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This paper aims to discuss current thinking about academic freedom in the digital age. Digital technology makes the classroom more transparent to administrators. This raises new questions about academic freedom that institutions must consider going forward.

The paper begins with a historical survey to define academic freedom. We then look at how new technologies have changed the classroom. The transparency and access of the digital classroom is new and wholly unprecedented in the history of the university.

Academic freedom is undergoing a great change. Literature and policies have not kept up with this change. Colleges need to rethink academic freedom in light of these new technologies.

This article is meant to assist universities in making policies for the digital age. How faculty are observed, who can observe the classroom, and the privacy of data are policy areas that must be codified by universities.

Many faculty are feeling more vulnerable in the digital age. General concerns about privacy can translate into privacy issues for the entire university. Policies need to evolve to be more relevant for the digital age.

A Google search found only seven articles on academic freedom in the digital age, and two were by the authors. This paucity of literature shows that more thought and attention needs to be paid to this important subject.

Estimation of the rental price of a residential property is important to real estate investors, financial institutions, buyers and the government. These estimates provide information for assessing the economic viability and the tax accruable, respectively. The purpose of this study is to develop a neural network model for estimating the rental prices of residential properties in Cape Town, South Africa.

Data were collected on 14 property attributes and the rental prices were collected from relevant sources. The neural network algorithm was used for model estimation and validation. The data relating to 286 residential properties were collected in 2018.

The results show that the predictive accuracy of the developed neural network model is 78.95 per cent. Based on the sensitivity analysis of the model, it was revealed that balcony and floor area have the most significant impact on the rental price of residential properties. However, parking type and swimming pool had the least impact on rental price. Also, the availability of garden and proximity of police station had a low impact on rental price when compared to balcony.

In the light of these results, the developed neural network model could be used to estimate rental price for taxation. Also, the significant variables identified need to be included in the designs of new residential homes and this would ensure optimal returns to the investors.

A number of studies have shown that crime influences the value of residential properties. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is limited research investigating this relationship within the South African context.

Business incubators are now being considered or set up in many areas of the UK. There is, however, concern about the performance of these incubators in creating and developing new businesses. This paper examines published work on incubators, and links this to recent research in the UK to provide recommendations on the profile of a non‐profit incubator whose prime objective is the formation of new businesses.

This chapter explores the laws and unique challenges associated with the investigation and prosecution of cybercrime. Crimes that involve the misuse of computers (e.g., hacking, denial of service, and ransomware attacks) and criminal activity that uses computers to commit the act are both covered (e.g., fraud, theft, and money laundering). This chapter also describes the roles of the various federal agencies involved in investigating cybercrime, common cybercrime terms and trends, the statutes frequently used to prosecute cybercrimes, and the challenges and complexity of investigating cybercrime.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a contemporary review of the research on racial disparities in police decision making.

State of the art literature review.

The findings are mixed on racial disparities in the primary policing domains of stops, arrests, use of force, and neighborhood deployment. While minorities are often overrepresented among those subjected to police enforcement actions, these findings vary considerably. Almost all of the current studies that have reported racial disparities in the exercise of police authority lack the methodological rigor or statistical precision to draw cause and effect inferences.

Efforts underway to document the impact of body-worn cameras on citizen complaints and force used by police could be extended to examine the impact of cameras on racial disparities in other enforcement-related outcomes such as arrests, stops and frisks, or searches. In addition, evaluating the effects of police training, such as anti-bias training or training on police legitimacy, on reducing racial disparities in police enforcement outcomes is another promising line of research inquiry.

This paper provides a concise review of the current state of the literature on a topic that is dominating the national conversation currently underway about the role of the police in American society.

The purpose of this study is to gain a broad understanding of public perceptions of the police and violence.

This study uses survey data collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 1,223) by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. Descriptive, bivariate correlational and multivariate regression analyses of the data were conducted.

Descriptive analyses show the populace is equally concerned about the police use of violence and violence against the police, but bivariate analyses indicate the two types of concern are unrelated, and multivariate regression analyses show that few variables impact both types of concern. Consistent with prior research, young people and racial/ethnic minorities reported greater concerns about police violence than did older adults and Whites, yet neither age nor race/ethnicity impacted concerns about violence against the police. Perceived mistreatment by the police was the only variable which impacted perceptions of police violence and violence against the police in a consistent and cogent manner.

This study is the first to examine public perceptions of the police as both the agents and victims of violence. The results indicate public perceptions of the police are more complex than was previously believed.

With the ongoing educational disparities and an increasingly diverse special education student population, the need for Black special education teacher faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has never been greater. The role of Black women in higher education is indispensable as a means of addressing the social injustices faced by students of color with disabilities, diverse communities, families, and historically underserved groups by training Black educators. In this chapter, the author introduces her authentic self and academic journey as foundational to the proposed ideas expressed. The roles of novice special education faculty are discussed, including the challenges these emerging professionals face in obtaining tenure, promotion, and grant procurement. This is followed by suggestions for how to respond to the microaggressions (e.g., classism and colorism) encountered by both Black and White peers. Based on that groundwork, a series of best practices are proposed for creating safe spaces, nurturing and mentoring our future special education teachers. The chapter ends with a reinforcing and supporting summary of lessons learned to promote persistence and retention among Black special education teacher education faculty.

The growing concern about school violence and security has led to a dramatic increase in the number of police officers working in schools. This increase has been accompanied by a focus on the training of school-based law enforcement, the discretion that they exercise when interacting with youth, and the concern that these factors may lead to more youths facing arrest and formal processing by the juvenile and criminal justice system. What is not well understood is whether or not having formal school resource officer (SRO) training or higher education impacts the officer’s decision making when responding to an incident involving a student. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper uses survey data from school police officers within the USA (n=179) to examine the officer’s preferred post-incident method of disciplining the youth, from the most punitive and formal approach of suspension or referral to juvenile authorities, to the less punitive and informal approach such as diversion or warn and release.

Overall, the study found that officers who have received formal SRO training were more likely to prefer a formal resolution to the incidents, and more highly educated officers tended to favor less punitive and informal responses.

These findings question the current state of the effectiveness of SRO training at using diversionary tactics for conflict resolution in a school setting.