The Political Effects of Affirmative Action: Evidence from Court Mandates to Law Enforcement Agencies

The sphere of public procurement and the disbursement of budget funds in all countries is an environment that attracts not only respectable entrepreneurs who want to make guaranteed money, but also various “criminal white-collar elements.” According to various estimates, the volume of financing for public procurement in the Russian Federation occupies up to one third of the total GDP. A large number of labor and financial resources are involved in this area, while regularly changing legislation in this area, as well as the complexity of procurement procedures for different categories of goods, works, and services create favorable conditions and allow unscrupulous bidders, as well as corrupt customer representatives, to obtain unjustified profits and illegal remuneration. In the current situation, the introduction of new control measures becomes vital to ensure fair competition and efficient use of budget funds. That is why additional research and measures aimed at eliminating these problems and the preconditions for their occurrence are an integral part of ensuring the effectiveness of the public procurement system and protecting public interests.Purpose of the research is to study the genesis of cartel agreements in public procurement and their impact on the implementation of national projects in the Russian Federation, as well as the impact of cartel agreements on the presence of healthy competition and the efficiency of spending budget funds. As part of the paper, the state of crime in this area was examined; the signs of cartel agreements, methods for identifying cartels, as well as signs of collusion between the customer and the participant in public procurement were identified.Methods and materials. The author in his paper applies a comprehensive methodological approach, including analysis of statistical data, methods of the general theory of statistics, as well as methods of synthesis and analysis. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the current legal regulation in the field of public procurement. Graphical and tabular methods were used to visualize statistical data. The study is based on data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, the Federal Treasury of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court.Results of the study. The paper made a quantitative assessment of the scope of public procurement in recent years, and assessed the work carried out by law enforcement officials and the antimonopoly service. Typical violations of antimonopoly legislation during public procurement are given and methods for identifying them are proposed. The illegal schemes used by cartel participants in electronic trading are analyzed, as well as problematic issues and ways to resolve them that arise in practice. The paper proposes various approaches to increasing the efficiency of law enforcement and control agencies. An analysis of law enforcement practice revealed problems associated with proving crimes in this area, and noted an insufficient level of interaction between law enforcement agencies and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation.Conclusion. In the study, the author analyzed the main features of cartels, proposed methods for identifying them, as well as ways to improve the verification activities carried out. The presented measures do not exhaust the topic of the study, and to effectively combat cartels, a systematic approach is recommended, including not only improving the quality of work of law enforcement and control agencies, but also improving the software and hardware used in carrying out inspections. Cartels in public procurement are a relatively new phenomenon for Russia; statistical data obtained from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicate that law enforcement and control authorities are just beginning their work to counter the criminal behavior of participants in cartel agreements. Only the fruitful joint work of law enforcement and control agencies will ensure the economic security of the state and protect the national interests of the Russian Federation.

