Field Of Law Enforcement Research Articles

THreats and Risk Soft Heparliament Aryregime from Positions of Conservative Traditionalism

The successful solution of modern problems, not only in lawmaking but also in law enforcement fields of development rights depend on the efficiency of credible legislative (representative) bodies of state power, from the quality of their laws. However, the role of Parliament in the Russian system of «vertical of power» is clearly understated that can be justified only by the need to maintain the stability and integrity of the state. In the study, the author tries to understand what the dangers of being a parliamentary regime, whether it threatens the integrity of the Russian state, which contains the apparent and hidden weaknesses. On the basis of the analy- sis of critical theory, developed by the Russian scientist-jurists of conservative direction, who deny parliamentarism, and also taking into account historical experience, the contributor makes conclusions about the need for further improvement of the contemporary representative institutes of the authority.

Compulsive criminal homicide: A new nosology for serial murder

Abstract The term “serial murder” has undergone vast revisions both in its label and its definition. While interest in the study of serial murder has fluctuated, it appears as though law enforcement currently dominates research into this phenomenon. In particular, the definition of serial murder forwarded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pervades current literature on this issue. Though frequently employed, the FBI definition of serial murder poses problems for the purpose of research. Most notably, its non-elaborate and broad parameters have created significant limitations for empirical research. Most notably, this definition has hindered estimations of prevalence and has slowed progress with respect to determining etiology. Scientific investigations require carefully operationalized terms and descriptions that are sensitive to nuance and the subtle idiosyncrasies of the topic under study. Such features are woefully absent from current law enforcement definitions of serial murder. The adoption of a standardized definition of serial murder is necessary should researchers hope to accomplish newer and more sophisticated achievements in this field. In this paper, a new nosology for serial murder is put forward and the argument is made for the standardized adoption of this criteria across the fields of law enforcement, academia, and other clinical settings. This new nosology falls under the label of Compulsive Criminal Homicide (CCH).

Public Attitudes in Australia to the Reintegration of ex-Offenders: Testing a Belief in Redeemability (BiR) scale

We report the results of a large scale Australian survey of public attitudes to offender reintegration. A representative sample of 1215 respondents gave their views about the possibility that offenders could make a good life for themselves after having committed crime. Views expressed were significantly positive with around four out of five respondents indicating they believed reintegration was possible and should be attempted. On the basis of the responses an overall score was calculated for each respondent. Analysis of the data suggested that three factors contributed to the overall score. We named these: Human capital, Possibility of change and Agency and the rationale for these is discussed. Some demographic factors (age, gender, presence of children in the household and highest level of schooling) were significantly related to scores in one of the components. Respondents also reported whether they, or someone close to them, had been a victim of crime or had been arrested, and whether they had worked in the field of law enforcement or the field of human services. Inclusion in these categories was found to be significantly related to certain components of the overall score. These findings are discussed in the light of related surveys in other jurisdictions and we invite other researchers to use the scale and suggest improvements.

Aktualność operatywnego modelu wykładni prawa w obliczu postmodernizmu

The validity of the operative model of legal interpretation in the face of postmodernismDue to postmodernist philosophy is becoming summary increasingly popular this article concerns the validity of a legal interpretation model commonly used in modern times with regard to the postmodernist point of view. Although this problem is widely described in Western literature, in Poland, on the contrary, it is gaining popularity only among philosophers of law. The aim of the article is to present the critical approach of postmodernist philosophy to existing order and demonstrate its attitude towards interpretation of the law. It should be noted that postmodernism has no ambition of constructing its own model of legal interpretation, but comments on and reviews all that has been said on this issue in the legal theory and philosophy of law. This is due to the fact that postmodernism is hostile to all methodologies, modelling theories and theoretical constructions. On the other hand, based on the general assumptions of postmodern philosophy, a postmodern view on the interpretation of the law can be derived. The article discusses deconstructionism, hermeneutics and intertextuality as methods of creating the meaning of a legal text during interpretation, acceptable by postmodernism. The study also presents criticism of the assumption of rational legislator proposed by legal positivism. In this respect postmodernism makes a real revolution in the field of law enforcement, prioritizing the interpreter instead of the legislator, and the creation of a legal text meaning during the process of legal interpretation in place of meaning determination.

