Local Police Forces Research Articles

Twenty Years Later: Community Policing and Its Impact on Local Safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Twenty years after the introduction of the first community policing projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a need to evaluate the results achieved. This paper aims to identify the key challenges in implementing community policing and analyze its impact on the safety of local communities. This study employed a qualitative research approach, including semi-structured indepth interviews and secondary data analysis. Police officers from various agencies across Bosnia and Herzegovina were interviewed. International actors were pivotal in introducing the concept of community policing. Our findings highlight serious issues and the failure to adapt Western practices to the local cultural context. Despite the initial enthusiasm of international actors, community policing has not been fully integrated into the operational practices of local police forces, with only fragments of the concept being adopted. The decline of community policing, coupled with the erosion of effective policing practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has negatively impacted the efficiency of police work and, undoubtedly, the safety of local communities

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conditions and Crisis Management: Bespoke Education of Local Police Forces

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conditions and Crisis Management: Bespoke Education of Local Police Forces

Mental health front-liners: Police officers’ knowledge and attitudes towards suicide in Malta

IntroductionPolice-officers are in a strategic position of providing the first immediate response to a crisis as mental health frontliners.ObjectivesIn this nation-wide cross-sectional study, we explored knowledge and attitudes towards suicide in the local police force, a crucial first step in the design and implementation of effective suicide prevention programmes.MethodsAn online, anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all local police-officers (n=2600). It contained questions about their demographics and their experience with suicide while on duty, along with 34 statements from the validated tool Attitudes Towards Suicide (ATTS) (Renberg & Jacobsson. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2003; 33 52-64), scored on a 5-point Likert Scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree).ResultsThe sub-scale “Suicide as a right” was positively correlated with “Tabooing” (r (201) = .25, p=<.001), “Normal-common ” (r (201) = .29, p=<.001), and “Resignation” (r (201) = .47, p=<.001), but negatively correlated with “Incomprehensibility” (r (201) = -.26, p=<.001), and “Preparedness to Prevent” (r (201) = -.19, p=<.001), meaning such individuals had a more permissive attitude towards suicide. On the other hand, the subscale Preventability was found to be positively correlated with Incomprehensibility (r (201) = .21, p=<.001) and Preparedness to Prevent (r (201) = .30, p=<.001).Females scored higher in the sub-scale Non-communication (M=3.40, 95% CI [3.29, 3.51]) while males scored higher in Preventability (M=3.35, 95% CI [3.27, 3.44]). The higher the educational status of police-officers, the more they adopt a pro-prevention attitude to suicide (M=3.67, 95% CI [3.44, 3.89]) and the more likely they are to appreciate that suicidal thoughts and behaviour can be common (M=3.40, 95% CI [3.20, 3.60]). Participants with a mixed/different composition at home (M=4.05, 95% CI [3.86, 4.24]) and/or have experienced only between 0 to 2 situations related to suicide in the past one year alone (M=4.05, 95% CI [3.94, 4.16]), were the most likely to feel prepared to prevent suicide.Conclusions This study brings out different attitudes police-officers hold towards different aspects of suicide, influenced by their gender, educational background, personal life at home and total exposure to suicide during their career. Training programmes can help improve their knowledge and attitudes towards suicide, leading to a more positive behavioural response to individuals in crisis and create a safer environment. Malta, through an EU-funded programme, is currently investing its resources on drafting a national suicide prevention strategy, and such educational opportunities for our frontliners will ensure we have the right tools in screening, identifying, treating, and saving more lives.Abbreviations:M: Mean score; CI: Confidence IntervalDisclosure of InterestNone Declared

Stabilisation measures on the de-occupied territories: conceptual interpretation, classification, and application features