Cybercrime is generally understood as behaviors that involve the use of virtual environments and/or networked computer systems to generate harm. This broad definition of cybercrime captures a variety of different online behaviors, including interpersonal violence offenses such as cyberbullying and online harassment, as well as those involving the unauthorized use and access of computer systems such as malware dissemination, ransomware, and distributed denial of service attacks. Cybercrimes are policed by both law enforcement (e.g., local, state or provincial, federal) and extralegal agencies. Local law enforcement agencies are composed of police officers, who are generally tasked with maintaining public order within a specific municipality or county, including investigating crimes, apprehending offenders, and implementing crime prevention mechanisms (e.g., educating the public on available resources; proactive neighborhood patrol) within their local jurisdiction. State and provincial law enforcement agencies are larger police forces that are generally responsible for conduct that occurs within their wider state and provincial borders, including conducting highway traffic control and providing forensic services to smaller local agencies residing within their state or province. State and provincial agencies often become involved only when local forces are limited in their resources to adequately respond to an incident or when local jurisdictional conflicts exist. Federal agencies operate at the highest level of law enforcement, because they deal with crimes that involve homeland security. In fact, federal agencies can obtain cooperation among several national jurisdictions depending on existing political ties and extradition agreements. Several extralegal agencies (e.g., Internet Crime Complaint Center; Computer Emergency Response Teams) are also active in responding to cybercrime incidents. These agencies, which may develop from either public or private sectors, generally perform acts that support law enforcement, including facilitating communication and information sharing between victims and law enforcement agencies. Despite efforts to sanction online offenses, research suggests that cybercrimes present several challenges for law enforcement agencies across all levels of government. First, cybercrime offenders often anonymize their attacks and offline identities, making arrests and criminal prosecutions extremely challenging. Second, even if offenders and their actions are identified, agencies are limited by their geographic location and jurisdiction. Third, the technical nature of cybercrime means that victims may not be aware of their victimization until months after the attack, which may affect the identification of digital evidence necessary to prosecute an offender. Fourth, law enforcement officers may not possess the knowledge and expertise needed to secure and investigate a digital crime scene adequately. One approach that could improve how cybercrimes are enforced and regulated is the paradigm of evidence-based policing (EBP). EBP is a collective effort involving law enforcement agencies, academic researchers, and industry personnel/practitioners, whose central focus is to develop a robust evidence base that can identify current and emerging problems in policing, examine possible solutions to these problems using rigorous scientific methods, and monitor these solutions over extended periods of time to ensure successful outcomes are maintained. Knowing which operational practices work best in different situations will not only lead to a more intentional use of officers’ time and agency resources but also strengthen public perceptions of law enforcement in responding to cybercrime calls for service.

The article deals with the search for ways to combine the efforts of customs and law enforcement agencies in the fight against illegal attempts to move goods, objects or substances across the customs border of a country. The concept and basic principles of law enforcement activities are studied, as well as the criteria for inclusion in such a system. By analyzing the powers of a number ofstate bodies, the author has compiled a list of law enforcement agencies involved in the fight against smuggling. It is emphasized that customs authorities today can be fully attributed to law enforcement agencies. Approaches to understanding the interaction of law enforcement agencies, its principles and directions of implementation are considered in detail. The author critically assesses the absence of a legal act regulating the procedure for interaction of bodies in in the fight against crime. While there is definitely a need for this, although the issues of interaction are locally outlined in special laws on individual state (law enforcement) agencies. It is recognized that modern regulation of issues of interaction between law enforcement agencies, and their list should be updated in the light of the reforms of such bodies, and must necessarily include customs authorities. It is emphasized that the problem of duplication of tasks and functions, chasing indicators and creating the illusion of an active fight against crime, has been relevant for more than two decades. Despite changes in legislation, liquidation or reorganization of previous bodies and the creation of new ones, renewal of personnel and units, the lack of clear delineation of powers of law enforcement agencies, and sometimes of law enforcement agencies, and sometimes dual competence or departmental ambitions, lead to a distortion of the actual picture of the organization of countering smuggling. The author outlines certain risks of interference with the organization and implementation of customs control that arise from a destructive perception of interaction. The institutional capacity of customs authorities as a lever is considered for improving the mechanism of interaction between the State Customs Service and law enforcement agencies. The author substantiates the expediency of including operational units to the list of subjects of operational and investigative activities. The author additionally argues that the prospect of granting customs authorities to conduct pre-trial investigations, and it is proposed to to delimit the powers of the authorities conducting it, for which purpose to determine the jurisdiction of the crime of “Smuggling of goods” for the bodies of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.

