Peter Grabosky

Virtual Criminality: Old Wine in New Bottles?

IT HAS become trite to suggest that the convergence of computing and communications has begun to change the way we live, and the way we commit crime. Whether this will necessitate a revision of our philosophical, historical and sociological assumptions, however, is another matter. One must beware of overgeneralization and hyperbole, which characterize a great deal of discourse on the digital age. In the pages that follow, I suggest that ‘virtual criminality’ is basically the same as the terrestrial crime with which we are familiar. To be sure, some of the manifestations are new. But a great deal of crime committed with or against computers differs only in terms of the medium. While the technology of implementation, and particularly its efficiency, may be without precedent, the crime is fundamentally familiar. It is less a question of something completely different than a recognizable crime committed in a completely different way. Perhaps the most remarkable developments relating to crime in the digital age are its transnational implications, and the threats to personal privacy posed by new technologies. The speed of electronic transactions allows an offender to inflict loss or damage on the other side of the world, bringing new meaning to the term ‘remote control’. In addition, digital technology facilitates surveillance, by public agencies and the private sector, to a degree that is quite revolutionary.

The Governance of Security in Weak and Failing States

This article seeks to identify means of strengthening social control and conflict resolution in weak and failing states. It begins by discussing the governance of public security in stronger states, and identifies three basic forms of engagement between state and non-state institutions that may contribute to the co-production of public security: coercion, sale and gift. The article then seeks to identify institutional arrangements that might be transplanted to those settings where conventional state institutions of security may be in decline, or non-existent. It also suggests how new institutions might be invented in settings where states may be dysfunctional or otherwise lacking in capacity. It develops a typology of security provision, including auspices that are public; public under private arrangements; collective or voluntary; private/national; private/international; and criminal. By identifying new mechanisms for the governance of security, it may be possible to arrest the deterioration of states, or at least provide for a modicum of internal security. The article concludes with a discussion of the Zwelethemba model of peacemaking and peacebuilding that is being developed in South Africa.

Further Evidence Concerning the Prevalence of Adolescent Gambling and Problem Gambling in Australia: A Study of the ACT

Abstract This paper summarises the results of a cross-sectional study of 926 young people (years 7–12, age 11–19) attending State, independent and Catholic schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling among ACT adolescents and to obtain insights into the social context in which gambling was occurring. Survey results showed that 70% of adolescents had gambled in the previous 12 months and 10% at least weekly. Approximately 4% of adolescents could be described as problem gamblers based upon the DSM-IV-J classification with males and young people from indigenous backgrounds found to be more significantly affected. Most adolescent gambling in the ACT was undertaken either privately or conjunction with others (usually parents or peers), suggesting that existing regulatory provisions are working well. However, the paper nonetheless suggests the need for tighter controls over access to lottery products, greater consumer information in schools to educate young people about the risks of gambling, as well as additional ethnographic research to obtain further insights into how young people gain access to gambling opportunities.

Harnessing third parties as surrogate regulators: achieving environmental outcomes by alternative means

The need to design innovative strategies alternative or complementary to that of government regulation is becoming increasingly apparent. This article examines one such innovation: to use both business and commercial entities and non-commercial third parties as surrogates for, or complements to, direct government regulation. This strategy will still involve government intervention, but selectively and in combination with a range of market solutions, and of public and private orderings. The contexts and circumstances in which third parties might be used as surrogate regulators are considered; the impediments to them acting in this role and the extent and circumstances in which they might be overcome are identified; and the roles that governments might play in facilitating, encouraging or otherwise ensuring that third parties do act successfully as surrogate regulators are examined. Copyright

Networks and Meta-regulation: Strategies Aimed at Governing Illicit Synthetic Drugs

New regulatory state scholarship has documented the rise of pluralized forms of governance that lay beyond central states. This has resulted in regulation being constituted by dense networks of actors and institutions. This article sets out to explore the role of police agencies within these networks through a case study of illicit synthetic drug control. Reducing the supply of illicit synthetic drugs presents unique challenges for the police compared to the control of traditional plant-based illicit drugs such as cannabis or heroin. A key focus of reducing supply is that of governing the interface between licit and illicit market activities. This strategy has required police agencies to increasingly engage in forms of meta-regulation. Under such a strategy, the police role is increasingly one of acting as “brokers” i.e., connecting the internal capacity of external institutions to crime control goals and promoting collective responses around externalities (i.e., opportunities for illegal conduct) generated by legitimate commercial activity.

Law enforcement and the citizen: Non‐governmental participants in crime prevention and control

This article reviews various forms of public participation in crime control and criminal justice. Areas of activity in question include public participation in the formulation of criminal justice policy, citizen crime prevention and law enforcement auxiliary activity. Participants include those acting on a commercial or non‐profit basis in addition to volunteers. The article argues that a certain degree of citizen participation is desirable, contributing to a better informed citizenry and enhancing the legitimacy of institutions of criminal justice. Beyond an optimal point, however, further citizen activity might be regarded as undesirable, and may threaten privacy, interpersonal trust, and the rights of minorities.

The Global Dimension of Cybercrime

Cyberspace and thus cybercrime know no boundaries. This chapter reviews some of the basic forms of cybercrime, draws specific attention to the issues that arise when offences occur across borders and in relation to organised criminal groupings, and provides illustrations based on some of the more celebrated cases of the past few years. The borderless nature of cyberspace and the exponential take-up of digital technology throughout the world guarantee that transnational cybercrime will remain a challenge. Fortunately, many nations are rising to this challenge, individually and collectively, but the web of international cooperation does have its holes and those nations that lag behind the leaders risk becoming havens for cybercriminals of the future.

Private Sponsorship of Public Policing

As fiscal constraints on public police agencies intensify, law enforcement agencies in many jurisdictions will become receptive to donations in cash or in kind by private individuals or organizations. This paper seeks to develop a framework for analysing the balance of advantage derived from private sponsorship of public police. It discusses a number of risks posed by private sponsorship, including capture by the donor, inequality in the provision of service, and the erosion of legitimacy. Creative thinking about the future funding of public police will include consideration of the limits of private sponsorship, and of the management of sponsorship programs that are introduced.

Beyond the Regulatory State

The traditional view of regulation as essentially a governmental function has become outmoded. Regulatory enforcement, and state activity generally, are diminishing. In their place, a devolution of control is occurring which entails the harnessing of private institutions and energies in furtherance of regulatory policy. This paper describes some of these new regulatory forms, and suggests that new private or hybrid regulatory orderings may emerge which are more stringent, yet more subtle, and ultimately more palatable to the target of regulation than conventional state control.

When police go shopping

Purpose – This article aims to alert readers to the procurement and acquisition activities of police agencies, to the risks that these entail, and to mechanisms for their effective management.Design/methodology/approach – The article explores the ways in which acquisition by police is conducted and regulated. It examines these relationships between police and the private sector from the perspective of their benefits, such as costs and efficiency gains, and the risks they entail, including overdependency, corruption and lack of accountability.Findings – Shopping by the public police is on the increase. Through procurement and outsourcing, police harness resources needed to cope with increasing demands on their services. Increased police activity in the marketplace, driven by changing ideological, economic and pragmatic considerations, represents a fundamental structural shift in policing. The article identifies appropriate institutional and procedural safeguards, and raises questions about the implications...