Homeland Security and the Police Mission

The terrorist attacks on America are seen as a pivotal period for the nation and for policing. They have thrust policing into a new mission that will have a wide ranging impact on the police role, organizational strategies, staffing, training and policy. State, local and tribal police are now at the forefront of Homeland Security activities, yet there remains a great deal of uncertainty about their mission.The ramp-up efforts by federal and state government are reminiscent of the staging for civil defense in the 1960\u27s. As a result of 9/11, there has been an invigoration for cities and towns to develop response plans for any localized terrorist incidents. The safety of the public is important and falls to government agencies.Community policing was intended to encourage community input and involvement. As communities and our country attempt to put safeguards in place and raise awareness, community and business leaders, and neighborhood groups should be enlisted to assist. The tenets of community policing can be utilized to plan and engage the community as police agencies endeavor to respond to a new mission.Using a sample of New England police agencies and police practitioners, this research will query whether police agencies are changing their organizational mission to integrate Homeland Security activities. The researchers used several methods to analyze police agencies and their role in Homeland Security. First, examining police agency mission statements through content analysis, the authors found little evidence of a formal Homeland Security focus. This research utilized a web-based survey tool to elicit officer perspectives on Homeland Security objectives

Analysis of the Racial and Ethnic Representation of Adult Male Inmates in Large Jail Isolation Units in the United States

Black males are overrepresented in US large jails, and this overrepresentation may extend into their isolations units, or DHUs. While overrepresentation in prison populations has been explored and well documented in academic literature. Far less is known about overrepresentation in jail populations where prisoners serve far less time, and in some cases, may not yet be convicted of crimes. The study analyzed the classification of adult male prisoners to DHU within large jails. This central research question of the study primarily focused on exploring the causes and prevalence of overrepresentation in DHUs in jails based on race or ethnicity. The theoretical construct of this study was based on Foucault’s (1975) theory of panopticism. The purpose of this quantitative study was first to document whether an overrepresentation problem existed among US large jails. The sample for this study included wardens or directors of 40 large jails across the US. Data were collected by an electronic survey and were analyzed by logistic regression. Findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between race and ethnicity and the potential placement in DHUs, particularly among adult Black male populations. This statistical finding indicates that Foucault’s panopticism theory does not address correctional staff training and potential bias

The Pracademic and Academic in Criminal Justice Education: A Qualitative Analysis

Over the past several years, a few hundred colleagues involved in criminal justice education have participated in panel discussions and roundtables to discuss the trials and issues that have been observed by practitioners turned academics, or “pracademics.” Some complained of having difficulty breaking into academia. A debate has occurred in a number of colleges and universities over the benefit of having faculty with traditional academic credentials versus hiring non-traditional scholars with a blend of educational and practical experience. Similarly, there have been lively discussions over the appropriateness of a J.D. or professional doctorate as opposed to a Ph.D. in criminal justice. This debate started in an article in ACJS Today (2002) and continued in subsequent publications. It is believed that there is importance, benefit and relevance to incorporating practical experience on college and university campuses. In academic program after program, internships, externships, observation, and practicums have become essential in preparing students for the real world

Preliminary Satellite Telemetry of East Pacific Green Turtles Nesting on Playa Cabuyal, Costa Rica

The eastern pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizi) is endangered and nests along the Pacific coast of Central America. Understanding where turtles are going when they are not nesting on the beach can help us to better preserve the resources and ocean habitats that are important to these species. There are three characteristic behaviors of adult sea turtles when in the water: they are either migrating to or from foraging areas, foraging, or spending time in off-shore habitats in between depositing clutches of eggs. I studied post nesting migrations and interesting movements in eastern pacific green turtles nesting on Playa Cabuyal, Montes de Oro, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The scientific questions I am answering are: 1) what locations are the utilized by as inter-nesting turtles, and 2) where do these nesting turtles go to forage after nesting and do the migrations vary from year to year or within the season. In Cabuyal we patrol the beach every night looking for turtles. Once a turtle has started nesting we check that her carapace for abnormalities. If she has a suitable carapace, when nesting is completed we attach a Spot5 Wildlife computers satellite transmitter to the upper center of her carapace using Powers T-380 epoxy. These satellite transmitters connect to the Argos system every time the turtle surfaces to breath or when on land nesting and we map the movements using this information. I created a complete map of initial oceanographic factors that affect turtles in conjunction with the turtle track data. I currently have data on one post-nesting migration and two inter-nesting turtles. This research will dramatically increase our understanding of the population and how to implement conservation efforts.http://opus.ipfw.edu/stu_symp2013/1009/thumbnail.jp