Összefoglalás. A tanulmány célja a mesterséges intelligencia (MI) belügyi és biztonsági célú alkalmazásának bemutatása, különös figyelemmel az arcfelismerő rendszerek és egyéb MI alapú megoldások rendvédelmi, nemzetbiztonsági, valamint önkormányzati és vízgazdálkodási területen való alkalmazásának lehetőségeire, adatvédelmi és kibervédelmi szempontjaira. A tanulmány ennek kapcsán mind az irányadó magyar és európai uniós előírásokat és célkitűzéseket, mind az MI-re irányadó hatósági gyakorlatot számba veszi és ismerteti, valamint ezek tanulságait összefoglalja és kiértékeli az egyes MI alapú megoldások sajátosságainak figyelembevételével. Summary. The purpose of the study is to take a closer look on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) concerning internal affairs and for security purposes, with a key focus on facial recognition systems and other solutions used by law enforcement and national security agencies to answer new challenges posed by cybercrime and criminal networks spreading through the cyberspace. In the light of the above, the study further takes into account the risks associated with the usage of AI solutions concerning internal affairs and for security purposes and tries to find possible measures to minimize them. Bearing this in mind, the study highlights the key relevant Hungarian and European Union requirements and goals, including the approach of the European Union concerning biometric identification and the Hungarian AI Strategy’s vision on the usage of AI based solutions for administrative, law enforcement, defense and military national security purposes. The study further analyzes the practical aspects of the usage of AI solutions by law enforcement agencies and the key aspects of facial recognition systems and other similar solutions. This includes the territory affected by the system, the period of monitoring, the human revision of the results presented by the algorithms, as well as data security minimum requirements and the rights of data subjects affected by AI solutions (e.g. sufficient information provided on the processing of their data in accordance with the national and public interests related to the usage of AI solutions). In addition to the above, the study further discusses the use of AI solutions by national security agencies, including the aspects of monitoring dark web activities conducted by criminal and terrorist organizations and ways for national agencies to intercept messages and gather evidence by new solutions in line with data protection and constitutional requirements. Finally, the study helps us understand, how AI based solutions can be used for facilitating everyday work of local governments (with a key focus on chatbot services and self-service opportunities) and for solving water management related tasks more efficiently, thus creating a more modern administration, where citizens can easily interact with administrative bodies and technical or simpler tasks are undertaken by algorithms. All in all, the study outlines how AI is currently used concerning internal affairs and for security purposes and how it can be used to help law enforcement and national security agencies fight new forms of crime empowered by technology or to further modernize local governments and water management systems and apply AI based solutions in accordance with data protection requirements and procedural laws.

A global trend in recent years is the so-called digitalization of crime, that is, the use of information technology as a means and instrument of crime. Remote methods of committing crimes have become widespread, in which direct contact is excluded not only between the offender and the victim, but also between the accomplices of illegal activities. The real damage from cybercrimes is currently difficult to calculate, while the number of these crimes is growing rapidly from year to year. This study analyzes the state and dynamics of crimes in the field of information technology, as well as identifies gaps in legislation, law enforcement practice and accounting in which information about crimes of this type is accumulated. Purpose of the research. The purpose of the research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the state and dynamics of crimes in the field of information technology. Within the framework of the article, it is necessary to give a definition of crimes in the field of information technology for the purpose of conducting static analysis, while distinguishing between identical concepts. Highlight the main types and methods of their commission, form the classification of crimes in the field of information technology and designate the criteria for their construction. Analyze the experience of foreign countries and the results of the operational activities of the economic security and anti-corruption units of the territorial internal affairs bodies and suggest measures to improve the efficiency of the work being done.Materials and methods. When writing the work, the author used the methods of mathematical statistics; methods of the general theory of statistics, namely, relative, absolute and average values, methods of synthesis and analysis. For visual display of statistical data, graphical and tabular methods of data visualization were used. The information and empirical base was compiled by data on crimes in this area of the Main Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation.Results of the research. When writing the article, a quantitative assessment of the state of crime in the field of information technology was made, the main objects of attack by cybercriminals were identified; the most characteristic features and methods of committing crimes in the field of information technology were described. A statistical classification system for assessing the level of cybercrime is proposed. The effectiveness of the work carried out by law enforcement agencies to counter these criminal manifestations has been analyzed. Various ways of increasing the efficiency of the work of law enforcement agencies are proposed. When analyzing the law enforcement practice, a number of problems were identified related to the proof of crimes of this orientation, namely, insufficient interaction between law enforcement agencies, on the one hand, and financial institutions, telecommunication service providers, on the other hand.Conclusion. The author proposes ways to improve the quality of the verification measures to identify persons involved in the commission of crimes in the field of information technology, as well as to assess the effectiveness of economic security and anti-corruption units of territorial internal affairs bodies in identifying this category of crimes. These measures are not exhaustive; in order to increase the effectiveness of countering cybercriminals, it is necessary to apply a systematic approach aimed not only at improving the quality of the work of law enforcement and investigative agencies, improving the software system and material and technical equipment, but also improving information support of the banking sector, increasing bank response measures, and most importantly, the literacy of the population.

