searchfortruth.info > Titles of Interest

Titles of Interest

Journey to Crime Estimation Location Theory

by

Location Theory

Location theory is concerned wit h one of the central issues in geography. This theory attempts to find an optimal location for any particular distribution of activities, population, or even ts over a region (Haggett, Cliff and Frey, 1977; Krueckeberg and Silvers, 1974; Stopher and Meyburg, 1975; Oppenheim, 1980, Ch . 4; Boss a rd, 1993). In classic location theory, economic resources were allocated in relation to idealized presentations (Anselin and Madden , 1990). Thus, von Thünen (1826) analyzed the distribution of agricultural land as a function of the accessibility to a single population center (which would be more expensive towards the cent er), t he value of the product produced (which would vary by crop), and transportation costs (which would be more expensive farther from the cent er). In order to maximize profit and minimize costs, a

Read More!

Travel-To-Crime: Homing In On The Victim

by

ABSTRACT

Environmental criminology focuses on the intersection in time and place of the offender and victim. Patterns of crime are generally explained in terms of the routine activities of the offender. His or her travel to crime distances are short and crimes are committed within the offender's 'awareness space'. It has generally been theorised that victims also have short journeys to crime, associated with their routine behaviour. This review, however, suggests that occupancy of 'unawareness space', where people are away from familiar surroundings, may confer heightened risk. This is supported in research in the special case of crime and tourism, though other travelling victim patterns have been largely ignored. This paper postulates that crime risk increases at the intersection of offender awareness and victim unawareness spaces. The 2002–3 British Crime Survey provides some suggestive evidence on this. Its analysis reveals that 26.9% of self-reported victimisation occurs more than 15 minutes away from the victim's home. For personal

Read More!

Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendations

by

Abstract

Recent DNA exonerations have helped shed light on the problem of false confessions and the empirical fact that innocent people sometimes confess to crimes they did not commit. Drawing on past and current police practices, laws concerning the admissibility of confession evidence in court, relevant core principles of psychology, and forensic studies involving an array of empirical methodologies, this White Paper summarizes much of what we know about police-induced confessions. AS part of this review, we identify dispositional suspect characteristics (e.g., adolescence; intellectual disability; mental illness, and certain personality traits), interrogation tactics (e.g., excessive interrogation time; presentations of false evidence; minimization), and the phenomenology of innocence (e.g., the tendency to waive Miranda rights) that can influence the reliability of confessions, as well as their effects on judges, juries, and other decision makers. This article concludes with a strong recommendation for the mandatory videotaping of interrogations and considers other possibilities...

Read More!

Who Sponsors Whom and Why? An Empirical Investigation of Sports Sponsorships

by

Abstract

This paper applies a two-sided matching model to investigate the formations of sports sponsorships using a dataset containing the shirt sponsorships from 43 English football clubs during the period from 1990 to 2010. We find that sponsorships become less valuable as the distance between the club and the sponsor’s head office grows and that better-performing clubs can attract more distant sponsors. In addition, there is an assortative matching between a club’s attendance and a sponsor’s revenue. Based on the estimates from the two-sided matching model, we simulate the counterfactual matching outcomes if sponsorships on alcohol and gambling are banned. Our estimates suggest that such bans will not have the biggest impact on the (relatively successful) clubs that currently have alcohol and gambling sponsors. Instead, it is clubs with low attendance and clubs in low income, less populated areas will be most affected.

Read More!

Problems Encountered in Investigating and Prosecuting Conspiracies to Commit Terrorist Offences 

by

Terror conspiracies are among the most problematic criminal offences to prosecute because of the difficulty of distinguishing between the mere expression of subversive thoughts and substantive plans to execute an outrage. The afore mentioned dilemma has critical consequences for law enforcement agencies carrying out surveillance of conspiratorial meetings whether by way of SIGINT or HUMINT2 . To find the correct balance between a longer period of surveillance or a relatively short one is a refined technique. The task becomes more reliable when the intelligence base has infiltrated and become integrated in the suspect's community. On the prosecution process when two or more potential terrorists agree upon a plan for an act of terror, the legal elements of the offence of conspiracy may be made out even if the commission of the complete criminal enterprise is beyond their capability. In these circumstances the task of sentencing such individuals is often a conjectural exercise...

Read More!

