By Ardi Janjeva, Alexandria Reid and Anton Moiseienko.

The distribution of copyright-infringing audio-visual content, also known as ‘piracy’, is a major profit-generating crime that offers significant opportunities for criminal gain. The idea that piracy is solely carried out by otherwise law-abiding, opportunistic individuals is no longer tenable. Piracy is an increasingly professionalised crime, yet the current response lacks the required urgency on numerous levels, from an incomplete understanding of pirate business models to the often low priority attached to tackling it by law enforcement agencies, regulators and online service providers and the limited awareness in the financial sector about intellectual property crime. This report explores how criminals make money from piracy and provides recommendations for how the UK government, law enforcement and private sector stakeholders can decrease the profitability of doing so. Its recommendations are addressed to UK audiences, but almost all of them are internationally applicable. This is particularly true of those aimed at rights holders, the financial sector and online service providers working across multiple geographies.

London: Royal United Services Institute, 2021. 84p.

By Sebastian Blesse and André Diegmann.

Does the administrative organization of police affect crime? In answering this question, we focus on the reorganization of local police agencies. Specifically, we study the effects police force reallocation via station closures has on local crime. We do this by exploiting a quasi-experiment where a reform substantially reduced the number of police stations. Combining a matching strategy with an event-study design, we find no effects on total theft. Police station closures, however, open up tempting opportunities for criminals in car theft and burglary in residential properties. We can rule out that our effects arise from incapacitation, crime displacement, or changes in employment of local police forces. Our results suggest that criminals are less deterred after police station closures and use the opportunity to steal more costly goods.

Mannheim: ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 2018. 55p.

By Teresa Silva and Mia Lind.

The evaluation of crime prevention interventions involves the systematic collection and analysis of information about the changes that occur in the different components of a criminal problem produced by the activities of the intervention. The principal objective of analyzing such information is to determine at what level the goals were achieved, and at what cost. Different groups benefit from the results of the evaluations, including those who design and implement the intervention, managers, stakeholders, sponsors, policy advisors, target groups, etc. The information produced by the evaluation is useful for guiding decisions about how to redesign the intervention, how to orient the future allocation of resources, and how to advise on policy directions. Whether or not to use the results of the evaluation is ultimately a management decision, but professionals and evaluators are reinforced when they see that the effort they put in to evaluating the interventions is useful to introducing improvements. Evaluation entails important methodological aspects, and evaluation must be planned at the same time that the intervention is planned in order to ensure the intervention’s evaluability (i.e., the capacity to be evaluated in a reliable and credible manner). Misalignments between the crime problem, the objectives, and the activities that the intervention comprises result in low evaluability and might seriously compromise the quality of the evaluation. In this sense, evaluation is a tool that contributes to the design of the intervention.

Brussels: European Crime Prevention Network, 2020. 98p.

Edited by Judith Andersen, Eamonn Patrick Arble and Peter Ian Collins.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Thus, from theoretical and empirical perspectives, the research within this special edition will consider how the functioning of the bidirectional signals between the brain and the central and peripheral nervous systems relate to police decision making in order to inform police training, policy, and legal judgements regarding police behavior.

Frontiers Media SA, 2020. 121p.

By Rasmus Højbjerg Jacobsen

When a policy maker or an administrator decides on how many and which of a number of proposed policy measures to implement an important piece of information is whether the effort is “worthwhile”. The precise meaning of the word “worthwhile” will depend on the context. In some cases, the question of whether a policy measure is worthwhile will be decided on a purely qualitative basis given the results of the policy measure. In other – and perhaps most – cases some sort of money evaluation will be attached to the results, and a total effect in money terms will be used to evaluate the results. This manual is concerned with the latter case. Given the large degree of competition between various projects for public funds, a compelling case for a specific project can be made if a well carried out cost-benefit-analysis shows a resulting surplus. While this criterion is obviously not the only one used, it could be an important factor when preparing policy makers to make decisions about a specific project. The basic idea behind cost-benefit-analysis is simple: calculate all benefits and all the costs associated with a specific effort, subtract the costs from the benefits while carefully addressing the time profile, and use the resulting number as an indicator for the economic profitability of the project. If the result is positive, the project produces an economic surplus, and if it is negative the project leads to an economic loss. Although this principle is simple the actual calculation is, however, in most cases somewhat more cumbersome, since the costs and benefits of a given effort can be difficult to determine. This is true for a number of reasons. First, it can be hard to decide whether the outcome for a group of participants is in fact a consequence of program participation or whether part of the outcome would have occurred anyway, in which case the resulting outcome cannot be fully attributed to the program. Second, although outcome is perhaps only measured in terms of relatively few variables, the outcomes of other, not measured, variables can also be expected to be influenced by the policy measure. In order to fully capture the program effect the outcome of these unmeasured variables also needs to be assessed.

Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School, Centre For Economic And Business Research , 2013. 42p.

Jean-Paul Buffat, Project Manager.

The objective of the Secucities Crime Prevention Europe project was to compare the prevention policies instituted in seven European cities in order to bring out a common body. This objective constituted a real challenge for all the participants: how to compare what is done in one city with policies conducted in other European cities, which one imagines to be different in many regards? The work seminars, on-site visits and the research carried out rapidly brought to the fore common problems and solutions that were often similar. There remains the fact that it will be necessary in the future to return to the same places to compare their respective evolutions... Here we present the conclusions and recommendations that the comparison of policies studied allows us to bring out, both at the level of the implementation of a local crime prevention strategy as well as the role of the States of the European Union.

Paris: European Forum for Urban Safety, 2002. 51p.

By H. Goudriaan.

Victim reports are the main source of information for the police regarding where crimes are committed, and also the basis for most subsequent actions of the criminal justice system. Therefore, the victims' decision to report to the police is crucial. However, much criminal victimization is not reported and, consequently, many offenders are never prosecuted. Why are some crimes reported and others not? Substantial differences in reporting are found across crime locations, neighborhoods and countries. In this book, a socio-ecological model of victims' decision-making is introduced which endeavors to explain these contextual differences in reporting. To empirically test the main hypotheses derived from this model, several data sources are used and different research strategies are employed, with which the effects of crime, victim and contextual factors on victims' reporting behavior are simultaneously analyzed. Factors constituting the context in which crime incidents take place (e.g. whether the location is in the private or public domain), as well as factors composing the neighborhood context (e.g. the neighborhood social cohesion) and – to a lesser extent – the country context in which victims reside, were found to play a role in victims's decision (not) to report.

Leiden: University of Leiden, 2006. 213p.

By A. Ojebode; B.R. Ojebuyi; N.J. Onyechi; O. Oladapo; O.J. Oyedele and I.A. Fadipe .

The problem of ineffective policing still persists in post-colonial Africa and as a result, both donors and governments are seeking non-state alternatives or complements to the state apparatuses. These alternatives include private sector provision, donor-driven interventions and community-based or community-driven crime prevention practices. There is no shortage of community-based crime prevention (CBCP) practices in Africa and they come in a variety of forms and models: neighbourhood watches, vigilantes, religious and ethnic militias, and neighbourhood guards. However, the effectiveness of CBCP practices is still a subject of controversy despite the widespread prevalence of these practices. This study looks at the effectiveness of CBCP practices, considers possible reasons for their effectiveness or ineffectiveness, and on the basis of the research, makes some policy recommendations.

Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 59p.

By T. K. Cocx.

The increase in capabilities of information technology of the last decade has led to a large increase in the creation of raw data. Data mining, a form of computer guided, statistical data analysis, attempts to draw knowledge from these sources that is usable, human understandable and was previously unknown. One of the potential application domains is that of law enforcement. This thesis describes a number of efforts in this direction and reports on the results reached on the application of its resulting algorithms on actual police data. The usage of specifically tailored data mining algorithms is shown to have a great potential in this area, which forebodes a future where algorithmic assistance in "combating" crime will be a valuable asset.

Leiden: Leiden University, 2009. 179p.

By Walter Cade Reckless and Simon Dinitz. Chiefly based on a report of the Ohio State University Research Foundation to the National Institute of Mental Health, May 31, 1970. “The disintegration of the social and familial roles that children see for themselves, and the alienating effects that are the inevitable accompaniments of the increased mobility and fluidity that mark our society, are the major causes of delinquency and crime in the United States today. The prevention of juvenile delinquency must be tied, therefore, to an effort to overcome this critical lack of a role structure to which young people perceive themselves as belonging, and to reverse the present trend toward alienation and revolt.”

Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1972. 253p.

By Willy Zapata Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid Stefanie Garry.

