Are Microhips the Solution or the Problem?

Posted on August 17, 2011 by ylukovsky

With all the talk about surveillance we’ve done in this course, I figured this would be an appropriate clip to show. This clip (Microchip Implants) talks about how everything is becoming more digitized, and in a few years everyone will have chips implanted in them, which upon scanning will be able to divulge personal information, financial information, medical information, and basically your entire life in a single scan.  It also discussed new facial recognition technology which police will be able to use to track criminals. Facebook actually introduced similar face recognition technology to a lot of negative criticism and privacy groups, because they felt it was a violation of peoples rights. The benefits that would come with such technologies would be tempting to anyone. Who wouldn’t want to have more affective methods of catching criminals (besides criminals themselves), the amount of man hours and money that would be saved would be phenomenal and all that money and time could be allocated towards other tasks, increasing overall productivity.  How great would it be if people would no longer have to carry keys or cash and could just open and pay for everything with a finger swipe? Crimes like robbery would go way down and people’s general sense of security would rise. Of course there are the security issues, there are people who do not see the benefits of this technology and just view it as another method of government surveillance and tracking. All of that information could and probably would be stored somewhere, and could be potentially used against you, may it be something as innocent as advertising or something as sinister as blackmail.

Posted in Assignment 4 | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Dishonest police agendas.

Posted on August 17, 2011 by james.chambers

I found this video online which is somewhat of a reiteration of the Village Voice articles we read. The most shocking statistic was that 51% of summonses which were handed out by the NYPD were dismissed. This statistic is plainly ridiculous. Regardless of whether or not Police officers are given quotas, this enormous issuance of tickets is a blatant waste of time. Not only does it waste both officers’ and citizens’ time, but it breeds distrust and resentment toward police in general.

The Voice article also highlights the fact that police from the 81st precinct were forced to basically clear the streets of people. Whether people were given summons, or simply brought to the station and later let go, these wrongfully treated citizens are, again, building resentment for the police force as a whole.

If citizens can’t look to police for stability, then who can they look to? While leaving class, I overheard students discussing their acceptance and trust in relation to Firefighters. I believe this is due to the fact that Firefighters are generally thought of as protectors of the community as opposed to enforcers.

I found this article about the usage of Firefighters to help patrol high crime areas. There are differing points of view concerning this arrangement. It can be said that Firefighters are untrained and ill-equipped to deal with crime prevention. On the other hand, the mere presence of Firefighters can help to prevent crime. Problems are often exacerbated by a Police presence, whereas a Firefighter presence may be advantageous in preventing problems.

Posted in Assignment 5 | Tagged , , , | 63 Comments

Psychopaths Can Recover

Posted on August 17, 2011 by michael.plutchok

Reading the article in the New Yorker, by Seabrook, about psychopathy, I was interested in finding out the way the people with this condition are being treated. While searching for information I came upon video on someone who was in prison with psychopathy. A man who committed manslaughter and robbery is now trying to convince people that he is okay and is now trying to get back into society.

This raises the question about the way in which we treat this condition. I feel that much of society looks at it as deviant behavior because it is out of the norm how we “ought to act” then classifies it as criminal. I agree with what this video states that we need to change the way in which we treat them. Most of our prisons try to suppress their anxiety; however they need to change the way they think and how to change their behavior, whether it’s by group therapy or by social interaction like we see in the video.

According to the article in the New Yorker psychopaths‘s main defect is a serve emotional detachment, defined as a lack of empathy and remorse. So doesn’t the prison system make you feel more emptiness and a greater remorse? So the point made in the article is how the justice system viewed them as criminals, but is not their fault, it is the way their minds work.

This video states that we can’t view psychopaths as criminals we must treat them differently and maybe we will see some progress in treating people with this condition, and maybe some can improve enough to function in society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKM58FtmOhk

Posted in Assignment 4 | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Government’s new mechanism of surveillance

Posted on August 17, 2011 by irina.tyumentseva

Few days ago a friend of mine added this article on Facebook. It talks about the new legislation that makes internet providers to create and store users’ profiles, that include information like credit card numbers and browsing history.

The bill was passed under disguise of protection children from internet pornography, but in reality it is a way of policing internet users. Just the way foot patrol was introduced into neighborhoods for the good reason of protecting community, but ended up to be a surveillance mechanism.

