Traffic collisions cost Uganda millions of dollars each year. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe the strategies and processes needed to implement a road management system. Such a system would significantly reduce the fatalities and accidents in Uganda, improve the transportation within Kampala's business district, and increase business profitability. Three conceptual theories framed the research study: management theory, strategic management theory, and criminology theory. Using a snowball sampling strategy, data were collected from open-ended interviews, questionnaires, observations, and archived documents from 20 administrative participants in the government and organizational leaders involved in the transport operations and transport services in the Kampala business district in Uganda. Data were analyzed using 3 phases: (a) interpretational analysis, coding, and grouping segments; (b) structural analysis, consistency, and quality; and (c) reflective analysis, consequences, what, when, where, and how. Five themes or action requirements emerged from the data analysis: to improve transport operations and transport services profitability, reduce traffic jams and fatalities, provide sufficient driving training, maintain road infrastructure, and maintain traffic law enforcement. The findings and recommendations from this study may improve the profitability of businesses, reduce the traffic jams and fatalities, and improve the gross domestic product of Uganda, thereby contributing to positive social change.

Senior law enforcement leaders are looking for leadership training strategies to develop future law enforcement leaders. The purpose of this single case study was to explore U.S. law enforcement leaders' training strategies to develop future leaders. The sample was comprised of 18 senior Northern Virginia executive law enforcement leaders who have leadership development strategies currently in use. The conceptual framework for this study was human capital theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, a review of training documentation, and direct observation related to leadership development. Based on methodological triangulation of the data sources and analysis of the data, 3 emergent themes were identified. Recruitment, retention, and mentoring surfaced from recruiting officers for managerial leadership positions. Training and technology grew out of the need to optimize training resources and incorporate new training solutions. Strategic partnerships stemmed from the opportunities for partnering and joint training exercises with other law enforcement organizations. Although this was a single case study, the findings of this study have utility for other, similar contexts. Specifically, these findings suggest that including leadership training strategies in training programs may contribute to social change by providing other law enforcement leaders with the training strategies that result in safer communities.

The psychological and physiological effects of work-related stress on law enforcement causes high morbidity and mortality rates and rates of alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide higher than the national average. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to examine whether work-related stress experienced by child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child sexual abuse (CSA) investigators differ from that of other duty assigned subgroups. I used Karasek's job demands-control model as the theoretical framework for this study. I conducted the study within a medium sized law enforcement agency in eastern Washington State. The sample in the quantitative study consisted of 27 law enforcement officers from 17 duty-assigned subgroups who completed McCreary and Thompson's Operational Police Stress Survey (PSQ-Op) and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-Org). The sample in the qualitative study consisted of 7 law enforcement officers who answered 5 researcher developed questions during a telephone interview. Descriptive statistics, a Pearson's correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis of the PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org revealed no significant difference in reported work-related stress experienced within the duty-assigned subgroups, revealing no correlative difference of stress experienced by CSE and CSA investigators and the other duty assigned subgroups due to job demands and job control. Content analysis of the qualitative interviews revealed themes that supported the finding of the quantitative study. The findings of this study support the need for law enforcement leaders to take preemptive measures to mitigate the effects of work-related stress on all law enforcement officers.

With the election of President Barack Obama, the United States has seen a steady increase in the number of right-wing militia groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Department of Homeland Security have claimed that the various militia groups are a dangerous domestic terrorism threat. Law enforcement perceptions of the threat that these militia groups pose served as the focus of inquiry in this multiple case study. These perceptions were explored through the theoretical frameworks of groupthink, Credulous Bayesianism, and nudge theory. A purposeful sample of 12 local sheriffs in Texas were interviewed in an attempt to identify common themes regarding their perceptions of militia groups. Two common themes emerged from the interviews, which showed that sheriffs' firsthand knowledge and experience with members of the militia were instrumental in their approach to militias. If sheriffs had direct contact with the militia, then they did not believe that it posed a threat to society. However, if sheriffs did not have firsthand experience with the militia and depended on the media for their opinions, then they followed the narrative that the militia groups are dangerous. This research project showed that sheriffs' direct interaction with the militia can decrease law enforcement's fear of militia groups, allowing sheriffs to detect, investigate, and prosecute any actual threats from militia groups to make their communities safer while protecting the rights of all citizens.

