Enforcement Of By-laws Research Articles

Islamic Legislation Enforced by Kelantan Local Council

Local council, also known as local government (worldwide) and local authority (Malaysia). Local Government Act 1976 is the main reference and regulates the operation of local councils in Malaysia, and all are placed under the jurisdiction of the state government. The legislation created by the local council is named by-laws, and each has its autonomy in legislating its law according to their needs. As such, some local councils, especially in eastern peninsular Malaysia, executed Islamic by-laws in performing their duties and functions at the designated administration area. The focus of the study was to analyse the issue of the ban on unisex salons, enforcement of board guidelines advertisement that compulsory to cover the aurat, and the enforcement of proper clothing covering the aurat among the Muslim community and dressing politely for non-Muslims by the Kelantan local council. The enforcement is due to non-compliance among residents towards the local order. The main purpose of this study is to get viewpoints from residents on the Islamic by-law's enforcement together with the impact. Purposive sampling was utilized by the study and managed to gather 80 respondents through the Google form distributed. The result shows that the residents are aware of the Islamic by-laws authorized by the local council and respond well to the impact in influencing and shaping the resident's attitudes. Kota Bharu Municipal Council of Islamic City (MPKB-BRI) started the first step in applying Islamic by-laws. It became a good example of Islamic value teaching in their daily life operation being emulated by other local councils in Kelantan.

Community bylaws concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights in Machinga District, Malawi: to what extent are they responsive to young people’s needs?

BackgroundCommunity bylaws are commonly accepted mechanisms to influence behaviour change to achieve better health and development outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the uses, benefits, and potential downsides of community bylaws are largely unclear, especially regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which community bylaws in Machinga District in southern Malawi are responsive to young people’s realities and SRHR needs.MethodsIn Phase 1 of this qualitative study, 35 community members were interviewed, including 14 young people (15–24 years), five parents, five traditional leaders, and eleven key informants. Based on findings from Phase 1, eleven members from local youth groups co-created a drama performance that covered issues concerning bylaws and young people’s SRHR (Phase 2). The drama was performed in the community, after which young women (18–24 years), young men (17–24 years), female and male parents discussed on what they saw in the drama, focusing on young people’s SRHR, in four focus group discussions (Phase 3). All transcripts were coded and thematically analysed and narratives were written on main themes.ResultsThree community SRHR bylaws, related to teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and sexual harassment and rape were identified and commonly accepted in the community. While these bylaws intend to reduce SRHR-related issues among young people, they are often not involved in bylaw formulation. The bylaws were associated with protection of girls, and a good reputation for boys, young men and traditional leaders. Bylaw enforcement faced problems, as fines were not in line with national laws, and wealthy offenders could avoid them through bribes. Effects of bylaws on teenage pregnancy rates seemed limited, while some positive effects on school readmission, prevention of child marriage, and reporting sexual harassment were reported.ConclusionsThe study revealed that community bylaws were accepted but not owned by young people, and had different effects on the rich versus the poor, and girls versus young men. Bylaws were associated with punishment in terms of money, which seemed to overpower their potential to promote rights and address social norms underlying SRHR issues of the youth.

Youth, Crime, and the Potential Cost Offset to Housing First Programs

Housing First (HF) is an approach that emphasizes providing housing as a precondition for assisting people experiencing homelessness. To the extent that housing reduces contacts with police, HF may reduce criminal behaviour and so reduce costs borne by the justice system. This may be particularly true for youth whose homelessness often forces them to adopt survival behaviour that exposes them to police and bylaw enforcement officers. Using regression analysis, we employ linked administrative data sets from police and from HF programs to examine how interactions of youth with police change following admission to a HF program. An important contribution of our study is the use of administrative police records rather than self-reported data on the number of criminal incidents and their severity. Unconditional quantile regression is used to observe HF’s effect on changes in both the number and severity of criminal incidents. Controlling for demographic characteristics of youth and for type of housing program and using administrative police records as opposed to self-reported police interactions, we find only weak evidence to suggest that the number of criminal incidents falls following admission to a HF program and only weak evidence of a fall in the seriousness of crimes.

