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Abstract: Abstract This paper draws from the literature on security networks and policy transfer to examine the privatization of social control in the downtown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. We show how a consortium of public and private entities transferred a security policy from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, leading to the creation of the Downtown Community Safety Partnership (DCSP) that essentially gave the urban governance and security keys to the city to private organizations. The policy transfers jurisdiction and a policing mentality to a network led by a major corporate player in downtown Winnipeg, True North Sports and Entertainment (TNSE), which is mobilizing social and economic capital to expand the social control that occurs inside its corporate hockey rink to downtown Winnipeg. Situating our contribution in the literature on privatization of criminal justice, we examine the policy itself and the effects of the DCSP model of urban security. Invoking the notion of urban growth machines, we also situate these developments in a discussion of urban capital expansion and entrenchment. PubDate: 2022-08-02
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Abstract: Abstract There is evidence to suggest that law enforcement data are a valid and reliable source for firearm violence data. Data for this exploratory study come from law enforcement sources in a large Midwestern city and include all unintentional nonfatal shooting incidents (n = 177) occurring in between 2017 and 2019. Incidents most commonly occurred in the fall season, during nighttime hours, and at a residence. Victims were more likely to be male, Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, and 18–34 years old. Their injuries resulted from improper firearm handling. Most victims were wounded in their extremities and did not engage emergency medical/ambulance services before seeking medical care. This study demonstrates the utility of law enforcement data as a source for additional context surrounding unintentional nonfatal shooting incidents. Findings suggest two policy implications: requiring a gun safety course as part of the permitting process and treating gun safety as a life skill by advocating for gun safety courses in schools. PubDate: 2022-07-27
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Abstract: Abstract This paper explores attitudes to and experiences of patron banning policy (which prohibits an individual from entering a nightlife area or venue after engaging in anti-social behaviour) in Queensland, Australia. Key informant interviews were conducted with 66 participants from health, justice, industry, and government sectors across the state. Interviews were semi-structured, and transcripts were examined using thematic analysis. Overall, key informants reported that patron banning provisions helped to keep out customers who cause problems in venues and that ID scanners helped to enforce bans. There was some concern about displacement of banned patrons to other nightlife areas, the discretionary nature of venue bans, the potential for banning notices to be misused, and a general perception that police-imposed bans should be longer than the current 10 days. The majority of interviewees were supportive of patron banning and felt that it could (positively) affect patron behaviours. A number of recommendations were suggested to refine the framing and operation of Queensland’s banning policy. PubDate: 2022-06-28
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Abstract: Abstract This paper explores farmer’s experiences of crime and their attitudes towards crime prevention in one rural hinterland. Farmer’s attitudes about safety and crime present a dichotomy: fear of victimisation was relatively high, yet few participants reported having been victimised, and there was a perception that agricultural crime was high in Ireland but low in their locality. Feelings of insecurity were partly influenced by the closure of rural Garda stations and uneven distribution of information technology. Participants were most concerned with theft of small machinery, violent coercion connected to fraudulent work, illegal dumping and trespassing, rather than thefts of expensive machinery and livestock. Participants reported being unable to afford some crime prevention measures and/or having insufficient time to implement them. The paper concludes by highlighting the relevance of Farrell and Tilley’s (2020) concept of elegant security to farm crime and discussing the role of community policing. PubDate: 2022-06-18
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This study reports the variation in safety perceptions of university students (N = 196 university students) on university campuses in South China, focusing on the risk of crime and traffic incidents. Using a public participation geographic information system, we explore potential links between students’ perceptions and campus characteristics. We conclude that environmental cues associated with the risk of crime victimisation (e.g. lack of natural surveillance) are more often linked to poorer safety perceptions than those linked to the risk of traffic conditions. Although half of the students declare feeling safe on campus, their perception varies by individual characteristics, frequency of use, and daily experiences. Inspections of campuses environments using a door-to-door perspective are advised when safety becomes an integral part of sustainability planning of universities worldwide. PubDate: 2022-05-10 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00148-y
