36 research outputs found
Researching the use of force: The background to the international project
This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in eight countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officersâ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology
Linking optical and infrared observations with gravitational wave sources through variability
Optical and infrared observations have thus far detected more celestial
cataclysms than have been seen in gravity waves (GW). This argues that we
should search for gravity wave signatures that correspond to flux variability
seen at optical wavelengths, at precisely known positions. There is an unknown
time delay between the optical and gravitational transient, but knowing the
source location precisely specifies the corresponding time delays across the
gravitational antenna network as a function of the GW-to-optical arrival time
difference. Optical searches should detect virtually all supernovae that are
plausible gravitational radiation sources. The transient optical signature
expected from merging compact objects is not as well understood, but there are
good reasons to expect detectable transient optical/IR emission from most of
these sources as well. The next generation of deep wide-field surveys (for
example PanSTARRS and LSST) will be sensitive to subtle optical variability,
but we need to fill the ``blind spots'' that exist in the Galactic plane, and
for optically bright transient sources. In particular, a Galactic plane
variability survey at 2 microns seems worthwhile. Science would benefit from
closer coordination between the various optical survey projects and the gravity
wave community.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Contribution to 12th Gravitational Wave Data
Analysis Workshop. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit