Saturday, April 19, 2025

January 10, 2025 incident at a school in Nova Sintra, Republic of Cape Verde. Need help gathering information.

 

#Cabo_Verde #CaboVerde #NovaSintra #Nova_Sintra #school #attack #information #SafetySchools #schoolshooting #crime

Dear readers and colleagues!

As I have already mentioned in previous publications, I am currently working on an addition to the handbook, which will also include statistics for the year 2025. While analyzing open sources, I found information about an incident that allegedly took place on January 10, 2025 in a school in the city of Nova Sintra, Republic of Cape Verde. The only mention of it is in the «List of attacks related to secondary schools» section of Wikipedia. Here's what it states:

A student shot a classmate with a firearm on Thursday, January 10, 2025, wounding him in the neck, at the Eugénio Tavares High School on Brava Island, authorities announced. The incident occurred around 3:40 p.m., when the teenagers were at recess and one of them took a 6.35-caliber firearm from his backpack and shot his friend, hitting him in the neck. Despite the rough sea, the victim was transferred by the military and a nursing team to the São Francisco de Assis Hospital on the neighboring island of Fogo, and is out of danger. This was the first school shooting incident in Cape Verde and the only one so far.

The article itself does not link to the source of information about the incident. Search queries in various search engines also yielded no useful information, except for a few references to the same article on Wikipedia and a few of its clones.

I will be glad to any information on the circumstances of this incident (if of course it was at all), or information refuting the fact of the event of this crime, with links to sources.

I thank in advance all those who help me in collecting new information, clarifying and correcting previously published data, forming and editing sections, as well as other work on the guide.

With respect.

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin.


Monday, April 14, 2025

New edition of the handbook. Why is statistics important?

 


Dear readers and colleagues, I am pleased to inform you that the fourth, supplemented edition of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions has been completed, albeit with a slight delay (originally planned for April 11). The file has already been posted on the website and is available for download. The new edition corrects some errors and inaccuracies in previous editions and adds new information sent to me by colleagues from the Republic of Kazakhstan.

When I first started doing research on the security of schools and other educational institutions, the first problem I encountered was the lack of statistical data on crimes of this category collected and systematized in one source. I had to spend a great deal of time and effort to collect information from dozens of different sources and recheck it, because the completeness, reliability and objectivity of the published information often raised reasonable doubts. It became clear that there was a need for a unified information and reference resource containing information on crimes of this category and at least a brief (minimum) set of factual data on their details and circumstances. Without this information, it is simply impossible to see an objective picture of what is happening and assess the real scale of this threat, as well as to conduct a qualitative analysis of data, comparative, cross-checking, to assess the development of events in dynamics. Without the results of such analysis it is extremely difficult to explain the criminological processes taking place, and most importantly, to identify and identify the factors that affect them, which in turn makes it very difficult to predict the likely development of events.

When there is no understanding of the vector and features of threat development, it is impossible to develop effective countermeasures. This can be clearly seen now, when after another mass murder or terrorist attack in an educational institution, various experts, political scientists, law enforcement officials, educators and journalists, discussing the tragedy, ask the question: «Why did the measures developed and implemented as part of the security strategy to prevent and suppress threats not work?». The answer is simple: they were developed on the basis of incomplete data, and in many cases the data was not only incomplete, but also unreliable.

I often come across statistics in media publications that are very far from reality. For example, when commenting on another mass murder at a school or university, the author supports the article with figures of general statistics of incidents at educational institutions, despite the fact that most of these incidents are neither mass murders nor terrorism. For the most part, these are crimes of general criminal orientation, committed on the basis of personal animosity between specific people, or related to material motives (robbery, robbery, extortion), committed with hooligan motives or even unintentionally.

Therefore, it is crucial not only to know the statistical numbers, but also to understand the meaning behind them. Proper sorting of data is equally important. All collected cases should be cross-analyzed, comparing information from different sources, with preference given to police press releases, reports and court records because these contain more facts than speculation. All collected incidents should be divided into groups and subgroups according to various criminological characteristics. Such a division will make it possible to clearly see the nature of the development of the situation in a certain time period, both in comparison and in dynamics.

On the basis of qualitatively collected and systematized statistical data, it is possible to create fairly accurate criminological models and forecasts, and most importantly, thanks to these models and forecasts, it is possible to develop truly effective measures for preventing and combating these threats. This is the main goal and primary objective of applied criminology: to understand the nature of the threat, assess the prospects for its development, identify vulnerabilities, develop a strategy to counter the threat and eliminate it. This requires reliable raw data, validated and systematized, collected in a single source.

In the fall of 2023, I set about creating it. As a form of data presentation, I chose a format similar to a police incident report, in the form of a summary of the circumstances of the event containing such information as: date, time, place, manner, subject, object, subject, victims, consequences, outcome, and other reliably established facts.

