Police Detection Research Articles

Some Phenomenological Aspects of Prostitution in Croatia

The paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of prostitution in Croatia according to the prostitution categorisation into low, medium and high-level prostitution. The goal of the conducted study and this paper is to provide an in-depth insight into prostitution phenomenology, and based on that, on influencing factors, as well as about the possible directions of prevention regarding the etiology of prostitution. For the purpose of transparency and systematic presentation, semi-structured interviews with persons engaged in prostitution and police officers engaged in the prevention of prostitution were divided into mentioned prostitution categorisation and thematic division of the questionnaire was carried out according to the questionnaire presented in the introduction and presented in a table for the sake of transparency, after which the analysis strives to bring out conclusions about the possible patterns of the phenomenon itself. In addition, at the end of the research, the table shows the general police officers’ knowledge of the phenomenon of prostitution, their attitudes regarding the phenomenon itself and the current legislative framework. The results of research and analysis show that street prostitution has almost disappeared in Croatia, while medium-level prostitution is dominant because it offers a significantly higher level of protection and safety (both physical and from stigmatization, as well as police detection). High-level prostitution is more in the focus of new communication channels and media full of "successful" beauties who live "on the high side", and most often it is about women who have a certain legal "occupation/profession", while they engage in prostitution occasionally in order to improve their financial situation, while most of them grew up in average families without detected trauma or victimization.

Figuring Tough Subjects: Vague Labor and Narratorial Detection in Bleak House

ABSTRACT This article examines Dickens’s Bleak House alongside the history of crossing-sweeping, a species of “vague” labor whose variable duties frustrated practices of Foucauldian discipline inside and outside Victorian novels. To depict this labor, the article argues, Dickens’s novel makes use of the flexible mechanisms of social management Foucault calls “security,” and, more specifically, the aesthetic infrastructure of these mechanisms, a regime of representation the essay terms “figural.” This regime mobilizes “typical” personae, like “the crossing-sweeper” and “the nervous woman,” to represent and regulate ungraspable groups. These vaguely formulated figures, the article shows, “problematize” those persons who resemble them, making them objects of action within relevant dispositifs (e.g., health, criminality, sexuality). By recounting the figural pursuits of his crossing-sweeper (Jo) by a police detective (Inspector Bucket), other professionals, and laypeople, Dickens ironizes the use of figures, exposing figures’ typifying effects and the absurd presumptions of “narratorial” omniscience they license. In turn, Dickens illuminates the violent abstractions effected by the agencies that deploy figures to regulate social vagueness. By moving between figures’ police-effects and figural policing, this article expands the history of police detection to include its participation in regimes of representation and traces the figural interventions central to the novel form.

UNEMPLOYMENT, COMMERCIAL MOTORCYCLE AND CRIME IN NIGERIA

Employment in Nigerian is pervasive and is further compound by the present economic recession in which many companies have downsized and increasing the number of unemployed. r millions of jobless and unskilled Nigerians. Driven by the hash economic climate many unemployed and unskilled Nigerians particularly youths have seen riding commercial motorcycle as a source of survival. Despite providing daily means for earning a living for many unemployed people, motorbikes have also become an instrument for committing crimes by many youths with high propensity for criminal behaviour. In many urban and rural areas where commercial motorcycles operate, motorbikes provide easy means for criminals to escape without police detection and apprehension. Many commercial motorcyclists have been involved in petty crimes such as hand bag and telephone snatching, and more dangerous crimes such as armed robbery, rapes, kidnapping and suicide bombing. This paper examines how unemployment propels jobless people into using commercial motorcycle to commit crime.

