Thesis (M.A.(Criminology) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / N/A

Prior to 1994 I had little interest in the activities of the police. As a mass media consumer I was aware of the prominence of crime in the daily news agenda and I watched, read and listened to potted summaries of rape, mayhem and murder. Frequent too, were stories of police malpractice, incompetence and corruption. Police stories were also a significant part of television drama with programs like the long running British series The Bill, and a range of Australian productions: The Feds, Halifax f.p, Rafferty's Rules, Blue Heelers, State Coroner, and Water Rats. The police also featured at the cinema with crime genre movies Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, USA), Once Were Warriors (Lee Tamahori, New Zealand) and Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, USA) becoming box office hits. My interest in the portrayal of police change dramatically when on the 7th of October 1994, I was appointed Officer-in-Charge of the Media and Publications Branch of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). I was responsible for all aspects of the communication function including: media liaison, crisis management, media management, publications and internal communication. My branch dealt with media inquiries from local, national and international media across the gamut of issues facing the AFP. These ranged fiom industrial issues about budgets and overtime, allegations of corruption and incompetence, and operational matters as diverse as burglaries, alleged Nazi war criminals, peace-keeping operations and drug 'busts'. Needless to say my police stakeholders did not always see things the same way as my media colleagues. I was seeing at a practical day-to-day level the complex taxonomy of police/media relations outlined by Putnis (1996). Putnis noted the ubiquity of the police and the media as social institutions and observed that their daily operations involved a complex, dynamic, relationship constructed out of many thousands of interactions, across all levels of the organisations, in many different settings. My experiences in dealing with the media became the genesis of this study. My aim is to expand our understanding of the police/media relationship by exploring characteristic forms of print news-media reports about policing, the impact these reports have on police, and on law and order policy. The possibility of bias towards police in this study is acknowledged given I was a member of a police service fiom 1994 until 2002 and the research relies heavily on 'participant observer' techniques (Kay 1997; Potter1 996; Schofield 1993). Every effort has been made to maintain a critical perspective on the subject matters raised and it should be noted my association with police ended prior to the writing-up phase of the research. In addition to comments fiom my supervisory panel, ongoing discussions with media colleagues were another strategy adopted to ensure balance in the writing-up of this study. This is a unique study in that it offers an insider's perspective of police/media relations and at a time that represented a watershed for police. The early 90s was a period of straightened finances for public sector agencies and police, like other agencies, were under pressure fiom governments to demonstrate the efficient use of public monies (AFP 1995; Grieve 2000). Reform programs swept through policing with many, like the AFP, being organised along business lines (Palmer 1995; Etter 1995; Rohl 1999; WAPOL 1999). The 90s were also a watershed for criminal organisations with the emergence of transnational criminal syndicates, such as drug traffickers, that had the potential to impact on crime at a local level without even entering the country, let alone the jurisdiction, in which the crime took place (Bliss and Harfield 1998; Palmer 1995; McFarlane 1999). In order to combat these syndicates, police began to work in a more cooperative fashion and formed loose coalitions, often across countries, in a manner similar to the criminal syndicates they were trying to combat (Palmer 1995). The 90s also saw the continuation of committees of inquiry and royal commissions into police malpractice (Landa and Dillon 1995) and the inevitable bad press for police (Wood 1996; Munday 1995). The media and police have a symbiotic relationship and it is a critical one as most members of society have little direct contact with the criminal justice system. Information about crime, and the efforts of police to combat it, is obtained second hand through fictional accounts from such vehicles as television dramas, and from the news media. As aptly described by Hall et al. (1975), nearly thirty years ago, the media is the link between crime and the public. The police are therefore heavily reliant on the media to provide a balanced account of the panoply of issues surrounding the criminal justice system (Cowdery 2001). At its most fundamental, police require the support of the communities they serve in order to be effective, and the news media can have a major impact on perceptions about police performance (Reiner 1997; Surette 1992). As organisational entities, police need to compete with other bureaucracies for public hnding, and the media is an essential tool in generating positive publicity about successful operations and policies. The media is, therefore, critical to the maintenance of positive relationships with the two most important stakeholders in the policing function: the community and the