Beccaria Portal: Your directory and knowledge network in crime prevention and criminology in Europe and worldwide.
Daily PressTodays crime related press reports collected by Prof. Thomas Görgen, German Police University
The Independent, 01.01.2013
Kenneth Clarke’s legacy: first fall in prisoner numbers since 1990s
The prison population has fallen by almost 3,000 since the start of last year, reversing a trend dating back to the 1990s, it has been revealed.
Nigel Morris
Derbyshire Times-, 01.01.2013
SmartWater marking on offer to help protect Christmas gifts
Police are holding a property-marking event to allow residents to register their Christmas presents and help deter would-be thieves.
Wired (USA), 01.01.2013
John McAfee’s Last Stand
On November 12, 2012, Belizean police announced that they were seeking John McAfee for questioning in connection with the murder of his neighbor. Six months earlier, I began an in-depth investigation into McAfee’s life. This is the chronicle of that investigation.
Joshua Davis
UMSL Daily (blog)-, 02.01.2013
UMSL criminologist to execute second study on controversial New York police program
Crime in New York has been on the decline for two decades. Law enforcement officials attribute the decrease to the police department’s aggressive use of a program called “Stop, Question and Frisk.”
Economic Times, 02.01.2013
Patriarchal mindset creates hurdle to effective policing
Rajshekhar & Kim Arora,ET Bureau
Police Oracle, 02.01.2013
College of Policing 'Will Focus On Research'
New chief executive envisages college will not be focused on delivering training.
New York Times (blog), 03.01.2013
In Conversation With: Psychologist Rajat Mitra
Dr. Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, is the director of the Swanchetan Society for Mental Health, a nongovernmental organization in India that provides counseling and support services to survivors of violence, abuse and trauma. He is one of the few people in the country who has closely studied sex offenders to understand the motivation behind their attacks, interviewing hundreds of them in Tihar Jail in Delhi over several years.
MALAVIKA VYAWAHARE
New York Times (blog)-, 03.01.2013
With Accessory, Officers Looking Sharp and Staying Safe
SAM ROBERTS
PreventionAction, 03.01.2013
An executive decision
Programs for the parents of poorly behaved children could be strengthened if they targeted not only parenting skills but also some of the most fundamental aspects of parents’ brain functioning, such as memory, attention, and self-control.
Outlook India, 04.01.2013
How Do We Break The Indian Penile Code?
This cultural sanction of rape must stop, the state has to speak
Meena Kandasamy
SPIEGEL ONLINE, 04.01.2013
Wiesenthal List Induces Hand-Wringing in Germany
What Makes an Anti-Semite?
New York Times, 05.01.2013
Shooting of Two Officers Began With a Minor Violation Used to Fight Crime
WENDY RUDERMAN and CHRISTOPHER MAAG
The Economist, 05.01.2013
Rape and murder in Delhi
A horrible attack could prove a turning point for India’s women
The Independent, 06.01.2013
Special report: Female genital mutilation - unreported, ignored and unpunished
Ten years after new legislation, still no one has been charged
Brian Brady, Paul Cahalan
Charlotte Observer, 06.01.2013
A murder statistic to applaud and improve upon
Policing, trends help Charlotte hit 24-year low in homicides.
New York Times, 06.01.2013
Ex-Officer Is First From C.I.A. to Face Prison for a Leak
WASHINGTON — Looking back, John C. Kiriakou admits he should have known better. But when the F.B.I. called him a year ago and invited him to stop by and “help us with a case,” he did not hesitate.
SCOTT SHANE
guardian.co.uk, 07.01.2013
Murderers beware: 'virtual autopsies' could revolutionise investigations
According to inventors of system, Virtopsies allow detection of injuries often undetectable in traditional methods
Kate Connolly in Berlin
EurekAlert!, 07.01.2013
Violence against teachers spurs urgent call to action
Expert recommendations address alarming yet often overlooked issue
New Zealand Herald, 07.01.2013
Cops on the wrong side of the law
At least 67 police staff have been arrested in the past three years while serving on the force. Some of the charges include dealing LSD, assault, drink-driving and theft.
Amelia Wade
EurekAlert!, 07.01.2013
Study defines when disclosing a whistle-blower's identity, like in an email, becomes retaliation
The Times Literary Supplement, 07.01.2013
Communism, Fascism and liberals now
Vladimir Tismaneanu THE DEVIL IN HISTORY bCommunism, Fascism, and some lessons of the twentieth century. 326pp. University of California Press. $34.95; distributed in the UK by Wiley. £24.95. 978 0 520 23972 2
John Gray
New York Times, 08.01.2013
Diagnosis: Battered but Vibrant
CHICAGO — The neighborhood’s best-known restaurants were failing, its crime rate was on the rise, and for the first time that anyone could remember there were foreclosures, with once tidy bungalows sitting empty and dark.
