University of South Carolina System

Environments are becoming increasingly more variable, as a function of climate change. As this occurs, species may be exposed to conditions outside their preferred range. Such variability in the environment can influence community abundance as individual species respond either similarly (synchronous dynamics) or differently (asynchronous dynamics) to each other. These fluctuations in abundances are important for understanding the impact of environmental variability on species temporal fluctuations in aquatic macroinvertebrates. This group of organisms is species-rich and highly sensitive to environmental fluctuations. We analyzed 18 stream macroinvertebrate communities sampled by the National Ecological Observatory Network between 2014 and 2022 to understand how community synchrony is related to stream temperature variability, discharge variability, and species turnover. We then quantified individual species contributions to community synchrony. These contributions were aggregated by functional feeding group to understand how resource acquisition strategies influenced species contributions. Species with higher contributions are often more synchronous with many other species. Here, community synchrony was expected to be negatively related to increasing environmental variability and turnover. Opposite our expectation, temperature variability, turnover, and discharge variability were unrelated to community synchrony. Contributions to community synchrony significantly varied among functional feeding groups. Scrapers had the highest proportion of taxa with significant positive contributions, followed by filterers. Shredders had the lowest proportion of species contributing to synchrony. Scrapers and shredders were significantly less synchronous from other functional feeding groups. This suggests that functional feeding group may explain patterns of community synchrony. Using a standardized, long-term dataset, we demonstrated how temperature variability, turnover, and functional feeding groups relate to community synchrony. While identifying the drivers of community synchrony remains challenging, integrating functional groupings provides an approach to identify species that drive community dynamics.

ABSTRACT Preservation of community safety is inextricably tied to police personnel wellbeing. When considering that an alarming number of police personnel are experiencing serious health impairments, a pressing need emerges to address this issue. In response, the current study conducted semi-structured interviews with (n = 18) sworn and (n = 8) civilian police personnel from a Mid-Atlantic police department to acquire insight into the health services they need. Thematic analysis of interview data produced several key themes related to police health. These included considerations for: 1) improved physical fitness, 2) improved nutrition and wellness, 3) the construction of a built environment inside police agencies to promote police wellbeing, 4) active agency assistance, 5) peer support, and 6) the integration of clinical therapy into police departments. Findings contribute to the development of necessary health interventions that can optimize police personnel’s ability to fulfill their important service-provider functions.

ABSTRACT Group negotiation of terms of service, community guidelines, and state and federal laws can be a site for investigating how power is reinforced through overlapping networks of compliance. As Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) seeks to rectify its complicity in oppressive practices, “queer use” may be a lens to analyze a digital sex work safety guide in consideration of online sex workers’ navigation of compliance documents. This analysis adds to queer scholarship in applied social justice, demonstrates how “refusing an instruction” is queer use, and centers user advocacy concerns about how platform governance disproportionately impacts hypermarginalized communities such as sex workers.

BackgroundNeighbourhood-level social determinants of health (‘SDOHs’) have been linked to negative health outcomes which may include elevated risk of firearm-related injury. This study investigates whether certain SDOHs, including average drive time to trauma hospitals, are associated with increased risk of firearm-related violence and death.MethodsWe execute a cross-sectional examination of pooled firearm incidents (2018–2023) and the relationship of neighbourhood-level SDOHs across the state of South Carolina using negative binomial count regression models.ResultsFindings indicate that neighbourhood disadvantage, residential mobility, per cent black, the percentage of older housing units, lack of technology access and lack of insurance access were all positively associated with an increased risk of firearm victimisation and death. The relationship between neighbourhoods with longer drive times of firearm incidents to trauma hospitals and firearm-related death was significantly moderated by the per cent black of residents within census tracts.ConclusionsPublic health neighbourhood risk factors that are detrimental to individuals’ physical health are also associated with increased risk of firearm victimisation. Longer drive times from trauma hospitals increase the risk of death and this relationship disproportionately affects black Americans. The built environment of neighbourhoods and extended drive times to trauma centres ‘doubly disadvantages’ historically disadvantaged populations.