government. McGregor (1993) provides a useful summary of the literature relating to print media coverage of policing issues: there are substantial discrepancies between official accounts of criminal activity and press reports of crime; the media tends to homogenise crime by concentrating on a limited range of crimes (mainly violent crime) and drawing facts from a limited range of sources (police/court reports); the media over-report serious crimes, especially murder and crimes with a sexual element; and, the press concentrates crime reportage on events rather than issues, so crime incidents and specific crimes form the bulk of crime news as opposed to analyses of the causes of crime or remedies, trends or issues. McQuail (1994, p.256) reminds us that assessing media performance on the basis of media content, measured against the extent to which content relates to reality, is open to question. He argues that there is no general answer to questions of meaning construction, but media research has pointed to several elements in a more general framework of social and personal meanings including clues as to what is more or less important, salient or relevant in many different contexts (1994, p. 379). An important research question concerns the impact of news media practices, particularly given the significant costs to the community flowing from the commission of crime, its investigation by police, and the processing of offenders through the criminal justice system. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates the cost of crime in Australia is approximately $19 billion, while the cost of dealing with crime is another $13 billion (Mayhew 2003). The news media, articulated through radio talk-back hosts, are seen as having undue influence on how public funds on crime control are spent (ABC, The Media Report, 1 August 2002; Chan 1995; Cowdery 2001; Dixon 2002; Weatherbum 2002). These commentators have pointed to the serious public policy issues arising from the contribution made by the media towards what Weatherburn describes as an irrational public debate about law and order (2002, p. 12) and Hogg and Brown have coined 'the uncivil politics of law and order' (1998, p. 4). As Hogg and Brown (1998, p. 4) observe: crime is depicted as a problem of ever-increasing gravity set to overwhelm society unless urgent, typically punitive measures are taken to control and suppress it. The influence of the media on public policy has long been recognised. As Paletz and Entmann (l981, p. 6) observe: they influence the decisions and actions of politicians; they are open to manipulation by the powerful which insulates the powerful fiom accountability to the public; they reallocate power amongst the already powerful; they decreased to a marked extent the ability of ordinary citizens to judge events; they foment discontent among the public; and they preserve the legitimacy of the political, economic and social system. Ethnomethodological approaches (Ericson and Haggerty 1997) underpin the research in this study. The ethnomethodological approach was used because of its wider scope, employing as it does, observation, interviewing, and document-analysis techniques (Ericson et al. 1987, p. 77) and its ability to provide meaning and context to the phenomena under observation (Hall 1978; Willis l981). Ethnomethodological approaches are complemented by news framing analyses (Barkin and Gurevitch 1987; Blood, Putnis and Pirkis 2002; Capella and Jamieson 1996; Coleman 1995; Entman 1993; Kitzinger 2000; Keely 1999; Darling-Wolf 1997; London 1993; Pan and Kosicki 2001; Miller and Riechert 2001; Pirkis and Blood 2001; Reese, Gandy and Grant 2003; Scheufele 1999) to explore the news media frames employed in the genre of print crime reporting. What emerges from the study is evidence of a one-sided, highly negative, discourse about policing implemented through a range of media frames centred on conflict and broader xenophobic and egalitarian narratives. Despite the advantages police have as information gatekeepers, their attempts to manage the media environment have met with little success (Hughes 2004; Williams 2002) and the need for police to restrict access to police communications is being challenged (Crime and Misconduct Commission 2004, Inquiry into the effects of a Queensland Police Service decision to adopt digital technology for radio communications). There are exceptions, of course: the news media are not all bad. Routine reporting of crimes, where details of offenders are publicised, greatly assists the work of police as reflected in the case of 43-year-old Mr Colin George Dunstan which is discussed in Chapter Eight. Dunstan sent a series of explosive devices through the mail system in Canberra and police provided the media with photographs of the devices, Mr Dunstan (who was the main suspect), and his vehicle. The media coverage restricted Mr Dunstan's movements and led to his early arrest. Similarly, publication of the details of missing persons, warnings about lethal batches of drugs and crimes such as drink-spiking, enable police to reach a mass audience efficiently and quickly. And at a more abstract level, as noted by McQuail (1994, p. 34), modem communication vehicles can make a positive contribution to cohesion and community. The emergence of the 'yapping pack' form of journalism (Tiffen 1999, p. 207) has resulted in elements of the media exercising a worrying degree of influence over what should be a broader and better informed debate about criminal justice issues. An illustration of this