The article focuses on the absence of a proper normative definition of the term « law enforcement agencies » in Ukraine. The legal analysis of the definitions concept was conducted that are enshrined in legislation and developed by domestic scientists. There was noted that mostly domestic scientists in defining the concept of ‘law enforcement agencies’ primarily focus on the authorities that form the system of law enforcement agencies as well as on the functions they perform. There was stated that in order to clear understanding of the essence concept of « law enforcement agencies » it is necessary to distinguish correctly it from such relevant concepts as « law enforcement system » , « law enforcement » , « state law enforcement service » , « law enforcement » , « criminal justice » , etc. There was admitted that the concepts of « law enforcement agencies » and « law enforcement agencies » are related as generic and species. It was grounded that the idea of referring the court to the law enforcement system contradicts the content and priority of the judiciary – the administration of justice. In the context of the study the essence of the concept of « law enforcement agencies » revealed the content and functions of these authorities . Two definitions were proposed: « law enforcement » and « law enforcement system » . Law enforcement agencies are public authorities by functional criteria were aimed at the professional implementation of law enforcement activities to ensure the rule of law and order, protection of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals, rights and legitimate interests of legal entities, the interests of society and the state from unlawful encroachments. It was noted that in Ukraine law enforcement agencies often undergo certain changes related to their tasks, functions, organizational structure, powers, etc. Therefore, we do not consider it appropriate to disclose the meaning of the definition of « law enforcement system » by listing the subjects of law enforcement. « Law enforcement system » is a holistic, hierarchical, structured set of interconnected and interacting law enforcement agencies, by functional criteria aimed at the professional implementation of law enforcement in order to ensure the rule of law and order, protection of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals, rights and legitimate interests of legal entities, the interests of society and the state from unlawful encroachments.

Policing through subsidized firepower: An assessment of rational choice and minority threat explanations of police participation in the 1033 program*

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the legal regulation of law enforcement and national security applications within the framework of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, the AI Act. The study seeks to determine what changes the AI Act will bring to the legal environment of covert investigations and how it should be applied to law enforcement and national security agencies. Methodology: The research employs legal analysis, comparative legal study, and literature review. The study compares the definitions of the AI Act and the OECD, as well as national legislation, to provide a comprehensive view of the legal definition and application of AI systems in the fields of law enforcement and national security. Findings: The AI Act adopts a technology-neutral approach to the definition of artificial intelligence systems to keep pace with rapid technological and market developments. The study finds that the legal definitions of autonomy, adaptability, and inference capability will pose significant challenges for legal practitioners. Additionally, it establishes clear rules for law enforcement agencies, while the AI Act is not applicable to national security applications. The study highlights the role of the National Security Service (NBSZ) as a central technology provider for both law enforcement and national security agencies. The NBSZ must ensure that its services comply with the requirements of the AI Act when providing them for law enforcement purposes. Value: The article contributes to the understanding of the legal regulation of artificial intelligence systems, particularly concerning their application in law enforcement and national security. The study clarifies that different regulatory frameworks apply to the legal compliance of AI technology in law enforcement and national security contexts. It emphasizes the role of the NBSZ, which is crucial in ensuring technological and legal compliance in the application of AI systems for law enforcement purposes.