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This article examines recent anti-cheating practices in the sport of chess with a focus on situational crime prevention. On the one hand, anti-cheating protection measures in chess could be considered relatively belated compared with other sports. On the other hand, however, this ‘lag’ might be appropriate since chess governing bodies have not yet introduced overly intrusive rules. These two interacting perspectives shape the aim and objectives of this research designed to protect the chess community from cheating by identifying adequate protection measures in the light of environmental criminology and sports law. PubDate: 2022-05-04 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00149-x
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Abstract: Abstract In line with earlier criminological research on gender differences in criminality, this study investigates gender differences in shoplifting. Using data from 1150 young adults residing in Istanbul, Turkey, it applies rational choice theory (RCT) to shoplifting by men and women. The findings confirm earlier research indicating that rational decisions to commit crimes vary by gender. Shoplifting intentions only vary in terms of guilt. The implications for future studies applying the RCT framework and limitations of the current study are discussed. PubDate: 2022-04-13 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00145-1
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Abstract: Abstract Road safety laws play a vital role in the system of enhancing road safety outcomes. Ineffective and outdated laws do not provide the essential foundation needed for generating and maintaining positive community attitudes towards road safety. The Road Transport Act 2018 of Bangladesh (RTA2018) took almost a decade in the making, owing to strong resistance by transport companies. The RTA2018 aims to improve road safety by primarily punishing the offenders. This article finds that the provisions of the RTA2018 concerning the liability for deaths are flawed in many respects having implications for their enforcement and achievement of the legislation’s professed objective. This is illustrated recently in serious public unrest triggered by the deaths of two students, which led to students taking to the street to protest (Jawad in Road deaths and protests: a cycle doomed to repeat itself, 2021). The current complexities created by overlapping and effectively redundant critical new provisions mean that justice cannot be delivered under the RTA2018. This article demonstrates how the laws in Bangladesh regarding transport workers’ liabilities could be streamlined following the Australian (NSW) model. Specific recommendations are furnished to address flaws in the RTA2018. This detailed analysis of laws may also be used by other countries with poor road safety records to improve their laws. PubDate: 2022-04-10 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00146-0
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Abstract: Abstract While there is a considerable body of research on robbery, including interviews with those convicted of robbery offences, little of this research has been conducted on continental Europe. This research is the first in Serbia to ask incarcerated robbers directly about their preferred targets. An anonymous questionnaire was completed by 117 robbers serving time at the penal institution in Sremska Mitrovica, during July and August 2013. This represented 13% of those imprisoned for robbery throughout various penitentiaries in the Republic of Serbia at the time of the research. The questionnaire consisted of two sections: in the first respondents were asked about factors involved in the preparation and execution of the act of robbery; in the second about factors that influenced the decision to commit robbery. While the emphasis placed on different factors varied with regard to the two sets of questions, the findings suggested that robbers were rational in their choice of target, taking account of accessibility and ease of escape, guardianship and likely profit. PubDate: 2022-04-06 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00144-2
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Abstract: Abstract The terms “paedophilia” and “paedophile” appear regularly in any discourse on sexual offences against children. However, whether their use is justifiable is debatable, as is the question of whether framing this category of offence, and the defining characteristics of those who commit it (and in particular their state of mental health), in these terms justifies claiming that paedophilia is the underlying issue. This article examines the terminological differences between the definition of paedophilia used in medical diagnosis and the very specific definition enacted in the Polish Criminal Code (Art. 200, Para. 1). The results of empirical studies are presented below. Case files under this provision are examined, with special emphasis on the typology of offences and data on the mental health of offenders. This research was conducted as part of Research Project No. 2013/09/N/HS5/04247 and was financed by the National Science Centre. These studies show that a significant proportion of offences labelled “paedophilic” are nothing more than consensual sexual acts between adolescents and that the proportion of offenders afflicted with sexual preference disorders is negligible. The vast majority of cases do not involve paedophilia in the medical sense of the term, and using it this way gives a distorted picture of the topic and steers most of the discussion of it on a completely misguided path. PubDate: 2022-03-29 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00141-5