The publication provides a scientific analysis of the “stabilisation measures” concept which has recently been used to determine the specifics of public authorities and law enforcement agencies' activities on the de-occupied territories of our country. It has been proved that the concept of “stabilisation measures” arose in the course of NATO peacekeeping operations in the Balkans and is primarily associated with law enforcement activities of specially authorised military units capable of performing police functions. According to NATO’s Joint Doctrine (AJP-3.22), stabilisation measures are defined as special activities aimed at strengthening or providing temporary replacement for local police forces to help restore and/or maintain public order and security, the rule of law and the protection of human rights.
 It is emphasised that the understanding of the content of stabilisation measures in national and foreign practice is different. Foreign researchers mainly associate stabilisation measures with law enforcement actions: ensuring public order and security, combating crime, protecting civilians, etc. In our country, a broader interpretation of the term has been formed, which, in addition to purely police measures, includes social, humanitarian, informational, and economic measures that cover the comprehensive restoration and development of the de-occupied territories.
 It is proposed to divide stabilisation measures into general and special ones. The first type is related to the restoration of state power on the de-occupied territory, as well as to ensuring the vital activity of its civilian population. Special stabilisation measures are carried out to prevent sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed groups from entering the de-occupied territory and committing terrorist acts on infrastructure and communications facilities, ensuring public safety and order, preventing and suppressing crimes and other offences, eliminating the consequences of emergencies, and searching for persons who have committed crimes against the foundations of national security, war crimes and other offences during the occupation of the territory.
 The number of conceptual provisions on the interpretation of the definition, purpose, principles, types and peculiarities of application of stabilisation measures in Ukraine have been formulated.

Crime in the law enforcement agencies in 1948–1952 and its counteraction

The article reveals the state of crime in the police in 1948–1952, identifies its main manifestations and measures to counteract it. Crime in the police in the post-war years remained an acute and permanent problem. The late 1940s and early 1950s were no exception. This was influenced by the very nature of the totalitarian regime, which was based on violence and violation of the rule of law, the difficult socio-economic situation in the country, as the consequences of the post-war devastation were only beginning to be eliminated, and the low level of professional training and education of a certain number of police officers. For many of them, the perceptions of the state of legality were quite specific, formed mainly under the influence of the events of the war, combined with a tendency to be quick to punish those who were considered criminals and a relatively low level of awareness of the law. All of this has led to the existence of the problem of crime in the law enforcement agencies of the republic, and this problem is still relevant today, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. The most common violations in the police at that time were: alcoholism, abuse of office, connections with criminals, violations of the law during the detention of citizens and the conduct of investigations, failure to comply with orders, bribery, embezzlement, domestic and moral decay, desertion, disclosure of official secrets, unauthorised abandonment of duty, illegal use of weapons and, as a result, injury or killing of citizens, negligence in the performance of official duties, and loss of personal weapons. Most cases of lawbreaking were committed by police officers who were intoxicated. During this period, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR took a number of measures to improve the situation: offenders were dismissed from the police and brought to trial, and the leadership of those local police forces with the highest number of such violations was changed. This was done on the basis of an analysis of the flow of investigative cases, inspection of documentation and the state of work of local police bodies in the field of training their personnel.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on police recorded domestic abuse: Empirical evidence from seven English police forces

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have provided an unprecedented opportunity to study how such situational factors affect police recorded domestic abuse. This article presents findings from a large, representative study of the effect of the introduction and lifting of lockdowns on the volume and nature of domestic abuse recorded by seven English police forces within the first 12 months of the pandemic. The results suggest that lockdowns and the pandemic context did not create the domestic abuse crisis, and that the crisis does not go away when lockdown restrictions lift. Lockdowns interact with and amplify underlying patterns of domestic abuse. Notable differences between police forces suggest that local contexts and local police force practices play a role, with implications beyond pandemic contexts.

Police as first reponders improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival

BackgroundPolice forces are abundant circulating and might arrive before the emergency services to Out-of-Hospital-Cardiac-Arrest victims. If properly trained, they can provide basic life support and early defibrillation within minutes, probably increasing the survival of the victims. We evaluated the impact of local police as first responders on the survival rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims in Navarra, Spain, over 7 years.MethodsA retrospective analysis of an ongoing Out-of-Hospital Cardiac registry to compare the characteristics and survival of Out-of-Hospital-Cardiac-Arrest victims attended to in first place by local police, other first responders, and emergency ambulance services between 2014 and 2020.ResultsOf 628 cases, 73.7% were men (aged 68.9 ± 15.8), and 26.3% were women (aged 65,0 ± 14,7 years, p < 0.01). Overall survival of patients attended to by police in the first place was 17.8%, other first responders 17.4% and emergency services 13.5% with no significant differences (p > 0.1). Time to initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation is significant for survival. When police arrived first and started CPR before the emergency services, they arrived at a mean of 5.4 ± 3 min earlier (SD = 3.10). This early police intervention showed an increase in the probability of survival by 10.1%.ConclusionsThe privileged location and the sole amount of personnel of local police forces trained in life support and their fast delivery of defibrillators as first responders can improve the survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims.

