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The study compares the impact of two different pedagogical approaches in police training by assessing the knife defense performance of German police recruits against different types of knife attacks. Linear or nonlinear – which pedagogical approach leads to more efficient knife defense performance?

A total of 20 German state police recruits (w = 5, m = 15) were assigned to linear and nonlinear groups. The linear and nonlinear groups' performance on knife defense was assessed in a pretest, after a three-week training intervention in a posttest and eight weeks thereafter in a retention test, utilizing a mixed-method design (Sendall et al., 2018).

Quantitative data on knife defense performance suggest a lastingly better performance of the nonlinear group: in the retention test, participants of the nonlinear group were hit less (p = 0.029), solved the attack faster (p = 0.044) and more often (81.8%) than participants of the linear group (55.6%). In contrast, qualitative data reveal that, despite of evidence for a high level of perceived competence, the nonlinear teaching of knife defense skills has been accompanied by considerable uncertainties, affected by the lack of techniques and the focus on principles and operational parameters only.

It is the first study assessing the impact of different pedagogical approaches in police training. For the practice of police trainers, the results provide empirical orientations for an evidence-based planning of and reflection on pedagogical demands within their training (Mitchell and Lewis, 2017).

There is a lack of research into the police’s physical defense and control tactics training. Approximately 600 officers in the USA form the research population and their opinions are sought about the defense and control tactics training they receive, their experiences in using these tactics and their interest in alternative techniques and training methods. Results support the idea that in‐service training might be improved. There are high levels of dissatisfaction with the training and there are hints as to how training can be improved.

To describe the class content of a citizen police academy (CPA) and the preference for communicative problem solving over physical force.

This ethnographic case study followed 20 participants through a CPA run by a suburban police department. Participants were interviewed before the academy began. All classes were observed and transcribed, and group discussions were held after the academy's conclusion. Instructors were also interviewed.

The more “action‐packed” parts of policing attract participants to CPAs, which then can emphasize the less adventuresome aspects. While officers must be ready to respond to violence used against them, communication plays a greater role in investigating crime and solving day‐to‐day problems. Citizens are encouraged to work with police by reporting problems and becoming involved with community policing efforts. CPAs counter the violent portrayal of police work in the mass media.

Generalizability based upon a case study. How valid for others are the results from one CPA?

CPA instructors should be encouraged to facilitate more discussions between participants. Entertainment is an important factor in CPA classes but citizens will also value more serious conversation.

This paper would be most valuable for instructors of CPAs and researchers interested in them. Prior studies of CPAs have largely been based on survey research. According to Katz: “no social research is complete without an ethnographic treatment of its subject‐matter.” While CPAs tend to follow a similar curriculum, this paper shows what values should be infused to cultivate better relations with citizens.

Knife crime and serious violent crime (SVC) among youth has been growing at an alarming rate in the UK (Harding and Allen, 2021). Community and school-based intervention and prevention services to tackle knife crime are being developed with some evaluation; however, these are independent and of varied quality and rigour. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to record the approaches being developed and synthesise existing evidence of the impact and effectiveness of programmes to reduce knife crime. In addition, the complex factors contributing to knife crime and SVC are discussed.

A systematic approach was used to conduct this knife crime intervention evidence review using two search engines and four databases. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to ensure focus and relevance. The results of searches and decisions by the research team were recorded at each stage using Preferred Reporting Items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA).

Some evidence underpins the development of services to reduce knife crime. Much of the evidence comes from government funded project reports, intervention and prevention services reports, with few studies evaluating the efficacy of intervention programmes at present. Some studies that measured immediate impact in line with the programme’s aims were found and demonstrated positive results.

This systematic review specifically synthesised the evidence and data derived from knife crime and weapon carrying interventions and preventions, integrating both grey and published literature, with a novel discussion that highlights the importance of outcome evaluations and issues with measuring the success of individual level interventions and their contributions to the overall reduction of violence.

The findings of the Steering Group on Food Freshness in relation to the compulsory date marking of food contained in their Report, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, has brought within measurable distance the Regulations which were, in any case, promised for1975. The Group consider that the extension of voluntary open date marking systems will not be sufficiently rapid (or sufficiently comprehensive) to avoid the need or justify the delay in introducing legislation.

