The “new management of security” put to the test: crime and police activity under Minister Sarkozy (2002-2007)
Following the legislative and presidential elections of 2002, Nicolas Sarkozy was named Minister of the Interior and, during the five year term of Jacques Chirac (2002-2007), occupied this position for more than three and a half years. During this period, he wanted to introduce a « new management » as well as imposing upon the gendarmerie (military institution in charge of public safety with police duties among the civilian population [translator’s note]) and the police, a « culture of results ». According to him, it was this type of management and culture that five years later allowed him to declare a strong drop in crime as well as a clear improvement in the mobilization and performance of law enforcement. These two claims and the causality between them will here be subjected to scrutiny.Thus, the analysis will review the nature of this « new management » and outline a different assessment.
POLICE, MINORITIES, AND THE FRENCH REPUBLICAN IDEAL*
This paper examines the strained relationship between French police agencies and ethnic minorities and discusses evidence of ethnic discrimination by the police and the criminal justice system. Until recently, the idea that ethnic composition of a police force ought to reflect, to some degree, the community it polices, seemed odd in France. We argue that there are two main reasons for this viewpoint: first, a conception of the role of the police in the State as accountable to the government rather than to the citizens; secondly, a conception of Republic and citizenship denying any political significance to the personal identities of citizens. We conclude that ethnic diversification of police forces is but one aspect of a more encompassing struggle against discrimination that requires a degree of accommodation with the present legal and statistical invisibility of racial/ethnic groups.
Computer-Aided System of Virtual Testing of Gas Turbine Engines
The article describes the concept of a virtual lab that includes subsystem of gas turbine engine simulation, subsystem of experiment planning, subsystem of measurement errors simulation, subsystem of simulator identification and others. The basis for virtual lab development is the computer-aided system of thermogasdynamic research and analysis “ASTRA”. The features of gas turbine engine transient modes simulator are described. The principal difference between the simulators of transient and stationary modes of gas turbine engines is that the energy balance of the compressor and turbine becomes not applicable. The computer-aided system of virtual gas turbine engine testing was created using the developed transient modes simulator. This system solves the tasks of operational (throttling, speed, climatic, altitude) characteristics calculation, analysis of transient dynamics and selection of optimal control laws. Besides, the system of virtual gas turbine engine testing is a clear demonstration of gas turbine engine working process and the regularities of engine elements collaboration. The interface of the system of virtual gas turbine engine testing is described in the article and some screenshots of the interface elements are provided. The developed system of virtual gas turbine engine testing provides means for reducing the laboriousness of gas turbine engines testing. Besides, the implementation of this system in the learning process allows the diversification of lab works and therefore improve the quality of training.