Offense Categories Research Articles

Did de‐policing cause the increase in homicide rates?

Research SummaryWidespread protests and demands for accountability in the wake of broadly publicized police killings of unarmed civilians coincided with the marked upturn in homicide levels, especially in large U.S. cities, in 2015. Many observers, including prominent political figures, claimed that de‐policing caused the homicide rate to rise: Fearing increased legal liability and publicity, the police employed less proactive enforcement and made fewer arrests, producing an increase in homicide levels. We use structural equation modeling to estimate the simultaneous relationship between arrest and homicide rates between 2010 and 2015 in 53 large cities. We find no evidence of an effect of arrest rates on city homicide rates for any offense category for any year in this period, including 2015, the year of the spike in homicide levels.Policy ImplicationsThe results of our analysis reveal that declining rates of arrest did not produce the rise in homicide levels. But arrests, the chief formal reaction to crime, can play an important supporting role in crime prevention. Ample research findings have demonstrated the effectiveness of proactive policing practices, such as targeted patrol, in reducing crime rates. The success of such tactics depends, in turn, on citizens’ belief that criminal offenders face an appreciable risk of arrest. It is equally important, however, that residents of communities that have experienced unwarranted police violence believe that law enforcement is fairly applied. Lack of trust and confidence in the police militates against crime prevention as a co‐production of police and community and may promote violence as a form of self‐help.

THE ISSUE ON DETERMINATION OF TYPOLOGICAL FEATURES OF PEOPLE, COMMITTING CRIMINAL OFFENSES RELATED TO THE FORGERY OF EXCISABLE GOODS, AS AN ELEMENT OF THE CRIMINALISTIC CHARACTERISTICS

In the article «The issue on determination of typological features of people, committing criminal offenses related to the forgery of excisable goods, as an element of the criminalistic characteristics» prepared by doctoral student Ayupova Z.N.; Professor of the Department of Special Legal Disciplines, Doctor of juridical Science Begaliev E.N; Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, candidate of juridical Sciences, Professor UspanovZh.T. The main purpose of this article is to identify the most characteristic features of an intruder's personality and to formulate recommendations aimed at improving the process of investigating criminal offenses related to falsification of excise goods. The article deals with the issue of theoretical interpretation of the concept of "criminalistic characterization of crimes" and "typology of personality" as its element. The analysis of the reference paper is given regarding the study of the typology of persons committing criminal offenses; as well as the problems that arise in determining the subject of the crime and the ways to solve them. The types of persons committing criminal offenses connected with forgery of excisable products as exogenous and endogenous types of intruders are investigated; classified by the object of encroachment, the nature of criminal acts, the degree of public danger. The concepts of socially-adoptive, socially-disadaptive type of personality of persons who commit this category of a criminal offense are disclosed. The structure of the personality of the intruder who deals in the falsification of excisable goods has been compiled and examined through socio-demographic, criminally-legal, socially significant physiological features and moral properties. The analysis of methods for establishing a suspect person is given, the main types of malefactors and their functions are identified in the production of a surrogate excise product. Recommendations for persons conducting investigations into criminal cases related to forgery of excise goods are developed.

On the potential for using selected PCA-based methods to analyze the crime rate in Poland

The aim of the paper is to assess the potential for using some selected PCA-based methods to analyze the spatial diversity of crime in Poland during 2000-2017. Classical principal components analysis (PCA) deals with two-way matrices, usually taking into account objects and variables. In the case of data analyzed in the study, apart from two dimensions (objects – voivodships, variables – criminal offences), there is also the dimension of time, so the dataset can be seen as data cube: objects × variables × time. Therefore, this type of data requires the use of methods handling three-way data structures. In the paper the variability of some selected categories of criminal offences in time (2000–2017) and space (according to voivodships) is analyzed using the between-class and the within-class principal component analysis. The advantage of these methods is, among others, the possibility of the graphical presentation of the results in two-dimensional space with the use of factorial maps.