Effects of stakeholders’ perception of urban agriculture on the governance of urban agriculture in the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala in Arusha City, Tanzania

Actors’ perception of urban agriculture can affect the way urban agricultural decisions are made and implemented either positively or negatively, with or without the actors being aware of it. The way actors perceive urban agriculture is influenced by actors’ interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture, policy and legal frameworks. This study used a case-study design to examine the effects of actors’ diverse perception of urban agriculture on the governance of urban agriculture. Purposefully selected 60 respondents participated in-depth interviews in the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala. Farmers and agricultural officers perceived urban agriculture positively because their livelihoods and professional interests were related and relied on the practice of urban agriculture. Urban planners and agricultural officers perceived agriculture positively and negatively depending on the way agricultural activities affected the environment or were compatible with non-agricultural activities. The implementation of policy and enforcement of bylaws relating to urban agriculture was not successful because urban planners and environmental officers were skeptical about the value of urban agriculture. Doing urban agriculture in the environmentally sensitive areas was against environmental bylaws, but the area was encroached upon by the farmers who had no alternative land for farming. Land use hurdles for doing urban agriculture were rarely addressed by urban planners who had no evidence of the benefits of urban agriculture to city authority compared with revenue and employment opportunities from real estate developments. We conclude that the farmers’ and non-farmers positive and negative perception of urban agriculture stem from their interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture. Government officials’ perception of urban agriculture is influenced by their carrier and work obligations. Despite the presence of policy acknowledging urban agriculture and environmental bylaws for regulating urban agriculture, actors cannot really govern urban agriculture if they perceive it negatively.

SECONDARY FACETS ON STABILITY OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS IN KASARANI SUB-COUNTY, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: Instability of buildings is a global phenomenon that results in loss of lives, wasted infrastructure and injuries. Most of the existing literature has concentrated on technical causes of instability of buildings and recommended technical solutions that have not been successful in taming the problem. The purpose of this study was to examine non-technical secondary causes that lead to instability of buildings in Kasarani Sub-county, Nairobi County, Kenya. The study specifically sought to address the following objectives: To determine the influence of social facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To examine the influence of economic facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To determine the influence of environmental facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To examine the influence of political facets on stability of multistorey buildings.
 Methodology: The study adopted the Joint Committee’s Structural Reliability Theory and Robert Giacalone’s with Mark Promislo’s Ethical Impact Theory to guide it. The study used survey research design with the target population being 7,373 participants from Kasarani sub-county. The sample size was 365 respondents which was determined from Krejicie and Morgan’s formula and it included 262 developers, 87 contractors and 16 building professionals. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data. Validity of the instrument that is concerned with whether the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure was achieved through use of content validity which draws an inference from test scores to a large domain of items similar to the ones in the test. Reliability of the instrument which is concerned with whether the results are consistent was achieved through conducting a pilot study and checked by use of the Cronbach Alpha’s reliability coefficient. The independent variable was secondary facets while the dependent variable was stability of multistorey buildings. The intervening variable was enforcement of bylaws.
 Results: All the secondary facets (social, economic, environmental and political) were found to be statistically significant having a p-value less than 0.05 and F = 13.846, which is more than F Critical of 3.09. The study yielded a regression model of Y = 1.053 + 0.174X1 + 0.166X2 + 0.200X3. The study found that secondary facets play a significant role in stability of multistorey buildings including social, economic, environmental and political ones. Addressing these and other secondary facets could go a long way in addressing the menace of building collapses.
 Policy recommendation: It is recommended that the various stakeholders in the construction industry address each of the secondary facets as indicated in the report.

Animal Protection, Law Enforcement, and Occupational Health: Qualitative Action Research Highlights the Urgency of Relational Coordination in a Medico-Legal Borderland.

