Crime Research Articles

The Implementation Strategy of Flood Control Program Based on Multi Criteria Assessment in Pangkalpinang City, Bangka Belitung Islands Province

Flood event is occurred almost every year in Pangkalpinang City with the most devastating flood event was occurred in 2016 historically. Irrespective of being caused by extreme rainfall and high tides, the flooding occurred due to a decrease in the hydrological condition of the watershed due to illegal tin mining activities in the upstream area. This paper discusses the flood control strategies in Pangkalpinang City which is based on Multi Criteria Assessment (MCA). The MCA considering the technical aspects (i.e. hydraulic model) and non-technical aspects (i.e. risk assessment, economic, social, and environmental aspects) to prioritize the infrastructure conbstruction. Therefore, some areas are already identified as the focal problems that need to be applied by the concept of integrated flood control program. At the moment in 2023, the first construction priority is in PDAM-Jelana Detention Pond Flow Diversion from Pedindang River in the upstream area. For the future plan, it is planned to carry out the flood control construction according to the priority analysis namely Perak Retention Pond, River Training, Rangkui Tidal Gates, Pasir Padi Sea Wall and New-Tin Detention Pond.

Sound classification with time-frequency features in forest environment

The study of forest sound classification has drawn more attention recently due to its potential for illegal activities and natural disaster monitoring. Based on the forest sound classification dataset (FSC22), a dataset specific to possible sound existing in the forest, five classification methods are utilized to investigate the relationship between recognition accuracy and the number of sound acoustic features, as well as the number of target classes. The results confirmed that extreme random forest is the best method for forest sound classification, with an accuracy of around 70% when the target class number is above 20. Further, Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients are the critical feature for sound classification, while fuzzy labels in the dataset may reduce the success rate of recognition.

The Value of Restitution and Diversion in the Law Enforcement of Criminal Sexual Violence Against Children

The process of shifting the criminal justice system's case resolution process for offenses involving minor sexual assault to an outside location is known as diversion. One kind of diversion is returning money to victims of child sexual abuse; nevertheless, diversion and restitution are typically used less frequently in the criminal justice system. For this study, the following question was posed: Does law enforcement adhere to the juvenile criminal justice system when it comes to enforcing diversion and providing compensation for offenses involving sexual abuse of children? The study's technique is juridical-normative and follows the law. The study's findings show that law enforcement officers at all levels still stray from advised procedures even in the face of attempts to implement diversion within the criminal justice system. In order to make diversion mandatory during police investigations, public prosecutors' prosecutions, and judicial panel trials, rules and regulations that offer legal certainty are required.

Personal Social Networks of Women with Justice-Involvement in Substance Use Treatment

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a key common correlate of criminal offending among women, yet few studies have explored their personal network characteristics, limiting our understanding of the social context in which justice-involved women with SUD are embedded. The present study interviewed 375 women with SUD, including 299 (80%) women with a history of justice involvement, from three county-funded, women-only intensive treatment programs in the Midwest United States. No difference was observed in multiple personal social network indicators including composition, relationship quality, support availability, and structure, suggesting that these two populations may be more similar than they are distinct.

The Impact of Human Activities on Wildlife Conservation in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Human population growth in areas bordering protected areas is high and has become a serious threat to the management of wildlife all over Africa. Local communities around the protected areas conduct illegal activities that are destructive to habitats and threaten wildlife. This study explored the impact of the human population on large animals in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The study used quantitative and qualitative research methods, employing both closed and open-ended questionnaires from 125 respondents. The collected data were analysed using IBM and Microsoft Excel tools. The results showed that wildlife and livestock can share and drink water in the same area. Furthermore, the study established that an increase in livestock numbers has no negative effect on wildlife numbers, but an increase in human settlement (93.9%) consumed natural forest products as building materials, creating deforestation, while the use of firewood as a source of power (96.5%) has a great negative impact on wildlife and their habitat because of fragmentation of wildlife habitat within Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Thus, there is a need to manage population growth along the national conserved or protected areas to ensure the long-term existence of designated protected areas.