The Comparative Overview of the Phenomenon of Money Laundering in Certain European Union and Western Balkanns States

The Republic of Kosovo has issued several legal acts which are in place to prevent and combat the phenomenon of money laundering. These acts determine the issue of state response and other institutional mechanisms which have competence in the field of law enforcement to strike this criminal phenomenon. Until now, prevention of money laundering is regulated by: UNMIK Regulation, Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Prevention of Terrorist Financing and the Law on Extended Powers for Confiscation of Assets Acquired by Criminal Offence.

Encourage professional behavior in officers to avoid negative publicity

The field of law enforcement has always been an honorable one. Many individuals choose the law enforcement field because they want to help people.

The US Legal System on Data Protection in the Field of Law Enforcement. Safeguards, Rights and Remedies for EU Citizens

At the request of the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament, this study surveys the U.S. system of data protection in the field of federal law enforcement. Since the legal category of “data protection” does not formally exist in U.S. law, the study begins by setting out the substantive and procedural requirements of EU law that are canvassed in the context of information-gathering and surveillance by U.S. law enforcement agencies. The study then analyzes the data protection law governing federal agencies according to two criteria: sources and methods of surveillance and data collection. It first reviews the two principal sources of U.S. data protection law: the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution and the Privacy Act of 1974. The study then considers the legally prescribed methods of data collection and surveillance, together with their associated data protection guarantees, in ordinary criminal investigations and national security investigations. Throughout, the study pays special attention to the rights afforded to EU citizens. The study calls attention to a number of discrepancies with respect to EU law, including: the relatively low legal threshold for engaging in bulk collection in national security investigations; the absence of significant legal restrictions on information sharing between intelligence and law enforcement agencies; and the two-track privacy scheme for U.S. and non-U.S. persons.

Witness Protection in Kosovo: Progress and Challenges

The role and importance of the witnesses in criminal procedure in fighting serious and organized crime, corruption, terrorism and preserving the public security have continuously increased. Law enforcement institutions increasingly face with difficulties in the process of proving criminal acts in the judicial processes because of their complexity in providing sufficient evidence during the criminal investigation procedure. Therefore, besides the reactive investigation methods and application of special crime investigation measures, establishing a legal infrastructure and capacities for the implementation of witness protection concept is necessary as well. Kosovo government and institutions declared fight and prevention of all forms of organized crime, corruption and terrorism as a priority and up to now, it was evaluated that a great job was done in drafting legislation and strategic documents in the law enforcement field as well as increasing the operational capacities of law enforcement institutions. Regarding the witness protection in Kosovo, progress is achieved in improving legislation and establishing special structures for implementation of witness protection programs, but still remain some challenges that Kosovo law enforcement institutions face such as international cooperation and geographic, cultural and social specifics.

Witness Protection in Kosovo: Progress and Challenges

The role and importance of the witnesses in criminal procedure in fighting serious and organized crime, corruption, terrorism and preserving the public security have continuously increased. Law enforcement institutions increasingly face with difficulties in the process of proving criminal acts in the judicial processes because of their complexity in providing sufficient evidence during the criminal investigation procedure. Therefore, besides the reactive investigation methods and application of special crime investigation measures, establishing a legal infrastructure and capacities for the implementation of witness protection concept is necessary as well. Kosovo government and institutions declared fight and prevention of all forms of organized crime, corruption and terrorism as a priority and up to now, it was evaluated that a great job was done in drafting legislation and strategic documents in the law enforcement field as well as increasing the operational capacities of law enforcement institutions. Regarding the witness protection in Kosovo, progress is achieved in improving legislation and establishing special structures for implementation of witness protection programs, but still remain some challenges that Kosovo law enforcement institutions face such as international cooperation and geographic, cultural and social specifics.

PREDICTIVE FUNCTION OF LEGAL POLICY

Due to the chaos of legal reforms in Ukraine, the necessity of implementing sciencebased, purposeful, consistent and coordinated legal policy is growing. The article deals with the nature of the prediction function of legal policy, the main methods of its implementation and the characteristic of its state and prospects of its development in Ukraine. Legal policy as one of the most important tendencies of public policy requires regular expert assessments of social, financial and economic, legal, foreign policy, criminological and other consequences of the decisions taken in the field of law-making, law enforcement and police activity. Prediction allows evaluating the innovation potential of normative acts, reflecting the possible barriers to their implementation and developing mechanisms for adapting legislation to the needs of regular social development. It is noted that the historical method is the basic method of legal prediction. There are such methods of legal prediction as: factual, statistical method, mathematical modeling and extrapolation method, comparative legal method, expert evaluations. Prediction in legal policy should be based on monitoring of existing legal norms. Monitoring in law is a continuous diagnostics of legal regulation of certain spheres of social relations in order to establish its effectiveness, to determine gaps, collisions and other shortcomings of the legislation. These deficiencies prove possible to formulate proposals for eliminating errors. They create an appropriate basis for scientific prediction. According to study of dynamics of the legal sphere, implementation of the current legislation, tendencies of state and public institutions, natural development of lawful and unlawful behavior of citizens, individual, group and public awareness of justice, legal prediction provides scientific conclusions of possible options for the development of the legal situation, positive and negative effects of the planned measures, implementation of relevant norms and standards.