Simple SummaryIn this article, we report on action research in the Canadian province of Alberta, based on forging alliances with officers who enforce federal, provincial, and municipal legislation involving animals. Some of these officers worked in rural areas, and others worked in urban areas. Some mainly enforced Alberta’s Animal Protection Act, while a few specialized in enforcing Canada’s Criminal Code. For the most part, however, participating officers had a mandate to enforce animal-related local bylaws. Such ordinances or rulebooks exist because Alberta’s Municipal Government Act allows local councils to enact legislation regarding domestic and wild animals, particularly as regards people’s health, property, safety, and welfare. Many professionals refer to policies such as these, which are deeply rooted in the western legal tradition, such as “animal control.” Our findings illuminate how animal-control policies and personnel can help to protect domesticated animals, not just people. Even so, our research highlights that animal-control policies as well as animal-protection policies routinely fail to protect officers who enforce legislation involving animals. Furthermore, whenever officers who enforce legislation involving animals work in unsafe conditions, this endangers human as well as non-human lives.Across Canada and internationally, laws exist to protect animals and to stop them from becoming public nuisances and threats. The work of officers who enforce local bylaws protects both domestic animals and humans. Despite the importance of this work, research in this area is emergent, but growing. We conducted research with officers mandated to enforce legislation involving animals, with a focus on local bylaw enforcement in the province of Alberta, Canada, which includes the city of Calgary. Some experts regard Calgary as a “model city” for inter-agency collaboration. Based on partnerships with front-line officers, managers, and professional associations in a qualitative multiple-case study, this action-research project evolved towards advocacy for occupational health and safety. Participating officers spoke about the societal benefits of their work with pride, and they presented multiple examples to illustrate how local bylaw enforcement contributes to public safety and community wellbeing. Alarmingly, however, these officers consistently reported resource inadequacies, communication and information gaps, and a culture of normalized disrespect. These findings connect to the concept of “medico-legal borderlands,” which became central to this study. As this project unfolded, we seized upon opportunities to improve the officers’ working conditions, including the potential of relational coordination to promote the best practices.

The Significance of Culture and Regulations on Alcohol Abuse Among Youths in Rombo District Council

This study aimed at documenting the influence of culture and regulations on youths’ alcohol abuse in Rombo District. Questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key-informant interviews were used for data collection. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed by Statistical Product for Social Solutions (SPSS) version 20 and thematic analysis respectively. The study revealed that culture influence alcohol abuse among youths, and most of youths learn to consume alcohol from their parents. Study further found that there are a lot of unregistered drinking places making it difficulties for enforcement of bylaws. The study findings depict that in most cases there was less bylaws enforcement with police mainly focus on fines. The study concludes that alcohol abuse among youths in Rombo District is attributed by cultural perceptions on alcohol as a status and prestige, less by law enforcement and easily availability of alcohol in the study area. The study recommends that family heads should discourage alcohol consumption; through being role models, the government should make sure that all alcohol selling points are registered, enforcement of by laws on alcohol consumption and community is provided with education on the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption.

By-Laws and Social Relations: Shaping the Societal Behaviour

Objective - Local governments in Malaysia are regulated under the Local Government Act 1976 and each has its power to enact by-laws under their respective administration area. By-law is a formulation of the law under the jurisdiction of local government in performing its duties and functions covering the administrative area that has been identified by the state government. The objectives of this study are to review the extent and the impact of the by-laws implemented by the local government in Kelantan in influencing and shaping the behavior of the local societies and has been conducted as an empirical study. Methodology/Technique - Purposive sampling was used in selecting the targeted respondents in gathering their feedback towards the by-laws implementation and managed to get 76 respondents. Finding - The feedback gathered shows that the local communities are well exposed and giving good responses to the by-laws implementation impact. Kota Bharu Municipal Council of Islamic City (MPKB-BRI) has succeeded in becoming the pioneer in the implementation and enforcement of by-laws that emphasized the teachings of Islamic values and were followed and emulated by other local governments in Kelantan. Novelty - Besides that, the good practice also has been followed by some other local governments in other states such as Terengganu, Kedah, and Melaka. By-laws implemented by the local government in Kelantan is very much different compared to local governments in other states in Malaysia which are the provisions of the by-laws that focus on the Islamic approach which somehow do give some impact to the local communities. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Local Government; By-Laws; Islamic Approach; Jurisdiction; Behavior. JEL Classification: A13, D1.