process occurred toward the end of this study with the widely reported spectacle of the Premier of New South Wales presenting his replacement police minister before radio presenter Mr Alan Jones for his endorsement; the subsequent involvement of that minister in operational police matters (Williams 2002); and the departure of the state's police commissioner as a result of sustained media attack (ABC, The Media Report, 1 August 2002; Weatherburn 2002). These incidents say much about the influence of the news media in relation to police matters and makes this study a timely one. What follows is a literature review examining contemporary trends in policing and the media; a detailed analysis of two major case studies involving complex police operations; an analysis of a number of examples of print media reports about policing, to identify typical, or characteristic, media frames; the findings from nearly 50 interviews with senior people involved in the policelmedia interface; and an examination of changes in the milieu in which media reports about policing occur.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology

A network service provider typically sells service at a fixed traffic rate to customers. This rate is enforced by allowing or dropping packets that pass through, in a process called policing. Distributed policing is a version of the problem where a number of policers must limit their combined traffic allowance to the specified rate. The policers must coordinate their behaviour such that customers are fully allowed the rate they pay for, without receiving too much more, while maintaining some semblance of fairness between packets arriving at one policer versus another. A review of prior solutions shows that most use predictions or estimations to heuristically allocate rates, and thus cannot provide any error bounds or guarantees on the achieved rate under all scenarios. Other solutions may suffer from starvation or unfairness under certain traffic demand patterns. We present a new global ``leaky bucket'' approach that provably prevents starvation, guarantees full utilization, and provides a simple upper bound on the rate allowed under any incoming traffic pattern. We find that the algorithm guarantees a minimum 1/n share of the rate for each policer, and achieves close to max-min fairness in many, but not all cases. We also suggest some experimental modifications that could improve the fairness in practice.

Focusing on a community-policing pilot-project initiated in Kikuyu, a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, the current paper seeks to create an understanding concerning local premises for community-policing implementation. It is based on a field study that combined participatory observations and semi-structured interviews to investigate how the management of the pilot-project on the one side and the local police officers on the other side perceives the latter’s professional duty in Kikuyu. These perceptions and their correlation were analyzed through an institutional approach, involving regulative, normative and culture-cognitive perspectives. Initially, the findings show that intentions held within the management about how to change police practice in Kikuyu correlated to a large degree with the understanding local police officers already posses concerning their professional duty. However, applying the institutional approach, possible discrepancies were found. Concerning this, while the regulative and normative aspects of how to police Kikuyu seem to correlate between the two groups, differences on the culture-cognitive level indicate that the management and the local police officers have differing perceptions concerning police practice. Conclusively, following a distinction between a proactive approach to policing, expressed by the management, and a reactive approach to policing, expressed by the local police officers, the paper issues a warning regarding how historical and current social structures might result in a misinterpretation and misuse of community-policing on the side of the local police officers, which could lead to contradictive and counterproductive end results following the continued implementation of community-policing.

A network service provider typically sells service at a fixed traffic rate to customers. This rate is enforced by allowing or dropping packets that pass through, in a process called policing. Distributed policing is a version of the problem where a number of policers must limit their combined traffic allowance to the specified rate. The policers must coordinate their behaviour such that customers are fully allowed the rate they pay for, without receiving too much more, while maintaining some semblance of fairness between packets arriving at one policer versus another. A review of prior solutions shows that most use predictions or estimations to heuristically allocate rates, and thus cannot provide any error bounds or guarantees on the achieved rate under all scenarios. Other solutions may suffer from starvation or unfairness under certain traffic demand patterns. We present a new global ``leaky bucket'' approach that provably prevents starvation, guarantees full utilization, and provides a simple upper bound on the rate allowed under any incoming traffic pattern. We find that the algorithm guarantees a minimum 1/n share of the rate for each policer, and achieves close to max-min fairness in many, but not all cases. We also suggest some experimental modifications that could improve the fairness in practice.