Family religiosity and climate: the protective role of personal interiorized religiosity in deviance propensity among justice-involved juveniles.

According to the literature, religious commitment could be a protective factor against dangerous behaviors, such as criminal offending, unsafe sex, and substance use. Our study aims to investigate the influence of Family Religiosity and climate on anger dysregulation and deviance propensity in a sample of 214 justice-involved boys from Italian Youth Detention Centers (range 14-25). The sample was divided into religious (n = 102) and non-religious (n = 112) justice-involved juveniles. Participants filled in the following questionnaires: Deviant Behavior Questionnaire, Aggression Questionnaire, Family Communication Scale, Moral Disengagement Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. We used a partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS_SEM) method to build our model and we found that Family Religiosity was positively associated with Family Climate which was negatively associated with Anger Dysregulation and Deviance Propensity, and Anger Dysregulation was positively related to Deviance Propensity. The multigroup analysis confirmed that for justice-involved juveniles who interiorized religious discipline and beliefs, Family Religiosity showed a positive association with Family Climate, which had a negative relationship with Anger Dysregulation, which strongly predicted Deviance Propensity. This result could be useful to promote new development goals and preventive activities and interventions based on positive religiosity values in juveniles' behavior.

Vein pattern visualization for CSAM investigation using deep learning

ABSTRACT Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has become one of the fastest-growing criminal industries linked to other illegal activities, such as human trafficking, underage prostitution, and the sextortion of minors. Although common biometric traits such as fingerprint, face, and palmprint are widely used in traditional identification systems, they are ineffective in investigating CSAM cases, as perpetrators often conceal their faces, and only partial non-facial skin may be visible. Vein pattern visualization has been introduced as a new tool in forensic investigations to overcome the limitations of current identification methods. Our early research has shown promising results in uncovering vein patterns from normal digital images using computer vision and deep learning techniques. For this research, we use a dataset of forearms and palm images collected from 301 participants in New Zealand. Utilizing a deep learning framework, we develop a collection of mapping models to reveal unique vein patterns from regular digital images. The results demonstrate our method’s efficiency in visualizing vein patterns, indicating nearly 95% similarity in the contrast values between reference NIR and generated images and 79% in the vein length of the generated and target images.

Transborder spillover effects of poverty on crime: Applying spatial econometric models to Chinese data

“Poverty is the mother of crime”, but existing literature has not yet analyzed the effect of local poverty on crimes in other jurisdictions. Based on 1992–2012 provincial data from China, this paper examines the transborder effects of poverty on crimes, by estimating spatial econometric models. Poverty is found to not only increase local crime, but also raise crime rates in other provinces. This spillover effect is more pronounced between provinces with close geographical proximity, high labor mobility and high dialect similarity. In addition, we compare the effects of increased police spending versus Dibao on poverty-related local and transborder crimes, finding that both can reduce poverty-related local crimes, but only Dibao can reduce poverty-related transborder crimes. The main policy implications of this paper are twofold. First, poverty alleviation can address both the symptoms and the root causes of local and external crimes, with broader and lasting effects than raising police spending. Thus, cross-border resource transfers shall target poverty alleviation; Second, poverty alleviation is not only a concern of the poor areas, but also a challenge for relatively developed areas in terms of crime governance.

Active Chat Monitoring and Suspicious Chat Detection Over Internet

In today's digital landscape, the proliferation of online communication platforms has brought about unprecedented opportunities for interaction and collaboration. However, this vast virtual space also presents challenges in ensuring safety and security, particularly concerning the monitoring of chat activities and the detection of suspicious behaviour. This research paper investigates the methods and technologies employed proactive chat monitoring and random chat across the web. The paper begins by examining the importance of monitoring chat platforms to prevent various forms of malicious activities, including cyberbullying, fraud, terrorism, and other illicit behaviours. It then delves into the techniques utilized for real-time monitoring of chat conversations, such as keyword filtering, sentiment analysis, and natural language processing algorithms. Furthermore, the paper explores the principles behind suspicious chat detection, highlighting the indicators of potentially harmful or illegal activities within chat communications. This includes analysing patterns of conversation, identifying anomalous behaviour, and integrating machine learning models to improve detection accuracy. Moreover, the research discusses the ethical considerations and privacy concerns associated with active chat monitoring, emphasizing the need for transparent policies and safeguards to protect user privacy while ensuring effective security measures. Keywords: Active chat monitoring, Suspicious chat detection, Online communication platforms, Cybersecurity, Malicious activities, Keyword filtering, Sentiment analysis, Natural language processing algorithms.