National Determinant in Activities of the Soviet Militia (1917-1941): Regional Level

The article substantiates the importance of taking into account the specific of national structure in the field of law enforcement, in its regulatory framework as a necessary condition for social stability in a multinational state. The basic directions of activity of militia are shown on the basis of the systematization of a large array of a multidimensional historical and legal material in the context of the implementation of a national policy of the state. Obvious successes, mistakes and failures of militia authorities were identified in the region, the practice training of national militia staff was considered and characterized by complex and contradictory role of the so-called indigenization in line with new historiographical traditions. The author made a critical review of previous evaluation of true extent and intensity of militia’s struggle with illegal actions in the sphere of international relations, detecting their involvement in the repression in 1930s, religious discrimination of Mari people. A number of practical recommendations are made in the article.

Public Perspectives on Risks and Benefits of Forensic DNA Databases

There is scarce knowledge about the influence of the professional group, education, and age on public perspectives on the risks and benefits of forensic DNA databases. Based on data collected through an online questionnaire applied to 628 individuals in Portugal, this research fills that gap. More than three quarters of the respondents believed that the Portuguese forensic DNA database can help fight crime more efficiently and develop a swifter and more accurate justice, whereas only approximately half thought that it could deter and prevent crime. Lack of security and control over access to data and the future unforeseen misuses of genetic information were the most relevant risks selected by the participants. Health care and life sciences professionals were more likely to agree with all the benefits, as opposed to those working in the field of law enforcement. More educated and older participants disagreed with benefits more often. Concerns with the risks increased with age.

Future of Face Recognition: A Review

The Face Recognition (FR) is growing as a major research area because of the broad choice of applications in the fields of commercial and law enforcement. Traditional FR methods based on Visible Spectrum (VS) are facing challenges like object illumination, pose variation, expression changes, and facial disguises. Unfortunately these limitations decrease the performance in object identification and verification. To overcome all these limitations, the Infrared Spectrum (IRS) may be used in human FR. So it leads and encourages the researchers for continuous research in this area of FR. Simultaneously, the present study emphasizes the use of three dimensional cubic dataset i.e. Multi/ Hyperspectral Imagery Data in FR. The IR based Multi/ Hyperspectral Imaging System can minimize the several limitations arise in the existing and classical FR system because the skin spectra derived with cubic dataset depicts the unique features for an individual. Multi/ Hyperspectral Imaging System provides valuable discriminants for individual appearance that cannot be obtained by additional imaging system that's why this may be the future of human FR. This paper also presents a detailed and time to time review of the literature on FR in IRS.

Labor Market and Managerial Reform in the Albanian Civil Service, Improvements in the Status of Civil Servant under the Recommendations of the European Union

The purpose of this paper is the study of employment and identification of gaps in the legal framework of the statute of Civil servants in Albania. This paper examines the question: Why labor market in Albania is left in neglect, why the Albanian public administration employees are not protected? Can a worker be protected by a legal framework away from the political change? This research paper will be focus on economic and legal aspects by comparing them. The paper tends to analyze theoretical and practical perspective modeling the best western Knowledge in human resources in general, since their reformation and consolidation will affect the growth of efficiency and effectiveness of public administration. As the Albania is a candidate that aims the membership in the European Union, the brunt of this integration process will be handle public administration. The purpose of this paper is to understand the administrative reform in the context of integration in the European Union as a link to a European space. How is being structured the Public Administration and which path should be followed for an effective reform. For this reason reformation of the relation of civil servants were given a special priority by the state. The study will focus on analyzing the current situation of civil service status, how it applies in the administration and how responsible are the institutions that are involved in the field of law enforcement for the well-functioning of the law "On the status of a civil servant." Aiming at improving the current situation and increase the scope of the law of civil service status also for other institutions. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p46