THE SCIENCE OF JUDICIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Judicial psychology is the science that analyzes and tries to understand the criminal phenomenon in general and its determinant factor in particular, by the complexity of factors that generate it and by the diversity of its forms of manifestation. Although the determining factor of criminal behavior is always subjective being generated by the psychic of the offender, this aspect must be correlated with the context in which it manifests itself: social, economic, cultural context etc. Judicial psychology investigates the behavior of the individual in all its aspects, seeking a scientific explanation of the mechanisms and factors enhancing criminal favors, thus enabling the identification of the preventive measures to be taken to reduce the categories of offenses. It studies the psycho-behavioral profile of the offender, identifying the causes that determined its behavior in order to take preventive measures.The domain of judicial psychology is mainly deviance, conduct that departs from the moral or legal norms that are dominant in a given culture. The object of judicial psychology is the criminal act, correlated with the psychosocial characteristics of the participants in the judicial action (offender, victim, witness, investigator, magistrate, lawyer, civil party, educator, etc.). The science of judicial psychology also analyzes how these characteristics appear and manifest themselves in concrete and special conditions of their interaction in three phases of the criminal act: the pre-criminal phase, the actual criminal phase and the post-criminal phase.

America’s most wanted criminals: comparing cybercriminals and traditional criminals

ABSTRACTReports of cybercrime have escalated over the past decade. While these crimes have increased, our understanding about the dynamics surrounding cyber offenders has not kept pace. Few studies have considered the characteristics of serious cyber criminals in comparison to other types of criminals. To fill this void in the literature, we examine a sample of cybercriminals appearing on the FBIs Most Wanted List and compare the characteristics of these offenders to other most wanted offenders. Results suggest that the most wanted cyber offenders are similar to other offenders in that it is a male-dominated offense category, but they are different from other offenders in that they are younger and more likely to exhibit certain types of physical and lifestyle characteristics. Implications for policy and future research are provided.

Effectiveness Through Crime Investigation Complaint Case Holds In Central Java Police Jurisdiction

Problems of criminal law, especially the problem of crime, abuse and all kinds of acts that fall into the category of offense is now becoming one of the crucial problems and quite tricky to overcome. In line with the task of institution Indonesian National Police (INP) in an effort to maintain security and order and enforcement of justice citizens, then the effectiveness of the investigation and the disclosure of a criminal offense it is important to be maximized. The aim is to give meaning to the rule of law in Indonesia that provides fairness, expediency and legal certainty.Keywords: Criminal Law; Police; Effectiveness; Law Enforcement

Motives, Offending Behavior, and Gender Differences in Murder Perpetrators With or Without Psychosis.

Little is known whether differences exist in motivation and reactive/instrumental offense behaviors between murder offenders with and without psychotic disorder. To contribute to better prevention strategies, the aim of this study was to investigate offense characteristics in murder offenders with a psychotic, nonpsychotic or no psychiatric diagnosis, and whether these factors differ according to sex. This data study examined the population of murder offenders between 1997 and 2005 (N = 435) in Victoria, Australia. Apparent motive for murder was allocated to one of six classifications. Assignations of reactive versus instrumental offense categories, co-offending, victim-offender relationship were determined by review of case material. Mental health service usage and prevalence of mental illnesses were identified through data with the statewide register of contacts with the public mental health system. Of the 435 offenders, 43 (9.9%) had been diagnosed with a psychotic illness. Gender differences between and within offenders with and without a psychotic disorder were analyzed. Murder offenders with a psychotic disorder were 3.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.27, 8.03]) times more likely to be motivated by revenge than nonpsychotic offenders and those with no diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] = 2.46, 95% CI = [1.10, 5.53]). The diagnostic groups did not differ on premeditation of their offenses or prior convictions. Perpetrators with psychotic illness were significantly more likely to kill family members and others known to them. It appears that for the psychotic disorder group, the perception of having been wronged in some way is a potential risk marker for planning and committing a serious offense. Care should be taken to improve adherence and access to care to avoid possible future serious violence especially in female patients with a high burden of mental illness like schizophrenia or severe mood disorders.

County-Level Environmental Crime Enforcement: A Case Study of Environmental/Green Crimes in Fulton County, Georgia, 1998–2014

ABSTRACTMuch of what is known about the responses to and the sentencing of environmental or green offenders comes from a limited number of studies that primarily draw on federal data maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Little, however, is known about how states respond to environmental/green offenses and offenders and even less in known about how counties treat environmental offenders. The present study uses data from Fulton County, Georgia, from 1998 to 2014 to explore the kinds of crimes and responses to those crimes at the county level. This study examines the distribution of environmental crimes in Fulton County across 14 enforced offense categories and the changes in the enforcement of environmental crimes in Fulton County over time. Analyses also explore the kinds of punishments environmental offenders receive in Fulton County, the prevalence of recidivism among offenders, and the kinds of environmental offenses state agencies in Fulton County commit. Because the results from Fulton County may not be representative of how other counties in Georgia or the US respond to environmental offending, additional studies are needed to further assess this issue because there are many local environmental crimes. As studies are absent at this level of analysis, a great deal of information about green crimes and their enforcement is missing from the literature.