With the increasing amount of police calls involving persons experiencing a mental health crisis (PICs), agencies are looking for ways to reduce the overuse of emergency services and criminal confinement. Police-mental health collaborative (PMHC) programs were developed to utilize the expertise of both mental health and law enforcement practitioners to provide immediate linkage to psychiatric services in an effort to prevent unnecessary involvement in the criminal justice system. The theoretical framework for this study was built on the sequential intercept model (SIM) along with the theories of social network and social support. The SIM identifies 5 key points where PICs can be diverted away from the criminal justice system. PMHC programs fall within the first intercept where persons with mental illness can be diverted at their first initial contact with law enforcement. Limited empirical research exists that show PMHC programs are reaching their intended objectives. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effect of PMHC services on the likelihood that PICs will have future mental health calls (MHCs), arrests, and emergency hospitalizations (EHPs). Archival data from 1 midwestern police agency and online public court records was used in the analysis. The study employed OLS and logistic regression techniques, which revealed no statistically significant relationships between the PMHC interventions and the likelihood of future MHCs, arrests, and EHPs. However, significance was achieved for several covariates including transient status, prior history of MHCs, arrests, and EHPs. These findings will contribute to positive social change by informing policymakers and practitioners on best practices in community mental health crisis response.

Because rejoining the workforce may prevent against ex-offender recidivism, securing gainful employment is one of the best indicators of successful societal reintegration for released prisoners. However, the stigma attached to a criminal history, combined with ex-prisoners’ lack of human capital, may threaten their ability to obtain a job. The present study examines hiring managers’ attitudes towards previously imprisoned offenders applying for positions in their workplace. Using a combination of brief, fictional applicant biographies and surveys, this mixed-groups factorial study explores how hiring managers (N= 28) consider gender, type of offense, and race when an ex-offender is assessed during the application process. Results indicated that, regardless of their offense, gender, and race, ex-prisoners were generally perceived to be less employable and less likely to have work-related characteristics such as honesty and the ability to communicate effectively.

Die Dissertation erläutert, wie ein Anonymisierungsdienst zu gestalten ist, so daß er für den durchschnittlichen Internetnutzer benutzbar ist. Ein Schwerpunkt dabei war die Berücksichtigung einer möglichst holistischen Sichtweise auf das Gesamtsystem "Anonymisierungsdienst". Es geht daher um die ingenieurmäßige Berücksichtigung der vielschichtigen Anforderungen der einzelnen Interessengruppen. Einige dieser Anforderungen ergeben sich aus einem der zentralen Widersprüche: auf der einen Seite die Notwendigkeit von Datenschutz und Privatheit für den Einzelnen, auf der anderen Seite die ebenso notwendige Überwachbarkeit und Zurechenbarkeit, etwa für die Strafverfolgung. Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem Aufzeigen und Entwickeln von technischen Möglichkeiten, die zur Lösung dieses Widerspruches herangezogen werden können.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This thesis focuses on the changes to law enforcement precipitated by the establishment of counter terrorist squads within State police forces during the late 1970's. It looks at the impact of Victoria's specialist counter terrorist squad, the Special Operations Group (SOG), on policing in Victoria and asks whether the group has led to the development of a more 'military based' approach to policing. The research demonstrates that the SOG has been the harbinger of more military styles of policing involving high levels of confrontation, more lethal weapons and a greater range of weapons and more frequent recourse to deadly force. The establishment of groups like the SOG has also undermined Australia's democratic traditions by blurring the boundaries between the police and military and weakening the safeguards which have in then past prevented military force being used against citizens. / The SOG has acted as a vanguard group within Victoria police, anticipating and leading progress towards a range of new military-style tactics and weapons. The SOG, although relatively small in number,, has had a marked influence on the tactics and operations of police throughout the force. The group was never contained to dealing with only terrorist incidents but instead used for a range of more traditional police duties. While terrorism has remained rare in Australia the SOG has nevertheless expanded in size and role. Because the SOG is considered elite and because the SOG are frequently temporarily seconded to other areas of policing, SOG members provide a role for other police and have the opportunity to introduce parliamentary tactics into an extended range of police duties. The parliamentary skills developed by the SOG have been passes on to ordinary police through training programs headed by former SOG officers. In addition, the group has effectively been used as a testing ground for new weapons. The structure of the Victoria Police Protective Security Group and the way public demonstrations and industrial disputes are viewed in police and security circles ensure that parliamentary counter terrorist tactics will be used to stifle dissent and protest. The move towards paramilitary policing is necessarily a move away from the police mandate to protect life, keep the peace and use only minimum force. / The interrogation of SOG and SOG tactics into everyday policing has occurred without any public debate or recognition of the important democratic traditions that have ensured that military force is not used against citizens except in the most extreme circumstances. Although the SOG is not formally part of the military it is nevertheless a significant parliamentary force virtually indistinguishable in terms of the weapons and levels of force at its disposal from the military proper.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-142). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.