Post-Soviet Central Asia: A summary of the drug situation

BackgroundThe paper aims to provide a snapshot of the drug situation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan using the EU methodology of “harmonised indicators of drug epidemiology.” MethodsMost of the data reported here were gathered and analysed within the framework of the EU-funded CADAP project in 2012. Together with members of CADAP national teams, we conducted extraction from the databases of national institutions in the field of (public) health and law enforcement, issued formal requests for the provision of specific information to national governmental authorities, and obtained national grey literature in Russian. In specific cases, we leaned on the expert opinions of the national experts, gathered by means of simple online questionnaires or focus group. In the rather scarce cases where peer-reviewed sources on the specific topics exist, it is used for comparisons and discussion. ResultsAll the post-Soviet Central Asian countries lack information on drug use in the general population. School surveys are relatively well developed in Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan benefited from an international survey project on health in schools organised by private donors in 2009. For Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the most recent available data on drug use in the school population are from 2006 and as such are of little relevance. Problem drug use is widespread in Central Asia and estimates of its prevalence are available for all four countries. All the post-Soviet Central Asian countries use a rather outdated system of narcological registers as the only source of data on drug users who are treated (and those investigated by the police), which was inherited from Soviet times. The availability of treatment is very low in all the countries reported on here except Kyrgyzstan; opioid substitution treatment (OST) was introduced first in Kyrgyzstan; Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are piloting their OST programmes but the coverage is extremely low, and in Uzbekistan the OST pilot programme has been abolished. HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are concentrated in injecting drug users (IDUs) in Central Asia, with the situation in Kazakhstan having stabilised; HIV is on the increase among Kyrgyz IDUs. The sharp decrease in HIV and VHC seroprevalence among IDUs in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan still awaits an explanation. The system for monitoring of fatal drug overdoses needs substantial improvement in all the countries reported on here. Overall mortality studies of drug users registered in the narcological registers were performed in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan; the highest excess mortality among registered drug users was found in Uzbekistan, and in all three countries, it was substantially higher for women than men. The seizures of illegal drugs are by far the highest in Kazakhstan; however, wild-growing cannabis represents 90% of these seizures. Uzbekistan was the country with the highest number of drug arrests. In Kazakhstan, after the decriminalisation of drug use in 2011, the number of reported drug-related offences dropped to below 50% of the figure for the previous year. ConclusionThe drug situation monitoring system in the four post-Soviet countries of Central Asia still needs substantial improvement. However, in its current state it is already able to generate evidence that is useful for the planning of effective national and regional drug policies, which would be of the utmost importance in the forthcoming years of the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force from Afghanistan.

Does Institution Type Predict Students’ Desires to Pursue Law Enforcement Careers?

Diversity in the field of law enforcement remains an issue, despite the popularity of the criminal justice degree. Prior research has typically been limited to surveying students from a single type of institution (historically black college & university, mixed-race institution, or predominately white institution). This is the first time a sample of students has been drawn from three different types of institutions. The current study examined whether institution type, race, gender, major, and perception of fair treatment were adequate predictors of a criminal justice student’s desire to pursue a career in law enforcement. Results revealed a significant interaction between the institution and gender. Academic major and perception of fair treatment produced significant main effects in the model. The theoretical and practical implications associated with these findings are discussed.

Ergo-policing. Improving Safety and Ergonomic Requirements of Human Resources Involved in Police Duties

An occupational health and safety management standard must be designed to ensure a planned and coordinated approach to managing health and safety risks in the workplace. It should include procedures for preventing injuries and illness, and for managing the quick return to work of injured police employees. In law enforcement organisations, ergonomic aspects and safety issues must be tackled with three priorities that are essential for that occupation: officer safety, public safety and avoidance of litigation. Therefore, police officers provide their own safety, protect the citizens and try to make sure that their actions do not create litigation against themselves or their organisation. The equipment and workstations designed for the law enforcement personnel to support these priorities has to be effective, safe and reliable.After implementing an effective ergonomic standard, the Romanian Police should significantly reduce work related injury rates, along with their severity and associated costs. While we do not know exactly how many police organisations offer occupational health and safety programs or what programs they offer, we do know that, in general, the law enforcement field could significantly benefit from adopting a comprehensive health and safety standard.This paper suggests the implementation of a comprehensive health and safety design standard in police organisations in order to manage properly some ergonomic stressors in police activity and some possible solutions have been proposed. A questionnaire survey was performed on a population of 50 police officers to assess levels of strain associated with a series of potential home and work related stressors. Participants were split into two scoring groups, operative and non-operative officers, on the basis of a general ergonomic checklist in order to identify those stressors.