Various biological agents such as bacteria, parasites, viruses and toxins may be deliberately released and spread through feed, food, water and air to cause harm and panic (Rotz et al., 2004). These biological agents can infect humans and animals but also crops (Gullino, 2008). Bioterrorism is probably the most inter-sectoral and international challenges among Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats. To improve the interactions between these sectors there are some key issues involving R&D, training, event exercises, early warning and effective communication strategies that need to be addressed to rapidly share event information related to detection and identification. In this perspective, diagnostic capabilities are critical components to enhance the preparedness against bioterrorism (Morse, 2004). Covert and overt incidents will lead to various alarm chains. In a covert incident, which is characterized by an unannounced release, the early response and detection will be driven by public health organizations. However, an overt incident is characterized by the fact that the perpetrator announces responsibility and the response will therefore be driven by law enforcement. A diagnostic response strategy must be able to address both types of incidents. This requires a multidisciplinary network composed of diagnostic capabilities both in law enforcement agencies and public health organizations such as environmental, agricultural, veterinary, and food. As a result, laboratory response networks have been developed in different countries. The US Laboratory Response Network (LRN) was established in 1999. Its formation was based on a presidential order (Decision Directive 39) in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) was involved (Morse, 2003). The objective of the US LRN is to ensure an effective laboratory response to bioterrorism by improving the law enforcement and public health laboratory infrastructure. The US LRN links local, state and national public health laboratories, as well as agriculture, veterinary, military, waterand food testing laboratories. In addition, the LRN links also to international laboratories in Canada, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany. Several other countries have developed similar laboratory networks such as Canada (CRTI, 2007), Australia (Editorial, 2004) and South Korea (Hwang, 2008). A Swedish LRN was established in 2009 with the aim of facilitating collaboration between law enforcement, first responders and public health agencies. The Swedish Forum for Biopreparedness Diagnostics (FBD) was established in 2007. FBD is a national laboratory multiagency cooperation, consisting of partners from the National Food Administration (SLV), the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) and the Swedish Institute

: This paper reports on results of research focused on the problems associated with integrating drug intelligence. It is based on site visits to existing U.S. drug intelligence fusion centers, review of pertinent literature, and personal interviews with supply-side drug enforcement planners and operators in Congress, ONDCP, DOD, USCG, and national law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It cites the significant role of intelligence in the counter-narcotic effort and identifies obstacles to efficient and effective employment. Major areas addressed include: Developing drug related intelligence; Improving law enforcement agency intelligence; Reorienting national priorities; Integrating law enforcement intelligence with foreign intelligence; and, Sharing drug intelligence with foreign law enforcement agencies. Keywords: Narcotics, Military intelligence, Drug interdiction, Intelligence, Law enforcement, Drug smuggling.

Joining forces: Combining police and external expertise for cold case reviews

The article carries out a comprehensive study of the prevention of environmental criminal offenses by prosecutors using budget funds. The essence of the social and legal status of the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine in the state mechanism for the prevention of environmental criminal offenses using budget funds is determined and clarified, the formation of the Prosecutor's Office as a crime prevention subject is investigated. It is proven that the Prosecutor's Office is an integral part of the system of law enforcement agencies and has a fairly wide range of functions, which involves the implementation of activities to protect the rights and interests of the state and citizens by presenting a public indictment in court, as well as monitoring compliance with legislation and the implementation of court decisions at various stages of criminal proceedings or during the execution of punishment in relevant institutions. All of the above requires additional interaction with the authorized bodies on probation, institutions for the execution of punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The main forms of work of the prosecutor's office on the prevention of criminal offenses in the environmental sphere using budget funds are identified, namely: holding coordination meetings with heads of law enforcement agencies on counteraction and prevention of criminal offenses; holding special meetings of heads of law enforcement and other state agencies on the prevention of criminal offenses in the environmental sphere using budget funds; creating interdepartmental working groups; exchanging analytical information; conducting joint analytical studies; monitoring the implementation of joint agreed measures on the prevention of criminal offenses in the environmental sphere using budget funds. It is noted that the prevention of criminal offenses in the environmental sphere using budget funds covers all criminological measures (general social, special criminological, regional and individual preventive) aimed by law enforcement agencies at activities to identify, investigate and prosecute persons who commit environmental criminal offenses. The definition of prevention of criminal offenses in the environmental sphere using budget funds is formulated. Key words: Prosecutor's Office, prevention, criminal offense, budget funds, environment, law enforcement agencies, legislation, interaction, coordination, legislative process.

