scholarly journals Implementation of the proportionality test during the search process and the collection of evidence

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
Domnita Vizdoaga ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Multiple Criteria ◽  
Reasonable Doubt ◽  
Search And Seizure ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Valuable Data ◽  
Proportionality Test ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

As a means of collecting materials, the search and seizure of objects and documents is of undeniable importance in criminal evidence, providing valuable data that serve to establish the existence or non-existence of the crime, to identify the perpetrator, to establish guilt and other circumstances essential to the just settlement of the case. The present study, in the light of the proportionality test, reflects on the application of several evidentiary procedures, based on multiple criteria, in particular, the assessment of the reasonable doubt, the proportionality between the evidentiary procedure used and the degree of the incriminated deed; the relevance of the materials collected as a result of the evidentiary procedure and the excessive use of force, in carrying out the search.

scholarly journals Evidentiary video and “Professional Vision” in the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney H. Jones ◽  
Neville Chi Hang Li
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Professional Vision ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Video Documentation ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

Abstract The video documentation of police violence against citizens, and the circulation of these videos over mainstream and social media, has played an important part in many contemporary social movements, from the Black Lives Matter Movement in the U.S. to the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. Such videos serve as both evidence of police abuses and discursive artefacts around which viewers build bodies of shared knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about events through engaging in exercises of “collective seeing”. This article analyses the way a video of police officers beating a handcuffed protester, which became an important symbol of the excessive use of force by police during the Occupy Hong Kong protests, was interpreted by different communities, including journalists, protesters, anti-protest groups, and law enforcement officials, and how these collective acts of interpretation served as a means for members of these communities to display group membership and reinforce group norms and ideological values.

scholarly journals A Behavioral Analysis of Two Strategies to Eliminate Racial Bias in Police Use-of-Force

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mychal Machado ◽  
Ashley Lugo
Keyword(s):  
Racial Bias ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Police Use Of Force ◽  
Reform Strategies ◽  
Behavior Analysts ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

Structural racism is rooted in American social systems that were supposedly designed to promote our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Social systems like policing, for example, are built on a foundation of discriminatory practices designed to disenfranchise Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). One of the most recent visible examples of racially-biased policing is the excessive use-of-force by officers toward BIPOC. In response, advocates, policy makers, and researchers have sought solutions. Police use-of-force reforms such as Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) and Implicit Bias Training (IBT) have become popular and are currently being applied in many police departments across the country. However, evidence supporting the effectiveness of these reform strategies to reduce use-of-force is mixed, and further evaluations are needed to understand why these strategies are purported to be an effective solution. The purpose of the current review is to ignite future empirical evaluations of use-of-force reform. Following a summary of the research conducted to date on BWCs and IBT, we will conclude with a brief discussion of how behavior analysts might improve and foster strategies that are efficacious. Our ultimate goal is to leave the reader with an understanding of where the data have taken us thus far, and how behavior analysts and others can contribute to the reduction and eradication of the discriminatory practices present in policing and other social systems.

scholarly journals A Case Study of Non-Violent Property Crime Victimisation in a South African Urban Residential Neighbourhood: Exploring the Excessive Use of Force and Destruction Caused by Burglars to Gain Entry to Victims' Properties

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 992-1005
Author(s):  
Johan van Graan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Property Crime ◽  
The Body ◽  
Residential Burglary ◽  
Property Crimes ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Residential Neighbourhood

Commentators frequently report on the high prevalence of violent crime in South Africa and often label the country as one of the most violent in the world, with a subculture of violence and criminality. This paper focuses on a different perspective, reporting on the excessive use of force and destruction caused by offenders in South Africa to gain entry to victims' properties in the execution of non-violent property crimes, in a particular residential burglary. Literature on property crimes has been considering the aggravating circumstances of violent property crimes. However, the use of excessive force and destruction caused by burglars to gain access to victims' properties in the execution of residential burglary remains relatively untested in the literature. In this light, the purpose of this study is to describe the unprecedented levels of force used and destruction caused by burglars to gain access to victims' properties during residential burglary victimisation in an urban residential neighbourhood in Johannesburg, South Africa. A qualitative research approach is followed. A case study design was used to select an urban residential neighbourhood in Johannesburg as a case study. A data set of (n = 1 431) crimes were purposively selected by means of non-probability sampling. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. This paper offers valuable insight into the forceful and destructive conduct of burglars in the selected neighbourhood and contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an improved understanding of target hardening as a preventive measure against residential burglary victimisation as well as on methods of entry used by burglars in incidents of residential burglary. The results of reported non-violent property crime victimisation incidences by this community's neighbourhood watch scheme suggest that residential burglars in the selected neighbourhood are uncharacteristically forceful and ravage in their actions since they frequently revert to extreme use of force and destruction, disproportionate to the crime perpetrated. It is concluded that this radical degree of force used and destruction caused by residential burglars to gain entry to victims' properties in the execution of non-violent property crimes is not typically associated with residential burglary as compared to countries internationally.

Proportionality in Warfare as a Political Norm

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Colonomos
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Law And Ethics ◽  
Proportionality Test

This chapter argues in favor of a political version of the norm of proportionality. Proportionality, as embodied in the “orthodox” narrow proportionality test, is widely used in the legal and ethical debates about the use of force. There are, however, reasons to be dissatisfied with the current norm. This article identifies the reasons for the failure of proportionality—mainly the lack of commensurability between the variables that are aggregated in the calculus of proportionality and the lack of attention paid to the intertemporal dimension of proportionality. Moreover, this chapter challenges the prevailing individualist model we find both in law and ethics. It argues for a reframing of proportionality in political terms which meets the challenges of contemporary warfare. The chapter then establishes five principles that would serve as the groundstone of this new political norm.

Recurrent miner stand-offs will endure in Bolivia

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

Significance The government's dispute with mining cooperatives has produced violent confrontations. While the government is standing its ground, claiming that the protesters' demands violate constitutional norms, Concobol has extended its original list of demands, from ten to 24, and has devolved responsibility for the organisation of demonstrations to individual federations in an effort to foster new protest methods. Impacts The police will become increasingly impatient with the unrest, raising the risk of excessive use of force. Road blocks will alienate public opinion quickly when they begin to cause shortages of key goods. While Concobol's extended list of demands appears to complicate matters, it may provide more leeway in negotiations.

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