'Human Rights' Protection for Corporate Antitrust Defendants: Are We Not Going Overboard?

There seems to be a clear trend of increased protection of ‘corporate human rights’ and, more specifically, due process rights (or procedural fairness) in the field of enforcement of competition law. To a large extent, that trend is based on the uncritical extension of human rights protection to corporate defendants by a process of simple assimilation of corporate and individual defendants. This paper briefly explores the rationale behind the creation of due process rights when the individual is the beneficiary of such protection. It then goes on to critically assess if the same need exists for the extension of those protections to corporate defendants, particularly in the field of competition law or antitrust enforcement. It concludes with some warnings concerning the diminishing effectiveness of competition law prohibitions and of human law protection that can result from an overstretched conception of due process protection in this area of EU economic law. From a substantive perspective, the paper submits that the extension of human rights to corporations cannot be uncritical and should not be completely symmetrical to that for human beings; but that it rather needs to be necessarily adapted to their circumstances. To put it more bluntly, it is suggested that in the field of the enforcement of economic law, administrative law procedures should be sound and there should clearly be a strong system of judicial review in place, but corporations should not have access to broader constitutional or human rights protections and any perceived shortcomings in the design and application of those procedures should remain within the sphere of regulatory reform.

Improving global health governance to combat counterfeit medicines: a proposal for a UNODC-WHO-Interpol trilateral mechanism

BackgroundPerhaps no greater challenge exists for public health, patient safety, and shared global health security, than fake/falsified/fraudulent, poor quality unregulated drugs, also commonly known as “counterfeit medicines”, now endemic in the global drug supply chain. Counterfeit medicines are prevalent everywhere, from traditional healthcare settings to unregulated sectors, including the Internet. These dangerous medicines are expanding in both therapeutic and geographic scope, threatening patient lives, leading to antimicrobial resistance, and profiting criminal actors.DiscussionDespite clear global public health threats, surveillance for counterfeit medicines remains extremely limited, with available data pointing to an increasing global criminal trade that has yet to be addressed appropriately. Efforts by a variety of public and private sector entities, national governments, and international organizations have made inroads in combating this illicit trade, but are stymied by ineffectual governance and divergent interests. Specifically, recent efforts by the World Health Organization, the primary international public health agency, have failed to adequately incorporate the broad array of stakeholders necessary to combat the problem. This has left the task of combating counterfeit medicines to other organizations such as UN Office of Drugs and Crime and Interpol in order to fill this policy gap.SummaryTo address the current failure of the international community to mobilize against the worldwide counterfeit medicines threat, we recommend the establishment of an enhanced global health governance trilateral mechanism between WHO, UNODC, and Interpol to leverage the respective strengths and resources of these organizations. This would allow these critical organizations, already engaged in the fight against counterfeit medicines, to focus on and coordinate their respective domains of transnational crime prevention, public health, and law enforcement field operations. Specifically, by forming a global partnership that focuses on combating the transnational criminal and patient safety elements of this pre-eminent global health problem, there can be progress against counterfeit drugs and their purveyors.

Terrorism and counterintelligence: how terrorist groups elude detection

Protecting information, identifying undercover agents, and operating clandestinely; efforts known as counterintelligence; are the primary objectives of terrorist groups who hope to evade detection by intelligence and law enforcement officials. Some strategies work well, some fail, and professionals tasked with tracking these groups are deeply invested in grasping the difference.Discussing the challenges terrorist groups face as they multiply and plot international attacks, while at the same time providing a framework for decoding the strengths and weaknesses of their counterintelligence, Blake W. Mobley offers an indispensable text for the intelligence, military, homeland security, and law enforcement fields. He outlines concrete steps for improving the monitoring, disruption, and elimination of terrorist cells, primarily by exploiting their mistakes in counterintelligence. A key component of his approach is to identify and keep close watch on areas that often exhibit weakness. While some counterintelligence pathologies occur more frequently among certain terrorist groups, destructive bureaucratic tendencies, such as mistrust and paranoia, pervade all organizations. Through detailed case studies, Mobley shows how to recognize and capitalize on these shortcomings within a group's organizational structure, popular support, and controlled territory, and he describes the tradeoffs terrorist leaders make to maintain cohesion and power. He ultimately shows that no group can achieve perfect secrecy while functioning effectively and that every adaptation or new advantage also produces new vulnerabilities.