Sages of the street: violence management and neighborhood conflict among crime- and violence-exposed young males in southwest Houston

ABSTRACT This study presents efforts to mitigate the likelihood of violent victimization among a network of young males with varying degrees of criminal involvement and previous victimization. Already inhabiting an environment in which poverty, institutional segregation, drugs, guns, and gangs are prevalent, the young males’ risk of victimization is heightened by their volatile relationships, presence in crime-prone places and connection to illegal activities. Findings from ethnographic observations of violence management practices show that the young males’ interactions and whereabouts in the neighborhood are guided by knowledge of their neighborhood’s physical and administrative boundaries, built environment, and markers of place – all of which are used to demarcate places of belonging and relative safety. Broadening the conception of neighborhood conflict and violence management beyond their relation to identity performance and defended territory, this study articulates violence management as a contextually-informed skill set.

Computer and Cyber Crimes

All that were impossible so for, internet have made them possible. Computer has facilitated to restore lots of Data in small memory, which seems to be very impossible from the view of human. Based on the high speed of computer, it calculates and counts very complicated issues within seconds. The improvement in information technology has negative aspect as well. It means it has facilitated for some crimes and illegal activities against the community that before it was very impossible and couldn’t happen. Computer systems is a modern and improved opportunity for law violators, and have made the law breakers to keep up with changed method and feature of crimes. Computer crimes have created much more problems in modern communities; for instance legal societies have confront such conflicts and problems. Such crimes include the ancient and practiced criminal activities like; robbery, deceiving, hacking, and financial abuse, or they have completely new nature which is unpredictable, which have created problems to the former criminal code and criminal procedure code.

Analisis Pembuktian Pidana Asal dalam Kasus Tindak Pidana Pencucian Uang yang Diatur dalam Undang-Undang: Tinjauan Terhadap Prinsip Hukum dan Implementasi dalam Praktik Hukum di Indonesia

Money laundering is a serious threat to the financial stability and integrity of financial institutions in Indonesia. Proving the origin of criminal proceeds in money laundering cases is a primary focus in law enforcement efforts to combat this illegal activity. This paper provides a review of the legal principles underlying the proof of criminal origin in money laundering cases and discusses their implementation in legal practice in Indonesia.Through literature analysis and case studies, the author highlights the complexity of proving criminal origin in the context of money laundering cases. Challenges include difficulty in tracing complex financial transactions, limitations in adequate legal regulations, and the need for international cooperation for effective exchange of information and evidence. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of meticulous financial analysis as a key instrument in proving the origin of laundered funds. In the context of legal practice implementation in Indonesia, this paper examines the efforts of the government and law enforcement agencies in handling money laundering cases. Despite steps taken to enhance law enforcement effectiveness, there are still challenges to be addressed, such as lack of coordination between agencies, protection of witnesses and informants, and the expertise required for complex financial analysis. Considering the relevant legal principles and challenges faced in legal practice in Indonesia, this paper concludes the need for greater efforts to enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies, improve international cooperation, and strengthen regulatory frameworks to ensure the effectiveness of proving the criminal origin in money laundering cases in Indonesia.

