Search results

The purpose of this paper is to use an environmental criminology and situational crime prevention (SCP) framework to study global assassinations carried out by terrorists. The authors set forth a series of hypotheses to explain successful and unsuccessful assassination incidents.

The authors use assassination data from the Global Terrorism Database from 1970 to 2014 to estimate a series binary logistic regression models.

Results indicate that various situational factors contribute to successful assassinations, such as target types, weapon types, total fatalities, and injuries.

These findings suggest that environmental criminology and SCP are valuable in developing prevention measures that thwart and disrupt attempted assassinations by terrorists.

Criminology has yet to apply environmental criminology and SCP to assassinations, a tactic often used by terrorists. This paper thus extends the existing assassination, terrorism, and criminology literature by applying this framework to assassinations performed by terrorists.

The purpose of this paper is to draw upon concepts in community‐oriented policing in order to explore the distribution of citizen water‐monitoring organizations and their role in community environmental policing, in order to address the issue of environmental justice. The empirical portion of the analysis examines the distribution of these organizations across states, and the relationship of this distribution to social inequity.

This study design is cross‐sectional in nature and examines the distribution and density of 1,308 citizen water‐monitoring organizations across states. Ordinary least squares regression is used to examine the relationship between the density and social disadvantage while controlling for environmental enforcement patterns, rates of non‐compliance, water quality, region of the country, water area, and coastal states.

Race and ethnicity are negatively correlated with the density of water‐monitoring organizations across states. Median household income is positively correlated with water‐monitoring organizations across states.

This paper suggests that community environmental policing is a response to ecological disorganization. More specifically, in the case of citizen‐led water‐monitoring organizations it is critical that states with relatively large proportions of low income, black and Hispanic residents help provide resources to encourage the development of these community groups.

This paper is the first to draw upon the ideas found in the community‐oriented policing literature to examine water‐monitoring organizations. While the literature suggests that collaborative efforts between state law enforcement agencies and water‐monitoring organizations may help combat ecological disorganization, it is also the first study to suggest that environmental injustice could be an unintended drawback of community environmental policing.

This paper aims to explore the complex underpinnings and dynamics of increasing trend of illegal trading of high-value forest tress such as sandalwood in rural parts of Kenya, which has moved from highly opportunistic and culturally accepted activities to highly complex, commercial, criminal and entrepreneurial activity. The paper focuses on two theoretical frameworks: the first concerns with criminological concepts which underlie illegal logging, perpetrators and criminal network of smuggling of sandalwood from Kenya to overseas; the second focuses on the entrepreneurial process of the illegal trade of the endangered species. The central aim is to establish a confluence of criminology (rural and environmental) and entrepreneurship – the product of which can be useful in understanding emerging and highly sophisticated international crimes such smuggling and trafficking of sandalwood tree product. It proposes that sandalwood poaching just like other transnational crimes such as wildlife poaching is a highly organized international crime that involves more than one individual. The paper concludes by suggesting that sandalwood poaching is an entrepreneurial activity that impinges on criminological process, and to fully address the problem, we must address the supply and demand forces and the normative and social structure of source area.

This paper uses a systematic review and immersion in literature from journals, books, government and non-governmental organization publications to raise debates and discourses on issues pertaining to the phenomena of sandalwood poaching in Kenya. It also entailed sieving through court judgments, newspaper articles and TV news to backup above information.

First, what has emanated from this study is that criminal cartels have directed their criminal business of sandalwood poaching to Kenya because force of demand and supply of precious wood, institution failures and regulatory and policy failures. Second, sandalwood poaching is ostensibly organized international enterprise crime that relies on division of labor to succeed. Third, more restrictive controls act as incentives to criminals to smuggle the wood. Finally, the more endangered the sandalwood, the more valuable and profitable it is and the more the poor countries and rural areas suffer from environmental degradation.

Methodologically, one of the major limitations of this paper is that it is based on documentary analysis, because of a lack of research time and available finances. Prospective studies should consider utilizing in-depth interviews to gather evidence from offenders, police, rural residents and other government officials.

The paper contributes to growing fields of entrepreneurial, environmental and rural criminology. Methodologically, certain crimes such sandalwood poaching requires an intertwine of concepts of criminological and entrepreneurship for better understanding.

To environmentalist, foresters, jurist, law enforcers and rural local residents; there is an urgent need to rethink how poaching of valuable endangered biodiversity species is treated, responded and promoted. To end poaching of sandalwood, there is a need to fundamentally realign tactics from criminalization and enforcement to address endemic cancer of poverty, unemployment and corruption present at source countries. This will indeed reduce economic vulnerabilities that cartels take advantage by engaging the locals in extracting sandalwood from trees. It will also reduce the power of networks but instead increase guardianship measures.

The originality of paper is the utilization of two theoretical frameworks: the first concerns with criminological concepts which underlie illegal logging, perpetrators and criminal network of smuggling of sandalwood from Kenya to overseas; and, second, the paper focuses on the entrepreneurial process of the illegal trade of the endangered species. The central aim is to establish a confluence of criminology (rural and environmental) and entrepreneurship – the product of which can be useful in understanding emerging and highly sophisticated international crimes such smuggling and trafficking of sandalwood tree product.

While a number of IS security researchers consider the threat posed by employees who perpetrate computer crime, there is currently a lack of insight into how the offender interacts with the criminal context both prior to and during commission. A greater understanding of this relationship may complement existing security practices by possibly highlighting new areas for safeguard implementation. To help facilitate a greater understanding of the offender/environment dynamic, this paper, therefore, aims to assess the feasibility of applying three criminological theories to the IS security context. Rather than focusing on why people become criminals, these theories entitled routine activity theory, environmental criminology and the rational choice perspective, focus on the criminal act.

Drawing on an account of the Barings Bank collapse, events highlighted in the case study are used to assess whether concepts central to the theories are supported by the data.

Analysis indicates support for the concepts central to environmental criminology and the rational choice perspective. While case study evidence supports two of the concepts advanced by routine activity theory, as a whole the theory is found wanting, as the “guardianship” and “handled offender” concepts appear to lack the necessary sophistication to theoretically accommodate and explain supervisory and control failings cited in the case study.

While future research could encompass continued application of the theories to further assess their suitability for the IS domain, consideration could also be given to the application of the preventive tools and methods which have been developed in tandem with the three criminological approaches. Another stream of future research may involve the application of the theories in conjunction with existing security practices.

Greater knowledge of the offender/context dynamic may feasibly enhance existing security practices by possibly highlighting new areas for safeguard implementation.

From an IS security perspective, there is currently a lack of insight into the offender/context dynamic. The paper presents a group of criminological theories, which have previously not been considered for application in the IS context. The theories may feasibly throw light on the behaviour of offenders in the criminal context, both prior to and during commission.

The purpose of this paper is to present developments in designing out crime policy in Western Australia (WA) as a case study example, discussing the innovative designing out crime strategy, a systematic attempt at embedding such ideas within government policy.

This paper reports on the systems approach adopted by the WA Government, which draws together three key themes of designing out crime, namely: the design of the built environment, the ongoing management of the built environment and the use of product design to reduce opportunities for crime. The systems perspective is underpinned by an evidence‐based approach across these three areas.

Many existing international approaches to designing out crime are arguably limited, piecemeal and largely uncoordinated. This strategy represents a comprehensive and holistic policy commitment to designing out crime.

The effectiveness of this strategy is as yet unknown, but it arguably represents a comprehensive approach to embedding designing out crime within public policy frameworks. The future will ultimately judge the success or failure of this policy and key performance indicators are presented as part of the strategy.

It will be challenging to monitor the progress of this vision and whether adequate resources are made available to appropriate agencies to deliver the desired outcomes from the various actions identified within the strategy.

No national or state jurisdiction has attempted to develop designing out crime policy in such a comprehensive manner and WA's designing out crime strategy arguably represents a truly proactive policy framework and a comprehensive vision and plan for action to reduce opportunities for crime in the design, planning, development and maintenance of the built form and in the design of products.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of environmental offences committed in Malaysia charged under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (EQA1974).