BENEDICT CAREY
EurekAlert!, 09.01.2013
Brown eyes appear more trustworthy than blue
People judge men's trustworthiness based on face shape, eye color
EurekAlert!, 09.01.2013
E-games boost physical activity in children; might be a weapon in the battle against obesity
EurekAlert!, 09.01.2013
Protective communities may reduce risk of drinking in teens
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Living in a caring community may help curb teenage alcohol use, while hanging out with antisocial peers can have the opposite effect, according to Penn State researchers studying substance abuse patterns.
Huffington Post, 09.01.2013
Marijuana Legalization: Opponents Regroup Following Washington, Colorado Votes
GENE JOHNSON
Newswise, 09.01.2013
Replacing Prison Terms with Drug Abuse Treatment Could Save Billions in Criminal Justice Costs
The New Yorker, 10.01.2013
The Science of Sex Abuse
Is it right to imprison people for heinous crimes they have not yet committed?
Rachel Aviv
The Local.se, 10.01.2013
More Swedish men report being raped
Reports of male rape are on the rise in Sweden, new figures show, yet sexual violence experts believe the figures represent only the tip of the iceberg as many men are too ashamed to report the assaults.
Reason, 10.01.2013
5 Facts About Guns, Schools, And Violence
What every legislator - and citizen - needs to know.
Nick Gillespie & Amanda Winkler
Nashua Telegraph, 10.01.2013
Ferguson: No link between video games, violence
Christopher J. Ferguson is an associate professor and chairman of the department of psychology and communication at Texas A&M International University. He wrote this for the Hartford Courant.
CHRISTOPHER J. FERGUSON
New York Times, 10.01.2013
When Burglary Is Not Burglary
Matthew Descamps was convicted in 2008 of being a felon in possession of a handgun and ammunition under federal law, which usually leads to a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But a federal trial judge in Washington State more than doubled that sentence to 21 years and 10 months under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
The New Yorker online, 11.01.2013
A Maid’s Execution
On Wednesday, the Saudi Arabian government beheaded Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan woman who had worked as a maid in the kingdom, holding her responsible for the death of the four-month-old baby of her employer
Slate Magazine, 11.01.2013
The Signature of Your Soul
How much can you really tell about people from their handwriting?
Katy Waldman
New York Times, 12.01.2013
In 2010 Portland Bomb Plot, a Question of Manipulation or Violent Extremism
PORTLAND, Ore. — A defense lawyer for a 21-year-old Somali-American told a federal jury here on Friday that his client did in fact push a cellphone button on a night in late November 2010 believing he was detonating a truck bomb that would kill hundreds or thousands of people who had gathered to watch downtown Portland’s Christmas lights come on.
KIRK JOHNSON
New York Times, 13.01.2013
India’s New Focus on Rape Shows Only the Surface of Women’s Perils
GARDINER HARRIS
New York Times, 13.01.2013
Tribal Lessons
THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAY
What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?
DAVID BROOKS
Outlook India, 14.01.2013
Rape Happens
The ‘normalcy’ of violence—sexual violence being the most perverted—is India’s lot. One girl’s nightmare focuses the light.
Batra Bakshi, Chandrani Banerjee
Daily Mail - 15.1.2013, 15.01.2013
Only half of police would report a colleague for beating a suspect who tried to escape
By Jack Doyle
EurekAlert!, 15.01.2013
Childhood trauma leaves its mark on the brain
EPFL scientists find evidence that psychological wounds inflicted when young leave lasting biological traces—and a predisposition toward violence later in life
PreventionAction, 15.01.2013
Romanian foster care: equipping carers to help challenging children
Romania’s social care system has seen a sea change for the better over the last two decades. Foster care has largely replaced Ceausescu-era orphanages characterized by shocking levels of overcrowding, sexual and physical abuse, and inadequate medical treatment.
Press-Enterprise (blog)-, 15.01.2013
GUN VIOLENCE: Ex-Redlands police chief leading national effort
Barely a month after the Connecticut school massacre, retired Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann has launched a national effort to give cops and communities practical and low-cost ways to prevent — yes, prevent — gun violence by mentally and emotionally unbalanced people.