Purpose Public willingness to obey the law is partially determined by their satisfaction levels with police job performance. Although numerous studies have researched determinants of citizen satisfaction with the police, to date, none have examined whether political orientations, measured according to voting preferences, share any association with this outcome. No study, moreover, has analyzed if the effects of political orientations vary by contact with law enforcement. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from a convenience sample of university students to determine whether the effects of political orientations on satisfaction with law enforcement varied by contact with the police. Findings Among the total sample, as well as those who had no prior contact with the police, liberal respondents expressed less satisfaction with law enforcers when compared to conservatives. Among those who were either contacted by the police, or who initiated contact, political orientations had no effect on satisfaction. What was significant across all models though was procedural justice. Research limitations Generalization attempts are hindered considering the non-probability nature of the sample, while causality can also not be confirmed since data are cross-sectional. Practical implications Police officers must behave in procedurally fair manners when interacting with citizens and engage in community outreach initiatives in order to improve their image across society. Originality/value Findings offer insight into the conditions under which voting preferences can shape evaluations of the police.

Abstract Purpose This study seeks to understand the relationship between a country's political system and its content removal request to Google. It also investigates the trends in content removal requests to Google over 11 years (2011–2021). Design The study uses secondary data derived from 2020 Google Transparency Report and Freedom House Report with information from 89 countries and three Google products – YouTube, Web search, and Blogger. Findings Countries with lower freedom scores (categorized as authoritarian) showed overall higher content removal requests as well as higher requests using reasons like national security and government criticism. Countries with higher freedom scores (categorized as libertarian) requested for more content removal using defamation. Results also show an increase in overall content removal overtime from 2011 to 2021. Practical Implications This study adds empirical evidence to the discourse on freedom of speech across countries. It also demonstrates the viability of online secondary data sources for empirical research purposes. It has implications for understanding global content moderation and its relationship with freedom of expression. Social Implications The study demonstrates the need to address the global decline in democracy across countries (both authoritarian and libertarian countries). Originality Value The study is one of the first to use Google’s Transparency report for post-publication censorship/ content moderation analysis.

Abstract The accountability of police to the public is imperative for a functioning democracy. The opinions of police executives—pivotal actors for implementing oversight policies—are an understudied, critical component of successful reform efforts. We use a pre‐registered survey experiment administered to all U.S. municipal police chiefs and county sheriffs to assess whether police executives’ attitudes towards civilian oversight are responsive to 1) state‐level public opinion (drawing on an original n = 16,840 survey) and 2) prior adoption of civilian review boards in large agencies. Results from over 1,300 police executives reveal that law enforcement leaders are responsive to elite peer adoption but much less to public opinion, despite overwhelming public support. Compared to appointed municipal police chiefs, elected sheriffs are less likely to support any civilian oversight. Our findings hold implications for reformers: we find that existing civilian oversight regimes are largely popular, and that it is possible to move police executive opinion towards support for civilian oversight.

Abstract Research Summary Broken windows theory suggests that police can prevent serious crime by addressing social and physical disorder in neighborhoods. In many U.S. cities, recent increases in disorder, fear, and crime have initiated calls for an intensification of disorder policing efforts. Disorder policing programs can be controversial, with evaluations yielding conflicting results. Further, a growing number of descriptive analyses of aggressive order maintenance programs raise concerns over varied negative consequences, such as increased racial disparities in arrests of citizens. Systematic review and meta‐analytic techniques were used to conduct an updated analysis of the effects of disorder policing on crime. Fifty‐six eligible studies including 59 independent tests of disorder policing interventions were identified, representing almost twice the number included in the previous review. As part of the meta‐analysis, new effect size metrics were used. The updated meta‐analysis suggests that policing disorder strategies are associated with overall statistically significant crime reduction effects that spill over into surrounding areas. The strongest program effect sizes were generated by community and problem‐solving interventions designed to change social and physical disorder conditions at crime hot spots. Conversely, aggressive order maintenance strategies did not generate significant crime reductions. Policy Implications The types of strategies used by police departments to address disorder seem to matter in controlling crime, and this holds important implications for police–community relations, justice, and crime prevention. Further research is needed to understand the key programmatic elements that maximize the capacity of these strategies to prevent crime.

In 1962, the FBI reported a national homicide clearance rate of 93%. That rate dropped 29 points by 1994. This Great Decline has been studied and accepted as a real phenomenon but remains mysterious, as does the period of relative stability that followed. The decline was shared across regions and all city sizes but differed greatly among categories defined by victim race and weapon type. Gun homicides with Black victims accounted for most of the decline. We review the evidence on several possible explanations for the national decline, including those pertaining to case mix, investigation resources, and citizen cooperation. Our preferred explanation includes an upward trend in the standard for arrest, with strong evidence that although clearance-by-arrest rates declined, the likelihood of conviction and prison sentence actually increased. That result has obvious implications for the history of policing practice and for the validity of the usual clearance rate as a police performance measure.