This bill is extension of our debates on how much surveillance is appropriate and on how much we allow government to interfere in our private life. It seems like government takes more and more steps towards tracking individuals. It resonates with the argument of societies of control. Control, unlike discipline, doesn’t require enclosed buildings to limit people’s ability to move in space, in fact, it doesn’t need to to do that, instead it only needs to know where every given individual is at the given time.

The bill discussed above, gives government opportunity to track our location in internet space. State acquires precious tracking mechanism of the space that becomes increasingly important in our society.  Many of us spend as much time in online world as in the physical one and many do so because they can escape mechanisms of control. Well, I guess there are less chances to do so now.

Posted in Assignment 5 | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Broken Window Theory in New Haven, Conn.

Posted on August 17, 2011 by robert.rahmanian

The Broken Window Theory is present in everyday life and is occurring in the world around us. Rachel Ranis, a sociology professor at Quinnipiac University, makes the argument that she has seen the Broken Window Theory play out on New Havens Whalley Avenue. She goes on to say that the little things are the reason people have left the neighborhood in shambles. The little things she is referring to is graffiti, broken windows and petty crimes. A result of these actions has led to many shop owners and businesses leaving the neighborhood.

The second half of this article describes what kind of gentrification Ranis has experienced in her life and what she sees in the future for Whalley Avenue. She talks about her experience in moving to Hudson, NY and how the neighborhood is filled with antique shops and trendy artist. She makes the same argument for the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. In my opinion, the Broken Window Theory is very apparent and can easily be seen when traveling.

 

Posted in Assignment 3 | Comments Off on Broken Window Theory in New Haven, Conn.

Report a crime on Facebook…

Posted on August 17, 2011 by robert.rahmanian

So I came across this article on the internet and found it fascinating. Lothian and Borders police have started a new system that allows civilians to snitch on suspected criminals based on what they see on Facebook. The Scottish force claims this is the first of it’s kind in the country. The article goes on to say that people support the effort and are happy to anonymously report the illegal gains of another.

What I don’t understand is how you can identify a criminal just by looking on facebook. It’s one thing if you know someone who is a criminal and then you find supporting facts and pictures on the internet that reinforce the fact. This article gives me the feeling that cops expect to charge people with criminal acts based only on the story their Facebook tells. That sounds ridiculous as I can’t imagine much success in catching and charging criminals based on pictures and interests. This also sounds like criminals are being stereo typed and put into a specific box of description which is totally wrong. I can think of a few of my friends who are not criminals but their Facebook may tell another story based on the jewelry and cars they have pictures with.

 

Posted in Assignment 2 | Comments Off on Report a crime on Facebook…

Searching For Illness

Posted on August 17, 2011 by aherrera

It may not be brain scans, but it seems just as ridiculous. Jared Loughner, the man behind the January 8th shootings in Arizona that left 6 dead and 13 injured, is seeking the insanity plea in order to avoid trial. In May, he was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and was placed in a psych ward, and now his lawyers are seeking a similar decision. In order to establish this, they have taken to digging deep into the lives of Mr. Loughner’s ancestors. They have subpoenaed the records of 22 of his relatives, dating back to 1893. Although two psychiatrists have diagnosed Mr. Loughner with schizophrenia, it would help the insanity plea if it could be established that mental illness runs in the Loughner family.

I have no issues with someone using the insanity plea. If someone is suffering from mental illness, a distinction should be made in their sentencing (ie. psych ward vs. prison). It seems to be a fact that Mr. Loughner has a troubled past, and from the media coverage it seems that he does in fact suffer from schizophrenia. However, I completely disagree with the use of deceased people’s medical records to prove mental illness in the family. It just seems too farfetched. I understand that mental illness is a viable defense in a criminal case but this just seems unnecessary and a violation of privacy. In the article, a law professor from Vanderbilt actually mentions that this is the most effective way of proving mental illness aside from having a “brain scan showing mental defect.” I think this is quite ironic being that both these options, in my opinion, are anything but effective.

Posted in Assignment 5 | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

How does Graffiti fit into Broken Window Theory?