Describing the geographical linkage between the UK Millennium Cohort Study and crime incidents in England and Wales

BackgroundEnhancing longitudinal cohort studies by linking routine external data to them is increasingly used to evaluate how local environments impact participants' outcomes (e.g. crime on adolescents' perception of security and victimisation). ObjectiveTo describe the geographical linkage between the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and street-level crime incidents reported to the Police in England and Wales, and to estimate crime count and rates around MCS participants' residences. MethodsEight years of monthly street-level police data were linked to the residential postcodes of MCS participants living in England and Wales in surveys 5, 6 and 7 to create individual-level variables of neighbourhood crime counts and rates (28,724 surveys and 11,365 individuals). Radial buffers around participants' residences were created at ages 11, 14 and 17. Crime counts and rates were created prior to the month of interview (at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months prior). A homogenisation of crime categories reported in the police data was conducted to evaluate changes over time and areas. Multivariate models were used to study the association between MCS participants' demographic characteristics and derived measures of neighbourhood crime. ResultsWhile total crime rates and counts around MCS participants remain stable over the period, they hide heterogeneous upward and downward trends in specific sub-categories, with violence and sexual offences showing a larger increase. We observe a negative socioeconomic gradient between household income deciles, recorded at age 11, and subsequent exposure to neighbourhood crime. ConclusionLinking routine crime data to longitudinal studies, such as the MCS, which follow children and their families through a critical period of development, can provide a new resource to understand how local crime impacts child and adolescent outcomes.

Relationship of the “Dequada” Phenomenon with Mercury Methylation in Pantanal, Brazil

The illegal activity of gold mining in the Brazilian Pantanal is contaminating the aquatic ecosystem with mercury. This contamination has been potentiated by mercury methylation due to a typical natural phenomenon of the Pantanal ecosystem known as “dequada”. The present study estimated in the laboratory the temporal production of methylmercury at two timepoints: the beginning of a flood, when the “dequada” phenomenon occurs, and the dry season without such phenomenon. After collecting water and sediment, experiments were performed with microcosms to reproduce conditions close to nature. To monitor the concentration of methylmercury, 1.0 mg L−1 of Hg2+ was added to water and sediment experiments in the Castelo and Saracura bays, both during the “dequada” and without it; monitoring lasted for 25 days. The methylmercury concentration was analyzed using atomic fluorescence spectrometry, total organic carbon using TOC 5000A, and physical and chemical parameters such as pH, redox potential, and dissolved oxygen with a multi-parameter probe. The results led to the conclusion that the “dequada” phenomenon significantly affected mercury methylation, because the environmental changes caused by this phenomenon such as the increased concentration of organic matter, decreased dissolved oxygen, and decreased pH, potentiated mercury methylation. During the “dequada” in the Castelo bay, the methylation rate was 3.5 times higher (6297.56 ng L−1) than in the experiment without the “dequada” (1827.44 ng L−1). Therefore, the gold mining activity in Pantanal can cause great damage to the ecosystem because this environment favors mercury methylation, making its most toxic form active in the aquatic ecosystem of Pantanal.

Social exclusion and vigilantism toward criminal offenders as compensatory reactions to the perceived inefficacy of social control.

Social exclusion and vigilantism toward criminal offenders as compensatory reactions to the perceived inefficacy of social control.

Methods of Judicial Cooperation and the Procedure for Enforcement Under International Law; Identifying the Nexus between Theory and Practice

The idea of judicial cooperation in criminal cases and enforcement under international law is undoubtedly based on the broad tenet that it is in the interests of civilised nations for crimes to be prosecuted and that it is customary for states to cooperate with one another in order to provide every support necessary to bring criminals or persons guilty of certain crimes involving international matters to justice. The world legal system has indeed reached a global operations clime, with undoubted interconnection between international courts and tribunals with and amongst states directly affected. The aim is to create a formidable mechanism for legal certainty and stability at a global scale and crystallize a reality where criminal offenders who attempt to escape criminal punishment in a state where an offence is committed are made to face the full force of the law by not only presenting them for criminal trials but making evidence available against them leading to justice being done in the circumstance. This formidable mechanism consists of elements such as mutual legal assistance, extradition, reparation etc. Consequently, this work examines critically the methods of judicial cooperation and enforcement procedure laying much emphasis on mutual legal assistance and extradition viz a viz the need to reconcile theory and practice noting that the ultimate objective of judicial cooperation is the creation of a world where there is no safe haven for criminals. Keywords: International law, States, Judicial cooperation, Enforcement mechanisms, Criminal cases.

