The Criminal Police Officer: Understanding Factors That Predict Police Crime in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 001112872110547
Author(s):  
Francis D. Boateng ◽  
Daniel K. Pryce ◽  
Ming-Li Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
The United States ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
Public Scrutiny ◽  
Statistical Approaches ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
And Behavior

Although police decision making and behavior always face intense public scrutiny, officers’ criminal lifestyles have largely been ignored in national debates and discussions. The primary focus of this study was to understand factors that predicted police criminality. To achieve this objective, we analyzed a nationally representative dataset on officers who were arrested from 2005 to 2011 using advanced statistical approaches. Results obtained using multilevel modeling demonstrate the predictive effects of officer and agency characteristics in explaining police criminality. Specifically, findings reveal differences in types of crimes committed by the officers. For example, male officers engage in crimes that are entirely different from those committed by their female counterparts. Likewise, on-duty officers tend to criminally behave differently from their off-duty counterparts. Furthermore, agency-level factors such as type of agency, number of sworn officers, and location of the agency predict police crime. Current findings highlight the importance of policies that would directly address criminality in law enforcement.

Focal Concerns and Police Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802199128
Author(s):  
David S. Lapsey ◽  
Bradley A. Campbell ◽  
Bryant T. Plumlee
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Campbell Collaboration ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Sexual assault and case attrition at the arrest stage are serious problems in the United States. Focal concerns have increasingly been used to explain police decision making in sexual assault cases. Because of the popularity of the focal concerns perspective and potential to inform evidence-based training, a systematic review and meta-analysis are needed to condense the literature. In this study, we assess the overall strength of the relationship between focal concerns variables and police decisions to arrest in cases of sexual assault. Our assessment of the effects of focal concerns variables on arrest decision making in sexual assault cases followed the systematic review protocols provided by the Campbell Collaboration of Systematic Reviews. Specifically, we used the Campbell Collaboration recommendations to search empirical literature and used meta-analysis to evaluate the size, direction, and strength of the impact of focal concerns variables on arrest decisions. Our search strategy detected 14 eligible studies and 79 effect sizes. The meta-analysis found several robust and statistically significant correlates of arrest. In fact, each focal concerns concept produced at least one robust arrest correlate. Overall, focal concerns offers a strong approach for explaining police decisions in sexual assault cases. Although practical concerns and resource constraints produced the strongest arrest correlates, results show the importance of additional case characteristics in officers’ decision to arrest.

Ethics-Based Environmentalism in Practice: Religious-Environmental Organizations in the United States

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Smith ◽  
Simone Pulver
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Organizations ◽  
Scientific Policy ◽  
Environmental Advocacy ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractDebates over the “death of environmentalism” juxtapose two approaches to environmental advocacy: an issues-based environmentalism that relies on technocratic, legal, scientific, policy-oriented and issue-specific advocacy activities and an ethics-based environmentalism that has as its primary focus the promotion of deep-seated changes in individual and societal values and behavior as they pertain to stewardship of the earth. The latter is presented both as a critique of the former and as a road map for a more effective environmental movement. This study documents the practice and challenges of ethics-based environmentalism through an analysis of the religious-environmental movement in the United States. Interviews with forty-two U.S.-based religious-environmental organizations revealed that the majority of these groups see themselves as engaged in an ethics-based environmentalism grounded in frameworks that tie God to nature and emphasize action, community, and justice. Groups also identified some of the challenges inherent in ethics-based environmental advocacy, including the need to confront societal norms, work on long time horizons, access funding, recruit support, and measure and document success.

Intelligence-Led Policing in Practice: Reflections From Intelligence Analysts

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan Burcher ◽  
Chad Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Small Body ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Crime Intelligence

Intelligence-led policing (ILP) is a managerial law enforcement model that seeks to place crime intelligence at the forefront of decision-making. This model has been widely adopted, at least notionally, in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Drawing on interviews with intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies, this article contributes to the relatively small body of literature that has examined ILP in practice. The article identifies three relational themes that inhibit the successful implementation of ILP: analysts and data, analysts and tools, and analysts and decision makers. Furthermore, it calls attention to the need to better understand the structure and operations within law enforcement agencies, including the similarities and differences among organizational units, in order to better understand how these nuances shape the practice of ILP.

Officers' perceptions regarding the unexpected effects of body-worn cameras

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-402
Author(s):  
Jordan C. Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThroughout the last decade, a number of empirical studies have assessed the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) among law enforcement agencies across the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine officers' perceptions regarding the impact this technology has had on police-community relations, as well as the working relationship between police and other actors in the criminal justice system (e.g. prosecutors, jurors).Design/methodology/approachThe author conducted focus groups with officers (n = 89) from two local law enforcement agencies in California that had adopted BWCs in recent years. Participating officers discussed advantages and disadvantages they associated with BWCs, as well as how BWCs have impacted their relationship with the public and justice system personnel.FindingsOfficers recognized advantages to using BWCs, including the potential for positive changes in police behavior and the ability to protect officers against false citizen complaints. Officers also identified a number of disadvantages (or consequences) they associate with BWCs, such as the depreciation of credibility behind an officer's word and the impact of video footage on prosecutorial decision-making.Originality/valuePrior studies have gathered officers' perceptions regarding BWCs, but very few have assessed whether and how the use of this technology by law enforcement influences other actors within the criminal justice system. The findings from this study may prompt further empirical consideration regarding BWCs, especially with regard to whether police use of this technology significantly impacts citizens' trust in the police and how their use may impact prosecutorial and juror decision-making.

