Mark Fraser Briskey

Purpose
Emergency service dispatchers perform a vital role in assisting callers by helping them through the emergency they are in and ensuring the delivery of first responders. If an emergency caller prematurely hangs up a call, before the arrival of first responders, it can impact a dispatcher’s ability to provide them with assistance. This paper aims to understand why staged callers, who are attempting to cover up a crime, and authentic callers hang up by identifying which linguistic and behavioural indicators occur prior to the end of a call.

Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 40 emergency calls (20 staged; 20 authentic) related to health and welfare emergencies were analysed with a temporal measure known as indicator waves. This provided a means to identify which indicators occurred above the level expected by chance near the end of authentic and staged calls.

Findings
The results of the current study show that the indicators that proceeded hanging up in authentic calls reflected the nature of the situation (e.g. nonurgency wherein the victim is deceased or is in a stable condition). Whereas the indicators that proceeded hanging up in staged calls focused on the “staging” aspect of the incident by accounting for forensic evidence that could be incriminating.

Originality/value
The identification of indicators that occur before the end of staged and authentic calls provides further insight into the differences between the two call types and offers opportunities for further research, potentially leading to application.

Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country, with predictions that up to 40 percent of its population will be living in poverty due to pre-existing socio-economic disparities, combined with the impact of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Poverty, the prevalence of organized crime, a weak criminal justice system, systemic corruption, and poor governance amplify the problems of the poor and indigent in Pakistan. This chapter explores the overlapping impact of these issues upon the poor in Pakistan, drawing from a host of institutional sources, such as the United Nations, the US State Department's 'Trafficking in Persons Report', and other academic sources. The chapter notes that despite some advances in ameliorating the parasitical relationship between organized crime and poverty, in some areas of Pakistan, there is a requirement for much more activism beyond the enactment of legislation. Significant improvements are required in governance and the administration of justice to advance the life quality of poor Pakistanis and their freedom from general crime, organized crime, and the penury that blights their lives.

Professor Briskey is currently Associate Professor of Criminology at the school of Law & Criminology at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. In a previous career appointment in the Federal Government, he undertook long term postings to a number of Australian Embassies and High Commissions including Pakistan where he lived for a number of years as well as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Professor Briskey holds a PhD from the Australian Defence Force Academy as well as a Masters of Strategic Affairs Degree, and a Graduate Diploma in Islamic studies. In this Interview he discussed in depth the 'Strategic culture' of the Pakistani Army based on its beliefs of Muslim Identity, Martial Race and enmity with India. Professor Briskey outlined that, in order to support these ideas, the Pakistanis have adopted a very particular view of their own history.

This article examines the early foundations of the strategic culture of the Pakistan Army. By exploring the impact of the partition of British India in 1947 and the First Kashmir War of 1947–48, the article identifies the pivotal factors in the development of strategic culture of Pakistan. In also examining Pakistani fears of a “vengeful” Hindu India and a persistence in the belief of discredited martial race theories as well as the idea of a Muslim military exceptionalism, the article concludes that the foundation of this culture remains evident while it is also malleable to contemporaneous events.