Current aspects of the fraud crime under section 209 criminal code of the Czech republic Abstract The author deals with theoretical and practical issues related to the fraud crime, which is one of the enriching property crimes. After the theft and damage to a thing of another, fraud has been the third most frequently committed property crime in the Czech Republic. Except of its topicality, the reason for choosing the topic of the Master's thesis is mainly the considerable variability of this crime. Law enforcement authorities encounter different modes of committing (modus operandi) this crime in practice. The presented work describes the historic developmental tendencies of codification of fraud and then looks into the individual changes (amendments) of criminal code in the Czech Republic related to fraud crime. Furthermore, there is a detailed analysis of fraud crime under section 209 of the Criminal Code and the interpretation of selected legal features. For this purpose it was mainly drawn from current precedens (case law) that significant influences the practice of law enforcement authorities. The author of the thesis subsequently presents a concept of obvious carelessness that could easily avoid by the injured person. The concept is applicable in legal qualification of the act. In adition the mentioned...

The role of modus operandi in criminalistics Abstract The reflection of a person's personality can be observed in every single one of his actions and criminal activity is no exception. The modus operandi of a crime is currently a very neglected topic within the professional public. The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe in detail the concept of modus operandi of a crime and to outline its criminal significance. The secondary goal of the thesis is then to show in practical cases whether the assumption of perseverance of the offender is true. The thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part deals with the history of the perception of this issue by criminologists across the centuries, the very definition of the term modus operandi of a crime, its systematic classification, its definition and its possible understanding in other fields and countries. It also describes the components of the modus operandi of a crime and their possible division, discusses the determinants of modus operandi of a crime, both subjective and objective, and the mechanisms that contribute to the formation of modus operandi a crime. The last chapter, the fourth chapter, of the theoretical part deals with the possible importance of modus operandi of a crime for criminalistics, namely the...

This thesis deals with the issue of modus operandi and it is primarily focused on the forensic importance of this phenomenon. The aim of the thesis is to provide a complex view including all the important aspects of this phenomenon. The object of the thesis is filled within particular chapters. The definition of the concept modus operandi is solved at the beginning followed by the analysis of the components of modus operandi. The most comprehensive passage is focused on the determination of the modus operandi including its objective and subjective determinants. Than follows the description of the mechanisms forming the modus operandi. Eventually is given the analyses of the importance of findings about the modus operandi for various spheres of criminology. The main benefit of this thesis is to provide the summary of the facts regarding the modus operandi, which allows us to describe this phenomenon in details and then use these findings in forensic practise.

Three studies conducted in Vermont yielded data on 82 sexual recidivists’ index offenses (Time 1) and sexual reoffenses (Time 2) across 16 modus operandi (MO) characteristics. The current study examines the stability of these 16 characteristics between Time 1 and Time 2 offenses. Probabilities of Time 1–Time 2 characteristic combinations are reported, including when controlling for static risk as measured by the Static-99R and Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk–2 (VASOR-2). Overall, considerable stability of offenders’ MO was evident between Time 1 and Time 2 offenses. Victim characteristics and offense behaviors were the most stable MO characteristics, and degree of force used and victim injury were less stable and trended toward less forceful and less injurious reoffenses. Controlling for static risk had little impact on the patterns of MO stability.

The purpose of my thesis is to provide description of modus operandi. Specifically it is focusing on determining factors and their influence on modus operandi. It is divided into seven main chapters. Theory is supplemented with examples of forensic practice. The first chapter is providing the description of term modus operandi. This section is also including the part dealing with terminology. Following chapter is about components of modus operandi. The components are divided by their character and their degree of complexity. The third section is dealing with determination in general. The thesis continues by two chapters describing the determinants of modus operandi. The first section is analysis of objective determinants and the following part is about subjective factors. Section of determination is devoted an immense part of my thesis. The sixth chapter is describing mechanisms of formation modus operandi. Conclusion is dealing with forensic significance of modus operandi, concretely the significance for creation of investigative versions, forensic record "modus operandi systém", forensic identification and also for forensic prevention.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Offenders who target children are a negative phenomenon in our society. These offenders are often seen as the worst of the worst of criminals and are therefore a priority for investigators trying to solve these crimes as fast as possible. The purpose of this thesis is to see if there are common denominators among these offenders in their modus operandi (MO) and their spatial patterns. If similar patterns emerge amongst these offenders, that would be of investigative importance for those who work with crimes against children. In Study I, a group of child molesters and their MO were studied in order to see how they found their victims and where they committed their crimes. The results were consistent with previous studies on child molesters in that they all committed their crimes at home or close to their homes. In Study II, a geographical profiling tool was tested in order to see if such a program could be used to find an offender who made obscene phone calls (OPC) to children. The results showed that the geographical software based on spatial behaviour, was able to narrow down the search area in which the offender actually lived when he committed his crimes. In Study III, the focus was on the potential witnesses/victims and how much a child could remember correctly of a staged event simulating a potential child molester looking for new victims. The results showed that the children’s event memory were comparable with an adult control group. The combined results could be summarized as follows: offenders who target children usually commit their crimes at home or close to home (or base), they tend to lure children to go with them by using bribes or the recruitment of former victims. Girls seem to be the preferred sex over boys. Children could be used as accurate witnesses in these types of crimes.