This paper reviews the current status of the international fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, highlighting the importance of its prevention for economic and financial stability in Latin America and the Caribbean. It synthesizes the recent history of international legislation and agreements with respect to the issues, and presents the framework of public and private sector actors engaged in combating these threats. It reviews Latin American and Caribbean countries’ compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (40 + 9) Recommendations, and analyzes the region’s performance with respect to their third round Mutual Evaluation Reports. The evidence shows that while the region has made some significant progress in combating various typologies of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, important work remains to be done, particularly with respect to customer due diligence policies and the strengthening of national legal codes. A case study of Mexico’s progress provides specific insight into the country’s reforms and policies to combat these financial sector operational risks. Recent evidence suggests that if Mexico keeps strengthening its commitment to improve national regulatory, legal and judicial systems, it will be able to show full compliance with the FATF Recommendations in future evaluations. The paper provides reflections on new and emerging international threats, especially those related to technological innovations. The authors call for an enhanced system of risk management, technical support to countries, and the design of coordinated international responses to financial crimes and the financing of terrorism to ensure long-term financial sector integrity and macroeconomic stability.

Mexico City: United Nations, 2014. 53p.

By Riekje Pelgrim.

In the last two decades, the Northern Province of South Africa has experienced hundreds of so-called witch attacks: violent assaults in which individuals or groups of people are accused of practicing witchcraft. Since the mid 1980s, the attacking and killing of people believed to be witches has become an increasingly problematic social issue in this part of the world. Narrations of witchcraft related violence have been numerous in the press, police reports and the academic world. South African newspapers and television have covered the issue of witchcraft related problems extensively: a quick review of backdated articles and television programmes reflects the ever-growing social problem caused by the belief in witchcraft. During my six-month fieldwork period in the Northern Province, both The Mirror and the Soutpansberger, two local weekly newspapers, carried on average one witchcraft related article per edition. Even the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan, national newspapers of substantial influence and objective reputation, have published numerous articles dealing with witchcraft related issues. Additionally, police reports of witchcraft related crime have been numerous. Statistics show that between 1990 and 2001, the number of witchcraft related cases has increased from an estimated 50 cases per year to over 1300 a year. As a result, special attention has been paid to this type of crime: the South Africa Police Service (SAPS) has been collecting statistical data and organising rallies and workshops. In this manner, the police have tried to raise awareness regarding the serious consequences of this type of crime and hope to diminish it.

Leiden: African Studies Centre, 2003. 171p.

By E. R. Muller.

Criminal justice, security and safety are crucial aspects of a democratic state. In the Netherlands these themes are subject of intensive political and public debate. These debates are mostly oriented on national aspects. But some of these debates are also relevant for other countries. Maybe other countries can learn from the problems and solutions in the Netherlands. In this book I have tried to give an overview of the main aspects of the discussions on criminal justice, security and safety in the Netherlands.

Deventer, Kluwer, 2012. 393p.

By Erik Esselstrom.

For more than half a century, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho) possessed an independent police force that operated within the space of Japan’s informal empire on the Asian continent. Charged with "protecting and controlling" local Japanese communities first in Korea and later in China, these consular police played a critical role in facilitating Japanese imperial expansion during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Remarkably, however, this police force remains largely unknown. Crossing Empire’s Edge is the first book in English to reveal its complex history. Based on extensive analysis of both archival and recently published Japanese sources, Erik Esselstrom describes how the Gaimusho police became deeply involved in the surveillance and suppression of the Korean independence movement in exile throughout Chinese treaty ports and the Manchurian frontier during the 1920s and 1930s. It had in fact evolved over the years from a relatively benign public security organization into a full-fledged political intelligence apparatus devoted to apprehending purveyors of "dangerous thought" throughout the empire. Furthermore, the history of consular police operations indicates that ideological crime was a borderless security problem; Gaimusho police worked closely with colonial and metropolitan Japanese police forces to target Chinese, Korean, and Japanese suspects alike from Shanghai to Seoul to Tokyo. Esselstrom thus offers a nuanced interpretation of Japanese expansionism by highlighting the transnational links between consular, colonial, and metropolitan policing of subversive political movements during the prewar and wartime eras. In addition, by illuminating the fervor with which consular police often pressed for unilateral solutions to Japan’s political security crises on the continent, he challenges orthodox understandings of the relationship between civil and military institutions within the imperial Japanese state. While historians often still depict the Gaimusho as an inhibitor of unilateral military expansionism during the first half of the twentieth century, Esselstrom’s exposé on the activities and ideology of the consular police dramatically challenges this narrative. Revealing a far greater complexity of motivation behind the Japanese colonial mission, Crossing Empire’s Edge boldly illustrates how the imperial Japanese state viewed political security at home as inextricably connected to political security abroad from as early as 1919—nearly a decade before overt military aggression began—and approaches northeast Asia as a region of intricate and dynamic social, economic, and political forces. In doing so, Crossing Empire’s Edge inspires new ways of thinking about both modern Japanese history and the modern history of Japan in East Asia.

Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2020. 249p.

Edited by: Emmanuel Onyeozili, Biko Agozino, Augustine Agu, and Patrick Ibe.

One result of the Black Lives Matter movement has been to focus attention on police brutality in all its forms around the globe. Nowhere is the situation more dire than in Nigeria where the now infamous SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squads) have, for years, inflicted excessive abuses on Nigeria’s citizenry. In response, many young people have taken to the streets to demand an end to the brutality in the now historic #ENDSARS nationwide protest. Community Policing in Nigeria is a timely and much-needed intervention into the policing problems in Nigeria. Written collaboratively by four authors with deep knowledge of Nigerian policy and of criminal justice more broadly, the book examines models of community policing around the world and points out best practices and flawed practices that may serve as guides for Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech Publishing, 2021. 182p.

By the Committee of Sixteen.  The Committee of Sixteen in seeking sources for this report has studied the experience of various organizations m England and the United States formed for the suppression of vice, and has found them interestingly similar in aims and methods to its own We have found other organizations of private individuals, like ourselves, which have been formed because they desire, first, to get accurate information as to local conditions; second, to study experience elsewhere; and third, to make a continuous effort to deal with the vice problem.

Montreal: The Committee, 1919. 80p.

By Canada. Dept. of Labour.

Printed by order of Parliament. Sir,—In the report recently presented, of the settlement of the claims of the Chinese residents of the city of Vancouver, B.C., for losses occasioned by the anti- Asiatic riots of September last, I drew attention to a report of the evidence before the commission, disclosing the existence of opium manufacturing on a considerable scale in the province of British Columbia, and respectfully submitted that the operations of the opium industry should receive the immediate attention of parliament, and of the legislatures, with a view to the enactment of such measures as would effectually suppress the opium traffic in Canada, and wholly eradicate this evil and its baneful effects.

Ottawa: S.E. Dawson, 1908. 13p.

By Tijana Milosevic

Cyberbullying Policies of Social Media Companies. Foreword by Sonia Livingstone. This book investigates regulatory and social pressures that social media companies face in the aftermath of high profile cyberbullying incidents. The author’s research evaluates the policies companies develop to protect themselves and users. This includes interviews with NGO and social media company reps in the US and the EU. In an environment where e-safety is part of the corporate business model, this book unveils the process through which established social media companies receive less government scrutiny than start-ups.

MIT Press (2017) 297 pages.

Innovative Approaches in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Arab Region (Edition 1). Edited by Silvia Matuk and Kosta Mathéy. Urban violence has become a major threat in big cities of the world. Where the orthodox protection through the police and individual target hardening remain inefficient, the population must organize itself. This book contains first-hand accounts on a selection of the most innovative experiences in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Arab region and is of interest likewise for academics and urban practitioners, policy makers, international cooperation experts or travelers preparing a visit of one of the affected countries.

Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2014. 321p.

Edited by Seumas Miller, Mitt Regan, and Patrick F. Walsh. This volume examines the ethical issues that arise as a result of national security intelligence collection and analysis. Powerful new technologies enable the collection, communication, and analysis of national security data on an unprecedented scale. Data collection now plays a central role in intelligence practice, yet this development raises a host of ethical and national security problems, such as: privacy; autonomy; threats to national security and democracy by foreign states; and accountability for liberal democracies. This volume provides a comprehensive set of in-depth ethical analyses of these problems by combining contributions from both ethics scholars and intelligence practitioners. It provides the reader with a practical understanding of relevant operations, the issues that they raise, and analysis of how responses to these issues can be informed by a commitment to liberal democratic values. This combination of perspectives is crucial in providing an informed appreciation of ethical challenges that is also grounded in the realities of the practice of intelligence.

London; New York: Routledge, 2022. 317p.