Newswise Released, 15.01.2013
Lance Armstrong: "Bernie Madoff on a Bike"
Wake Forest University expert available to discuss Armstrong’s confessional Oprah chat
New York Times, 15.01.2013
Life in the Red
The belt-tightening was the easy part. Cancel the cable. Skip the air conditioners. Ration the cellphone, unplug the wireless Internet, cook rice and beans — done, and done.
BENEDICT CAREY
Science Daily, 16.01.2013
Portrayal of Spring Break Excess May Be Stereotypes Gone Wild
The popular perception that college students are reaching new levels of self-indulgence and risky behavior during spring break excursions may be based on media coverage and scholarship that oversimplifies what has become an annual rite for many young adults, according to researchers.
BBC News, 16.01.2013
US gun debate: Could Obama's guns plan work?
Guns in a trash can Gun buy-back programmes, like one held recently in Los Angeles, are aimed at getting firearms off the streets
Kate Dailey
New York Times, 16.01.2013
Police to Use Fake Pill Bottles to Track Drugstore Thieves
JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 17.01.2013
Pittsburgh to study response to domestic violence calls
Moriah Balingit
Huffington Post Posted, 17.01.2013
Generation Y And Porn: A Look At Millennials' Complicated Relationship With Online Pornography
Newswise, 17.01.2013
American Psychological Association Applauds Provisions of White House Plan to Stem Gun Violence
The American Psychological Association expressed strong support for key components of President Obama’s plan to protect American children and communities by reducing gun violence
New York Times, 17.01.2013
An Added Mission for Arizona Sheriff’s Immigration Posse: School Patrols
FERNANDA SANTOS
New York Times (blog)-, 17.01.2013
Gun Control and Suicide
If you’re looking for a reason to be skeptical that the gun control proposals President Obama unveiled yesterday would actually have an impact on violent crime, look no further than the historical examples invoked by gun control advocates praising the White House’s effort:
Ross Douthat
Wired (USA),, 17.01.2013
Deception Is Futile When Big Brother’s Lie Detector Turns Its Eyes on You
Alan Bersin, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, arrives at the gloomy US border post in Nogales, Arizona, early one winter morning wearing an expression of mildly pained concentration.
New Zealand Herald, 18.01.2013
John Howard speaks out on gun control
Former prime minister John Howard has shared his experience in overhauling Australia's gun laws in one of the United States' most influential newspapers.
University of Utah, 18.01.2013
Physical and Sexual Assault Linked to Increased Suicide Risk in Military
Utah study suggests recognizing specific triggers may enhance diagnosis, treatments
CBS News-, 19.01.2013
Mental health reporting gaps cloud background checks
John Bentley, Paul Bogosian and Phil Hirschkorn
Washington Post (blog)-, 19.01.2013
Eugene Jarecki: ‘A jailer is as victimized by the drug war as the person he is jailing.’
Winnipeg, 20.01.2013
Alone together
Newtown shooter destroyed his hard drive before going on rampage. What messages does tragedy hold for our wired age?
Michael S. Rosenwald
Boston Globe, 20.01.2013
The gun toll we’re ignoring: suicide
You wouldn’t know it from the national debate, but most American firearm deaths aren’t murder
Leon Neyfakh
Newswise — Released, 20.01.2013
Frequent Multitaskers Are Bad at It; Can't Talk and Drive Well
Most people believe they can multitask effectively, but a University of Utah study indicates that people who multitask the most – including talking on a cell phone while driving – are least capable of doing so.
Citations
PLOS ONE (Jan. 23, 2013)
Texas State University, 21.01.2013
Obama’s gun violence plan falls short, misses mental health mark
Jose R. Gonzalez
Times of India ANI, 21.01.2013
Cyberbullying occurs largely among friends: Study
The research is part of a burgeoning field of study into the effects of social media on everyday relationships and behavior.
Communitycare.co.uk, 21.01.2013
'Social workers too concerned with labelling children who abuse'
Sexually harmful behaviour by children is a significant problem, but social care responses still need improvement, according to experts. Tristan Donovan finds out what needs to change.
Washington Post, 21.01.2013
The stale claim that 40 percent of gun sales lack background checks
Glenn Kessler
Indiana Public Media, 21.01.2013
Columbus To Install Defibrillators In Police Vehicles
Gretchen Frazee
Spiked, 21.01.2013
Whatever happened to free will?
The rise of determinism and the denial of choice reflect today’s very bleak view of human beings.