The Effectiveness of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Building the Capacity of Local Police Forces: Case of Kosovo

Kosovo has historically been the scene of ethnic-driven regional conflicts among the communities. After the disengagement of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1992, the conflicts that had begun with the independence declarations of the Republics of SFRY eventually evolved into ethnic disputes between Serbs and Albanians. As the United Nations (UN) failed to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated an air campaign to stop armed attacks by Serbian Military Forces on the Albanian civil communities. The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in 1999 to restore peace and stability in Kosovo. One of the mandated tasks of the UNMIK was to establish the local police known as Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and to build its capacity. The objectives of this research are to determine whether the UNMIK was effective and successful in building the KPS’s capacity. A set of new success criteria is developed and applied to evaluate the success of UNMIK in this mandated task. Data for this study were collected using official reports of the UN and the crime statistics of the KPS. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that UNMIK was successful in establishing a local police force.

Dating hot spot to fraud hot spot: Targeting the social characteristics of romance fraud victims in England and Wales

AbstractResearch SummaryWe found that romance fraud was rising year‐on‐year across every region in England and Wales, increasing 55% during the 3 years between October 2018 and October 2021. Fifty percent of all the romance fraud victims in the period resided in 17% of the places where romance fraud had occurred. A total of 439 locations (outward postcode areas) were identified as the “power few” in the first year of the data set. Of these 439 locations, 162 of them recurred in both of the following years, becoming chronic “hot spot” locations containing more than one in six of all reported romance fraud victims. The demography of victims in repeat locations differed considerably, but hot spots were more frequently predominantly populated by less affluent populations.Policy ImplicationsWe conclude that the current national one‐size‐fits‐all fraud prevention approach may not be the most efficient or effective way to reach those victims who most require crime prevention advice. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, based in the City of London Police, could adopt a tailored approach to providing preventative information to local police forces based on the year‐to‐year patterns in crime and the associated intelligence provided by sociodemographic data sources such as Acorn.

Understanding the illicit drug distribution in England: a data-centric approach to the County Lines Model.

The County Lines Model (CLM) is a relatively new illicit drugs distribution method found in Great Britain. The CLM has brought modern slavery and public health issues, while challenging the law-enforcement capacity to act, as coordination between different local police forces is necessary. Our objective is to understand the territorial logic behind the line operators when establishing a connection between two places. We use three different spatial models (gravity, radiation and retail models), as each one of them understands flow from place i to j in a different way. Using public data from the Metropolitan Police of London, we train and cross-validate the models to understand which of the different physical and socio-demographic variables are considered when establishing a connection. We analyse hospital admissions by drugs, disposable household income, police presence and knife crime events, in addition to the population of a particular place and the distance and travel times between two different locations. Our results show that knife crime events and hospital admissions by misuse of drugs are the most important variables. We also find that London operators distribute to the territory known as the 'south' of England, as negligible presence of them is observed outside of it.

C.L.R. James’ Beyond A Boundary

C.L.R. James’ <i>Beyond A Boundary</i>

Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era

Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era

Organized crime as a link between inequality and corruption

We study a model that establishes a novel theoretical rationale for the empirically well-documented relation between inequality and corruption. According to our model, inequality can nurture corruption by empowering organized crime because collusion between local police forces and criminal organizations is more likely in societies characterized by high inequality or weak security forces. Law enforcement and organized crime have a strong incentive to collude due to efficiency gains from specialization. However, their agreement breaks down when the mobsters can no longer credibly commit to joint rent maximization and thus start to compete with law enforcement for citizens’ wealth. The mobsters then non-violently monopolize the market for extortion by undercutting the police forces, similar to a strategy of predatory pricing. Criminal collusion is thus not very different from its corporate equivalent; hence, similar policy measures should be promising. In addition, our model also suggests that the criminal organization’s higher efficiency in extracting rents has a greater impact when the relative power between law enforcement and organized crime is rather balanced. Accordingly, when violent conflict becomes less predictable, non-violent elements of relative power become more relevant. Our model also allows for the interpretation that in the absence of strong social norms against corruption, organized crime is more difficult to challenge.