In February 2024, the first edition was published on the website of the Public Order and Safety Project, which included statistical data for 24 years (from 2000 to 2023 inclusive). Then I received a lot of feedback, recommendations, additions and edits from colleagues around the world, already 2 months later, in April 2024, the second edition was published, which contained more than 100 additions and edits. During 2024, taking into account the requests from readers and colleagues, the information was updated and supplemented, the third edition, published in January 2025, contained updated information for 25 years. Today, the fourth edition has been published, which contains additional information and edits. As new data becomes available, work will begin on the fifth edition, which I plan to publish by the end of 2025. I would welcome any help in working on the new edition, and you can find out how to do this in the final part of the guide, in the section «Prospects for new editions».

My goal is to make a useful, reliable, informative, user-friendly and, most importantly, publicly available reference and analytical tool for researchers and specialists in ensuring the safety of schools and other educational institutions from threats of various types and nature.

Once again, I would like to thank all those who assisted me in collecting new information, clarifying and correcting previously published data, creating and editing sections, and other work on the handbook.

With respect.

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin.

#SafetySchools #CrimeCrimesInSchools #EducationTerrorism #CrimeStatistics #SecurityAnalytics #SafetyGuide #EducationSafety #EducationSafety #MassMurder #SchoolTerrorism #Criminology #ChildSafety #EducationSchools #CrimeResearch #PublicPolice #ResearchAnalytics


Tuesday, April 8, 2025

New edition (№ 4) of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions

 

Dear readers and colleagues.

In the near future (planned date April 11), the fourth, supplemented edition of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions will be published. The new edition corrects some inaccuracies in the previous edition, makes several additions, in particular, adds information on crimes of the category under study committed in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Currently, the technical editing of the last edits is being finalized and in the coming days the file with the new version will be posted on the project website and will be available for download.

Many thanks to all those who assisted in collecting new information, clarifying and correcting previously published data, forming and editing sections, as well as other work on the handbook. Special thanks to colleagues from Kazakhstan for the provided information.  

Regards.

The author and chief editor of the project - Roman Grishin.

 

#analytics #reference #statistics #SchoolSafety #School_Safety #SchoolSooting #School_Sooting #Handbook


Saturday, March 1, 2025

Consumer fraud: analyzing the problem and ways to solve it

 

Published on the main website of the project.

The article is devoted to one of the current topical problems of «Consumer fraud» - criminal activity aimed at deceiving citizens by selling (forcing) goods or providing services at inflated prices through deception, abuse of trust or moral and psychological state of the victim. The author examines in detail several common schemes of such fraud, such as imposing unnecessary services or equipment on elderly and socially vulnerable people, and analyzes psychological and legal aspects of these crimes.

Particular attention is paid to the vulnerability of the victims, that most often they are lonely elderly people who, due to lack of information and legal literacy, become easy prey for fraudsters.

The article also proposes specific measures to combat this phenomenon, including the re-establishment of specialized police units, strengthening preventive work, informing the population and creating hotlines for rapid response. The author emphasizes that a comprehensive approach, including both legal and social measures, is needed to effectively counter fraud.

The article will be useful not only for specialists in law and criminology, but also for a wide range of readers.

#fraud #ConsumerFraud #consumer_fraud #deception #crime #analysis #prevention #prevention #counteraction #crime #criminology #criminality


Saturday, February 1, 2025

The third edition of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions has been published

 


Dear readers and colleagues!

I am pleased to announce that the third edition of the handbook was finalized in January 2025. The file has already been posted on the website and is available for download.

The new edition corrects some errors and inaccuracies made in the first and second editions.

What's new:

1.      The Handbook has been updated with information on 42 more serious crimes committed in schools, other educational and childcare institutions (including preschools), including 33 crimes that have signs of mass murder and terrorist acts. The data on these crimes are detailed in more detail.

2.      Both general and detailed statistics for 2024 are added.

3.      Added Table #5 of a summary analysis of data for the five-year period from 2020 through and including 2024.

4.      Completed the summary and dynamic analysis sections (appendix) to reflect the new five-year period.

5.      Statistical models of the identities of likely suspects of similar crimes have been updated to reflect the additions.

6.      The section: «Summary of suicide cases among suspects» was supplemented with new data. Improved the data layout, making it more detailed and user-friendly. The cross-analysis of data has been supplemented with new statistics for a five-year period, including individual periods, comparisons and trends.

7.      Beginning in 2024 and going forward, when describing the details of crimes categorized as «Mass Murder and Terrorist Acts», a description of the weapon used will be included in addition to the type of weapon used.

I would like to thank all those who participated in the work on the third edition of the handbook for their help, data and useful recommendations. I look forward to the same fruitful cooperation in the future.

Work on the fourth edition will begin soon. As I said earlier, in the new editions, in addition to statistics, more attention will be paid to analyzing the obtained data, selecting and comparing individual parameters, searching for dependencies.

