Adaptive communal detection in search of adversarial identity crime

This paper is on adaptive real-time searching of credit application data streams for identity crime with many search parameters. Specifically, we concentrated on handling our domain-specific adversarial activity problem with the adaptive Communal Analysis Suspicion Scoring (CASS) algorithm. CASS's main novel theoretical contribution is in the formulation of State-of- Alert (SoA) which sets the condition of reduced, same, or heightened watchfulness; and Parameter-of-Change (PoC) which improves detection ability with pre-defined parameter values for each SoA. With pre-configured SoA policy and PoC strategy, CASS determines when, what, and how much to adapt its search parameters to ongoing adversarial activity. The above approach is validated with three sets of experiments, where each experiment is conducted on several million real credit applications and measured with three appropriate performance metrics. Significant improvements are achieved over previous work, with the discovery of some practical insights of adaptivity into our domain.

Australian police responses to transnational crime and terrorism

This chapter outlines the Australian federal policing and allied agency responses to international drug trafficking activity and terrorism. The chapter is situated alongside a broader analysis of the structure of each key agency and the various interagency enforcement mechanisms established domestically and internationally to improve enforcement performance.

The High Court on crime in 2012 : outcomes and jurisprudence

This article examines the High Court decisions from 2012 which relate to criminal matters. This systematic analysis of all High Court judgments commenced in this Journal in 2010 and is now undertaken annually. The article explains the principles that derive from these cases and identifies jurisprudential themes from the decisions. It also sets out the significance of the cases and the possible wider consequences of the decisions.

Judicial valuation of the social costs of crime

The true economic functions of the criminal courts are, first, to deter potential prospective offenders from committing offences, and in so doing reduce the total social costs of crime in the future; and secondly, to force the convicted offender to bear some of the costs, which the crime has externalised onto the victim(s) and wider society through retributive justice. These objectives are achieved through the sentencing function. Critics have lamented that too many extraneous factors are taken into account when setting penalties but the authors argue in this article that nevertheless these sentences are optimal because of the judges' comparative advantage. What is of great interest, and the focus of this article, are the implicit valuations of the social costs of crime that these sentences imply. Using the South Australia higher criminal courts as a case study, the authors estimate and utilise these judicial valuations to suggest a methodology for measuring the true economic value of the criminal courts. The analysis helps put into perspective the courts' very valuable contribution to social welfare.

The role of verbal-textual hostility in hate crime regulation : final report

Verbal-textual hostility (VTH) plays a significant role in victims’ subjective perceptions of hatred and police officers’ assessment of a prejudice-related violence. Yet, to date, the role of VTH in ‘hate’ crime has been under-researched. The aim of this research has been to assess and evaluate the forensic possibilities contained in a closer reading of the words used in these crimes. Through a content analysis of incident characteristics and officers’ narratives of incidents, this report maps out how key speech-text indicators may assist to better evaluate the force and effects of prejudice-related violence. It is expected that this type of contextual analysis will lead to the development of more sophisticated risk assessment tools for use in frontline policing, and more targeted service enhancements for victims.

Crime toolkits : the current threats to web applications

Increasingly, web applications are being developed over the Internet. Securing these web applications is becoming important as they hold critical security features. However, cybercriminals are becoming smarter by developing a crime toolkit, and employing sophisticated techniques to evade detection. These crime toolkits can be used by any person to target Internet users. In this paper, we explore the techniques used in crime toolkits. We present a current state-of-the-art analysis of crime toolkits and focus on attacks against web applications. The crime toolkit techniques are compared with the vulnerability of web applications to help reveal particular behaviour such as popular web application vulnerabilities that malicious writers prefer. In addition, we outline the existing protection mechanism, and observe that the possibility for damage is rising, particularly as specialization and scale increase in cybercrime.

Student and school factors associated with school suspension : A multilevel analysis of students in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States.