Pseudocyesis, Delusional Pregnancy, And Psychosis: The Birth Of A Delusion

by

Abstract

Both pseudocyesis and delusional pregnancy are said to be rare syndromes, but are reported frequently in developing countries. A distinction has been made between the two syndromes, but the line of demarcation is blurred. The aim of this paper is to review recent cases of pseudocyesis/delusional pregnancy in order to learn more about biopsychosocial antecedents. The recent world literature (2000-2014) on this subject (women only) was reviewed, making no distinction between pseudocyesis and delusional pregnancy. Eighty case histories were found, most of them originating in developing countries. Fifty patients had been given a diagnosis of psychosis, although criteria for making the diagnosis were not always clear. The psychological antecedents included ambivalence about pregnancy, relationship issues, and loss. Very frequently, pseudocyesis/delusional pregnancy occurred when a married couple was infertile and living in a pronatalist society. The infertility was attributed to the woman, which resulted in her experiencing substantial distress and discrimination. When antipsychotic medication was used...

Read More!

Antitrust and Franchising: Conspiracies Between Franchisors and Franchisees Under Section 1

by

A1993 article in this Journal reported, without fanfare, a federal district court’s holding that a “franchisor and franchisee were legally incapable of conspiring” in restraint of trade. Since that time, two other district courts and two courts of appeals have echoed that decision. Franchisors and franchisees that have spent time and energy ensuring compliance with the antitrust laws may be pleasantly surprised to learn that many of these efforts may be unnecessary. Because Section 1 of the Sherman Act (the key antitrust statute under which franchisor actions have been challenged) proscribes only “contracts, combinations and conspiracies” in restraint of trade or commerce, if franchisors are, as a matter of law, incapable of conspiring with franchisees, then franchisors need not worry about such things as mandating the prices at which franchisees resell products, “tying” continuation of the franchise to required purchases, or otherwise restricting franchisees’ actions. Franchisors could require all franchisees to participate in promotions and sales pricing without any...

Read More!

Victim Precipitated Criminal Homicide

by

In many crimes, especially in criminal homicide, the victim is often a major contributor to the criminal act. Except in cases in which the victim is an innocent bystander and is killed in lieu of an intended victim, or in cases in which a pure accident is involved, the victim may be one of the major precipitating causes of his own demise. Various theories of social interaction, particularly in social psychology, have established the framework for the present discussion. In criminological literature, however, probably von Hentig in The Criminal and His Victim, has provided the most useful theoretical basis for analysis of the victim-offender relationship. In Chapter XII, entitled "The Contribution of the Victim to the Genesis of Crime," the author discusses this "duet frame of crime" and suggests that homicide is particularly amenable to analysis.' In Penal Philosophy, Tarde frequently attacks the "legislative mistake" of concentrating too much on premeditation and paying too little attention to motives,

Read More!

Analyzing an Offender’s Journey to Crime: A Criminal Movement Model (CriMM)

by

Abstract

In the current study we develop a Criminal Movement Model (CriMM) to investigate the relationship between simulated travel routes of offenders along the physical road network and the actual locations of their crimes in the same geographic space. With knowledge of offenders’ home locations and the locations of major attractors, we are able to model the routes that offenders are likely to take when travelling from their home to an attractor by employing variations of Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm. With these routes plotted, we then compare them to the locations of crimes committed by the same offenders. This model was applied to five attractor locations within the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Information about offenders in these cities was obtained from five years worth of real police data. After performing a small-scale analysis for each offender to investigate how far off their...

Read More!

The Psychiatrist’s Role in Determining Accountability for Crimes: The Public Anxiety and an Increasing Expertise

by

I. INTRODUCTION

In conjunction with the criminal law, the psychiatrist witness has been asked to evaluate people at four different stages. He has been asked to give his opinion whether the defendant understands the charges and is able to aid his defense, whether the defendant should be held responsible for his activity, to recommend a disposition and finally to recommend a stay for execution of sentence.' This comment will discuss the second of these functions, the role of the psychiatrist in determining whether someone should be held accountable for the consequences of his acts who has accomplished activity classified by society as criminal. This comment will discuss the legal tests for insanity only peripherally, by illustrating the legal semantical difficulty produced by the attempts of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to deal with this problem. The legal tests have been so overtreated and overemphasized that one noted authority has remarked: "Rivers of ink, mountains of printer's

Read More!

The Confidential Relationship Theory of Constructive Trusts-An Exception to the Statute of Frauds

by

The constructive trust, often referred to as a trust "implied in law," has been generally recognized as an exception to the Statute of Frauds. Fraud, duress, mistake, undue influence, or the breach of a fiduciary relationship may all be the basis for a constructive trust. Promises to convey or to hold property in trust, which would ordinarily be unenforceable under the statute, have often resulted in the imposition of a constructive trust when the abuse of a confidential relationship has been found.3 The "abuse of confidence" exception to the statute, which defies accurate definition, has provided courts of equity with an elastic means for intervention whenever such is considered just and proper.and confidence can be found in every transaction involving a fiduciary. To this extent, the fiduciary relationship is undoubtedly "confidential." The true fiduciary relationship and the duties and obligations which adhere thereto, however, can generally be placed into distinct categories wherein an underlying legal relationship also exists. Such would...