Ellie Lee
Science Codex, 22.01.2013
Severe abuse at home linked to dating violence
Young urban black women who are exposed to severe abuse within their families are much more likely to be victims of dating violence, according to a study led by a Michigan State University researcher
Police News, 22.01.2013
Study: professors oppose guns on campus
Many surveyed said weapons on campus would make them feel less safe; over 1,000 faculty surveyed throughout Midwest
Theodore Decker
EurekAlert!, 22.01.2013
Lower drinking ages can have an impact on later drinking patterns
Lower minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws have been associated with short-term effects such as more traffic fatalities and teen suicides.
EurekAlert!, 22.01.2013
Alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood follows different, complex pathways
Emory University, 22.01.2013
Penicillin, not the pill, may have launched the sexual revolution
The 1950s were not as prudish as they seemed on the surface, says economist Andrew Francis.
Carol Clark
EurekAlert!, 22.01.2013
A brain protein called vimentin can indicate damage to the hippocampus following binge drinking
The Verge (USA),, 22.01.2013
Memory to myth: tracing Aaron Swartz through the 21st century
To understand his contributions, we have to look beyond the headlines
Tim Carmody
The Independent, 23.01.2013
Apathetic. A failure. The official verdict on India's rape police
Former chief justice calls for stricter enforcement of sexual assault laws and women judges
Andrew Buncombe
BBC News, 23.01.2013
Why are vandalism rates falling?
Vandalism in the UK is falling at a quicker rate than almost any other type of crime, according to official figures. What are the possible reasons behind this?
Brian Wheeler
London24, 23.01.2013
Met Police urged to improve service for victims of crime
The Metropolitan Police has the worst victim satisfaction rating of any police service in the UK, according to a report released today.
The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the body which oversees the Met, has been urged to set it more challenging targets to address the problems faced by victims of crime.
Luke Jacobs
Phys.Org, 23.01.2013
Gun control: Focus on manufacturers, not just buyers, study shows
As the gun control debate continues, Kevin D. Bradford, an associate professional specialist in marketing at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, says the focus should be on those who distribute guns, not solely on those who buy them.
EurekAlert!, 23.01.2013
Knobbly knees in competition with fingerprints
Biometrics using internal body parts
University of Granada, 23.01.2013
Researchers design a new imaging technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse
The new technique is based on a computing system designed by researchers at the Forensic Anthropology Laboratory of the University of Granada.
This system is based on free software and has a reliability of 95%.
St. Michael's Hospital, 23.01.2013
Smokers who quit before age 40 have lifespan almost as long as people who never smoked
Leslie Shepherd
The Nation online, 23.01.2013
Government Persecution, From Aaron Swartz to Bradley Manning
Chase Madar
ABC Online, 24.01.2013
Youth need grievance space to beat the bullet
FEW know about gun crime in western Sydney better than the Darwiche and Dib families.
Rachel Olding, Ilya Gridneff
The Independent, 24.01.2013
Police winning battle against inner city gun crime
Firearms offences are 40 per cent down in less than a decade, figures will show
Paul Peachey
Firearms offences have fallen by more than 40 percent in less than a decade, with the rise of “gun culture” in Britain’s inner cities apparently reversed because of improved police intelligence.
guardian.co.uk, 24.01.2013
Fall in UK crime rate baffles experts
The classic theory that property crime rises faster in times of economic strife no longer seems to apply, latest figures show
Alan Travis
EurekAlert!, 24.01.2013
'Cool' kids in middle school bully more, UCLA psychologists report
Study of seventh and eighth graders finds no difference between boys, girls
Medical News, 24.01.2013
Reproductive Coercion Common In Abusive Relationships
Adolescent girls and women should now be screened for reproductive coercion, a form of abuse that occurs when male partners sabotage their contraception intentionally.
FactCheck.org-, 24.01.2013
FactChecking GOP Response to Obama Gun Plan
Republican response to President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce gun violence has been peppered with misleading claims.
al.com (blog), 24.01.2013
Abortion, lead poisoning or good police-work. Why is crime falling in Mobile and across the country?
Robert McClendon
MarketWatch (press release)-, 24.01.2013
BIA Hosts Interactive Presentation on Cyber Security
Alon Israely and Lawrence Husick
Spiked, 24.01.2013
The rise of a pseudo-scientific links lobby
Every day there seems to be a new study making a link between food, chemicals or lifestyle and ill-health. None of them has any link with reality.
Michael Fitzpatrick
N.C. State University Technician Online-Posted, 25.01.2013
Fighting crime with fiber research
Joseph Cabaniss
Salon, 25.01.2013
When the government approves of hacking
While hacktivists and whistle-blowers face federal prison, the White House declares a National Day of Civic Hacking
Natasha Lennard
New York Times, 26.01.2013
It Has Been Frigid Outside, but Also a Lot Less Dangerous
It’s an old saw that murders spike during hot summers, when city dwellers flee their apartments for the streets and tempers soar along with the mercury. Less, however, has been said about the effect of extreme cold spells on mankind’s capacity for violent crimes.
JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN
The Economist, 26.01.2013
A cruel trade
To curb widespread trafficking of abducted children, officials and parents are turning to social media
The Economist, 26.01.2013
Fathers and sons
An upsurge of violence on the streets points to rising instability
The Economist (UK),, 26.01.2013
Afrighanistan?
The real danger is that the world turns its back on another poor place threatened by jihadists
New York Times, 26.01.2013
Prison Population Can Shrink When Police Crowd Streets
Now that the United States has the world’s highest reported rate of incarceration, many criminologists are contemplating another strategy. What if America reverted to the penal policies of the 1980s? What if the prison population shrank drastically? What if money now spent guarding cellblocks was instead used for policing the streets?
JOHN TIERNEY
The New York Times, 27.01.2013
How We Fight
David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War
Fred Kaplan
The Guardian (blog), 28.01.2013
How social enterprise can reduce gang violence
From unleashing potential through sport to raising aspirations, social enterprise solutions have significant impact on youth crime
Research Magazine, 28.01.2013
'Respect for personal data must be in the DNA of business'
Trust. It’s a very small word, but something that’s taken for granted. It can be difficult to achieve but easy to throw away.
Jane Frost
EurekAlert!, 28.01.2013
Majority of Americans support dozens of policies to strengthen US gun laws
For most policies, little difference in support between gun owners and non-gun-owners
Huffington Post, 28.01.2013
Gun Violence & Adam Lanza's DNA: Is There A Gene For Murder? (VIDEO)
Cara Santa Maria
University of Iowa, 28.01.2013
Best friends influence when teenagers have first drink
UI study notes friends' access to alcohol as main reason
EurekAlert!, 29.01.2013
Center-based child care: Long hours do not cause aggression and disobedience
Spending many hours in centre-based child care does not lead to more aggression and disobedience in children, according to a new study using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study
EurekAlert!, 29.01.2013
'Moral realism' may lead to better moral behavior
New report by Boston College researchers
Huffington Post-, 29.01.2013
Kimberly McCarthy Execution Postponed: Judge In Texas Delays Woman's Punishment Until April
MICHAEL GRACZYK
Association for Psychological Science PRESS RELEASE, 29.01.2013
Conflicting Cultural Identities May Foster Political Radicalism
New research suggests that dual-identity immigrants — first-generation immigrants and their descendants who identify with both their cultural minority group and the society they now live in — may be more prone to political radicalism if they perceive their two cultural identities to be incompatible.
International Business Times, 30.01.2013
Drug Offenses, Not Violent Crime, Filling Up Federal Prisons
Almost a quarter of the world’s prison population is locked up in one country: the United States.
Ashley Portero
Huffington Post, 30.01.2013
Restorative Justice Is Not Forgiveness
Ted Wachtel, President/Founder of the International Institute for Restorative Practices Graduate School
EurekAlert!, 30.01.2013
Rats, like humans, return to drinking once punishment is removed
Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry
EurekAlert!, 30.01.2013
Excessive alcohol use when you're young could have lasting impacts on your brain
Review article published in Cortex highlights growing evidence for the lasting impact of alcohol on the brain
PreventionAction, 30.01.2013
Good delivery delivers the goods
Interventions are more effective when they’re carried out as intended. But how can program implementers keep tabs on how faithfully a program is delivered? In a new study, researchers test an easy-to-use measure of adherence to Brief Parent Training (BPT).
CBC., 31.01.2013
Montreal police taking new approach on mental health emergencies
New plan will see every officer trained in the next three years
Minnesota Public Radio, 31.01.2013
Mass shooting stats cooked, criminologist says
Are mass killings on the rise? It depends, apparently, on how you define mass killings.
Bob Collins
EurekAlert!, 31.01.2013
Social networking: Gen Xers connect online as often as they socialize in person
Young adults in Generation X are as likely to connect with friends, family and co-workers online as they are in person, according to a University of Michigan study.
ANN ARBOR
SPIEGEL ONLINE, 31.01.2013
"Bang Your Friends"
Facebook-Sex-App sorgt für Aufregung
Gerade mal eine Woche im Umlauf, zieht eine App für erotische Anbahnungen das Interesse der Facebook-Nutzer auf sich. Dabei gibt es erhebliche Mängel in Sachen Privatsphäre und Schutz von Minderjährigen.