An overview of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in northeast Brazil: NMR-based identification and analysis of ecstasy tablets by GC-MS

The actual illicit market for synthetic drugs is characterized by a wide variety of psychoactive substances of different chemical and pharmacological classes, such as amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances. The knowledge about its chemical composition, as well as the nature and quantity of the active substances present, is important for emergency care in intoxication cases by these substances and to establish adequate chemical and toxicological analysis procedures in forensic laboratories. The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances in the states of Bahia and Sergipe, in the northeast region of Brazil, involving samples of drugs seized by the local police forces from 2014 to 2019. In a total of 121 seized and analyzed samples, in which ecstasy tablets predominated (n = 101), nineteen substances were identified using GC-MS and 1D NMR techniques, comprising classical synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS). In order to determine the composition of ecstasy tablets, an analytical method based on GC-MS was applied after validation. Analyzes of 101 ecstasy tablets showed that MDMA was the main substance, being found in 57% of the samples, in amounts between 27.3 and 187.1 mg per tablet. In addition, mixtures of MDMA, MDA, synthetic cathinones and caffeine were observed in 34 samples. These results demonstrate that the variety of substances found and the composition of seized materials in northeast Brazil is similar to other studies carried out previously in other Brazilian regions.

Enhancing Drones for Law Enforcement and Capacity Monitoring at Open Large Events

Police tasks related with law enforcement and citizen protection have gained a very useful asset in drones. Crowded demonstrations, large sporting events, or summer festivals are typical situations when aerial surveillance is necessary. The eyes in the sky are moving from the use of manned helicopters to drones due to costs, environmental impact, and discretion, resulting in local, regional, and national police forces possessing specific units equipped with drones. In this paper, we describe an artificial intelligence solution developed for the Castelldefels local police (Barcelona, Spain) to enhance the capabilities of drones used for the surveillance of large events. In particular, we propose a novel methodology for the efficient integration of deep learning algorithms in drone avionics. This integration improves the capabilities of the drone for tasks related with capacity control. These tasks have been very relevant during the pandemic and beyond. Controlling the number of persons in an open area is crucial when the expected crowd might exceed the capacity of the area and put humans in danger. The new methodology proposes an efficient and accurate execution of deep learning algorithms, which are usually highly demanding for computation resources. Results show that the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models are too slow when utilised in the drone standard equipment. These models lose accuracy when images are taken at altitudes above 30 m. With our new methodology, these two drawbacks can be overcome and results with good accuracy (96% correct segmentation and between 20% and 35% mean average proportional error) can be obtained in less than 20 s.

Community Policing Solutions for Religion-on-Religion Conflict: Lessons from an Indian Case Study

UN peacekeepers face new conditions of conflict today, which call for expanded peacekeeping strategies. Among these new conditions is the increasing localization of violent conflict, especially among extra-state forces that are mobilized by ideological and religious passions. Responding to such challenges, the UN and its multinational partners attend increasingly to regional and local settings of intergroup tension and conflict. Among the consequences are greater emphasis on relations between UN peacekeeping and local police forces and on community policing. In this essay, we argue that these new peacekeeping directions are promising but lack one key dimension: attention to unique behavioral features of local, religion-on-religion conflict. Because such conflict plays an increasing role in location-specific tension and violence, it is increasingly important for peacekeepers to learn how to identify and analyze these unique features in real time and then reshape peacekeeping strategies accordingly. To illustrate how it is possible to do so, we introduce a detailed case study of successful community policing of religion-on-religion conflict: Muslim-Hindu intergroup conflict in Madhya Pradesh India.