The tasks of law enforcement agencies include maintaining law and order, protecting citizens, preventing, detecting and investigating crimes. One of the most important aspects of successful police work is the ability of the police to obtain timely, reliable and effective intelligence information related to the investigation of an offense. OSINT can provide law enforcement and security agencies with a critical opportunity to supplement and enhance their intelligence capabilities, as the ability to quickly collect and accurately process and analyze open source data can be a significant aid to investigations, as well as used for strategic planning of crime fighting at the national level. OSINT, in addition to criminal proceedings, provides an invaluable way to access and collect information from open sources, location data, and combines it with real-time analytical capabilities. Thus, targeted and legitimate monitoring, analysis and visualization of open source data should be considered a mandatory requirement of any national security strategy. In the context of using OSINT, increasing its potential and effectiveness, it is important to study foreign experience, in particular, the developed UK strategy - CONTEST, which is the basis for measures to prevent terrorism, prosecute terrorists and protect against terrorism in general. The results and achievements of effective and innovative solutions by security and law enforcement agencies are also considered in the context of cooperation with private and public partners, including academia. Using the successful experience of the CENTRIC OSINT Hub, it is noted that academia and law enforcement agencies can cooperate in the field of OSINT in order to translate research into reality for the safety of citizens.

Over the past two decades an increasing number of researchers have applied social network analysis (SNA) to various ‘dark’ networks. This research suggests that SNA is capable of revealing significant insights into the dynamics of dark networks, particularly the identification of critical nodes, which can then be targeted by law enforcement and security agencies for disruption. However, there has so far been very little research into whether and how law enforcement agencies can actually leverage SNA in an operational environment and in particular the challenges agencies face when attempting to apply various network analysis techniques to criminal networks. This paper goes some way towards addressing these issues by drawing on qualitative interviews with criminal intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies. The primary contribution of this paper is to call attention to the organisational characteristics of law enforcement agencies which, we argue, can influence the capacity of criminal intelligence analysts to successfully apply SNA as much as the often citied ‘characteristics of criminal networks’.

This study examines July uprising 2024 is a significant event in Bangladesh’s democratic journey which ultimately led to the downfall of the 16-year-long Awami League regime. A contentious debate continues regarding the rightful ownership of the movement and the extent of various contributions. Central to this discourse is the identification of the key actors involved and an analysis of the factors or incidents that drove these individuals and groups to assume distinct roles within the uprising. This study explores the factors, actors and correlation among the actors involved in the July Uprising of 2024 in Bangladesh using a mixed-method, including literature reviews and convenience surveys (n=87). Utilizing stakeholder theory, it identifies 11 key actors i.e., Awami League Government, Anti-discrimination Students Movement (student protestors), Student League (student wing of Awami League), Youtuber/Blogger, General Public, Media, International Community or NGOs, Opposition Political Parties (BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, etc.), Law and security enforcement agencies (RAB, Police, BGB, Bangladesh Army, etc.), Supreme Court and University Authorities. While the Anti-discrimination Students Movement and General Public have high power and interest, the Awami League Government and University Authorities show low interest despite significant power. Correlation analysis indicates a positive correlation between General Public and Student Protestors’ interest (r=0.44), a moderate correlation between Media and Awami League Governments’ power (r=0.25) and a negative correlation between Law Enforcement Agencies’ and Student Protestors’ power (r=-0.25). The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for inclusive governance and meaningful dialogue by the political parties to address systemic grievances and uphold democratic values.