Camera Surveillance as a Measure of Counterterrorism?

Camera surveillance has recently gained prominence in policy proposals on combating terrorism. We evaluate this instrument of counterterrorism as resting on the premise of a deterrence effect. Based on comparative arguments and previous evidence on crime, we expect camera surveillance to have a relatively smaller deterrent effect on terrorism than on other forms of crime. In particular, we emphasize opportunities for substitution (i.e., displacement effects), the interaction with media attention aspired to by terrorists, the limits of real-time interventions, the crowding-out of social surveillance, the risk of misguided profiling, and politico-economic concerns regarding the misuse of the technology.Camera surveillance, closed-circuit television (CCTV), public security, deterrence, terrorism

Camera Surveillance as a Measure of Counterterrorism?

Camera surveillance has recently gained prominence in policy proposals on combating terrorism. We evaluate this instrument of counterterrorism as resting on the premise of a deterrence effect. Based on comparative arguments and previous evidence on crime, we expect camera surveillance to have a relatively smaller deterrent effect on terrorism than on other forms of crime. In particular, we emphasize opportunities for substitution (i.e., displacement effects), the interaction with media attention aspired to by terrorists, the limits of real-time interventions, the crowding-out of social surveillance, the risk of misguided profiling, and politico-economic concerns regarding the misuse of the technology.Camera surveillance, closed-circuit television (CCTV), public security, deterrence, terrorism.

Active Decisions and Pro-social Behavior: A Field Experiment on Blood Donation

In this paper, we propose a decision framework where people are individually asked to either actively consent or dissent to some pro-social behavior. We hypothesize that confronting individuals with the choice of engaging in a specific pro-social behavior contributes to the formation of issue-specific altruistic preferences while simultaneously involving a commitment. The hypothesis is tested in a large-scale field experiment on blood donation. We find that this "active-decision" intervention substantially increases the actual donation behavior of people who have not fully formed preferences beforehand.active decision, pro-social behavior, field experiment, blood donation

Ökonomische Überlegungen zur Kameraüberwachung als Massnahme gegen den Terrorismus

In recent times, camera surveillance or closed-circuit television (CCTV) as an instrument potentially deterring crime and terrorism has become a focus of the public discourse. CCTV might be the most rapidly spreading and, at the same time, one of the most disputed measures of contemporary public security policy. This article presents theoretical arguments and empirical results that need to be considered in plans of future CCTV schemes as well as in methodically challenging CCTV evaluations. Previous evidence shows that the effectiveness of this situational crime prevention instrument is substantially depending on the context within which it is implemented. According to a comparative economic analysis of illegal behavior, we expect a relatively smaller deterrent effect of CCTV on terrorism than on other forms of crime. On the one hand, terrorists can switch to numerous alternative targets not monitored by cameras. On the other hand, CCTV images raise the degree of publicity terrorists can achieve.

Behavior of chemical contaminants under controlled Redox conditions in an artificial sequential soil column system and in batch cultures

A leachate pollution plume was simulated in a sequential soil columnsystem (SSCS), defined by a longitudinal redox cascade from methanogenic,sulfate-, nitrate-reducing to aerobic conditions. A mixture of contaminants,including compounds such as perchloroethene (PER), 1,1-dichloroethene(DCE), 1,4-dichlorobenzene (DCB), 2-nitrophenol (NP), and benzene (BEN)was supplied to the methanogenic column; their conversion was followed during passage through the SSCS. After establishment of a steady state, parameters were changed to simulate changes in the environment and to follow the reactions of the system. Acetate, initially introduced as an anaerobically easy degradable carbon source, was first omitted and later added again to the system. Furthermore, the medium flow rate and by that the load of the test compounds was increased 4 fold. Changes transiently increased the residual concentrations of most of the xenobiotics. Within seven months after acetate omission, turnover ofcontaminants had almost returned to the original steady state. Flow andload increase resulted in increased transformation of compounds such asPER, NP, and BEN. After readdition of acetate, the turnover of most ofthe xenobiotics increased within the next five weeks.Microbial populations for the anaerobic batch cultures, obtained from thespecific columns, were used to investigate metabolites formed and conversion kinetics of the xenobiotics. Almost the sameconversion pattern was found in batches and columns, except no transformation of DCE and DCB was detected in the SSCS, though both compounds were converted in batch culture

Kameraüberwachung als Präventionsinstrument im öffentlichen urbanen Raum für den Bahnhofplatz der Stadt Luzern