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Abstract Strategic management is a newly emphasized subject in the new public management study methods. Public organization, effected by the business strategic planning, has gradually stressed on the strategic planning and strategic management, and emphasized its long-term strategic implementation. The core of strategic management by strategy, a management mode, except major stressed functions of traditional managing processes including planning, organization, leading and controlling, more emphasize on responding to changing environment with strategy in advance, which will not only aid the future development of organization, but also promote to achieve its goal. The police is an open system which maintains mutual response with external environment. Therefore, the police should closely keep an eye out for changing external environment and the effects caused by these changes, then adjust its own role position, value and goal, and implement a series of strategies and concrete performances to achieve its mission efficiently. First, the study explains the definition and form of strategic management and strategic planning, and the experience about how strategic management was implemented into a public sector. Second, through research of police agency¡¦ s strategic plan in USA and UK, it perceives the frame and meaning of them on practical police agency. The study, takes Penghu County Police Bureau (PHPB) as a case study, views from the local administer¡¦ s position to proceed an analysis on environmental factors which is relevant to policing strategies. Basing on the study purpose and study frame by using In-depth Interviewing, it conducts a sampling interview on the administers of PHPB in order to compare the secondary data through case study method and confirm its internal strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and threats from the external environment. Then, it sets a series of management concepts involving mission statement, vision, value, goal and objectives constructing a 5-year general development strategy which meets the local characteristics and needs, and thus advance a proposal on strategic implementation and controlling for future references of organization development and management of PHPB, and inspire other local police organizations to put into practice.

Abstract The public security is the key factor for a prosperous country; therefore, maintaining a safe social order has always been the most desirous expectation for the public. ¡§Community Policing¡¨ is the strategy to govern public social order, and how to apply its usage is the main stream on crime prevention and police beat is its main core. This study, by reviewing the basic theory of community policing, researching the operational practice domestically and abroad, rechecking the real state of community policing in Penghu, analyzing the recollected data, can be further shaped on its diversified location to develop a satisfactory living space and peaceful land for the Penghu people. By studying this subject, here my suggestions are as follows: ¢¹ Suggestions on community policing of Penghu. 1.Penghu people are quite satisfied with the public security but are still afraid of being stolen. We have to pay more attention on guiding how to prevent the civilian from being a burglar victim and lay emphasis on operational practices. 2.Penghu people are not willing to attend any meeting related to public affairs; the police has to stimulate and inspire the community consciousness of being a civilian by attending any activities or practicing census checks. 3.Implementing sole-duty-beat system can diminish most of the burden of policy duty, which can exclusively make the police more concentrative on doing the census check, providing service, and guiding crime prevention. 4.The success of community policing depends on ¡§close interaction between the civilian and the police; the police must offer high quality service to gain the trust of the civilian. Only by doing this can a close relationship be shaped and be dedicated on crime prevention. 5.The spirit of community policing is beat officer itself; therefore, in order to encourage the officer to persistently manage its beat with diligence and innovativeness, a system based on preventive guiding and service providing to assess the performance of the beat officers is highly requested. 6.While enforcing the community policing, the crucial point to success is decided by how to pass the decision-making to the beat officer, which can make them more flexible and responsive to the need of the community. 7.In hoping of the community policy strategy can keep flourishing, the government authority has to make budget for it and those responsible have to step into the community for a setting up a sound community policing. And the police authority has to make its goal and strategy clear and have a comprehensive communication with the beat officer to build a common consensus. Then , under the process of empowerment, the beat officer can become a member of the community. 8.Twenty-first century is the era of community policing, the police has to cooperate with the medium strategically to publicize the community consciousness, which, in the long run, can be beneficial to build a high quality living environment. . ¢ºSuggestions for follow-up research: 1.Research domain: increase to lay emphasis on community specialty, which can make the managerial strategy more specific and effective. 2.Research object: increase the number of community civilian specimen, which can promote its representation. 3.Research method: increase the observation method as auxiliary, which can be expected to be more adjustable to its location and occasion. 4.Empirical study evaluation : apply ¡§ equalized performance marking card¡¨ to assess the interior and exterior performance of the beat officer, which can be expected to excavate the underneath problems. Key words: community policing, police beat, window-breaking theory, crime prevention.