This study used secondary data of the environmental court cases report by the Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia from 2008 until 2016 to examine the nature of environmental offences based on the Treadmill of Production (ToP) approach.

In comparison with the GDP growth (Department of Statistic Malaysia, 2016), the findings support ToP argument that as far as the treadmill accelerates, the more would be the environmental crime committed. However, all offences charged were weighted more on the ecological additions rather than ecological withdrawn. The trend analysis showed a decreasing trend for all types of offences committed, reflecting that Malaysia's regulatory authorities are committed to fighting against environmental crime perpetrators. Therefore, all parties must be made to internalise the values of conducting business sustainably.

This paper is the first that examines the environmental offences committed in Malaysia using the ToP approach to analyse the nature of the crime committed in Malaysia associated with the growing literature of Green Criminology.

This paper aims to propose the application of the Crime Triangle of Routine Activity Theory to fraud events as a complement to the universally accepted Fraud Triangle.

The application of the Crime Triangle is illustrated using scenarios of asset misappropriations by type of perpetrator: external perpetrator, employee, management and the board and its governing bodies.

The Crime Triangle complements the Fraud Triangle’s perpetrator-centric focus by examining the environment where fraud occurs and the relevant parties that play their role in preventing fraud or not playing their role, and thus, allowing the occurrence of fraud. Applying both triangles to a fraud event provides a comprehensive view of the fraud event.

The scenarios are limited to asset misappropriations with one perpetrator. Future research can apply both triangles to different types of fraud and cases where perpetrators collude to commit fraud.

This paper maps the Crime Triangle to the Fraud Triangle to provide forensic accounting practitioners and researchers with a comprehensive perspective of a fraud event. This comprehensive perspective of fraud is the starting point to designing fraud risk management strategies that address both the perpetrator and the environment where the fraud event occurs.

This paper is the first to propose the application of the established Crime Triangle environmental criminology theory as a complement to the Fraud Triangle to obtain a comprehensive perspective of a fraud event.

Factors influencing crime location choices are not only significant to rape investigations, but they are especially important for geographic profiling. The purpose of the current study is to use temporal, hunting behavior, and modus operandi factors to determine those variables that influence the victim encounter and release locations in serial sexual crime.

Due to the possible correlated nature of serial rapes, the authors use generalized estimating equations (GEE) on a sample of 361 rapes committed by 72 serial sex offenders.

Results indicate that temporal factors, offender hunting behavior, and modus operandi strategies are significant predictors of both the victim encounter and release sites, but the importance of these factors varies depending on whether the location is in a residential land use area, a private site, inside location, or a site that is familiar to the offender.

Police can learn from the current findings and apply them to subsequent rapes within a series by recognizing the timing of the offense, the type of hunting pattern and attack method used in prior sexual crimes committed by the same offender, and modus operandi strategies, to determine the type of location where the rapist is likely to offend next.

This paper is the first attempt to predict factors related to both the encounter and the victim release site in serial rapes using GEE.

The purpose of this study is to identify potential changes in crime generators and attractors based on monthly models in a high-tourist destination.

A risk terrain modeling approach was used to assess spatial relationships between 27 crime generator and attractor types in Atlantic City, New Jersey with robbery occurrence for the 2015 calendar year. In total, 12 separate monthly models were run to identify changes in risk factors based on the month of the year.

Results indicated unique significant risk factors based on the month of the year. Over the warmer and summer months, there was a shift in environmental risk factors that falls in line with more of a change in routine activities for residents and tourists and related situational contexts for the crime.

The analytical approach used in the current study could be used by police departments and jurisdictions to understand types of crime generators and attractors influencing local crime occurrence. Subsequent analyses were used by Atlantic City Police Department to direct place-based policing efforts.

With growing crime and place research that accounts for temporal scales, the authors advance these endeavors by focusing on a tourist destination, Atlantic City, New Jersey.