Read More!

False Belief and Emotion Understanding in Post-Institutionalized Children

by

Abstract

Deficits in social cognition may impair the ability to negotiate social transactions and relationships and contribute to socio emotional difficulties experienced by some postinstitutionalized children. We examined false belief and emotion understanding in 40 institutional care-adopted children, 40 foster care-adopted children and 40 birth children. Both groups of adopted children were adopted internationally. Controlling for verbal ability, post-institutionalized children scored lower than birth children on a false belief task. Almost half of the post-institutionalized children performed below chance levels. The foster care group did not differ from either group on false belief understanding. The groups did not differ on emotion understanding after controlling for verbal ability. The results suggest that some post-institutionalized children are delayed in false belief understanding.Since 1995, over 130,000 children have been adopted internationally into the USA. (US Department of State, 2004). Many of these children have been reared in institutions around the world prior to adoption, and they exhibit delays in physical and...

Read More!

Symbolic, Relational, and Ideological Signifiers of Bias-Motivated Offenders: Toward a Strategy of Assessment

by

Hate crimes constitute a special class of violence. In the United States, since the enactment of federal hate crime laws in 1990, bias-motivated crimes have garnered national attention. Although social psychological research concerning hate crimes has provided insight into the factors that lead to intergroup violence (Ehrlich, 1992; Green, Glaser, & Rich, 1998; Herek, Gillis, Cogan, & Glunt, 1996), information concerning individual difference variables of bias offenders is to date unavailable. There is significant debate about whether an offender’s bias motivation can be reliably identified (Sullaway, in press). This has led some theorists to argue for the repeal of hate crime laws altogether (Jacobs & Potter, 1998). The successful prosecution of the bias-motivated offender requires that there is a discernible behavioral and volitional component present in the offense. This is essential if the offense is to meet the standard of legal intent, as defined under state and federal laws (Levin, 1999). Determining the validity of the bias motivation is compromised by the

Read More!

Solicitation: Evidence-Based Model Programs for Cold Case Units

by

Specific Information—Evidence-Based Model Programs for Cold Case Units

In the publication Cold Case Squads: Leaving No Stone Unturned, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) states that cold cases are among the most difficult and frustrating cases detectives face. These are cases that the initial investigators, for whatever reason, could not solve. To tackle this problem, many U.S. police agencies have established cold case squads. Cold case squads can be especially useful in locating and working with past and potential witnesses and reviewing physical evidence to identify suspects. Cold case squads also perform an outreach and networking role and can assist other jurisdictions with cold case investigations, as appropriate. In a special report entitled Using DNA to Solve Cold Cases, NIJ discussed the role that advances in DNA technology can play in investigating and solving cold cases. Although DNA is not the only forensic tool of value to unsolved case...

Read More!

The Importance of Careful Interpretation of Shell Casing Ejection Patterns

by

Abstract:

An experiment was conducted to gain information about shell casing ejection patterns. The research project showed that shell casing ejection patterns are dependent on a number of variables: type of firearm, stance, hand and weapon position (grip), and movement.

Background

A review of the literature indicated some disparity in the opinions of crime scene investigators concerning the position of casings related to shooting incidents. Ogle notes that the "location of fired cartridge cases may be valuable in a reconstruction attempt of the shooting incident. The location(s) of the shooter(s) may be determined by the analysis of the locations of the fired cases" [1]. Gardner writes that firearms examiners conduct, on occasion, ejection studies with the purpose of determining the distance and direction that a casing will eject when the weapon is held in any given orientation. He continues by noting that ejection studies have limited value, because casings will roll when...

Read More!

Critical Incidence Response Group FBI Acadamy – Sexual Homicide

by

The Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) is a division of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. CIRG enables the FBI to rapidly respond to, and effectively manage, special crisis incidents in the United States.

History

In response to public outcry over the standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and of the Branch Davidians in the Waco Siege, the FBI formed the CIRG in 1994 to deal more efficiently with crisis situations. The CIRG is designated to formulate strategies, manage hostage or siege situations, and, if humanly possible, resolve them "without loss of life," as FBI Director Louis Freeh, who assumed the post four-and-a-half months after the Waco fire, pledged in a 1995 Senate hearing.

CIRG was intended to integrate tactical and investigative resources and expertise for critical incidents which necessitate an immediate response from law enforcement authorities. CIRG will deploy investigative specialists to respond to terrorist activities, hostage takings, child abductions and other

Additional Resource: Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Critical Incident Response Group Tactical Section Procurements (59 downloads )

Read More!