The United Nations Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Offenders: An Overview With Specific Reference to the Situation in Developing Countries

A version of the paper by Sam S. Souryal presented at The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Boston, MA March 7-9, 1995.Anyone who reads the newspapers or watches the miracle of CNN on television cannot escape noting the atrocities committed against prisoners in so many parts of the world. Just recently, atrocities have been reported by the Serbs against Muslim prisoners in Bosnia-Herzogovina. by the Whites against black prisoners in South Africa, by fascist regimes against political prisoners in Latin America, and by the Israeli authorities against Arab prisoners. The world also recalls with horror the atrocities committed by the Iraqis against Kuwaiti prisoners whose sole crime was attempting to liberate their homeland during the Iraqi occupation of 1990-1991. The mistreatment of prisoners is neither new to the history of man. nor is it limited to developing countries. It is the egotistical constitution of man which favors conquest over tolerance, power over reason, and humiliation over kindness. The mistreatment of prisoners has existed in just about every country, in one form or another, at one time or another in its development. Socrates, Jesus. Maciavelli. Thomas More. Galileo. Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, to mention just a few, are "living proof of such acts of inmate oppression. Apostle Paul, perhaps because of his personal prison experience, wrote in the message to the Hebrews: "Remember those in prison as though you are imprisoned with them" (Hebrews 13: 3)

Demythelogizing Personal Loyalty to Superiors

Authors draft of an article later published in Critical Criminology Volume 19 Issue 2.This article examines the practice of personal loyalty to superiors, in general, and in criminal justice agencies, in particular. While practitioners are taught that their primarily loyalty is to the United States Constitution, State laws, departmental rules and regulations, they are organizationally taught that personal loyalty to superiors is paramount if they wanted their career to continue and prosper. As a result many practitioners are rightfully confused (even exhibiting paranoia) over who or what to be primarily loyal to, and at what price or risk. This unwarranted fear has been behind numerous acts of malfeasance and misfeasance; it can lower the workers’ morale, confuses the practitioners, and destabilizes the agency’s equilibrium. This article examines three types of workplace loyalties, and suggests, as an attempt toward reform, the use of a more sensible duty-based paradigm. Such a paradigm can be based on four practical propositions: (1) seriously examining why personal loyalty to superiors is deemed essential, if at all, especially since it is never mentioned in the agency’s rules and regulations; (2) taking the fear out of the language of “loyalty-disloyalty” by perhaps replacing the term with more benign and rather measurable terms such as “performance and collaboration;” (3) strengthening dutiful supervision; and (4) maximizing professional accountability

The Challenges of White Collar Crimes and Computer Crimes and The Imperative of Training the Police in Forensic Accountancy

Paper Presented at Sharjah Conference on Economic Crime on January 21-22, 2002.White Collar crime is a dangerous problem that becomes even more dangerous when aligned with computer crime. These two types of crime feed on each other and present a global challenge to society and the police. The combination of these two types of crime can severely undermine the economy especially in developing countries. It is imperative, therefore, that the police be better trained in the sciences of forensic accountancy. This paper presents definitions, classifications and profiles of how white collar crime and computer crime can be intertwined, who are involved, and the loopholes that allow financial assets to be moved undetected across the globe. The paper examines computer crimes as they practically progress at different stages. This examination addresses criminal techniques such as “trojan horses." “viruses." “salami," “logical bombs." and explain the risks that face society, in general, and public and private institutions, in particular, as a result of these criminal activities. This paper also addresses the relationships between cyber crime, money laundering, and explains the practice of commingling licit and illicit assets. It makes a strong case for training the police in forensic accountancy, an emerging discipline by which police experts can collect direct evidence as well as circumstantial evidence and apply such scientific concepts as “sampling." “forecasting." “ratio analysis." and "flow charts." This paper concludes by proposing an advanced protocol for police training. That protocol focuses on three distinct activities: (1) detection, (2) investigation, and “prevention.” It also introduces the reader to available facilities and programs where the police can be trained to combat economic crimes

Stopped for a Traffic Ticket: A Getaway Scale Index

An early draft of an article by Sam S. Souryal published my Sentry in fall 1979.Have you ever wondered why you wind up each year with more traffic tickets than your friends whom you consider worse drivers than you are? The chances are they talk their way out of them, at least some. They know how to cultivate the officers tactfully, how to sell them a good story, and how to secure their collaboration. These are obviously delicate tasks which involve considerable risks. In order to be able to handle these tasks successfully you must have a talent for game planning and strategy. More importantly, before you attempt to play the game of evading traffic tickets you must be better informed about your chances. It is, therefore, important and necessary that you familiarize yourself with the Getaway Scale Index (GSI). I