Developing a Crime Harm Index for Western Australia: the WACHI

Research QuestionCan a reliable measure of precise harm levels for the 100 most harmful and frequently occurring offences be developed in Western Australia (WA) based on analysis of actual court penalties for first-time offenders?DataCriminal and traffic court sentences in 2.2 million records over 6.5 years were analysed to extract the number of days of imprisonment actually imposed in sentencing decisions for approximately 52,000 first-time offenders (see House 2017).MethodsSentences for all first offenders in a sample of the 102 most common offence categories were analysed to compute for the median number of days of imprisonment to which each first offender was sentenced in each of the categories. Monetary penalties and conditional community sentences were converted to equivalent ‘prison days’ and added to the computation of the median of days of imprisonment per offence category. The number of reported offences in WA in the study period for each of the 102 categories was then multiplied by the median prison days sentenced per category. The sum of the products of median prison days times offence count was then tallied across all offence categories to form a weighted index of crime harm, which we define as the Western Australian Crime Harm Index (WACHI). Applying a minimum requirement of at least five separate court cases for each crime category, a total of 88 offence categories survived the reliability threshold for inclusion in the index.FindingsThe 88 offence categories in the WACHI contain both high-harm and high-volume offences, permitting 95% of all offences reported for over 5 years to be assessed for WACHI scores. The counts for these offences moved in different directions from the WACHI total in two of the four year-to-year comparisons. Changes in WACHI were shown to have been highly sensitive to increased reporting of historical sex crimes, isolated in one district each of both Metropolitan Perth and one Regional centre.ConclusionsCarefully implemented use of the West Australian CHI could improve both public safety and policing by adding precision to resource allocation decisions, assessments of priorities and evaluations of policing initiatives. The WACHI would be even more reflective of the changing level of harm to victims if all crime trends were to be based on crimes that occurred in the year under analysis, with separate reporting of crimes that happened many years ago. With that key adjustment, police professionals, department of justice officials, citizens and local governments can use a WACHI to make better decisions about how to prioritise policing in a wide range of contexts.

Spatiotemporal patterns and distributions of harm within street segments

PurposeVirtually all analyses of hotspots have been devoted to a crude counting system, i.e. tallying the number of occurrences that take place in pre-specified units of space and time. Recent research shows that while usually half of all criminal events are concentrated in about 3 percent of places commonly referred to as “hotspots” of crime, similar proportions of harm concentrate in only 1 percent of places. These are “harmspots.” Identifying that harm is a more concentrated issue suggests wide policy and research implications, but what are the dynamics of these harmspots? The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a descriptive framework for measuring, as well as evidence about, these patterns and concentrations, harmspots in Sussex, England.FindingsThere are four discrete offense categories that account for 80 percent of all the harm within harmspots. These categories include: sexual offenses, violence against the person, robbery and theft. Within these high harmspots, crime counts and harm are strongly correlated (r=0.82, p=0.001). Temporal analyses show that harmspots are not evenly spread across time and place, with night time and weekends becoming substantially more susceptible to harm – more than count-based models. Harmspot trajectory analysis suggests evidence of stability over time within the high harmspots; most harmspots remain chronically inflicted with harm. Violence and sexual offenses are random in their spatial distribution between the harmspots, but robberies and theft are more closely coupled to particular harmspots than others.Originality/valueImplications of these findings are discussed in terms of future research avenues and crime policy.

Narratives of illness and offending: mentally disordered offenders' views on their offending.