One of the common issues schools face is how best to handle challenging student behaviors such as violent behavior, antisocial behavior, bullying, school rule violations, and interrupting other students' learning. School suspension may be used to remove students engaging in challenging behaviors from the school for a period of time. However, the act of suspending students from school may worsen rather than improve their behavior. Research shows that suspensions predict a range of student outcomes, including crime, delinquency, and drug use. It is therefore crucial to understand the factors associated with the use of school suspension, particularly in sites with different policy approaches to problem behaviors. This paper draws on data from state-representative samples of 3,129 Grade 7 and 9 students in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia sampled in 2002. Multilevel modeling examined student and school level factors associated with student-reported school suspension. Results showed that both student (being male, previous student antisocial and violent behavior, rebelliousness, academic failure) and school (socioeconomic status of the school, aggregate measures of low school commitment) level factors were associated with school suspension and that the factors related to suspension were similar in the two states. The implications of the findings for effective school behavior management policy are that, rather than focusing only on the student, both student and school level factors need to be addressed to reduce the rates of school suspension.

The High Court on crime in 2014: Outcomes and jurisprudence

This article examines the Australian High Court decisions in 2014 which relate to criminal matters. This systematic analysis of all High Court judgments commenced in this Journal in 2010 and is now undertaken annually. The article explains the principles that derive from these cases and identifies jurisprudential themes from the decisions. It also sets outthe significance of the cases and the possible wider consequences of the decisions.

Social network analysis and small group ‘dark’ networks: an analysis of the London bombers and the problem of ‘fuzzy’ boundaries

Social network analysis (SNA) is believed to be capable of revealing significant insights into crime and terror groups, including identifying important individuals and unique approaches to disruption. However, SNA has a number of theoretical and practical limitations, particularly when applied to ‘dark’ networks. While most analysts certainly acknowledge at least some of these limitations, we need to know more about their potential impact in a crime intelligence context. This article aims to go some way towards that end by placing greater scrutiny on the problem of ‘fuzzy boundaries’ when applied to small group networks. SNA is applied to the groups responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 21 July 2005 attempted London bombings. The article concludes that while SNA is a valuable tool for understanding crime and terror groups, the age-old problem of fuzzy boundaries can have a profound impact on the analysis of small dynamic networks.

Perceptions of public security in post-reform urban China: a routine activity analysis

This paper investigates the personal and environmental determinants of public security perceptions across 32 Chinese cities within the risk/opportunity framework of Cohen and Felson's (American Sociological Review 44:588-608, 1979) routine activity theory. Structural path analysis reveals that public security perceptions in China are informed by similar personal and environment characteristics to those reported as important in extant research within Western contexts. However, the frequently reported influence of gender on public security perceptions in the West does not appear to extend to post-reform urban China. The results provide support for the routine activity theory in terms of extending our understanding of the factors that influence perceptions of public security to a non-Western context. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Tipificação do crime de terrorismo no Brasil

O terrorismo contemporâneo se destaca como um dos mais discutidos tópicos da agenda política internacional. No contexto da globalização, a atuação de grupos extremistas é bem mais complexa e articulada do que jamais foi, e sua periculosidade é exacerbada pela potencial utilização de armas de destruição em massa. Se é certo que a solução para seu enfrentamento pode ser almejada pela cooperação entre as nações, é igualmente verdadeiro que o Direito pode ser um instrumento idôneo para assegurar melhor colaboração e maior efetividade das medidas. Partindo do pressuposto que o terrorismo pode ser compreendido como um instituto do Direito Criminal, apresento esta monografia, a fim de investigar como o Brasil – que notoriamente carece de normatização útil na legislação ordinária – poderia criar uma lei antiterror. A metodologia de pesquisa é primordialmente descritiva, com enfoque na compreensão do terrorismo enquanto instituto jurídico-criminal. Dedicamo-nos a um estudo crítico dos aspectos teóricos e práticos de se criar uma lei antiterror, inclusive estudando projetos de lei em tramitação, a fim de ver como o Legislativo tem abordado a matéria.