I will be very grateful to all those who are ready to help me in the work on the handbook by supplementing it with information on crimes that are not listed in it and their characteristics. The principles of collecting, referring, reviewing and verifying information, as well as contact details for contacting the author and editor of the handbook, are given in the final part of the handbook, in the section «Prospects for new versions of the handbook» (p. 92).

My goal is to create a useful, user-friendly and informative reference and analytical tool that is accessible to all. It is intended for researchers and security professionals in schools and other educational settings, as well as for anyone interested in the topic.

I would welcome feedback and constructive criticism. If you have any questions, suggestions or additions, write in the comments to the post or to me personally.

 

Regards,

Author and editor - Roman Grishin.

 

#SafetySchools #CrimeCrimesInSchools #EducationTerrorism #CrimeStatistics #SecurityAnalytics #SafetyGuide #EducationSafety #EducationSafety #MassMurder #SchoolTerrorism #Criminology #ChildSafety #EducationSchools #CrimeResearch #PublicPolice #ResearchAnalytics


Sunday, January 19, 2025

New edition of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions

 

Dear readers, friends and colleagues.

I am pleased to inform you that work on the third edition of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions is almost complete. Currently, the technical editing of the last edits is being finalized and in the coming days the file with the new version will be posted on the project website and will be available for download. The third edition contains more than a hundred edits and additions.

Many thanks to everyone who helped in collecting new information, clarifying and correcting previously published data, forming and editing sections, as well as other work on the handbook.  

Regards.

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin.

#analytics #reference #statistics #SchoolSafety #School_Safety #SchoolSooting #School_Sooting #Handbook


Friday, January 10, 2025

The impact of the availability of firearms on the safety of schools and other educational institutions

 

This issue has been a topic of debate for many years among both specialists and ordinary citizens, each side has its supporters and opponents, and no consensus has been reached yet. I belong to those who believe that weapons are only a tool in the hands of criminals, not the motive for their actions, and strengthening controls on the legal circulation of weapons complicates the lives of law-abiding gun owners, not criminals. Recently, in the course of analyzing statistical data, I received confirmation of my opinion.

Active statements and actions of public authorities of different countries, as well as their police services and other law enforcement agencies to strengthen control over the circulation of weapons began mainly in the last 5-7 years. These measures were prompted by a large number of high-profile crimes related to attacks on schools and other educational institutions committed in previous years.

While working on the new edition of the handbook on crimes and terrorist acts in educational institutions (the new edition will be available soon, follow the announcements on the blog, social networks on the website), I conducted a comparative analysis of crime statistics for the period from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, in comparison with previous periods and in dynamics since 2000. Studying the statistics for the period from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, I noticed that measures to increase gun control did produce results, the proportion of crimes committed with firearms did decrease. In the total list of serious crimes committed in schools and other educational institutions, the share of firearms use decreased slightly, by 2.4% compared to the previous period (2015-2019), in the list of crimes falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts, the decrease was already 10.9%, and amounted to less than half (44.3%) of the total number, and this is already a significant indicator. However, the total number of such crimes, especially serious crimes, falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts did not become less, on the contrary, it increased by 17.9%, criminals began to use rifles and pistols less, but began to use knives, axes and hammers more often, their share in the commission of crimes increased by 10.1%.

Skeptics will say that comparing the statistics of two five-year periods is not enough to draw conclusions. I agree, to give another example. China is a country where the availability of firearms is negligible, legal gun trafficking is based on personal permits and is under strict government control.  However, despite such measures, in the period from 2000 to 2024 inclusive, in educational institutions in China were committed 48 (a share of 15.8%, worldwide in this period were committed 303 crimes), especially serious crimes falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts in which suffered 715 (164 killed, 551 injured) people. Of these 48 crimes, in only 2 cases (4.2%) criminals used firearms, in the remaining incidents they used:

- cold weapons (knives, axes, hammers, etc.) - 40 cases;

- explosive devices - 3 cases

- incendiary mixtures - 3 cases;

- vehicles - 1 case

- chemical poisoning substances - 1 case.

As I think the conclusion is quite obvious - a weapon for a criminal is just a tool, the availability of which does not affect his intentions. Without access to a rifle, shotgun or pistol, a criminal will use a knife, an axe, an improvised explosive device, a Molotov cocktail, a car, poison gas or a toxic chemical compound.

Controlling the legal circulation of weapons may be a useful measure if it is applied within reasonable limits, but it does not solve the problem, and the threat level is not reduced. Statistics confirm this, the number of attacks on educational institutions is not decreasing, which means that the problem requires a completely different solution.


Author - Roman Grishin


#SafeandSoundSchools #SchoolSafety #School #Safety #ChildrenSafety #ChildSafety #opinion #weapon #weaponcontrol #guncontrol #gun


January 10, 2025 incident at a school in Nova Sintra, Republic of Cape Verde. Need help gathering information.

  #Cabo_Verde #CaboVerde #NovaSintra #Nova_Sintra #school #attack #information #SafetySchools #schoolshooting #crime Dear readers and collea...