship prior to the emergence of problems, (b) the magnitude of the individual's investment of resources in the relationship, and (c) the quality of the best available alternative to the relationship. Four studies provided generally consistent support for the hypotheses. As predicted, to the extent that prior satisfaction was high, voice and loyalty were more probable, whereas exit and neglect were less probable. Similarly, increases in investment size encouraged voice and loyalty, whereas lower levels of investment appeared to inspire exit or neglect responses. More attractive alternatives promoted exit while hampering loyalist behavior. These results are in agreement with investment...

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Simulation-based Counter-IED Training

February 5, 2019June 17, 2017 by admin

Abstract. This study compares the effectiveness of simulation-based and traditional counter-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) training methods in the Australian Army. Participants were 16 enlisted personnel from the Royal Australian Corps of Transport who took part in simulation-based training using Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2) and conventional Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) drill training. Usability and training effectiveness of each were assessed through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative measure.

Additional Resource: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Game-Based Training: A Controlled Study with Dismounted Infantry Teams (3195 downloads )

Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research and Prevention

February 5, 2019June 17, 2017 by admin

ABSTRACT

Statement of Purpose: A decline in state-sponsored terrorism has caused many terrorist organizations to resort to criminal activity as an alternative means of support. This study examines terrorists’ involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and manufacturing illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. Special attention is given to transnational organized crime. Crimes are analyzed through the routine activity perspective and social learning theory. These theories draw our attention to the opportunities to commit crime and the criminal skills necessary to turn opportunity into criminality. Through these lenses, the research appraises the “successes” and “failures” of terrorists’ engagement in crime. Because “failures” can result from law enforcement efforts to (1) interrupt criminal skill development, and/or (2) remove criminal opportunities via technologies and transportation systems, the research represents a best practices approach to the study and control of terrorism.

Methods: The study is organized into three parts:

I) A secondary analysis of the American Terrorism...