Criminal liability for committing crimes in the sphere intellectual property under the laws of foreign countries

Keywords: intellectual property, copyright and related rights, objects of industrialproperty, means of individualization, criminal liability, crimes against intellectualproperty
 The article providesan overview of individual articles of the criminal codes of Ukraine, the Republic ofLatvia, Georgia and the People's Republic of China. These articles have constituted crimes against intellectual property. Statistics on the number of sentences in cases ofinfringement of intellectual property rights in Ukraine for 10 years.The rapid development of science and technology in the 21st century is creatingnew impetus for scientific research. There is a need to update national legislation.New approaches to intellectual property protection continue to be sought around theworld. Issues of crime in the field of intellectual property are becoming relevant anddiscussed among scientists, authors, inventors.The author gives examples of the Criminal Codes of Ukraine, the Republic ofLatvia, Georgia, and the People's Republic of China. The experience of the People'sRepublic of China is logical, correct in legal terms.Intellectual property provides economic benefits. Ago crimes against intellectualproperty should be classified as economic. According to the author, the Ukrainian authoritieswill be faced with new demands from foreign partners, including the EU, tostrengthen the fight against crime in this area under the threat of significant internationaleconomic sanctions. The proposed changes are aimed at eliminating gaps inlegislation and avoiding errors in the application of the Criminal Code of Ukraine bylaw enforcement agencies.

Exploring stakeholders’ perceptions of the quality and governance of water resources in the Wenchi municipality

Despite increasing evidence that understanding and integrating local people’s perceptions of water quality and governance helps improve water governance processes, only a limited volume of research addresses this topic in developing countries. Therefore, using in-depth interviews and content analysis, the goal of this paper is to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the quality and governance of water resources in Wenchi, Ghana. Results show that stakeholders perceive river water quality to be deteriorating. Stakeholders’ judgement of river quality is influenced by water use value, pollution sources, organoleptic properties and sanitary conditions of the riverbank. Stakeholders highlighted key areas that require authorities’ efforts: formulation and enforcement of by-laws, awareness raising, provision of financial, logistic and technical support, conducting research and community mobilisation. These findings need to be carefully reviewed and systematically integrated into expert views to advance our understanding of the problem, how best to address it and who to target during interventions.

Assessment of reservoir sedimentation of irrigation dams in northern Ghana

Adongo TA, Kyei-Baffour N, Abagale FK, Agyare WA. 2019. Assessment of reservoir sedimentation of irrigation dams in northern Ghana. Lake Reserv Manage. 36:87–105.Sedimentation in reservoirs of irrigation dams is a serious issue that threatens their functionalities. Since information on this phenomenon in irrigation dams in northern Ghana is almost nonexistent, a study was necessary. The study used bathymetric survey integrated with geographic information systems (GIS) tools to assess reservoir sedimentation of 9 irrigation dams in 3 northern regions of Ghana. The bathymetric survey was conducted during August–October 2017 using a hand-held Hondex digital depth meter. Reservoir depths at full supply level were found to range from 0.10 to 14.70 m. The volumetric storage capacity loss in the reservoirs ranged from 0.1 to 7.94 Mm3, while the percentage storage capacity loss ranged from 8.54 to 34.12%. The reservoirs were found to be losing volume by 0.26–0.91%/yr. The water surface area of the reservoirs lost due to sedimentation ranged from 5.53 to 24.10%. Estimated mean annual sediment load and sediment inflows into the reservoirs ranged from 3159 to 12,850 mg/L and from 1594 to 355,017 m3/yr, respectively. Estimated useful life of the reservoirs ranged from 22 to 160 yr. All the reservoirs except Bontanga and Tono had a well-formed delta and slightly formed tapering deposits. Major causes of the sedimentation were observed to be mainly human activities within the reservoir catchments. Enactment and enforcement of bylaws to restrict farming, burning, and sand/gravel mining activities in the buffer zones of the reservoirs are necessary to reduce the rate of sedimentation. Improved catchment management practices, construction of check dams, installation of hydrosuction sediment-removal systems, and periodic desilting are also recommended.