Supplemental Material for Social Exclusion and Vigilantism Toward Criminal Offenders as Compensatory Reactions to the Perceived Inefficacy of Social Control

Supplemental Material for Social Exclusion and Vigilantism Toward Criminal Offenders as Compensatory Reactions to the Perceived Inefficacy of Social Control

Towards a Social Ecological Approach to Supporting Caseworkers in Promoting the Online Safety of Youth in Foster Care

This research examines how caseworkers collaborate with foster families to address adolescent online safety. We interviewed 32 caseworkers who worked with teens (ages 13-17) in foster care within the past 5 years. Using thematic analysis, we found that case managers are most concerned about sexual-related risks that result in physical abuse (e.g., sex trafficking) or online interactions that facilitated offline risks (e.g., runaway, illegal drug activity), rather than risks that only manifested in virtual spaces. Yet, inadequate training and insufficient support left caseworkers at a loss for how to address these challenges on top of their already heavy caseloads, often making online safety an afterthought. We call on the foster care system to place a higher priority in providing collaborative and socio-technical ecological support for caseworkers, foster parents, and children, so that early risk prevention in online spaces can support the safety and well-being of foster youth offline.

Profiling the Offline and Online Risk Experiences of Youth to Develop Targeted Interventions for Online Safety

We conducted a study with 173 adolescents (ages 13-21), who self-reported their offline and online risk experiences and uploaded their Instagram data to our study website to flag private conversations as unsafe. Risk profiles were first created based on the survey data and then compared with the risk-flagged social media data. Five risk profiles emerged: Low Risks (51% of the participants), Medium Risks (29%), Increased Sexting (8%), Increased Self-Harm (8%), and High Risk Perpetration (4%). Overall, the profiles correlated well with the social media data with the highest level of risk occurring in the three smallest profiles. Youth who experienced increased sexting and self-harm frequently reported engaging in unsafe sexual conversations. Meanwhile, high risk perpetration was characterized by increased violence, threats, and sales/promotion of illegal activities. A key insight from our study was that offline risk behavior sometimes manifested differently in online contexts (i.e., offline self-harm as risky online sexual interactions). Our findings highlight the need for targeted risk prevention strategies for youth online safety.

Integrating satellite-based forest disturbance alerts improves detection timeliness and confidence

Satellite-based near-real-time forest disturbance alerting systems have been widely used to support law enforcement actions against illegal and unsustainable human activities in tropical forests. The availability of multiple optical and radar-based forest disturbance alerts, each with varying detection capabilities depending mainly on the satellite sensor used, poses a challenge for users in selecting the most suitable system for their monitoring needs and workflow. Integrating multiple alerts holds the potential to address the limitations of individual systems. We integrated radar-based RAdar for Detecting Deforestation (RADD) (Sentinel-1), and optical-based Global Land Analysis and Discovery Sentinel-2 (GLAD-S2) and GLAD-Landsat alerts using two confidence rulesets at ten 1° sites across the Amazon Basin. Alert integration resulted in faster detection of new disturbances by days to months, and also shortened the delay to increased confidence. An increased detection rate to an average of 97% when combining alerts highlights the complementary capabilities of the optical and cloud-penetrating radar sensors in detecting largely varying drivers and environmental conditions, such as fires, selective logging, and cloudy circumstances. The most improvement was observed when integrating RADD and GLAD-S2, capitalizing on the high temporal observation density and spatially detailed 10 m Sentinel-1 and 2 data. We introduced the highest confidence class as an addition to the low and high confidence classes of the individual systems, and showed that this displayed no false detection. Considering spatial neighborhood during alert integration enhanced the overall labeled alert confidence level, as nearby alerts mutually reinforced their confidence, but it also led to an increased rate of false detections. We discuss implications of this study for the integration of multiple alert systems. We demonstrate that alert integration is an important data preparation step to make use of multiple alerts more user-friendly, providing stakeholders with reliable and consistent information on new forest disturbances in a timely manner. Google Earth Engine code to integrate various alert datesets is made openly available.