The Decision to Substantiate Allegations of Child Maltreatment

2020 ◽  
pp. 173-193
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Font ◽  
Kathryn Maguire-Jack ◽  
Rebecca Dillard
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Representative Study ◽  
Nationally Representative

In the United States, the Child Protective Services system is responsible for investigating and responding to allegations of child abuse and neglect. At the conclusion of an investigation, caseworkers are expected to decide whether allegations are “substantiated” (demonstrated to be true) or not. How that decision is made—and whether it reflects an objective assessment of the evidence available—is widely debated. This chapter first presents an overview of the decision-making process and the implications of decision-making for vulnerable children and families. Next, it describes how rates of substantiation vary across and within states. The authors then present data from a nationally representative study of child protective services investigations on the factors associated with the decision to substantiate child maltreatment. They find that agency characteristics are predictive of substantiation, net of child and family characteristics. Overall, the authors conclude that substantiation is unlikely to be a valid indicator of the incidence of child maltreatment, and they discuss possible strategies for improving the consistency and utility of the substantiation decision.

National Study of Behavioral and Life Changes Since September 11

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad R. Torabi ◽  
Dong-Chul Seo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
National Study ◽  
American People ◽  
Life Changes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Behavior

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9-11), terrorism poses a continuous threat to those living in the United States. A substantial number of people may have experienced behavioral and life changes since the attacks, with possible implications for public health. This study investigated behavioral and life changes American people have experienced since the attacks. Using random-digit dialing that included unpublished numbers and new listings, a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of 807 U.S. adults ages 18 or older was interviewed. Logistic regression analyses indicated that gender, age, race/ethnicity, and employment status were significant predictors for experiencing different outcome variables. The qualitative data obtained from an open-ended question regarding life changes were analyzed and synthesized. The 9-11 events have considerably affected Americans’ lifestyles and behavior, which may have various implications for public health policy makers and educators.

34. Policing and the police

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Jones ◽  
Tim Newburn ◽  
Robert Reiner
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Zero Tolerance Policing ◽  
Problem Oriented Policing

This chapter reviews some of the key themes in academic research and writing on the police and policing. It begins by discussing definitions of ‘policing’ and ‘police’, before outlining the development of academic research on policing in the USA and UK. The nature of police discretion is then discussed along with the factors that shape police decision-making and the implications of these for the accountability of policing agents and organizations. The next section reviews contrasting models of policing that have emerged over recent years, including community policing, problem-oriented policing, ‘zero tolerance’ policing and intelligence-led policing. Subsequently, two overarching developments within contemporary policing—pluralization (with a particular focus on private security) and internationalization—are explored. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the future of police and policing. The primary focus is upon policing in Britain, though many of the themes are similar across liberal democratic societies.

scholarly journals Predicting Crime and Other Uses of Neural Networks in Police Decision Making

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Walczak
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Neural Network

Neural networks are a machine learning method that excel in solving classification and forecasting problems. They have also been shown to be a useful tool for working with big data oriented environments such as law enforcement. This article reviews and examines existing research on the utilization of neural networks for forecasting crime and other police decision making problem solving. Neural network models to predict specific types of crime using location and time information and to predict a crime’s location when given the crime and time of day are developed to demonstrate the application of neural networks to police decision making. The neural network crime prediction models utilize geo-spatiality to provide immediate information on crimes to enhance law enforcement decision making. The neural network models are able to predict the type of crime being committed 16.4% of the time for 27 different types of crime or 27.1% of the time when similar crimes are grouped into seven categories of crime. The location prediction neural networks are able to predict the zip code location or adjacent location 31.2% of the time.

scholarly journals The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762110318
Author(s):  
Henrikas Bartusevičius ◽  
Alexander Bor ◽  
Frederik Jørgensen ◽  
Michael Bang Petersen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Intentions To Participate ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior ◽  
Robust Evidence ◽  
Actual Participation

What are the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for people’s political attitudes and behavior? We tested, specifically, whether the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic relates to antisystemic attitudes (dissatisfaction with the fundamental social and political order), peaceful political activism, and political violence. Nationally representative two-wave panel data were collected via online surveys of adults in the United States, Denmark, Italy, and Hungary ( ns = 6,131 and 4,568 in Waves 1 and 2, respectively). Overall, levels of antisystemic attitudes were low, and only a small share of interviewees reported behavioral intentions to participate in and actual participation in political violence. However, preregistered analyses indicated that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with antisystemic attitudes and intentions to engage in political violence. In the United States, the burden of COVID-19 was also associated with self-reported engagement in violence surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and counterprotests. We found less robust evidence that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with peaceful activism.

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