PELAKSANAAN PENYIDIKAN TINDAK PIDANA PENCURIAN DENGAN PEMERIKSAAN ACARA CEPAT PADA SATUAN RESERSE KRIMINAL KEPOLISIAN RESOR KOTA PADANG

Crime of theft that has a loss value of under two million five hundred rupiahbased on Article 1 and Article 2 of the Supreme Court Regulation Number 2 of 2012concerning Adjustment of Light Tipring and the Amount of Fines in the Criminal Codequalify as a misdemeanor. As a misdemeanor, the investigation and trial process iscarried out with a quick event. However, in practice, problems and constraints faced bylaw enforcement officers who are members of the criminal justice system arise,especially the police as investigators who are authorized by law to implement theprovisions of the Regulation as happened in the investigation of criminal cases of theftin the Resort Police Criminal Investigation Unit Padang City.

Nexus between coastal resources and community livelihoods in a changing climate

It is recognized that climate variability has had detrimental impacts on integrity of coastal natural resources. It is also known that coastal communities have been relying on those natural resources for their livelihoods in different ways. It is from this interdependence that this study was proposed, to analyse the role of coastal resources in sustaining community livelihoods of the coastal communities in the changing climate in two villages, Msinga and Nyamisati, all based in Rufiji district, Tanzania. The study employed the mixed method design whereby household questionnaires,-key informant interviews, focus group discussions, field observations and literature review were used to collect primary and secondary data. Findings show that coastal resources including fish and mangrove are impacted by sea level rise, storm surges, tropical storms, droughts, floods and change in salinity conditions eventually compromising their integrity. Consequently livelihoods that depend on these resources such as fisheries and agriculture in the delta have declined in productivity over the past 10 years, causing food insecurity to majority of households. People have been adapting in different ways with respect to climate change impacts mainly through the use of social networks and coastal resources utilization particularly sale of fish, mangrove logs and timber. However, utilization of such resources was unsustainable as it entailed overexploitation and use of prohibited fishing gears and unlawful harvesting of mangrove. Nonetheless, coastal communities are still vulnerable to climate change impacts owing to low resource base, whereby women are the most vulnerable group due to poor participation in decision making at family level. Besides, to monitor coastal resources utilization, institutions were put in place through policy and legal frameworks. Enforcement of bylaws with respect to resources utilization such as permits for mangrove and fisheries utilization and ban of agriculture in the delta was meant to make coastal natural resources more resilient to the impacts of climate change. However, some of enforcements of some bylaws made community members prone to impacts of climate variability and change by being landless. The study recommends the integration of participatory approaches regarding the natural coastal resources management including capacity building to women in order to build their resilience to impacts of climate variability and change.

Neighbourhood Built Environment Influences on Physical Activity among Adults: A Systematized Review of Qualitative Evidence.

Qualitative studies can provide important information about how and why the built environment impacts physical activity decision-making—information that is important for informing local urban policies. We undertook a systematized literature review to synthesize findings from qualitative studies exploring how the built environment influences physical activity in adults. Our review included 36 peer-reviewed qualitative studies published from 1998 onwards. Our findings complemented existing quantitative evidence and provided additional insight into how functional, aesthetic, destination, and safety built characteristics influence physical activity decision-making. Sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) also impacted the BE’s influence on physical activity. Our review findings reinforce the need for synergy between transportation planning, urban design, landscape architecture, road engineering, parks and recreation, bylaw enforcement, and public health to be involved in creating neighbourhood environments that support physical activity. Our findings support a need for local neighbourhood citizens and associations with representation from individuals and groups with different sociodemographic backgrounds to have input into neighbourhood environment planning process.