Ao Ministério Público da união e à Receita Federal brasileira, tudo? uma análise crítica à lei complementar 105 de 2001 como possível meio de coibir o crime de Sonegação Fiscal

O trabalho de conclusão de curso tem como objetivo central a análise crítica da Lei Complementar nº 105 de 2001- que autoriza a Receita Federal do Brasil a quebrar diretamente o sigilo bancário dos contribuintes, com base em possíveis indícios de omissões, fraudes e simulações- como meio hábil para coibir o crime de sonegação fiscal. A partir dessa análise, vamos testar a hipótese de que nenhum agente público pode determinar a quebra das informações bancárias de um contribuinte, sem a prévia autorização do Poder Judiciário. O artigo tem três partes. Na primeira, os principais conceitos que envolvem o sigilo bancário e as possíveis exceções à quebra do sigilo bancário são descritas e discutidas. A partir do exame conceitual, vamos estudar a correlação desse assunto com o combate à sonegação fiscal e a afirmação do princípio da transparência fiscal na comunidade internacional. Na última parte, somos chamados a estudar a opinião da Suprema Corte quanto ao objeto do presente trabalho. A conclusão a que se chega é a de que os agentes públicos não podem obter as referidas informações sem prévia autorização de um juiz. Contudo, a matéria apesar de muito antiga, ainda é polêmica para a doutrina e a jurisprudência. Além disso, a alteração na composição do Supremo Tribunal Federal, de 2010 para 2015, pode indicar uma mudança também no entendimento dos magistrados quanto ao assunto.

Sistema de Informações Geográficas para o Mapeamento e Controle do Crime: Proposta para o Município de Feira de Santana, Bahia

The mapping crime using a Geographical Information System (SIG), besides a scientific activity, is an intelligent strategy of violence figthing, constituted in a base of information for discerning analysis of data, for better understanding and control of criminal action. This proposal of a GIS, for the region of Feira de Santana, State of Bahia - Brazil, shows how the mapping crime can be carried through a set of computational tools composed of hardware and software, through space information, in the study of its causes, consequences and ways for its control.

Municipal solid waste management in the Caribbean: a benefit-cost analysis

Includes bibliography

Socio-demographic analysis of youth in the Caribbean- a three country case study

Many Caribbean youth are doing reasonably well. They live in loving and caring families, attend school and are involved in various social activities in their communities. The health and well-being of the children and youth1 in the Caribbean is, and has been, the centre of attention of many studies, meetings and policy directives set at the regional, subregional and national levels. Programmes have been put in place to address the basic needs of young children in the areas of health and education and to provide guidance and directives to youth and adolescents in the area of professional formation and transition to adulthood. Critical issues such as reproductive health and family planning combined with access to education and information on these topics have been promoted to some extent. And finally, the Caribbean is known for rather high school enrolment rates in primary education that hardly show any gender disparities. While the situation is still good for some, growing numbers of children and youth cannot cope anymore with the challenges experienced quite early in their lives. Absent parents, instable care-taking arrangements, violence and aggression subjected to at home, in schools and among their friends, lack of a perspective in schools and the labour-market, early sexual initiation and teenage pregnancies are some of those issues faced by a rising number of young persons in this part of the world. Emotional instability, psychological stress and increased violence are one of the key triggers for increased violence and involvement in crime exhibited by ever younger youth and children. Further, the region is grappling with rising drop-out rates in secondary education, declining quality schooling in the classrooms and increasing numbers of students who leave school without formal certification. Youth unemployment in the formal labour market is high and improving the quality of professional formation along with the provision of adequate employment opportunities would be critical to enable youth to complete consistently and effectively the transition into adulthood and to take advantage of the opportunities to develop and use their human capital in the process. On a rather general note, the region does not suffer from a shortage of policies and programmes to address the very specific needs of children and youth, but the prominent and severe lack of systematic analysis and monitoring of the situation of children, youth and young families in the Caribbean does not allow for targeted and efficient interventions that promise successful outcomes on the long term. In an effort to assist interested governments to fill this analytical gap, various initiatives are underway to enhance data collection and their systematic analysis2. Population and household censuses are conducted every decade and a variety of household surveys, such as surveys of living conditions, labour force surveys and special surveys focusing on particular sub-groups of the population are conducted, dependent on the resources available, to a varying degree in the countries of the region. One such example is the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-funded Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) that assess the situation of children and youth in a country. Over the past years and at present, UNICEF has launched a series of surveys in a number of countries in the Caribbean3. But more needs to be done to ensure that the data available is analyzed to provide the empirical background information for evidence-based policy formulation and monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of the efforts undertaken.