Narratives have been used in both the sociology of health and illness and in criminology to examine how groups of people present themselves in moral terms. This article focuses on the narratives of offenders with mental health problems in England subject to section 37/41 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to examine how they justified offending prior to admission. Participants presented illness in a variety of different ways indicating a range of moral positions towards offending. In line with previous research a first group used mental illness to excuse offending and saw themselves as achieving moral reform through treatment. A second group also used illness to excuse offending, but did so inconsistently, seeking to mitigate responsibility whilst distancing themselves from treatment obligations. A third group portrayed themselves as dishonourable both due to their category of offence and the type of illness experienced. A final group rejected both labels of illness and offending, seeking to portray themselves as consistently moral.

Decriminalization and the U.N. Human Rights Bodies

Concern about the penal turn in criminal law has sparked a proliferation of scholarship examining criminalization and decriminalization. In the human rights arena, most scholarship has concerned itself with specific categories of criminal offences and whether they are appropriately criminalized, what the consequences of this criminalization are, and the arguments for curtailing criminal regulation. This research tends to be issue specific and is relatively siloed. The current literature is missing analysis on the general interplay of criminalization or decriminalization and human rights law and systems. International and transnational human rights bodies are a significant source of new criminal norms, as national legislatures often pass or repeal laws to fulfill their State’s international obligations. This paper examines the developing jurisprudence on decriminalization at the U.N. human rights bodies, which collectively provide guidance for the development of international human rights norms. It aims to elucidate current patterns and practice in interpreting and applying international human rights norms to the issue of decriminalization writ large, to offer a systematic account of the subject. Further understanding of the scope and content of jurisprudence that supports decriminalization may help inform efforts to reconsider the inappropriate criminalization of a wide array of conduct.

THE FEATURES OF GERMAN ADMINISTRATIVE AND TORT LAW

The article analyzes the administrative and tort legislation of Germany for possible use German experience in reform-the formation of administrative-tort and criminal legislation of Russia and the possibility of transferring part of administrative violations in the category of criminal offences.

The Institute of Administrative Responsibility as a Means of Protecting the Right to Compensation for the Works Made for Hire

The article is devoted to scrutinizing the concept of responsibility as the means of protecting the right to remuneration for the work made for hire. The article analyzes the legal basis of administrative responsibility for copyright offenses and infringements of the right to remuneration as one of the categories of copyright offense. Based on the results of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that infringement of the right to remuneration for the work made for hire should be separated and should form an independent legislative rule regulating administrative responsibility. In addition, the Federal Labor Inspectorate should be authorized and assigned powers to consider copyright offenses. It is also advisable to vest the Inspectorate with the power to secure respect for the right to remuneration as one of the directions of control and supervision activities.

Cybercrime locus as defined now and in amendments suggested

The article deals with the issue of how to determine the place where cybercrimes are committed. This is a problematic issue, as the Criminal Code, Art. 6(2), regulating the place of committing a prohibited act, does not fully cover all the possible locations of this category of offences. The article proposes amendments to the provisions that aim to extend the definition of a prohibited act so as to include also those locations in which there is an IT system (including the Internet) used to commit an offense or one which the perpetrator has affected, committing the act.

The Category of “Offense” in Legal Positivism

The article is devoted to the analysis of the category of offense in the context of legal positivism on the example of the works written by an outstanding Russian lawyer of the early 20th century Gabriel F. Shershenevich. The paper is devoted to the analysis of his views concerning law. Gabriel Shershenevich's understanding of law was not limited to the order of the state power, because the need for observance of laws is laid in the person subconsciously. In the researcher's opinion, non-observance of the rule of law is inherent in itself. The paper analyzes such signs of an offense as an act that can be expressed in forms of commissions and assumptions, its strong-willed character, wrongfulness, guilt, harm and punishability. Also, the author highlights the circumstances that exclude criminality of the act, namely, necessary defense and extreme necessity, as well as explains their differences.

Same Crime: Different Punishment? Investigating Sentencing Disparities Between Irish and Non-irish Nationals in the Irish Criminal Justice System