Qualitative analysis of the risks and practices associated with the spread of African swine fever within the smallholder pig value chains in Uganda

A study was undertaken between September 2014 and December 2014 to assess the perceptions of smallholder pig value chain actors of the risks and practices associated with the spread of African swine fever (ASF) disease within the pig value chains. Data was collected from 136 value chain actors and 36 key informants through 17 group discussions and two key informant interview (KII) sessions respectively using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools.Results from this study revealed that according to value chain actors and stakeholders, the transporting, slaughtering, and collecting/bulking nodes represent the highest risk, followed by the inputs and services (feeds and drugs) supply nodes. The processing, whole sale and consumption nodes represented the lowest risk. Value chain actors are aware of the disease and its consequences to the pig industry, however biosecurity measures are poorly implemented at all nodes. As for the causes, value chain actors pointed to several factors, such as inadequate knowledge of mechanisms for the spread of the disease, poor enforcement of regulations on disease control, and low capacities of actors to implement biosecurity measures, amongst others. Although traders, butchers and veterinary practitioners accepted that they played an important role in the spread of the virus, they did not perceive themselves as key actors in the control of the disease; instead, they believed that only farmers should adopt biosecurity measures on their farms because they keep the pigs for a longer period. Most of the recommendations given by the value chain actors for controlling and preventing ASF disease were short term, and targeted mainly pig producers. These recommendations included: the establishment of live pig collection centres so that traders and brokers do not have to directly access pig farms, capacity building of value chain actors on application of biosecurity, enactment and enforcement of by-laws on live pig movements and establishment of operational outbreak reporting mechanism at district level. Long term recommendations included the development of a vaccine, as well as pen-side diagnostic tests. This study suggests that interventions to control ASF disease through application of biosecurity measures should target all value chain nodes, while putting more emphasis on post-farm nodes especially the trading.

Protecting Urban Spaces of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Nighttime Community Subcultural Wealth: A Comparison of International and National Strategies, the Agent of Change Principle, and Creative Placekeeping

Working towards an equality of differences of a city’s diverse cultures and subcultures requires an examination of the realities of how municipal and provincial legal frameworks governing the city space — such as urban planning policies, zoning decisions, and bylaw enforcement — play out within the microcosm of the everyday and everynight of a neighbourhood where conflicting life patterns must coexist even when they are at odds. Drawing on an urban legal anthropology and urban legal geography methodology assessing the realities of the life of subcultural communities in the city space, the objective of this paper is to explore potential paths towards an equitable regard and valuation of the different ways of knowing and being in the context of city redevelopment and cultural sustainability.

A Tale of Two Phones: A Discussion of Law Enforcement's Use of the All Writs Act to Force Apple to Open Private iPhones

I. INTRODUCTION 98 II. BACKGROUND 98 A. SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTER SYED FAROOK'S IPHONE 5 98 B. METHAMPHETAMINE DEALER JUN FENG'S IPHONE 5 101 III. APPLE OPPOSED THE US DOJ's USE OF THE ALL WRITS ACT 102 A. GOVERNMENT ARGUED THAT THE ALL WRITS ACT PERMITS ORDERING APPLE TO ASSIST IN OPENING THE PHONES 102 B. APPLE'S OBJECTION IN THE CASE OF FENG'S PHONE THAT THE REQUEST IS OVERLY BURDENSOME FAILS 103 C. THE ORDER FOR APPLE TO ASSIST IN UNLOCKING FAROOK'S PHONE WAS AN UNLAWFUL OVERREACH BY LAW ENFORCEMENT THROUGH THE COURT 105 D. REQUIRING AN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY TO DISABLE SECURITY FEATURES IS DANGEROUS 107 IV. CONCLUSION 108 I. INTRODUCTION While the discussion below is a tale of two mobile phones, it is a parable of sorts. Though the end has come to the stories of the two phones in question, the issue surrounding them has not. This article is not just about two iPhones; indeed, it concerns the lengths to which law enforcement will go in pursuit of public safety and security, and raises fundamental questions as to the kind of security we are now concerned with. Specifically, the issue is whether the All Writs Act, a vague statute signed into law in 1789, should be used as a means for law enforcement to penetrate areas where they would have no access otherwise. On the one hand, law enforcement needs a means to compel access where there is no other procedure to obtain it. As used here, the All Writs Act is a stopgap measure that does just that. It allows the courts to enforce a search warrant where the assistance of a third-party is required. On the other, there must be a boundary where law enforcement may not cross. The All Writs Act is vague on purpose but it was not meant to be a skeleton key to every door that they would otherwise not be able to open, especially where Congress has specifically limited access to a door. It was not meant to circumvent statutory and Constitutional safeguards. II. BACKGROUND A. San Bernardino Shooter Syed Farook's iPhone 5C On December 2, 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple radicalized and inspired by ISIL, entered the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California and shot into a party for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health being held within. (1) Farook was a health inspector with the Department. (2) Fourteen people were killed and twenty-two were seriously injured. (3) The couple tied but were killed in a shootout with police four hours later. (4) As part of the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recovered an iPhone 5C, owned by San Bernardino County and issued to Farook. (5) Shortly after the FBI took possession of the phone, a San Bernardino county employee reset the password to the iCloud account associated with Farook's phone, ostensibly to access the iCloud account and gain access to the information. (6) However, Farook's phone had not been backed up into the iCloud in the six weeks before the shooting. (7) By changing the password to the iCloud account, the passwords for the iCloud account and phone no longer matched. (8) Thus, the phone could neither be unlocked nor synced to iCloud. (9) Apple offered the FBI four options for getting data from the phone. (10) However, because the password to the iCloud had been changed, one of the options was no longer viable. …