What contributes to drug driving? An exploratory investigation into the influence of problematic substance use, roadside testing and alternative transport options

Despite a strong reliance on enforcement approaches to prevent drug driving in Australia, this behaviour is still prevalent. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of problematic drug use (i.e., showing indications of addiction), exposure to roadside drug testing, the use of detection avoidance strategies, and perceptions relating to alternative transport options on drug driving among illicit drug users. A total of 1,541 licensed drivers from the states of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria completed an online survey. The survey collected demographic and problematic substance use information, as well as items assessing drug driving behaviour. Cannabis was reported to be the most commonly used drug (36.0%); the most common drug of problematic use (27.9%), and the drug most often taken prior to driving (43.5%). Observing police operating Roadside Drug Tests (RDT) was more common among the participants than being tested by RDT (35.7% vs 23%). The results indicated a significant association between being a drug driver and observing or being tested by RDT. The drug drivers were significantly more likely to report using a range of strategies to avoid police detection than the non-drug drivers. Similarly, the drug drivers reported that it was more difficult for them to use various alternative transport options than the non-drug drivers. Decision tree analyses found that significant predictors of self-reported drug driving were problematic drug use, holding a provisional or probationary licence, earning a low- or middle-income, and using detection avoidance strategies like remaining watchful for police vehicles and taking back streets. The findings of this study suggest that ongoing improvements to drug driving enforcement will need to be complemented by health-based approaches designed to reduce drug abuse and dependence, and improvements to public transport, in order to achieve a sustainable reduction in drug driving.

Photographing Crime Scenes in 20th-Century London: Microhistories of Domestic Murder. By Alexa Neale

We are perhaps so used to ‘seeing’ crime scenes and being exposed to the minute details of murder investigations that its development as a method and process of criminal inquiry has been taken for granted. Neale’s excellent Photographing Crime Scenes provides a fascinating, valuable, and important insight into the use of forensic photographs to understand how crime scenes were understood historically. Focusing on domestic murders in London, Neale persuasively argues that the role of photography was most crucial in the courtroom and did not focus in detail, but ‘about visualizing a narrative in the courtroom than investigating and establishing that narrative in police detection’ (p. 2). Drawing attention to the cultural and social production of crime scene photography, Neale’s analysis emphasizes that these sources were not conceived of as visual facts, and draws attention to the ways in which class, race, and gender shaped these narratives and how crimes scenes were presented and received through the prosecution process and in court. Other sources, particularly the press and other forms of cultural media, are woven through Neale’s expert analysis of crime scene photography to demonstrate how these images were themselves a product of broader social and cultural processes.

Differential updating and morality: Is the way offenders learn from police detection associated with their personal morals?

The majority of differential deterrability research has investigated whether people differ in the extent to which a perceived threat of sanctions deters them from committing a crime. Less is known about the differential influence of criminal justice intervention on sanction threat perceptions. According to deterrence theory, however, for justice intervention to successfully deter crime, a process of perceptual updating is required. In the current study, we used panel data from German adolescents to supplement the research on differential updating. We applied fixed effects regressions to analyze whether people with weaker or stronger morals update their perceptions of detection risk differently following experiences of police detection. Our findings suggest that they do: risk perceptions increased more in adolescents with weak morals than in adolescents with strong morals when they experienced a higher certainty of detection (a higher detection rate). Combined with previous findings on differential deterrence (by personal morality), our results indicate that deterrence processes may—for individuals with weak morals—play a more critical role in the prevention of crime than previous nondifferential research has suggested.

Differential updating and morality: Is the way offenders learn from police detection associated with their personal morals?

Differential updating and morality: Is the way offenders learn from police detection associated with their personal morals?

Drug policing down under: An investigation of panic consumption, internal concealment and the use of drug amnesty bins among a sample of Australian festivalgoers.