Comparison of microbial community structures in soils with woody organic amendments and soils with traditional local organic amendments in Ningxia of Northern China

Background Addition of organic amendments has been commonly adopted as a means to restore degraded soils globally. More recently, the use of woody organic amendments has been recognized as a viable method of capturing and retaining water and restoring degraded and desertified soil, especially in semi-arid regions. However, the impacts of woody amendments on soil microbial community structure, versus other traditional organic supplements is less understood. Methods Three locally available natural organic materials of different qualities, i.e., cow manure (CM), corn straw (CS), and chipped poplar branches (PB) were selected as treatments in Ningxia, Northern China and compared with control soils. Four microcosms served as replicates for each treatment. All treatments contained desertified soil; treatments with amendments were mixed with 3% (w/w) of one of the above organic materials. After 7 and 15 months from the start of the experiment, soil samples were analyzed for chemical and physical properties, along with biological properties, which included microbial α-diversity, community structure, and relative abundance of microbial phyla. Results Both bacterial and fungal α-diversity indices were weakly affected by amendments throughout the experimental period. All amendments yielded different microbial community compositions than the Control soils. The microbial community composition in the CS and PB treatments also were different from the CM treatment. After 15 months of the experiment, CS and PB exhibited similar microbial community composition, which was consistent with their similar soil physical and chemical properties. Moreover, CS and PB also appeared to exert similar effects on the abundance of some microbial taxa, and both of these treatments yield different abundances of microbial taxa than the CM treatment. Conclusion New local organic amendment with PB tended to affect the microbial community in a similar way to the traditional local organic amendment with CS, but different from the most traditional local organic amendment with CM in Ningxia, Northern China. Moreover, the high C/N-sensitive, and lignin and cellulose decompose-related microbial phyla increased in CS and PB have benefits in decomposing those incorporated organic materials and improving soil properties. Therefore, we recommend that PB should also be considered as a viable soil organic amendment for future not in Ningxia, but also in other places

Development of membranes for hydrogen separation: Pd-coated V-10Pd

Numerous Group IVB and VB alloys were prepared and tested as potential membrane materials but most of these materials were brittle or exhibited cracking during hydrogen exposure. One of the more ductile alloys, V-10Pd (at. %), was fabricated into a thin (107-{micro}m thick) composite membrane coated with 100 nm of Pd on each side. The material was tested for hydrogen permeability, resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, and long term hydrogen flux stability. The hydrogen permeability, {phi}, of the V-10Pd membrane was 3.86 x 10{sup -8} mol H{sub 2} m{sup -1} s{sup -1} Pa{sup -0.5} (avg. of three different samples) at 400 C, which is slightly higher than the permeability of Pd-23Ag at that temperature. A 1400 h hydrogen flux test at 400 C demonstrated that the rate of metallic interdiffusion was slow between the V-10Pd foil and the 100-nm-thick Pd coating on the surface. However, at the end of testing the membrane cracked at 118 C because of hydrogen embrittlement

Gang Injunctions: A Tool to Control Gang Activity

As major cities in America struggle to respond to the growth of gangs and attendant crime and violence, gang injunctions have been used in California with some success for the past 25 years. There are eight states with legislative authority to obtain gang injunctions to enjoin gangs from illegal activity

Toward a Process-Based Policing Model

Over the past 100 years, policing has undergone significant changes, both in he way services are delivered and in the role of the police. The genesis for many of the police reform efforts over the past several decades has been a challenge to the legitimacy of police to perform their functions s a result of allegations of corruption, mismanagement, or some other performance-related issue...( from journal website

Gang Injunctions: A Tool to Control Gang Activity

As major cities in America struggle to respond to the growth of gangs and attendant crime and violence, gang injunctions have been used in California with some success for the past 25 years. There are eight states with legislative authority to obtain gang injunctions to enjoin gangs from illegal activity

College Students’ Perceptions of Muslim-Americans After the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings

This paper focuses on a study that determined if empathy was related to forgiveness of Muslim Americans among non-Muslim college student participants. College students were asked to view a media report regarding the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings which were conducted by homegrown Muslim American terrorists. 171 undergraduate college students were sampled within this study. Empathy and forgiveness were measured, whereas mortality salience was imposed among the sample. It was determined that there among undergraduate college students, there was a positive, significant relationship among empathy and forgiveness. None of the following factors (i.e., age, gender, ethnicity, race, major, and undergraduate level) were show to statistically moderate the relationship among empathy and forgiveness