Build on Success: CIPHI Challenges for the Next Millennium

Build on Success: CIPHI Challenges for the Next Millennium

Barriers to the effective planning and management of residential encroachment within urban forest edges: A Southern Ontario, Canada case study

Studies document degradation and loss of publicly owned urban woodland area following adjacent residential development due to residential encroachment. Residential encroachment is the negative impacts of housing land uses within both rural and urban green infrastructure networks. Prevailing planning, design and management approaches in Southern Ontario municipalities in Canada indicate planning and management tools have been developed to remove and impede encroachment impacts; however, many are infrequently implemented. This lack of implementation contributes to a high prevalence and spatial area of encroachment within Southern Ontario municipal woodland edges with adjacent housing. Long interviews were conducted with the planners, landscape architects, woodland managers and bylaw enforcement staff of six Southern Ontario municipalities to determine the barriers to implementation of municipal encroachment tools. Results indicate key barriers to policy implementation that reflect a lack of awareness of, and priority placed on addressing, residential encroachment impacts, and impacts following the point of development in general. Barriers include: (1) insufficient community and municipal access to information regarding residential encroachment and their significance relative to other development impacts; (2) lack of clarity of goals by municipalities and between departments; (3) insufficient municipal leadership and commitment to limiting encroachment; (4) lack of sufficient means within municipal departments to prevent and address encroachment; and (5) ineffectual dynamics of enforcement. Recommendations for overcoming barriers to the development and implementation of effective approaches for addressing encroachment are provided.

Why ‘small is beautiful’ in municipal disaster risk reduction: Evidence from the Yucatán peninsula, Mexico

A decentralized, partnership approach to dealing with environmental hazards is advocated in international policy documents, but the capacity of local governments to formulate and implement disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies is uneven and not well understood. Small municipalities are often believed to lack the necessary financial, human and administrative resources to carry out measures to reduce disaster risk. This paper examines DRR practices in five municipalities exposed to hurricanes in the Yucatán peninsula, Mexico. Using a comparative case study method, performance is measured with respect to five indicators of DRR that were identified by stakeholders as being ‘municipal government responsibilities’: effective use of risk maps; publication and enforcement of by-laws and regulations; design and application of risk communication systems; coordination of preparedness measures and evacuations; and shelter management. The two smaller municipalities with few financial resources are found to have undergone substantial improvements in most aspects of DRR, outperforming larger municipalities facing similar risks. This suggests that factors beyond the level of funding determine the effectiveness of official DRR measures. In Mexico, decentralization and local governance reform have proved to be critical, creating opportunities for more inclusive, effective approaches to reducing the risks associated with hurricanes.