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of English adolescents' views on knife‐carrying and offer a potential framework for challenging their implicit tolerance of the phenomenon.

A sample of 25 adolescents from three large English cities (London, Birmingham and Manchester) was interviewed about knife‐carrying at seven youth community centers and their narratives were analyzed by drawing on the classical discourse analysis and the concept of narrative repertoires.

The adolescents constructed the social and legal consequences of knife‐carrying as normal, trivial and inevitable.

Talking to a stranger with a voice recorder about the sensitive subject of knife‐carrying appeared to be problematic, which probably had an inhibitory effect despite the conversational warm‐up and assured anonymity.

Cautioning against creating common sense associations between knife‐carrying and irresponsibility or deviance, the paper emphasizes the need for the focus on the low controllability and unpredictability of the knife.

The paper presents scholars and outreach workers with an intimate glimpse of how personal responsibility for knife‐carrying and its potential consequences could be diminished by removing the agency from the carrier and rhetorically placing it in society.

The power of the executive to refer cases involving criminal conviction back to an appellate court is a mechanism for guarding against miscarriages of justice and regulating the inherent fallibility of the criminal justice system. These cases typically come before the executive by way of a petition that claims a person has been wrongfully convicted. In Australia, however, there are few guidelines and little information as to the criteria and standards by which the executive decides whether to refer a petitioned case. The test the petitioner must meet is not clear. This chapter therefore has two purposes. The first is to examine the types of petitions most likely to be referred to the appellate court by the executive. These cases are shown to fall into particular categories. The second is to argue that, from these categories, inferences may be drawn about the test the executive uses in deciding whether to refer a petition. These inferences follow from the common principles and links between the cases in each category. The chapter identifies the test the petition should meet to have optimal chance of referral.

