Crime: local and global

Crime: Local and Global covers the way local events (such as prostitution) have wider aspects than previously thought. Links with people traffickers, international organised crime and violence cannot be ignored any longer. Each crime or area of activity selected within this text has a global reach, and is made ever more possible due to the way globalisation has opened up markets, both legitimate and illegitimate. The book's approach and scope emphasises that we can no longer view 'crime' as something which occurs within certain jurisdictions, at certain times and in particular places. For example, the chapter on cybercrime highlights the 'illegal' acts that can be perpetrated by second lifers, anywhere in the world, but are they a crime?

Crime : Local and Global

Crime: Local and Global covers the way local events (such as prostitution) have wider aspects than previously thought. Links with people traffickers, international organised crime and violence cannot be ignored any longer. Each crime or area of activity selected within this text has a global reach, and is made ever more possible due to the way globalisation has opened up markets, both legitimate and illegitimate. The book's approach and scope emphasises that we can no longer view 'crime' as something which occurs within certain jurisdictions, at certain times and in particular places. For example, the chapter on cybercrime highlights the 'illegal' acts that can be perpetrated by second lifers, anywhere in the world, but are they a crime?

The pragmatics of computer-mediated communication between South African and Mexican drug traffickers

South Africa and Mexico are ripe with drug trafficking. The gangs and syndicates running the drug businesses in these two countries collaborate occasionally. Communication between these international drug business partners takes place on social media. Their main language of communication is English, mixed with some limited use of Spanish and Afrikaans. The key purpose of the interactions between the South African and Mexican parties is the organisation of their business activities. This study aims at examining how the drug traffickers position each other and themselves regarding their common business interest and how their relationship evolves throughout their interactions. Moreover, it is of interest to look at how these people make use of different social media and their affordances. For this a qualitative analysis of the interaction between two drug traffickers (one South African and one Mexican) on Facebook, Threema and PlayStation 4 was performed. Computer-mediated communication between these two main informants was studied at various stages of their relationship. Results show that at first the interaction between the South African and Mexican drug traffickers consists of interpersonal negotiations of power. The high risk of the drug business and gang/syndicate membership paired with intercultural frictions causes the two interlocutors to be extremely cautious and at the same time to mark their position. As their relationship develops and they gain trust in each other a shift to interpersonal negotiations of solidarity takes place. In these discursive practices diverse linguistic strategies are employed for creating relational effects and for positioning the other and the self. The discursive activities of the interactants are also identity practices. Thus, the two drug traffickers construct identities through these social practices, positioning and their interpersonal relationship.

Tracking people in 3D using position, size and shape

This paper presents a prototype tracking system for tracking people in enclosed indoor environments where there is a high rate of occlusions. The system uses a stereo camera for acquisition, and is capable of disambiguating occlusions using a combination of depth map analysis, a two step ellipse fitting people detection process, the use of motion models and Kalman filters and a novel fit metric, based on computationally simple object statistics. Testing shows that our fit metric outperforms commonly used position based metrics and histogram based metrics, resulting in more accurate tracking of people.

Marketing unions to young people : recruiting and ‘rusting on’

In light of declining trade union density, specifically amongst young workers, this paper explores how trade unions are servicing and organising young people. Our specific focus is the way in which trade unions market their services to the young. We use, as a lens of analysis, the services marketing literature and the concept of an ‘experience good’ to explore trade union strategies. Based on interviews with a number of Queensland union officials, it is clear unions see the issue of recruitment of young people as significant, and that resources are being targeted on the development of innovative strategies at least in some unions.

Levels of cardiac knowledge and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training among older people in Queensland

Objectives: The current study was conducted to determine levels of cardiac knowledge and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in older people in Queensland, Australia.---------- Methods: A telephone survey of 4490 Queensland adults examined respondents’ knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, knowledge of heart attack symptoms, knowledge of the local emergency telephone number, as well as respondents’ rates and recency of training in CPR.---------- Results: Older participants, aged 60 years and over, were approximately one and a half times more likely than the 30–39 year-old reference group to have limited knowledge of heart disease risk factors (OR = 1.53), and low knowledge of heart attack symptoms (OR = 1.60). Knowledge of the local emergency telephone number also decreased with age. Older participants had significantly lower rates of training in CPR, with almost three quarters (71.7%) reporting that they had never been trained. Older people who had completed CPR training were significantly less likely to have done so recently.---------- Conclusions: Cardiac knowledge levels and CPR training rates in older Queensland persons were lower than those found in the younger population.