‘You can get it if you really want?’: The use of Caribbean music genres in Death in Paradise

Set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie and filmed on Guadeloupe, British/French co-production Death in Paradise (2011–present) frequently uses reggae, amongst other perceived local styles, as its diegetic and non-diegetic music. Reggae is historically a music of resistance, specifically resistance to oppression by White colonial power structures. That a British/French co-production uses reggae to reinforce an elided pan-Caribbean location featuring a White, male, British or Irish DI in charge of a local Black police force can be read as stereotypical. When added to a British/French series such as this, with what can be read as colonialist discourses, the readings can become problematic. This article argues that, rather than simply being part of the series’ banal diegetic nationalism (i.e. the series’ flagging itself as a particular identity/-ties), the use of Caribbean music genres in this context can be read as subverting their original anti-colonialist context and both supporting and exacerbating a (perceived) colonialist reading for the series.

Police Reforms' Impacts on Nigeria Police Leadership

Purpose: The study's goal was to ascertain how leadership within the Nigerian police force was affected by police reforms with regard to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation. &#x0D; Methodology: Based on functional leadership theory, the study was conducted. Police officers and members of the public completed questionnaires that were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics created with SPSS were used to evaluate quantitative data. The examination of qualitative data using content analysis. Edited and coded data were entered into SPSS for efficient analysis. Frequency tables and graphs were used to portray the quantitative data for rapid and simple comprehension. In prose, the qualitative data was given. &#x0D; Results: The study found that the leadership in the police service was influenced by organizational structure, police education, organizational culture, and relationships with the local police force. According to the respondents, the organizational structure of the police department, police officer training, organizational culture, and the interaction between the police and the community all had a significant impact on police leadership. These elements benefited police leadership. The police leadership further had difficulties with the recent reforms. According to the responders, police leadership had not developed any plans to lessen the difficulties they were encountering. &#x0D; Conclusion: According to the study's findings, the leadership at FCID headquarters is significantly influenced by organizational structure, police officer education levels, organizational culture, police-community interactions, and organizational structure. &#x0D; Recommendations: According to the report, the oversight committee in charge of Nigeria's police reforms has to establish a culture of organizational change in order to deal with the dynamic leadership issues that are impeding the reform process as a whole. The public should be made aware of the importance of adopting a community policing policy through extensive advertisements. The study suggests that a follow-up study be done, but this time to examine how county commissioners' influence police leadership in a decentralized system.

Транснациональная полицейская деятельность современных государств в условиях глобализации

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the transnational police activity of modern states. The objectives of the study are to analyze how the political reactions to the globalization of the social order influenced the structure and scope of the police activities, its organizational culture, priorities and processes. Author analyses the key stockholders in the international police cooperation, the role of non-commercial organizations, the methods of interaction in the field of combating organized crime, cyber-crime, illegal migration and other international offences, as well as police functions in the spheres of peace and safety maintenance in the post-war zones, peacemaking support, reaction to transnational emergencies and the search for missing people abroad. In the course of the study, the author concludes that even though the idea of an international police force has a long history, it only became a reality under the auspices of the United Nations Organization in the 1960s. A powerful global police structure has been created. Common databases and common police guidelines guarantee an interaction and joint investigation activities in all continental regions. Despite the fact that the necessity of the international cooperation is obvious, the creation of the successful scheme for such an interaction is still a challenging issue. Legal and political systems, standards, procedures related to justice vary in different countries. Local police forces possess varying levels of competence and budget in order to support activities ensuring the national security.

Police stops, suspicion and the influence of police department cultures: a look into the Belgian context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how suspicion that leads to a police stop is developed by police officers in Belgium, and the way in which police department culture influences the creation of suspicion.Design/methodology/approachThe data on which this article is based are the result of an ethnographic study within two local Belgian police forces. In total, the researcher has observed for a total amount of 750 h the day-to-day practices of police officers in different police services. Next to that, 37 in-depth interviews were taken from police officers employed in the same services that participated in the observations.FindingsWhile the creation of suspicion in a police officer's mind is a complex process that is influenced by various factors such as the individual characteristics of the police officer and the applicable legislation, the impact of police department culture is equally important and can be responsible for maintaining discriminatory and stereotypical mindsets.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in the fact that it offers insight into the Belgian police stop practice, a topic about which not much is known on an international level. In addition, it also focuses on the role of departmental cultures in the actions of police officers.