The use of drug detection dogs and other punitive policing methods remain common at music festivals in Australia and elsewhere, despite concern about iatrogenic effects and recommendations for their overhaul. While drug amnesty bins are a commonly implemented strategy purported to mitigate risk associated with policing, the efficacy of this intervention is debated. This paper investigates two of the most concerning iatrogenic effects of drug policing practices at Australian festivals - internal concealment and panic consumption- and explores the potential efficacy of drug amnesty bins. A stepped, mixed methods study (qual→QUANT→qual) comprised qualitative interviews with key informants and festivalgoers, and a quantitative online survey completed by almost 2000 Australian festivalgoers (52% male; median age 20 years old). Descriptive statistics were performed alongside bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions predicting internal concealment and panic consumption. Inductive thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data. Among respondents who had ever used illicit drugs at festivals (n=1065), 23% reported hiding drugs internally to evade police detection and 17% reported panic consumption. Female respondents and respondents expecting dogs were at greater odds of reporting internal concealment. The qualitative data provided greater insight into the risky nature of internal concealment practices and panic incited by police at the gates. When asked if they would have considered discarding their drugs into a drug amnesty bin had they been concerned about detection, less than a quarter (24%) said they definitely or probably would have. This paper adds to the evidence regarding iatrogenic effects of punitive drug policing practices at festivals. The findings have implications for shifting away from punitive policies to ones focused on public health. Additionally, the findings suggest drug amnesty bins should not be viewed as an adequate response for averting harms from drug policing.

Violence against sex workers: Correlates and Changes under ‘End-Demand’ legislation in Canada: A five city study

ABSTRACT Canada is among several countries to have implemented ‘end-demand’ criminalization frameworks for sex work. Drawing on interviews with sex workers (n = 200) in five cities, we employed multivariate logistic regression to identify associations with workplace violence. We also analysed descriptive data on trafficking and on workplace violence under end-demand legislation. In the past 12 months, being unable to call 911 in a safety emergency at work for fear of police detection (Adjusted Odd Ratio AOR: 4.307, 95% Confidence Interval CI: 1.697 –10.927), being unable to screen clients due to fear of police detection (AOR: 2.175, 95% CI: 1.074 –4.405), having experienced anti-sex work housing policy/eviction (AOR: 2.031, 95% CI: 0.897–4.598), and being Indigenous (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 2.167, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.060–4.428) were all independently associated with workplace violence in the past 12 months. Of those who worked prior to the law change (n = 167), a majority of respondents (80.24% (134)) reported that violence in the workplace had increased or stayed the same compared to the previous criminalization model and 87.43% (n = 146) reported it was harder or the same to get help in an emergency.

Geeks and Newbies: Investigating the Criminal Expertise of Online Sex Offenders

ABSTRACT While online sex offenders use a wide range of strategies to try to avoid police detection, attempts to avoid detection of child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) and online sexual solicitation of children have received very little attention. This study aims to understand online sex offenders’ behaviors by modeling the factors associated with their use of technological data protection and anonymity preservation strategies. The data is based on a sample of 199 men involved in crimes related to the use of child pornography or sexual solicitation of minors online. The analytical strategy based on the use of an artificial neural network (ANN), a machine-learning system, identified two trends. First, those who displayed problematic substance use and sexual thoughts and fantasies as well as behaviors reported to be preoccupying did not use specific strategies to avoid police detection. Second, two combinations of factors predict use of police anti-detection strategy, suggesting that the criminal expertise of online sex offenders is manifested in two different patterns: those building on existing knowledge, and those learning skills through previous judicial experience.

Geeks and Newbies: Investigating the Criminal Expertise of Online Sex Offenders

While online sex offenders use a wide range of strategies to try to avoid police detection, attempts to avoid detection of child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) and online sexual solicitation of children have received very little attention. This study aims to understand online sex offenders’ behaviors by modeling the factors associated with their use of technological data protection and anonymity preservation strategies. The data is based on a sample of 199 men involved in crimes related to the use of child pornography or sexual solicitation of minors online. The analytical strategy based on the use of an artificial neural network (ANN), a machine-learning system, identified two trends. First, those who displayed problematic substance use and sexual thoughts and fantasies as well as behaviors reported to be preoccupying did not use specific strategies to avoid police detection. Second, two combinations of factors predict use of police anti-detection strategy, suggesting that the criminal expertise of online sex offenders is manifested in two different patterns: those building on existing knowledge, and those learning skills through previous judicial experience.