Am 1. Juni 2008 befürwortete das Stimmvolk der Stadt Luzern ein neues Reglement über die Videoüberwachung im öffentlichen Raum. Infolgedessen wurden Mitte Dezember 2008 sechs Überwachungskameras am Bahnhofplatz Luzern installiert und in Betrieb genommen. Der vorliegende Evaluationsbericht dient der Beantwortung eines Postulats betreffend Begleitung und Auswertung der Videoüberwachung am Bahnhofplatz. NEWLINE Basierend auf der Theorie der rationalen Entscheidung wird mittels statistischer resp. ökonometrischer Methoden der Zusammenhang von Kameraüberwachung und Sicherheitskennzahlen untersucht. Dazu werden u.a. zwei Datensätze der Luzerner Polizei und der Einsatzgruppe Sicherheit, Intervention Prävention (SIP) ausgewertet. Bisherige Forschung zeigte, dass die Auswirkungen von Kameraüberwachung in hohem Mass kontextabhängig sind. Bezüglich der Anwendung auf offenen, urbanen Plätzen ist die Evidenz nicht schlüssig, d.h. es gibt kaum Hinweise auf systematische Erfolge bei der Kriminalprävention in diesem situativen Kontext. NEWLINE Auch in der Analyse der vorliegenden Daten der Luzerner Polizei und der SIP wird kein abschreckender (Netto-)Effekt der Einführung von Kameraüberwachung am Bahnhofplatz auf sicherheitsrelevante Vorkommnisse beobachtet. Am Bahnhofplatz werden nach dem Installationszeitpunkt gar mehr Delikte registriert. Bei der Interpretation dieser positiven partiellen Korrelation ist jedoch Zurückhaltung geboten: Sie reflektiert möglicherweise einen am Bahnhofplatz relativ stärker ansteigenden Kriminalitätstrend, welcher durch Videoüberwachung nicht gebrochen werden konnte, oder ein stimuliertes Melde- resp. Anzeigeverhalten seitens Passanten oder Polizei. NEWLINE Es sind Anzeichen für eine Verlagerung von polizeilich registrierten Delikten in Richtung der (bereits videoüberwachten) RailCity des Bahnhofs Luzern nach Dezember 2008 erkennbar. Bezüglich anderer möglicher und weiter entfernter Ausweichgebiete ist keine Verlagerung feststellbar, diese ist also im vorliegenden Fall sehr lokaler Natur. Bei deliktspezifischer Betrachtung fällt auf, dass der am Bahnhofplatz beobachtete Kriminalitätsanstieg in erster Linie auf eine deutliche Zunahme an Fällen von Drogenkonsum und -handel zurückzuführen ist, v.a. im spezifischen Randbereich des nicht kameraüberwachten Busperrons 2. NEWLINE Das subjektive Sicherheitsempfinden hat sich am Bahnhofplatz in der Beobachtungsperiode nicht verbessert. In der Bevölkerungsbefragung 2009 wird der Platz neu (verglichen mit der Befragung aus dem Jahr 2006) als Problemregion wahrgenommen. Im selben Zeitraum stieg die Akzeptanz von Kameraüberwachung von 48% auf 64% der befragten Personen. NEWLINE Ein anderes Bild als bei der Einführung von Kameraüberwachung zeigt sich bei einer Intervention mit verstärkter persönlicher Präsenz von Sicherheitspersonal. Das repressive Vorgehen und die intensivierte Patroullientätigkeit von Polizei und SIP im sogenannten Vögeligärtli (Sempacherplatz) ab Februar 2008 war mit einem starken Rückgang der erfassten Vorfälle im Interventionsgebiet verbunden

Outcome of children with low-grade cerebellar astrocytoma: long-term complications and quality of life

Objects: To study the long-term outcome of surgically treated low-grade cerebellar astrocytomas in children. Materials and methods: We followed 31 consecutive patients under 16years of age who were diagnosed between 1980 and 2005 in a single institution. In 21 of 31 survivors (median follow-up time 7.9years; range 5.6-27.4years) who agreed to participate, tumor control, neurological and cognitive complications, and their impact on behavioral and emotional adjustment and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were comprehensively assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results: Neurological sequelae were found in 43%. However, age-appropriate ability to perform daily life activities was normal in all patients. Remarkably, cognitive deficits leading to significant school problems occurred in 19% and behavioral and emotional adjustment disturbances in 27%. In comparison with healthy controls, the survivors rated their HRQoL similarly or even higher. Conclusion: Childhood low-grade cerebellar astrocytomas have an excellent cure rate by tumor surgery alone. When compared with other pediatric brain tumors, the risk of neurological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral complications is relatively small. HRQoL is similar to that of healthy control

Counteracting Green Alder Shrub Expansion by Low-Input Grazing

In the past decades, the decline of traditional agriculture has caused an abandonment of marginal pastures in many mountain areas of Europe. In the Swiss Alps, green alder (Alnus viridis) is the most abundant successional shrub. A survey of 24 pasture-shrub gradients showed that the encroachment by green alder, in contrast to other shrubs, is associated with a substantial decline in plant species richness. The understorey of alder is primarily populated by very few, broad-leaved herbaceous species benefitting from the atmospheric nitrogen fixed by actinomycetes in symbiosis with green alder. However, the understory vegetation also provides an underestimated forage, rich in protein and comparable in productivity and digestibility to nearby open pastures. A two-year grazing experiment with cattle (Dexter), sheep (local Engadine sheep) and mixed-breed goats in the Eastern Swiss Alps demonstrated that robust breeds were able to exploit these resources as they readily penetrated the thickets. The Engadine sheep and the goats consumed green alder bark and thus actively counteracted shrub encroachment. Dexter cattle did not forage on alder bark but on leaves and opened the thickets by their movement through them. Since goats preferred other woody species to green alder and depleted them before the alder, they may impair the regeneration of late-successional forest. Dexter heifers and Engadine lambs performed equally well on pastures with high shrub cover and on open pastures in terms of average daily weight gain, carcass and meat quality. This was facilitated by the comparatively low productivity of these breeds. In this way, low-input grazing systems utilizing adapted breeds, especially sheep, can add to conservation goals and sustain a viable meat production in marginal areas