Manufacturers show a growing tendency to remove the skin from all fruits and vegetables before drying. Because of custom or the type of skin, some kinds, notably prunes and apricots, however, are rarely peeled. Peeling may be done by hand or by specially designed machines. Many types of knives, with straight, curved or guarded blades, and hand‐operated cutting machines are obtainable for peeling, trimming, coring and otherwise preparing the material to be dried. Machines for peeling and coring both apples and pears in one operation are available. Friction or rotary mechanical peelers are particularly well suited for handling roots and tubers. All peelers of this type depend upon the rasping effect of rough surfaces of cement, corundum, etc., forming some part of the lining of the peeler, when the product is rotated rapidly within the cylinder by a moving bottom. The material is introduced at the top and discharged by a side door. These machines are usually equipped with water sprays, which wash off the dirt and the particles of skin removed by the peeler. Other types make use of an open flame which chars the skin so that it can be brushed or washed off. Several types of lye peelers are available. All depend upon immersion in or spraying with hot (190°–200° F.) lye solution. The length of treatment must be determined for each batch of fruit. It should be long enough to permit the ready removal of skin by water sprays or by rubbing, but must not injure the flesh of the product being peeled. Following the peeling, the fruit or vegetable must be inspected and all remaining skin removed with trimming knives, especially adapted to different products. Lye is used to check the skins of prunes and grapes in order to facilitate drying. The fruit is in contact with the hot lye solution long enough to break the skin by many minute fissures or checks, but not long enough to loosen it. The concentration and temperature of the lye bath are similar to those for lye peeling. After the lye treatment the fruit is carefully washed to remove all traces of the lye bath before further processing. Fruits are sliced, cubed, shredded, or left whole. Vegetables are sliced, cubed, shredded, or chipped. The cutting is done by hand or by some one of the numerous machines on the market. Some of the machines consist essentially of rotating knives or cutting surfaces operated by hand or by power. In others the cutting surfaces are stationary and the product is forced against the blades. Special machines for cutting beans are made. In the most satisfactory type of cubing machine the slices are cut, carried to a die, and forced through by a plunger. Manufacturers find it desirable to pit or seed stone fruits, as pitted or seeded fruits dry more rapidly and sell more readily than those from which the pits or seeds are not removed. Machines for pitting, seeding and paring most fruits are for sale by food‐machinery manufacturers, but the greater part of dried fruits are pitted by hand. After the raw material is prepared in the desired form, no time should elapse before traying and subsequent treatments preliminary to its being placed in the drier. No definite rule can be given for determining the quantity of material to be placed on a unit area of tray surface. Experience will soon show the operators how much will insure even, rapid drying. Many of the larger fruits must be trayed only one layer deep. Overloading trays must be avoided. Trays should be light but capable of withstanding strain, and they should permit a maximum exposure of the materials. Trays of the type most often seen have a spreading surface formed either of wire screen or wooden slats held firmly in a narrow but rigid wooden or metal frame. Many of the trays now in use have been employed in sun or other drying. If new trays are made, the one‐man tray, about 2½ to 3 feet square, will be found to be the most convenient. Wooden‐slat trays can be more cheaply constructed than wire‐screen trays, but they have a high rate of upkeep. These trays, however, are not affected by sulphur fumes or fruit acids, for which reason they are preferred for most fruits. The trucks for conveying loaded trays are of two general types. In one a skeleton frame is provided with cleats, upon which the trays rest. The cleats are from 2 to 4 inches from centre to centre above one another. These trucks are made of various combinations of wood or angle iron. The other, which may be called the stack type, has a low floor supported by wheels 3 to 5 inches in diameter. The trays are piled or stacked one above the other, and the desired space between them is maintained by the raised sides of the trays. Various alterations may be made for convenience in handling and loading. The original method of preparing fruits and vegetables for drying consisted in washing, peeling when desirable, cutting, and traying. By this method most dark‐coloured materials made fairly presentable dried foods, but light‐coloured fruits and vegetables did not. The attempt to overcome this difficulty led to the introduction of blanching, or processing, and sulphuring. The blanching, or processing, agent is usually steam or hot water, which helps the product to retain its natural colour. In the steam treatment the material is subjected to live steam for the required period. In blanching by hot water, the temperature is maintained at 190° F. to the boiling point, depending on the material being treated. As a rule, steam blanching is preferred to blanching in liquid, because the loss of soluble constituents of the food is less, a better flavoured product results, and the use of steam is ordinarily more convenient. Light‐coloured fruits (apricots, peaches, pears, and at times grapes and figs) are sulphured in order to prevent discolouration during and after drying and to facilitate drying. Sulphuring plasmolyzes the cells and makes permeable the semipermeable cell membrane, thus facilitating the diffusion of water from the interior to the surface. When the general plan of operation makes it desirable, the fruit on trays is sulphured in an enclosed chamber, provided with an entrance for the sulphur gas and an exit for a draught. The chamber is usually large enough to hold one to two loaded trucks. Preferably the sulphur is burned in shallow pans stacked one above the other in zigzag formation. This method gives a large quantity of sulphur dioxide in a comparatively short time. Sometimes a sulphur stove is placed outside the chamber and the sulphur fumes are carried into the chamber by flues. Sulphuring should always be as light as possible to accomplish the desired results. The type of equipment best adapted to any particular use depends upon several factors. If the products are to be dried for home or farm use, then the equipment should be as simple as possible. If the dried material is to be prepared in large quantities for sale to the public, then the type of equipment will depend to a great extent upon the nature of the product desired. To meet these needs many devices have been originated and patented, so that all phases of drying are well covered. Materials can be dried more rapidly and at lower temperatures in vacuum than at atmospheric pressure. Such foods as are extremely susceptible to damage by heat are more safely dried in vacuum. However, vacuum driers are seldom used in large‐scale operations on the usual commercial grades of dehydrated fruits and vegetables. The apparatus is too expensive and usually the advantages gained are not sufficient to compensate for the added cost of equipment and operation. Enzymes are not inactivated by evaporation alone, and it will be found desirable in many cases to inactivate them by blanching or by other means if vacuum drying is used.

Table knives were one of the first products to be made in stainless steel. Just before the first world war Harry Brearley, who discovered that steel containing about 14% chromium and 0.3% carbon was highly resistant to corrosion and capable of being hardened, arranged for trial batches of stainless knives to be manufactured. Because this steel's corrosion resistance was greatly superior to that of ordinary steel, it became known as ‘stainless’ or ‘rustless,’ with the result that ever since that time cutlery users have felt defrauded if their ‘stainless’ knives have shown the slightest trace of corrosion under any circumstances. It is now known that under certain conditions the steel will corrode, therefore it is important for cutlers to ensure that their knives have the highest possible corrosion resistance to justify their description—‘stainless.’