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Abstract: Abstract Research addressing the perception of security of immigrants in Switzerland dates back to the 2000s. Using data from a victimisation survey conducted in Lugano, Switzerland (N = 7885), this study investigates the security perception of immigrant communities and its correlates. In contrast to previous findings, the analyses suggest that a higher percentage of immigrants perceive the city as highly safe than natives, this being more accentuated among extra-European immigrants and recently arrived migrants. At the neighbourhood level, results are less clear-cut. Collective efficacy, police proximity and the perceived ability of self-defence are the main predictors of high-security perceptions while having been a victim of violent crimes decreases the likelihood of perceiving both city and one's neighbourhood as safe. Despite positive results, the manuscript discusses the need for increasing the reliability and validity of the traditional measures used to question the fear of crime and the need for targeted interventions fostering cultural integration. PubDate: 2022-03-26 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00143-3
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Abstract: Abstract Active shooter events, including those in K-12 schools in the USA, continue to occur. In an effort to protect students, faculty, and staff, several states have implemented policies allowing teachers to be armed while on school premises, with more expected to follow suit. While recent research surveys the general public, school administrators, and policing executives (from a single state) regarding their perceptions of armed teacher policies, there is a dearth of literature that examines the issue from the law enforcement community’s perspective. The present study utilizes a nationwide survey of law enforcement officers, collected in 2020, that encompass a wide variety of job duties, agency types/sizes, and types of communities served. We find widespread support for armed teacher policies; however, respondents expressed a desire for additional training for teachers to better prepare them to respond to an active shooter event. Additional implications for policymakers and school administrators considering this policy are offered. PubDate: 2022-03-24 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-022-00142-4
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Street robbery incident location data recorded over a 3-year period were aggregated into a sample of crime panels (N = 78) and used to construct a series of prospective hot spot maps, based on kernel density estimation. Panels of crime data were analyzed to determine whether the predictive accuracy of prospective hot spot mapping varied by victims’ race and ethnicity. Results from this exploratory study showed that the predictive accuracy of forecasts varied between three groups compared (i.e., White, Black, and Hispanic victims), even after the racial and ethnic composition of each crime panel analyzed was considered. Current findings raise concerns about the potential impact that crime forecasting could have on racial and ethnic minorities, including less protection for some communities of color, but increased police-public contact for others. Implications for place-based policing and on the future of scholarship in this area are discussed. PubDate: 2022-01-04 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-021-00135-9
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Abstract: Abstract Over the last 30 years, crime policy has become a central research area in criminology, and many important studies have been written. The primary focuses of many of these studies have been the so-called punitive turn. But alongside the punitive turn, there has also been a preventive turn and much of the preventive work since the late 1980s has taken presence in what is conceptualized as the community level. In Sweden local crime prevention (LCP), placing the municipal at the center of the work has been developing since the late 1990s. The belief in LCP as the kings’ way to success was confirmed in the latest government crime policy program. Through a study of a Swedish municipal, Landskrona, we analyze how a local crime policy takes form and how it is motivated and rationalized. The majority of Swedish studies on LCP primarily focus on evaluation, trying to measure potential effects. The purpose of the paper is to analyze how LCP is set within a political process and then assembled at the municipality level. The objective was to get close to the actual process of formulating and applying a municipal crime policy. Our research highlights that contrary to political belief, a prudent citizen has to be molded and shaped rather than liberated. Since LCP builds on assuming a consensus as to what the crime problem is, LCP becomes as much a moralistic venture as a crime prevention project. Harmonizing the actual crime-experience of the populace with a politicized picture of crime is a pivotal balancing-act for LCP. And due to the importance of culturally mediated understandings of crime, national problematizations seem to take precedence over local ones, and thus, LCP runs the risk of not validating neither the local populace nor local authorities sense of the crime problem. PubDate: 2022-01-04 DOI: 10.1057/s41300-021-00133-x