Obiettivo della tesi è capire se il Crime Script approach è adatto ad analizzare il modus operandi di un attentato terroristico suicida. Per farlo si analizzano 8 casi studio di attentati terroristici suicidi tra il 2001 e il 2008. / The dissertation herein applies Cornish's Crime Script approach to analyze the modus operandi of a suicide bomber step-by-step. The thesis has chosen to apply the Crime Script approach to 8 cases of suicide bombers occurred between 2001 to 2008.

Context. A minority of criminals performs a majority of the crimes today. It is known that every criminal or group of offenders to some extent have a particular pattern (modus operandi) how crime is performed. Therefore, computers' computational power can be employed to discover crimes that have the same model and possibly are carried out by the same criminal. The goal of this thesis was to apply the existing Series Finder algorithm to a feature-rich dataset containing data about Swedish residential burglaries. Objectives. The following objectives were achieved to complete this thesis: Modifications performed on an existing Series Finder implementation to fit the Swedish police forces dataset and MatLab code converted to Python. Furthermore, experiment setup designed with appropriate metrics and statistical tests. Finally, modified Series Finder implementation's evaluation performed against both Spatial-Temporal and Random models. Methods. The experimental methodology was chosen in order to achieve the objectives. An initial experiment was performed to find right parameters to use for main experiments. Afterward, a proper investigation with dependent and independent variables was conducted. Results. After the metrics calculations and the statistical tests applications, the accurate picture revealed how each model performed. Series Finder showed better performance than a Random model. However, it had lower performance than the Spatial-Temporal model. The possible causes of one model performing better than another are discussed in analysis and discussion section. Conclusions. After completing objectives and answering research questions, it could be clearly seen how the Series Finder implementation performed against other models. Despite its low performance, Series Finder still showed potential, as presented in future work.

Acts of violence on farms and smallholdings are continuing unabated in spite of the efforts of the government and the agricultural unions to quell attacks on members of the farming community. Although research has been done on various aspects of farm attacks, empirical information regarding farmers’ perceptions of their susceptibility to attacks, the consequences that are suffered and the coping strategies that farmers apply after victimisation, is limited to that contained in the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks. In order to gain first-hand information with regard to this phenomenon, the researcher interviewed 15 direct victims of attacks on a one-on-one basis. All the attacks occurred in the Mpumalanga Province and the adjoining Nokeng Tsa Taemane region in the Gauteng Province. Based on the analysis and interpretation of the data, it was found that most of the respondents felt unsafe on their farms. In spite of this, they were all taken by surprise by their attackers. While the majority of the respondents believed that their homes were reasonably secure, financial and familial constraints prevented some from improving the guardianship on their farms. Those who had good security systems in their homes, were attacked outside or in the early evening before the systems were activated. The findings also revealed that the immediate reactions of victims of farm attacks do not differ fundamentally from those of other victims of crime. Reactions include surprise, fear of being killed, injured and/or raped and powerlessness. After the attacks they often experienced anger and bitterness. Analysis of the data furthermore indicated that physical injuries ranged from minor to serious injuries that necessitated hospitalisation. Emotional and social harm were also experienced by victims, causing them to be fearful and distrustful of black persons, as the attacks were all black on white. Farm attacks also had negative financial consequences for the victims. Capital that might have been used for other purposes had to be used to pay medical and funeral bills and upgrade security, especially since most victims feared re-victimisation. After the attacks some respondents preferred to relocate. While many of the respondents found it too costly to implement the necessary target hardening measures, avoidance behaviour in the form of alertness was identified as the most effective means of preventing victimisation in the future. Other avoidance tactics included feeding dogs in the afternoon when visibility is still good and sending employees out to establish the reason for the visit of black strangers who arrive on the farm without an appointment. Erroneous perceptions with regard to the motives for attacks and the profile of attackers, as well as complacency about security which often sets in because of the routine nature of farmers’ lifestyle, were identified as the main reasons for farmers’ susceptibility to victimisation. It was also found that the respondents’ coping strategies varied. While some relied on their Christian faith and the support of family and friends, others exerted their inner strength to regain their emotional equilibrium. On the basis of the above findings, recommendations were made regarding further research and measures that might be implemented by both the government and farmers to reduce the number of farm attacks. It was highlighted that factors such as hate speech, socio-economic conditions in rural areas, the acceleration of land reform and education deserve further attention. Farmers must guard against complacency and make informed decisions about security on the farms. As coping strategies vary, it was furthermore stated that victimised farmers need to persevere until they have assimilated the negative experience. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted