نشریه پژوهش های مدیریت انتظامی
سال هجدهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1402)

The criminal phenomenon of goods smuggling is complex, diverse, and widespread. In order to succeed in prevention and combatting goods smuggling, the police must pay attention to strategic issues in this area by formulating strategies and utilizing available resources. This research was conducted with the aim of achieving prevention and combatting strategies against goods smuggling in the law enforcement command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research is considered applied in terms of objective, descriptive in nature, and mixed-methods in terms of methodology. The participants included experts in prevention and combatting goods smuggling in the law enforcement command and eight responsible organizations in this field, with interviews concluding after theoretical saturation with a total of 21 individuals. The quantitative phase involved 92 respondents using Cochran's formula. In the qualitative section, a semi-structured interview technique was employed, and the findings from the interviews were categorized into 343 themes through qualitative content analysis. Based on the theoretical data and conducted interviews, a researcher-developed questionnaire was prepared, which was externally validated and demonstrated reliability through Cronbach's alpha higher than 0.7. The SWOT analysis technique was utilized to extract strategies. The strategies were analyzed based on environmental factors, formation of IFE and EFE tables, determination of strategic position and action, formation of pairwise matrices, and prioritization. The matrix diagram of situational assessment and strategic action shows that currently, the prevention and combatting of goods smuggling is in a defensive quarter and in a desirable state in the mild offensive quarter. Based on the results of the quantitative strategic planning matrix, the priority of strategies, in order, includes: enhancing informational and operational activities, prevention, control, and comprehensive countermeasures, efficient management of capacities and resources, implementing and institutionalizing risk management, focusing on organized smuggling, overseeing financial and monetary flows, completing access to system information, institutionalizing the consumption of Iranian quality goods, informational oversight, combating rent-seeking and monopolies, supporting and protecting employees.

The occurrence of natural disasters poses a significant challenge to the police in maintaining order and security. Once the missions of emergency organizations and responsible institutions in rescue operations are completed, the police's efforts should focus on taking actions that facilitate the normalization of the affected areas. Therefore, this research aims to answer the question of how the strategic management pattern of law enforcement after natural disasters (with an emphasis on floods) is implemented by the police, while achieving the components and indicators of post-flood crisis management. This research is primarily practical in terms of its objective and orientation. The study population consists of experts, managers, and crisis management specialists in the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the National Crisis Management Organization. Purposive judgmental sampling was used to select the sample, and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect the data. In this method, after conducting fifteen interviews, the main and sub factors were repeated in the interviews until saturation was reached. The collected qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The main and sub codes obtained from the interviews with experts indicate that a total of 49 indicators were derived from the extracted data through the synthesis of interviews. Ultimately, these indicators were identified and classified into 9 components and 3 principles (final investigation, recovery, and post-event actions) for post-flood law enforcement management. Implementing the designed pattern in three dimensions of "recovery, final investigation, and post-event actions" in flood-related incidents leads to the establishment of order and security, which forms the basis for the continued activities of responsible organizations in crisis management. The police can emerge as an influential organization with a vital and effective role in post-disaster management.

Fuel smuggling plays a significant role in the underdevelopment of border provinces. This study aims to address this issue, particularly in Sistan and Baluchestan province. The present research is an applied study with a quantitative (survey) correlational design. The data collection tool is a researcher-developed questionnaire based on the Likert spectrum. The required information was collected from 45 experts in law enforcement, the governorate, and the fuel distribution company in Mirjaveh city, Sistan and Baluchestan province, who have mostly dealt with this problem in the year 2021. The sample size was determined as 40 according to the Morgan table, and three tests, including factor loading, Cronbach's alpha, and composite reliability, were used to assess the reliability, which confirmed the reliability of the research. Convergent validity was assessed using the convergent validity test (extracted mean variance). After collecting the data, the Smart PLS software was used for data analysis based on the proposed model, and the research assumptions were confirmed. Friedman test was used in the SPSS software environment for prioritizing the indicators. The research findings indicate that law enforcement measures, with the mediating role of information actions and technological interventions, have a positive and significant impact on prevention and combating fuel product smuggling. From the statistical population's perspective, regional coding of fuel cards, which relies on information technology factors, has the highest priority. Among the law enforcement factors, transferring fuel-carrying vehicles to parking lots and seizing fuel cards at the point of refueling have significant importance.

Today, social studies with a preventive approach in civil and environmental dimensions have gained special importance in research, programs, and government and organizational actions. The police are always recognized as responsible for crime prevention, while other institutions should also play a more significant role in preventing crime based on their direct and indirect responsibilities according to the laws. This research aims to develop a strategic plan for crime prevention based on the sharing of external organizational roles. This study is of an objective and applied nature and uses qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. The participants in the research were experts and stakeholders in the field of crime prevention, totaling fourteen individuals selected through a snowball sampling method. Data was collected through semi-structured (in-depth) interviews in two stages, and thematic analysis was employed. Through the analysis of the interview transcripts, three main concepts of situational, punitive, and social prevention were identified, resulting in 39 statements. These statements were used to identify the internal and external factors influencing crime prevention through a SWOT matrix, revealing that the police are currently in a competitive situation in the field of crime prevention. Eleven strategies were developed and prioritized in line with the research topic. Crime prevention approaches have been successful and effective primarily in specific times and locations where crime prevention initiatives involve collaboration and utilize the capacities of organizations and institutions. Today, the police are in a competitive situation and should move towards utilizing environmental opportunities by reducing threats.

Understanding pre-criminal situations as a basis for explaining criminal behavior is crucial. According to recent theoretical findings, crime prevention interventions based on factors present in these situations can enhance preventive capacities. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of pre-criminal situations on offender behavior management in crime prevention.

This research has an applied objective and utilizes a descriptive-exploratory method. The research instrument employed was a researcher-developed questionnaire, which demonstrated validity through expert opinions. The reliability of the questionnaire was established with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.856. The study population consisted of three groups: crime prevention police personnel, detective police personnel, and judicial authorities from public prosecutor's offices and criminal courts in Qazvin city. The sample size of 89 individuals was determined using Cochran's formula and stratified random sampling.

The results indicate that among the influential factors in pre-criminal situations on offender behavior management in crime prevention, the environmental component had the highest impact, followed by opportunity, awareness, and the offender.

Based on the research findings, it is necessary to establish official meetings and agreements between crime prevention authorities and other organizations to implement situation-based prevention. Firstly, regulations regarding the implementation of pre-criminal situation prevention should be formalized, and then responsible authorities should identify the field of prevention of pre-criminal situations based on professional expertise and research validation.

The role of scientific activities in comprehensive and sustainable development is so prominent and undeniable that it can be considered as a driving force for development in all areas. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate scientific activities in the command of law enforcement in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research is applied in terms of objective and mixed-method in terms of approach. The statistical population of the study includes all managers, commanders, members of the academic staff of Amin Police Science University and Police Science and Social Studies Institute in 2021. The sample size in the qualitative section was 10 individuals who were selected through semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling method until theoretical saturation was reached. In the quantitative phase, 75 experts and researchers in the field of science and research were selected using purposive sampling method from the statistical population to validate the identified components. Qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, means, and Friedman rank test were used for data analysis. Scientific activities in the command of law enforcement in the Islamic Republic of Iran were identified in four organizational dimensions: content, structure, leadership, and communication. The leadership dimension had the highest average with 3.79, followed by the content dimension with an average of 3.01, the structure dimension with an average of 2.74, and the communication dimension with an average of 2.12, indicating their importance in scientific activities within the Law Enforcement organization. Leadership dimension is the first identified organizational dimension in promoting scientific activities within the Law Enforcement organization, highlighting the importance of leadership and management in research structures. The importance of executive managers in bridging the implementation system with the scientific system, as well as the support of managers and commanders for research achievements, including indicators of the leadership dimension, should be considered by the hierarchy of command in the Law Enforcement of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Homicide investigation is one of the most complex police actions aimed at achieving justice, which requires an appropriate structure for carrying out these important police mission. Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify the structural and organizational requirements for homicide investigation. This research was conducted as applied research with an exploratory mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) approach. The qualitative participants included judges, experts, and academic and executive elites in the field of homicide, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Theoretical saturation was achieved with 30 participants. In the quantitative section, a total of 57 chiefs of provincial criminal investigation departments and homicide detectives were selected to validate and complete a researcher-developed questionnaire derived from the qualitative section. The data were analyzed using SPSS22 and Smart PLS software. Considering the research objectives, the qualitative analysis yielded 48 core themes and 6 organizing themes related to the structural and organizational requirements. The quantitative findings also indicated that the model derived from the qualitative section had a good fit with a value of 0.576 for the GOF criterion, confirming the overall research model. Based on the research findings, homicide investigation will become more complex in the future compared to the past, and important components such as investigators' individual characteristics, organization and structure, technology, facilities and equipment, budget, and management play a significant role in effective crime detection. Therefore, it is necessary for the Command Headquarters of Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide the identified components and indicators of structural and organizational requirements to facilitate fast and cost-effective homicide investigations.