The feature in post-modern policing thought is to encounter the diverse crime after deconstruction of modern society. Now, the police cannot solve all the crime on their own; therefore, they have to look for the help from civilians. To have effective results, they should cooperate with civilians and focus on the problem-oriented strategy. With this trend of the police reformation, the community-oriented policing becomes the realistic direction in current police science, which they are requested to enter the communities, encourage civilians¡¦ involvement, and then figure out the problem-solving strategy. The police could enjoy the achievement from work and then ensure the happiness and quality of life for community residents. Breaking in from the project ¡§Six Star¡¨, this research studied the relationship between public security network and the happiness of residents. We predict the connection between the two, and hope to create the mode of community public security network and system transplantation, based on the example we implemented in Tainan County Police Bureau Guiren Police Precinct -- ¡§The process of developing neighborhood watch¡¨. The purposes are as follows: 1. Study the current community security network. With the relationship between Community watch and community development, we iron out the composition of social groups and residents interaction as the reference on studying similar organizations and development for later research. 2. Study the connection between social security network and the happiness of residents. Compare the before and after of creating neighborhood watch, and find out whether the fear to crime increased or otherwise, in order to reinforce the value and importance of this study. 3. According to the study result, we could provide relevant recommendations to implemented units and policy-planned organizations as the reference for the typical mode of developing community security network. This study adopted depth interviews (qualitative study) and questionnaire (quantitative study). In the qualitative study, we have interviews for 13 persons, including community leader (town mayor, county councilor, village chief, entrepreneur, etc.), watch captain, and police officers. With the results, we evaluate the position of the development for community watch in the community as well as the practical effect on the community security network. In the quantitative study, we focus on the residents of 4 townships in Guiren Police Precinct. We sent out 450 questionnaires and returned 372; the rate is 82.67%. The non-effective questionnaires are 14 and the effective ones are 358 which is 79.56% of the total amount. We used SPSS PC12.0 Chinese Version software to analyze the data, which include descriptive data analysis (including average, standard deviation, Analysis of Variation, and Regression Analysis), Chi-Square Test, Tabulated Statistics, and Regression Analysis. Furthermore, infer the results of each variable. The study gets the following conclusions: 1. Creating neighborhood watch could build up the warning system to secure the safety of residents. 2. Holding public security seminars through the community watch could get rid of the fear of crime of residents. 3. Developing the neighborhood watch would help the residents get involved to the community security matters. 4. The successful elements of the community watch are good leaders and stable funding. 5. Creating the neighborhood watch becomes the basic request of ¡§secured community¡¨. 6. Promoting the community public security network help improve the alienation between people. 7. After creating the community watch, the interaction between residents increased and activities as well. 8. After creating the community watch, we could build up the community security network system. 9. Government compiles the expenditure in a long term to support the community, and that is the largest expectation for residents. 10. After systematizing the operation of the community watch, the politics could also take part in the activities to create win-win situation. 11. Having security conferences periodically could respond the request of community security. 12. After creating the neighborhood watch, the quality of life in the community could get better. 13. The stronger the relationship in the community security network is, the higher the happiness of the community residents have. Although there are lots of problems in the community, we can¡¦t expect they could be solved overnight. However, ¡§the foundation of success is to get going¡¨; we hope we could at least simplify these problems. The final goal of this study is looking for the possible approaches which make people satisfied and let the government promote easily, especially in the area of community security.