AMBER Alert Effectiveness Reexamined

Prior research based on limited datasets has suggested AMBER Alerts do little to prevent harm to child abduction victims. However, to investigate the possibility of recent improvements in AMBER Alert performance, the authors examine a sample of 472 AMBER Alerts issued over a 3-year period from 2012 to 2015, using available media accounts to code for relevant case information. The findings are consistent with prior research questioning AMBER Alert effectiveness: The crucial variable predicting Alert outcomes is abductor relationship to the victim, not AMBER Alert “performance.” Furthermore, cases involving “successful” AMBER Alerts are comparable on measurable factors to AMBER Alert cases where the child was recovered safely but the Alert played no role, suggesting both categories of cases involved little real risk. Implications for interpreting the viability of the AMBER Alert concept, public discourse regarding its contribution to child safety, and larger implications for crime control policy are discussed.

A Problem of Crime Control Policy in South Korea: A Challenge of Asymmetric Information

The asymmetric information is originally economic theory explaining why the market works imperfectly. However, asymmetric information is a common phenomenon that can be found easily in governments as well as in markets. A problem of crime control policy in South Korea stems from the asymmetric information. The problem is that the Korean National Police (KNP) have all information about crime but the KNP usually do not publicize it. As a result, the community knows little about crime activity and this imbalance of crime information has made it very difficult for the KNP and the community to work effectively to fight against crimes. Furthermore, the lack of communication has created the detrimental public relations for the KNP. For the problem of the crime control policy in Korea, increasing the channels of communication between the KNP and the public should be suggested as a remedy. However, before founding various communication channels with the public, it should be achieved as premises that the KNP firstly build more accurate crime report system and establish reliable crime statistics. The problem of asymmetric information of the KNP can only be resolved if the KNP establish the transparent crime statistics and increase communication channels to service essential crime information to the public. With this vital crime information, the community is expected to make a better decision about their safety issues. By the same token, the ameliorated public relations of the KNP are anticipated. This study is to analyze relevant information on asymmetric information and suggest recommendations for the KNP to solve this problem.

Cultural Studies and Criminology for Indonesia: An Analysis of the Structure of Crime Control Policy

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Policy mobilities and comparative penality

The study of ‘policy transfer’ has been subject to sustained criticism, in particular by critical policy studies scholars. This critique—together with the rather marginal role that policy transfer research has played in criminological debates to date—raises questions about the continued utility of such research in scholarly discussions of crime control and penal policy-making. However, we argue here that such studies can enhance our understanding of the local, national and global influences over crime control policy formation. In particular, the developing interest in comparative criminology, in the political economy of punishment, and in the ‘proximate causes’ of penal change, are all areas to which this work can make a useful contribution. Although we feel that some elements of the critique are over-stated, the critical policy studies notions of ‘mobilities’ and ‘assemblages’ offer important advances that capture more fully the complexities of the processes involved in the cross-national movement of penal policy.