Time after time: Factors predicting murder series' duration

PurposeThe duration of time that the serial offender remains free in the community to commit murders may be seen as a direct measure of their longevity; a sign of their success. The aim of this study is to predict the duration of the serial homicide series by examining the factors that contribute to the length of time a serial murderer is able to remain free of police detection. MethodsGeneralized estimating equations with a negative binomial link function were used to examine factors predicting the duration of series in a sample of 1258 serial murder cases. ResultsResults showed that offenders' criminal history, race (i.e., White and Hispanic), and victims of minority backgrounds significantly predicted longer duration in their murder series. A combination of multiple killing methods and atypical methods also predicted longer murder series, while the moving of the victim's body predicted shorter duration in the series. ConclusionsThis study builds upon the serial homicide literature, particularly the duration of the series. Results from this study help inform investigative efforts in serial homicide cases.

Drug offence detection during the pandemic: An ARIMA analysis of rates and regional differences in Queensland, Australia

Public commentary has offered mixed opinion on the likely impact of COVID-19 restrictions on drug-related offending. On the one hand, it is argued that drug users – and the drug markets in which they interact – may have become the incidental targets of law enforcement as police seek to enforce social distancing regulations by focusing their efforts on street-level pedestrian activity or open-air gatherings. On the other, interstate border closures and restrictions on person and freight traffic are thought to have interrupted illicit drug supply chains, temporarily reducing or displacing market activity at the street level and thus reducing police detections of drug users. In this study, we extend current analyses of crime during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore how the rate of police detection for drug possession and other drug-related offences has changed. Using crime data from the Australian state of Queensland, we use Auto-Regressive Integrated and Moving Average time series modelling techniques to explore historical trends and their dynamic forecasts. We then compare actual offence rates for March through June to identify any statistically significant changes. We find that reported drug offences significantly vary across time and location highlighting that the impact of COVID-19 is not universal across Queensland. Thus, the significant heterogeneity in local drug market dynamics that has elsewhere been documented remains even in a major crisis with significant changes in policing activity and resource allocation. Our analysis has significant import for criminal justice practitioners in further understanding drug market dynamics and drug-related offending during COVID-19 restrictions.

Is There an "Expert" Stranger Rapist?

The concept of expertise applied to the criminal context assumes that offenders are driven by the abilities to both maximize the payoffs and minimize the risks associated with the crime-commission. This study tested the articulation between these two types of decisions taken by stranger rapists to successfully commit their crime. Specifically, this study aims to identify whether offenders whose modus operandi is indicative of criminal expertise are more likely to use forensic awareness strategies. Multivariate analyses conducted on 1,551 cases showed that stranger rapists who adopted behaviors indicative of expertise were more likely to use forensic awareness strategies to decrease the risk of police detection. Mixed associations were found between the number of forensic awareness strategies and their nature (i.e., protecting identity vs. destroying evidence) and rapists’ expertise, thus leading to a four-type theoretical classification of expertise: novice, bold, opportunistic, and expert stranger rapists. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Sex Workers’ Access to Police Assistance in Safety Emergencies and Means of Escape from Situations of Violence and Confinement under an “End Demand” Criminalization Model: A Five City Study in Canada

