Suchergebnisse

Growing Up and Out of Crime details how developmental norms and expectations for young people aged 18-25 have diverged from previous generations, shifting the role of maturation that prompts us to examine if and how this maturation can influence desistance from crime

In wars fought against insurgents, civilian casualties present the challenging dilemma of balancing security and stability while targeting insurgents who operate within the civilian population. In Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has made minimizing civilian casualties a top-tier strategic issue. Yet beyond annual reports, there has been a lack of data-driven analysis into the number of civilians killed by ISAF operations. This research investigates ISAF-caused civilian casualties between 2010 and 2013, incorporating civilian casualty events to investigate changes in ISAF "lethality." This analysis finds that although ISAF-caused civilian casualties decreased overall, this was mitigated by the tactic employed (airpower vs. on the ground operations). The implications of this analysis for theories of military adaptation, future population-centric operations, and current military operations (e.g., in Iraq and Syria) are discussed.

In wars fought against insurgents, civilian casualties present the challenging dilemma of balancing security and stability while targeting insurgents who operate within the civilian population. In Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has made minimizing civilian casualties a top-tier strategic issue. Yet beyond annual reports, there has been a lack of data-driven analysis into the number of civilians killed by ISAF operations. This research investigates ISAF-caused civilian casualties between 2010 and 2013, incorporating civilian casualty events to investigate changes in ISAF "lethality." This analysis finds that although ISAF-caused civilian casualties decreased overall, this was mitigated by the tactic employed (airpower vs. on the ground operations). The implications of this analysis for theories of military adaptation, future population-centric operations, and current military operations (e.g., in Iraq and Syria) are discussed.

Abstract
Police agencies across the country have relied on applicants with prior military and/or law enforcement experience to fill vacancies within their ranks for many years. Despite the strong push to recruit officers with these types of backgrounds, few scholars have tested whether prior military and/or law enforcement experience affects officer tenure within policing. In this study, we use hiring and employment data from the Charleston (SC) Police Department (CPD) to assess whether these highly sought after characteristics influence officer retention. Our analysis revealed that officers with prior military service were significantly more likely to leave the agency, and tended to do so about 20 months sooner, than officers who did not serve in the military. Prior law enforcement experience was unrelated to officer separation but had a significant impact on the length of time officers remained with the agency. These findings suggest that police agencies must reevaluate current approaches to recruitment and retention. However, more research is needed to determine why certain officers are more likely to resign and how agencies can better address the underlying needs of high-risk officers.

Green-on-blue attacks have a devastating psychological, tactical, and operational effect on military operations in Afghanistan. In spite of this, no empirical research has offered a data-driven examination of these attacks, leaving a gap that this article aims to address. By analyzing a large (yet inevitability incomplete) open-source database developed on these attacks, we present data on the perpetrators and victims of these attacks. We also investigate whether green-on-blue attacks are related to the number of civilian casualties in that area; finding that (unlike wider insurgent violence) they are not. Instead, we find that it is the number of troops present within a Regional Command that is positively correlated with the likelihood that a green-on-blue attack will occur. We discuss the implications of these findings with reference to future issues of force protection.

Police leaders strive to improve interactions and practices relating to residents' perceptions of police fairness and their willingness to report crimes. Research suggests that strengthening community perceptions of police fairness may increase residents' willingness to contact the police for help. This study uses a nationally representative public opinion survey to examine the factors that influence perceptions of police fairness and the willingness to call police for help. In doing so, we examine a variety of demographic factors, prior experiences with the police, and perceptions about whether the local police agency is racially representative of the community. We find that very few factors influence both perceptions of police fairness and the willingness to call police for help. Specifically, perceptions of police fairness depend on age, education, and political leanings, whereas willingness to call police for help depends on perceptions of police fairness, political leanings, perceptions of police representativeness, and prior proactive police contact. Notably, we found no differences in perceptions of fairness based on respondent race after controlling for other demographics, perceptions, and experiences. These results indicate that symbolic representation in police departments is not enough on its own to support positive perceptions of police fairness and willingness to call the police for help.