Showing papers in "European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research in 2002"

Technology, Criminology and Crime Science

Abstract: Developments in technology have changed the environment of crime, which, in some of its new forms, poses a serious threat to society. At the same time the technologies of crime control are being transformed. If criminology is to respond adequately to this changed environment, it must make radical changes in its mission, its theories and its methodologies, the collective result of which would be to make the discipline more directly relevant to crime control and prevention. This would enhance the effectiveness of these activities and would also open up new and exciting career opportunities for criminologists. If criminology does not change, it will become eclipsed by crime science and will find it increasingly hard to survive – even in the protected environment of universities.

Crime mapping and the training needs of law enforcement

Abstract: This paper explores some of the more recent developments within crime mapping and the broader application of geographical information technology within law enforcement. The information technology (IT) revolution and the reduction in computing costs since the 1980s has brought a range of analytical tools within the budgets of most police services, and one of the most significant changes has been in the way that spatial data are handled. Law enforcement has strong geographic currents at all levels of the organisation, and this paper examines three applications of geographical information systems (GIS) within policing: hotspot mapping; CompStat; and geographic profiling. The paper concludes by discussing the future training needs using a simple model of intelligence-led crime reduction. This model suggests that training for managers to enable a greater understanding of the analyses presented to them, and how to use mapping to further crime prevention and reduction, may be as important as increasing the technical ability of crime analysts. The challenge for the immediate future of crime reduction practice in law enforcement is less to worry about the training of analysts, and more to address the inability of law enforcement management to understand and act on the crime analysis they are given.

The fox and the hunters: how ic technologies change the crime race*

Abstract: What is the role and the impact of technologies on crime? Criminals use them for maximizing their opportunities and minimizing the risk of being detected and caught. The Police do exactly the reverse, using technologies for detecting crime and criminals and arresting them. The range of relationships between technologies and crime is wide. This paper focuses on a relatively narrow path: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) related crime, looking at how criminals and law enforcement agencies use ICT.

New Challenges for International Rules Against Cyber-Crime

Abstract: In light of the borderless nature of cyber-crime, international legislation and action are essential to combat the phenomenon. Current legal instruments, as well as continuing efforts of international organizations, provide a significant basis in this area. However, important issues are still open, such as a uniform or harmonized definition of the crimes and of the sanctions to be imposed on perpetrators, which are a prerequisite for avoiding domestic legislation taking different approaches to the subject matter. The clarification of these issues is also a prerequisite for enhancing international cooperation and making it effective, if this has to be based on the respect for the principle of dual criminality. In this context, it must also be stressed that interstate cooperation may not be sufficient if the private sector, including companies producing hardware and software, are not involved. Finally, a harmonized approach to jurisdictional issues, including careful consideration of the universality principle, would also play a critical role in combating cyber-crime.

New Challenges for Law Enforcement

Abstract: Against a background of high crime across Europe, this paper argues that there is scope for improving police performance in detection. It also suggests that a more balanced approach to crime control is needed, with a shift in policy emphasis toward prevention. Both improved police performance in detection and the approach advocated for increased preventive effort are rooted in science. The specific role of science and technology in the context of crime control is considered and its implications for public policy and police training are briefly discussed. It is suggested that the problem-oriented approach to crime prevention, as increasingly practiced by the UK police and those in other jurisdictions, could be described as approaching scientific method, and perhaps be promoted as such.

How to Develop More Effective Policies Against Crime: Some Reflections on Drugs and Crime Research in an International Context

Abstract: This paper offers some reflections on how to develop more effective policies against crime, drawing on more than 10 years of research experience on the international drug problem. The paper begins by trying to illustrate the so-called ‘justice gap’ in the world, and explain why an institution such as the United Nations has a comparative advantage in closing that gap. It then details four lessons that the author has learnt from his own personal experience as head of research in the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, now called the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: (i) measure, count, and keep counting; (ii) publish or perish, either in inter-governmental default, or in public hysteria; (iii) limit the dangers of committing the ‘euphemistic fallacy’; and (iv) divorce research and policy, because research is policy-dependent; make research policy-relevant, and re-marry it to policy. Finally, the paper tries to show how these lessons can be applied in related areas and used as good practice in research on crime.