Posted on August 16, 2011 by james.chambers

Graffiti is often looked at from many different perspectives. This video illustrates Graffiti as either vandalism, or an art form. A local store owner, whose business is riddled with Graffiti, thinks its vandalism, while a Los Angeles Museum exhibits it as art. But these different viewpoints force us to ask whether or not Graffiti acts as a stimulus in the collapse of a community.

The question this video asks is not correct for our argument. A more pertinent question would be, how does the community view Graffiti, as art or vandalism? If Graffiti is viewed as vandalism, then it acts as the “broken window.” But, if the Graffiti is viewed as art, then it is simply art; something to be studied and scrutinized.

The fact that Graffiti is such a broad term, makes it difficult to draw a distinction. There are the obvious distinctions of vandalism, where areas are “tagged” with the Graffiti artists’ symbols and lettering. On the other hand lies a form of art, which are walls covered in beautiful portraits and designs. This website is called the “Movement of Graffiti Art” and shows some spectacular images.

The Graffitiing of a store’s riot gates puts an odd twist on how the general feeling within a community changes from day to night. Given the fact that riot gates are closed at night, if more Graffiti is visible at night, does this mean a certain area turns into a lawless wasteland when the sun goes down?  This is an extreme overstatement, but if Graffiti does act as the “broken window,” then an emergence of Graffiti may entice nocturnal crime.

 

Posted in Assignment 4 | Tagged , , | 115 Comments

Experts: Mentally ill face criminal stigma

Posted on August 16, 2011 by ricardo.ledan

 

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051124/NEWS01/511240312/1001

Tired of persecuting and convicting the mentally ill, Thomas Testa of San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney office, has said enough is enough. Each of his cases deal with a victim dying  “under heinous circumstances” as he says, with the perpetrator having to serve life sentences in a state prison or shipped off to a mental institution. At least for Testa it could have easily been avoided if either the family or a local agency made sure the perpetrator took their prescribed medicine in the proper amount. But as other attorneys and psychologists have articulated, the situation is not as simple as it seems. Despite the small population of mentally ill people that commit violent acts, they argue that there is disproportional attention in relation to the act. Evidence of this can be found in the frequency that these acts are exhibited in the narrative of the national media; as well as the fierce sentencing that occurred in response, in several of the cases they portray. Collins of the Health services alludes to the fact of the stigma that mentally ill violent offenders face: “Criminals first rather then fighting a chronic disease”.

Goffman in “Stigma and Social Identity”, gives us an inside glimpse into the sources and justification of Stigma and its effects within the framework of society. In it we can specifically classify mental illness as of the “discreditable” kind, and the notion that stigmatized individuals are constantly linked  with their “defect” (in this case mental illness) in a way that is nonexistent in the traits of a normal person.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Assignment 3 | Tagged , | 111 Comments

The Dangers of Using High Tech Facial Recognition Software to Catch Criminals

Posted on August 15, 2011 by ricardo.ledan

http://www.ghacks.net/2011/08/14/the-dangers-of-using-high-tech-facial-recognition-software-to-catch-criminals/

In light of the rioting in London, British police have been using CCTV in combination with facial-recognition software footage in order to identify and separate the criminal elements in the crowd. The article goes on to speculates on the need of creating a database for “confirmed” faces (primarily faces that can be linked to an identity). The article even illuminates the issue of quality control and some of the problems that lighting, distance, and clarity plays in distorting and inevitably making it harder to match. With facial recognition technology commonly found in television and movies unavailable, combined with the likely chance to misidentify individual (which could also be used to benefit criminals); it seems that British officials have the daunting task ahead of them. Also police fear that people who resemble rioters (solely the images) may be in danger by vigilante groups (which introduces certain notions of stigma).In the end the article alludes to the social media such as Facebook (750 million users) and its database, and the potential it may have for law enforcement if they were to be exploited.

Its relevance speaks to me in the article we read called “A means of Surveillance: The photograph as evidence in law”. It describes the insertion of the photograph gradually into institutions such as the police apparatus and its connection to power. The photograph or surveillance footage in the article’s case has the power (in conjunction with police power) to incriminate, or identify to the jury a person to the site of a “crime” or act of deviancy.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Assignment 5 | Tagged , , | 12 Comments