<p>Digital images and videos used in the investigation of a crime often undergo several concurrent enhancement operations for improved analysis by humans or automated systems. When applying multiple image processing techniques to an image, the order and method in which processes are applied can have a profound impact on the result. However, the effect that one enhancement algorithm will have when applied in conjunction with another is not always obvious. When applied incorrectly, at best, there will be a negative impact to the amount of information that can be extracted from an image. At worst, the information contained in a processed image could be misrepresented. This thesis proposes a tool independent workflow for forensic image enhancement with a strong emphasis on an order of operations that maximizes the efficacy of each enhancement technique while observing the responsibilities and best practices of the forensic science community. This work will be useful for developing an understanding of common image enhancement techniques, understanding how these techniques relate to forensic science, and aiding in the creation of quality assurance standards for forensic image enhancement. Chapter 1 gives an introduction to image enhancement and discusses its role in forensic science and litigation. Chapter 2 summarizes the digital image creation process and its relationship to the human visual system. Chapter 3 reviews the most commonly used image enhancement techniques, including their theoretical background, strengths, and limitations. Chapter 4 introduces a framework for image enhancement and the rationale behind it through a series of practical examples.

Offender learning policy in England and Wales is vocationally focused and thus primarily aims to educate prisoners to increase their employability. Through an analysis of letters written by prisoners and interviews with serving prisoners, ex prisoners and prison staff, this qualitative study investigates prisoners’ experiences of education to explore the broad range of ways that such experiences are interpreted. A recurring interpretation involves personal development and this study shows that a range of personal changes and transformations can be attributed to prison education experiences. This suggests that prisoners’ interpretations of their educational experiences often go beyond employability. This study also provides a greater understanding of prisoners’ identities by drawing on elements of the research participants’ life histories and locating experiences of education within their narratives. This places the study in an in depth human context and as such, it has emerged that prisoners’ experiences of education can be better understood in the context of aspects of their life stories. This study reveals that prisoners who have not previously had positive educational experiences are often lacking in personal development and emotional maturity and therefore offender learning should be concerned with developing the ‘whole person’ in addition to giving prisoners skills for employment. As such, value can be ascribed to personal developments that are not directly related to employability such as the ability to cope with the experience of imprisonment and improved family relationships. By including such findings, this research also shows how understanding prisoners’ experiences of education contributes to understanding key themes in prison sociology: coping, masculinity, identity and the pains of imprisonment. This study concerns issues spanning a range of academic disciplines including criminology, sociology and education. As such, it is hoped that this thesis will be of interest to academics in the aforementioned subject areas as well as prison researchers, future prison researchers, prison teachers, prison staff, professionals in criminal justice, and any person with an interest in contemporary imprisonment.

abstract: ABSTRACT This research examines what contextual elements shape a community court. In the past several decades, the court system has lost trust with the American public. Citizens thought the courts were too complex, expensive, didn't address the issues of crime, and were out of touch with their communities. A movement called community justice began to grow in the 1990s. As part of this movement the concept of problem solving courts grew. Community focused courts were part of this. Community courts are unique in that the courts reach out to the community to help solve problems identified by citizens, businesses, and others in that area. Various stakeholders are involved in the planning, implementation, and operation of these courts, working together to address issues that arise from those who commit a crime and come before the court. Four community courts were examined using the case study method, examining the literature and conducting interviews, and a model was developed based on these courts. Two additional courts were examined, having been established after judges from their respective communities had attended a national seminar on community focused courts. These two courts were then compared to the model. Based on the model, areas most likely to develop a community court were identified. Additionally, the model can be utilized to indicate how these courts can be successful or fail. Other issues that were examined were how community courts differ from traditional courts and how this could impact judicial impartiality and independence, and the traditional adversary system. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2010

abstract: The literature on hopelessness suggests youth living amid impoverished conditions, social disorganization, and limited resources are more likely to experience increased feelings of hopelessness. Similarly, many of the aforementioned aspects are considered, in some capacity, in the research on gangs. Though a considerable amount of gang literature alludes to the fact that loss of hope may be present, it neither directly addresses it nor references it. This study attempts to converge the present literature on hopelessness among minority youth to minority youth in street gangs. This is done using data obtained from an earlier evaluation of the Mesa Gang Intervention Project, using self-report data from 197 youth, asking questions about socio-demographic information, gang activity, education, employment, crime and delinquency, family and individual crisis, and self-reported detention. Findings implicate a connection exists between gang membership and increased levels of hopelessness. Moreover, results suggest education and self-esteem help to reduce loss of hopelessness. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2011