There is limited available evidence on sex workers (SW) ability to access police protection or means of escaping situations of violence and confinement under an “end demand” criminalization model. Of 200 SW in five cities in Canada, 62 (31.0%) reported being unable to call 911 if they or another SW were in a safety emergency due to fear of police detection (of themselves, their colleagues or their management). In multivariate logistic regression, police harassment–linked to social and racial profiling in the past 12 months (being carded or asked for ID documents, followed by police or detained without arrest) (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 5.225, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.199–12.417), being Indigenous (AOR: 2.078, 95% CI: 0.849–5.084) or being in Ottawa (AOR: 2.317, 95% CI: 0.865–6.209) were associated with higher odds of being unable to call 911, while older age was associated with lower odds (AOR: 0.941 per year older, 95% CI: 0.901–0.982). In descriptive statistics, of 115 SW who had experienced violence or confinement at work in the past 12 months, 19 (16.52%) reported the incident to police. Other sex workers with shared expenses were the most commonly reported group to have assisted sex workers to escape situations of violence or confinement in the past 12 months (n = 13, 35.14%). One of the least commonly reported groups to have assisted sex workers to escape situations of violence or confinement in the past 12 months were police (n = 2, 5.41%). The findings of this study illustrate how the current “end demand” criminalization framework compromises sex workers’ access to assistance in safety emergencies.

Foreign Object Insertion in Sexual Homicide: A New Perspective.

Foreign object insertion (FOI) is considered as an unusual behavior and has been defined as the involuntary insertion of any object, by another individual, into any orifice of the victim. Although there is some research on the prevalence and nature of FOI in sexual homicides, there is very little on the characteristics of cases where FOI occurs, and no previous research has compared cases with and without FOI. Given the lack of research on FOI in general and the dissemination of untested ideas regarding the correlates of this behavior specifically, the current study aims to shine new light on sexual homicide cases involving FOI by examining the offender, victim, and crime characteristics associated with FOI. Using a sample of 662 cases of sexual homicide, chi-square and logistic regression analyses were used to compare cases with and without FOI. Results showed that offenders who experienced sexual dysfunction and victims who used alcohol/drugs prior to the crime were more likely to be involved in cases with FOI. Cases where victims were beaten, vaginal/anal fisting acts were perpetrated, and mutilation of genitals were observed, were more likely to show evidence of FOI. Finally, postmortem sexual activities and the use of strategies by offenders to avoid police detection were also more likely to occur in sexual homicide cases characterized by FOI. These findings are discussed in light of the literature on sexual homicide, the vulnerability of victims, and the manifestation of sadism. Practical implications are also discussed.

A method of traffic police detection based on attention mechanism in natural scene

The complex and varied urban road conditions have always been a difficult and a pivotal component in the study of driverless technology especially at intersections. In China, it is necessary for driverless cars to understand the gestures of traffic police. To identify the traffic police gesture at the intersection, the key step is to detect the traffic police at the intersection. At present, the research on traffic police detection is still in its infancy, there exists common problems such as slow detection speed and other real time problems in this method, and there is not a standardized traffic police data set ether. For the real time problems, this paper introduces the attention mechanism, and proposes a new real-time detection method of traffic police based on attention mechanism. The method proposed in this paper has strong robustness and can quickly complete the target detection task. For the data set problem, this paper analyzes and discloses similar data sets published through research. In the meanwhile, this paper collects 24,530 video data on the actual road, and it extracts and saves 12,000 pictures containing traffic police at frame rate of 30FPS as traffic police detection training and validated data set.

Rapists' behavior to avoid police detection

Rapists' behavior to avoid police detection

Evading Detection during Adolescence: The Role of Criminal Capital and Psychosocial Factors

Many adolescents engage in crime, but not all youth are caught by law enforcement. Previous work highlights the importance of criminal capital, or assets that help individuals evade police detection. Few studies have extended this work to adolescent offender populations or have considered the contribution of psychosocial and contextual factors to arrest avoidance. The current study uses data from a longitudinal study of first-time adolescent offenders to evaluate the contribution of criminal capital, psychosocial and contextual variables in predicting re-arrest. The results from the longitudinal random effect logit models confirm the contribution of established criminal capital variables in predicting arrest but also highlight the role of psychosocial predictors (future expectations and intelligence). Contextual factors such as parenting and neighborhood disorder had no association with the likelihood of re-arrest. These findings highlight several factors that help youth avoid re-arrest, and may exacerbate continued patterns of illegal behavior.

Rapists' behaviors to avoid police detection

Rapists' behaviors to avoid police detection