Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2006. / Thesis Advisor(s): Kalev Sepp. "December 2006." AD-A462 564. Includes bibliographical references (p.83-89). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) maintains the most comprehensive publicly available database on international arms deals. Updating this database requires humans to sift through large amounts of news articles, only some of which contain information relevant to the database. To save time, it would be useful to automate a part of this process. In this thesis project we apply ALBERT, a state of the art Pre-trained Language Model for Natural Language Processing (NLP), to the task of determining if a text contains information about arms transfers and extracting that information. In order to train and evaluate the model we also introduce a new dataset of 600 news articles, where information about arms deals is annotated with lables such as Weapon, Buyer, Seller, etc. We achieve an F1-score of 0.81 on the task of determining if an arms deal is present in a text, and an F1-score of 0.77 on determining if a given part of a text has a specific arms deal-related attribute. This is probably not enough to entirely automate SIPRI’s process, but it demonstrates that the approach is feasible. While this paper focuses specifically on arms deals, the methods used can be generalized to extracting other kinds of information. / Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) tillhandahåller den största allmänt tillgängliga databasen med internationella vapenaffärer. För att hålla databasen uppdaterad måste människor sålla igenom stora mängder nyhetsartiklar, varav endast några innehåller information som är relevant för databasen. För att spara tid vore det bra att kunna automatisera en del av den processen. I det här examensarbetet använder vi ALBERT, en maskininlärningsmodell för behandling av naturliga språk (NLP), för att avgöra om en text innehåller information om vapenaffärer och för att extrahera den informationen. För att träna modellen skapar vi också ett dataset med 600 nyhetsartiklar, där information om vapenaffärer finns annoterad med attribut som Vapen, Köpare, Säljare, etc. Vi fick en F1-score på 0.81 på problemet att avgöra om en vapenaffär finns i en text, och en F1-score på 0.77 på problemet att avgöra om en given del av en text har ett specifikt vapenaffärsrelaterat attribut. Resultaten är förmodligen inte bra nog för att helt kunna automatisera SIPRIs process, men de demonstrerar att metoden är lovande. Det här examensarbetet fokuserar specifikt på vapenaffärer, men metoderna kan förmodligen generaliseras för att extrahera andra sorters information.

The research project investigated the impact of the Firearms Control Act (FCA) 60 of 2000 in restricting gun ownership for at-risk individuals in the Pretoria North Firearm Registration Centre (FRC) policing area and identified prevention strategy as well as specific factors that contributed to this problem. Secondary prevention focuses on situational factors that reduces the means and opportunity for at-risk people to commit crime and can be applied in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. One hundred and thirteen legal firearm owners in the Pretoria North FRC policing area responded to the questionnaire schedule. Data was also collected through interviews with Designated Firearm Officers (DFO) and court officials in that area. Specific factors have been identified that contribute to firearms landing in the hands of at-risk individuals in the Pretoria North FRC policing area. They are among others, poor administration of some sections of the FCA like background checks and section 102 and 103 unfitness declarations. The role of the DFO in continuous public education program on the FCA is also invaluable. The same goes to the general public s involvement in the identification of at-risk individuals. The South African Police Service management needs to address issues within the police service such as additional trained personnel, allocation of sufficient logistical resources like vehicles, computers and scanners to ensure effectiveness in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. Several secondary role players have been identified that should work closely with the primary role players to address this problem. The recommendations drawn from conclusions as well as the inter-departmental role of all the different role players may assist in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. / Police Practice / M.Tech. (Policing)

The research project investigated the impact of the Firearms Control Act (FCA) 60 of 2000 in restricting gun ownership for at-risk individuals in the Pretoria North Firearm Registration Centre (FRC) policing area and identified prevention strategy as well as specific factors that contributed to this problem. Secondary prevention focuses on situational factors that reduces the means and opportunity for at-risk people to commit crime and can be applied in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. One hundred and thirteen legal firearm owners in the Pretoria North FRC policing area responded to the questionnaire schedule. Data was also collected through interviews with Designated Firearm Officers (DFO) and court officials in that area. Specific factors have been identified that contribute to firearms landing in the hands of at-risk individuals in the Pretoria North FRC policing area. They are among others, poor administration of some sections of the FCA like background checks and section 102 and 103 unfitness declarations. The role of the DFO in continuous public education program on the FCA is also invaluable. The same goes to the general public s involvement in the identification of at-risk individuals. The South African Police Service management needs to address issues within the police service such as additional trained personnel, allocation of sufficient logistical resources like vehicles, computers and scanners to ensure effectiveness in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. Several secondary role players have been identified that should work closely with the primary role players to address this problem. The recommendations drawn from conclusions as well as the inter-departmental role of all the different role players may assist in restricting firearms from at-risk individuals. / Police Practice / M.Tech. (Policing)

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

yes / Evidence suggests that many of the arms transfers to the worst affected conflict regions and human rights crisis zones are organised and trafficked by arms brokering and transport agents. Targeting those states with weak national export controls and enforcement, unscrupulous brokers and transportation agents organise the transfer of arms and security equipment to a range of illegitimate end users such as criminals, terrorists and human rights abusers. Arms brokers can be defined as middlemen who organise arms transfers between two or more parties, often bringing together buyers, sellers, transporters, financiers and insurers to make a deal. They generally do so for financial gain, although political or religious motivation may also play a part in some deals. Often such brokers do not reside in the country from which the weapons originate, nor do they live in the countries through which the weapons pass or for which they are destined. As a result, such `third party¿ arms brokering is notoriously diff i c u l t to trace, monitor or control. Arms brokers work very closely with transport or shipping agents. These agents contract transport facilities, carriers and crews in order to move arms cargoes by sea, air, rail or road.