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

abstract: The controversy over law enforcement use of TASER devices and the potential for the devices to cause death has proliferated in recent years. In 2005 the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) published national-level policy guidelines for the use of TASER devices, with one of the goals being to reduce the occurrence of deaths proximal to their use. What remains unknown in regard to these guidelines is whether or not departments that adhere to these guidelines are experiencing fewer TASER-proximate arrest related deaths (ARDs) than departments who are not. This study seeks to determine preliminary answers to this question by conducting a comparison of the policies of departments with three or more TASER-proximate ARDs to a matched sample of police departments that deploy the TASER, but have no (or one to two) TASER-proximate ARDs. The departments were matched on the number of full time sworn officers, geography (region, division, or state), and department type. Once matched, all department policies were coded based on how closely they adhered to the following areas of PERF and IACP guidelines: use of force against vulnerable/at risk populations, policies governing the TASER device deployment, training, reporting, and post-exposure requirements. Study departments, when compared to matched departments, had a greater number of policy areas with higher failure to comply rates. The same was true when looking at the category totals, as well as the overall totals, with the difference in failure to comply rates being larger for PERF than IACP. These findings show an association between departments with three or more TASER-proximate ARDs and higher failure to comply rates with national model policies. Additionally, it appears that many departments are failing to heed research findings or advice from outside their department. Based on this, future research may want to address the ways in which greater compliance with national policies can be obtained nationwide. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2012

<p> Since 1920, the legal position of undocumented immigrants has devolved from &ldquo;worker&rdquo; to &ldquo;alien&rdquo; to &ldquo;criminal alien&rdquo; to &ldquo;national security threat.&rdquo; As the perceived threat level has increased, so has the use of a prison-like immigrant detention system to manage unwanted populations until they can be removed. This paper examines the ways in which immigration law, current policy, public opinion, detention processes, court procedures, and physical isolation converge to not only expedite that removal, but also to hinder and even deter those under removal orders from adequately presenting a case for relief in immigration court. Because the real, lived consequences of those laws and policies are experienced far from the view of those who make the laws, this thesis seeks to provide a window into the fraught process of preparing an appeal for relief from deportation within the limitations of detention.</p><p>

<p> Utah public defenders (<i>n</i> = 96) completed a survey tool that provided data on their sources and extent of occupational stress. The data also indicated any differences in job-stressors scores, perceived stress scores, and occupational burnout scores when comparing public defenders by their demographic factors. Having too many cases is the most stressful of 35 job stressors and is moderately more stressful for female public defenders than for male public defenders, <i>t</i>(94) = &ndash;2.98, <i> p</i> = .004, <i>d</i> = .67. The most stressful of six job-stressor categories is structural/systemic, followed closely by prosecutors. </p><p> The PSS-10 indicated that a total of 74% of the Utah public defenders perceive themselves as having moderate or high perceived stress. In addition, female public defenders perceive themselves as experiencing more stress than do the male public defenders, <i>t</i>(94) = &ndash;3.53, <i> p</i> = .001, <i>d</i> = .80. ANOVA and Games-Howell post hoc indicated that public defenders aged 60 years or older experience minimally less perceived stress than do public defenders ages 30&ndash;39 and 50&ndash;59 years old, <i>F</i>(4,18.64) = 4.748, <i>p</i> = .008, &eta;²<i>_p</i> = .104. The MBI-HSS indicated that Utah public defenders are experiencing moderate (inching towards higher) levels of occupational burnout. ANOVA and Tukey post hoc indicated that public defenders age 60 years or older experience minimally less emotional exhaustion than are public defenders ages 30&ndash;39 and 50&ndash;59 years old, <i> F</i>(4, 91) = 2.833, <i>p</i> = .029, &eta;²<i>_p</i> = .111.</p><p>

<p> Critical incidents in law enforcement often either lead to a great divide between police agencies and the communities they serve, or they exacerbate a volatile relationship that already exists. Critical incidents may cause outrage within the community due to: misconceptions about the incident, extreme distrust of police, allegations of police misconduct, or racial tension. In an effort to improve and enhance organizational police and community resilience following a critical incident, a case study comparison of four recent high-profile critical incidents seeks to answer the following question: What lessons can we learn from police critical incidents and how do the events surrounding them affect police and community resilience? Analysis of the cases identifies specific factors that affect resiliency among police agencies and communities during and after critical incidents. The analysis leads to recommendations for police agencies to enhance police-community relations and resilience. </p><p>

<p> In the past five years, there have been numerous newspaper reports on police-involved deaths (PID) in the U.S, many of which have involved African American males as victims (Shane, Lawson, &amp; Swenson, 2017). Police-involved deaths (PID) is defined as a death of an individual that results from police action (i.e., by firearm, by electroshock weapon [commonly known as a Taser&copy;], or by vehicle). Given the amount of coverage of police-involved deaths, it is important to investigate which PID victims receive the most coverage in U.S. newspapers. This study merges three databases (<i>Fatal Encounters </i>, the <i>Washington Post</i>, and the <i>Guardian </i>) which collect information about PID cases that occurred in the U.S. Once a list of PID victims was compiled, Nexis Uni (formerly Nexis Lexis) was used to obtain U.S. newspapers that covered PID incidents. In this study, I examine the race, age, region, and manner of death to distinguish which of these independent variables are the strongest predictors of the number of words and articles used in describing PID incidents. Using a linear regression model, the findings indicate that PID incidents involving African American males had significantly more articles and words written about them than PID incidents involving non-African American males and this effect remained after controlling for other correlates of PID incidents. Additionally, PID incidents involving firearm deaths received significantly more media attention as well. Given the amount of newspaper coverage on PID victims, the ways in which the media portray the victims in those contexts can influence the criminal process for officers involved in the killing. In addition, media portrayals of these incidents can impact policies that revamp the ways in which officers communicate with people of color, specifically African American men (i.e., cultural sensitivity training).</p><p>