Irelandâ?Ts economic growth from the late 1990s prompted sustained and diverse inward migration, resulting in substantial changes in the population and reshaping the social and cultural landscape. These shifts have also been visible among those processed by the criminal justice system, with a marked increase in the number of non-Irish nationals committed to Irish prisons. International research suggests that racism is a significant issue within criminal justice systems, with ethnic minority groups often disadvantaged. Despite these findings and the growth in non-Irish national prisoners, little research has assessed the impact of racial bias on Irish sentencing outcomes. This exploratory study examines whether disparities exist between the sentencing of Irish and non-Irish defendants, using data from the Irish Prison Service. Non-Irish nationals were statistically significantly under-represented in the offence categories, â?~attempted robberyâ?T, â?~vehicle theftâ?T, â?~criminal damageâ?T, â?~robberyâ?T, â?~parking fine offencesâ?T, â?~assault causing harmâ?T, â?~intoxication in a public placeâ?T, â?~threatening behaviour in a public placeâ?T, â?~unlawful possession of drugsâ?T and â?~no television licenceâ?T. They were statistically significantly over-represented in the offence categories, â?~driving under the influenceâ?T, â?~no vehicle insuranceâ?T, â?~theftâ?T and â?~possession of drugs for sale/supply (to the value of <â,¬13,000)â?T. The implications of non-Irish national over-representation in the offence, â?~possession of drugs for sale/supply (to the value of <â,¬13,000)â?T will be explored in the discussion.

The belief in redeemability – version 2 (BiR-2) scale and its relation to desistance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between the belief in redeemability – Version 2 (BIR-2) Scale and desistance from crime. It also seeks to explore how patterns of responding on the BIR-2 with offenders compare to previous patterns of responding in the general public. Design/methodology/approach The authors report the results of a study of offenders using the belief in redeemability – Version 2 (BiR-2) scale. In total, 180 offenders under the supervision of the Community Corrections Service (formerly the Probation and Parole Service) of New South Wales completed the ten-item questionnaire and when these data were combined with demographic and reoffending data collected by Corrective Services New South Wales, 168 sets of useable data were collected. Scores on the BIR-2 scale were compared to Level of Service Inventory – Revised (LSI-R) score, Most Serious Offence category, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, number of custodial sentences in previous five years, age, gender and reoffending. Findings Results showed that the sample overall was closely representative of the caseload from which the study sample was drawn (a metropolitan community corrections office) and that BIR-2 scores showed a small, significant, negative correlation with LSI-R scores. Analysis of re-offending data indicated a small, positive, but non-significant correlation with BIR-2. Implications of this are discussed and future research outlined. Practical implications The paper suggests that it is worth attempting to measure belief in redeemability in the broader context of a narrative approach to desistance. Originality/value This is the first time that a scale has been used to test the importance of a belief in redeemability quantitatively and to permit the use of multivariate analysis.

The Phenomenon of Journalism-related Crimes Under the Circumstances of Hybrid War in Ukraine

Abstract The article covers journalism-related crimes as a relatively distinct category of offences. The importance and purpose of isolating the concept of journalistic criminality under conditions of globalization in the modern theory of legal thought, the rapid development of the information society, and the embodied increase of the role of information and knowledge in human life are emphasized. Attention is paid to the factors affecting the dynamics and development of crimes in the area of professional activities of journalists, which primarily includes the environment of hybrid war. The destructive impact of the social consequences of journalistic crimes on society is evident in the case of Ukraine, which has suffered in the past and to this day experiences the latest information manifestations of hybrid war. The proposition to criminalize the intentional spreading of false information in the media by journalists is discussed. The reasons, basis and conditions for such criminalization are analysed. The existence of criminalization grounds for such an offence is substantiated in the article. However, conclusions are drawn on the inappropriateness of such criminalization due to its non-correspondence with certain conditions associated with difficulties in adjudication and with the problem of proving this type of behaviour. Other means of counteracting the deliberate dissemination of false information are considered.

Employment Pathways: How Former Offenders Navigate to Employment

Employment is one of the most critical dimensions of reintegration, and much research documents the barriers formerly incarcerated persons experience in seeking out steady work. However, most offenders are ultimately successful in obtaining some form of employment. Less research discusses how offenders man age these barriers or examines the practice by which offenders navigate employment pathways, and even less examines whether particular offense categories further challenge the process. The current research utilizes qualitative data to examine the methods by which ex-offenders seek out and obtain employment, with an emphasis on the function of self-motivating practices, access to services, and the utilization of social capital. The analysis further differentiates between sex offenders and non-sex offenders in these experiences. Our findings suggest ex-offenders rely on many types of resources in seeking out employment, and that these differ by offense type, but underlying motivation and persistence are key components in their search. Understanding these methods is important, as a comprehensive understanding of successful navigation to employment can inform policy in relation to improved guidance on advising employment searches.