A White Paper on Teaching Excellence in Criminal Justice

A professional white paper of teaching Criminal Justice that is believed to not be published. Written around 2008 or later.This paper reiterates two classic academic propositions: First, intellect without a disciplined mind is worthless and a disciplined mind without intellect is dangerous. This proposition suggests that regardless of faculty efforts, students will not receive quality learning unless they fully understand the theory of "what is being taught, where did it come from, and what is it good for, " and Second, teaching that does not produce quality learning is futile since it can only reinforce ignorance. Therefore, to achieve teaching excellence, it is imperative to consider these two propositions and to rethink the profession of teaching in a new and judicious manner r~cognizing that it is not what the instructors say in the classroom that fosters quality learning, but rather what the students hear and interpret that can make the difference between mediocrity and excellence (Luntz, 2007, xiii)

An Exposition of Police Badge Policy: Ten Reasons in Support of a Single-badge

An early version of an article published in Texas Police Journal in December of 1997Modern police departments allow for a variety of police badges, i.e., one for patrol officers, one for supervisors, one for detectives, etc. While the rationale behind this policy may have been embedded in tradition, its continuance may speak unfavorably to the department's managerial sophistication. In multiple-badge departments, badges vary from a basic stainless steel version which is small, crude, and of limited appeal, to a golden version which is larger and has ornaments attached to it. The reasoning behind this is certainly one that is motivated by a desire to signify rank or function, to stimulate motivation within the force, to make a better impression on the public, or a combination of all of these. Yet, despite the elegance of this reasoning, the policy may have a counter-effect on the overall performance of the department, and, if so, should be rethought

Network lifetime maximising distributed forwarding strategies in Ad Hoc wireless sensor networks

International audienceThe authors propose three variants of distributed and stateless forwarding strategies for wireless sensor networks, namely greedy minimum energy consumption forwarding protocol (GMFP), lifetime maximising GMFP (LM-GMFP) and variance minimising GMFP (VAR-GMFP), which aim at maximising the network lifetime while achieving a high forwarding success rate. GMFP selects a forwarding node that minimises per-packet energy consumption while maximising the forwarding progress. LM-GMFP extends the GMFP algorithm by also taking into account the remaining energy at the prospective one-hop forwarding nodes. In VAR-GMFP, on the other hand, the packet is forwarded to the next node that ensures a locally high mean and low variance of nodal remaining energy. Through simple probabilistic analysis the authors prove the intuition behind the optimum forwarding node selection for network lifetime maximisation. They then model the lifetime maximisation of a sensor network as an optimisation problem and compare the practical protocol-dependent network lifetime with the theoretical upper bound. Through extensive simulations the author demonstrate that the proposed protocols outperform the existing energy-aware protocols in terms of network lifetime and end-to-end delay

The Sensibility of Turning Community-Oriented Policing into a Force of Civility and Democracy

Article published in Law Enforcement Executive Forum in 2011This article suggests changing the mission of Community-Oriented policing officers by making them agents of civility and re-enforcers of democracy by teaching them Liberal Arts including (i.e. reasoning, logic, discretion and justification. As a better educated group, they are then serve group organizers, role models, teachers, peace makers as well as peace keepers. More significantly, they should uphold Constitutional and democratic values by acting with justice, honesty, equality, fairness, and compassion-- all without bias associated with race, national origin, color, or ethnicity. As a result, they would be better able to practice communication, mentoring, and problem solving. At this time, CP0s should be actively engaged in civic engagement, caring for people's welfare, keeping streets open and clean, reporting sewage leaks, removing graffiti, organizing the use of cabs, observing the rule of "first come-first serve," solving small and mundane disputes, and more importantly, treating citizens as ends rather than means. In turn, they can accelerate the growth of civility and the ascendency of democracy--all while lowering crime rates. Such a drop in crime rates would more likely be a direct result of encouraging legitimate and open avenues to government offices, enjoying equal justice by criminal justice agents, and treating each individual with "true" dignity and respect. As such, CP0s can positively reshape community culture in such a manner not different from those in highly developed nations (i.e., Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, New Zealand, and, among Asian countries, Singapore and Hong Kong). By espousing this new mission, CPOs can encourage a culture of civility within communities (i.e. on the streets, at homes, at schools as well as on trains, buses, and cabs. The outcome of such endeavors would most likely create a closer bond between police, civility, and democracy. Such a collaborative relationship has always led to stability of government, happiness of citizens, and the fulfillment of social good