Assessing the Need for Organizational Change in Rural American Police Agencies

2014 ◽  
pp. 45-56
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
American Police

Research and Planning Units: An Innovation Instrument in the 21st-Century Police Organization

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda J. Bond ◽  
Kathryn R. Gabriele
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Police Organizations ◽  
Organizational Functions ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
American Police ◽  
Organizational Mechanisms ◽  
Police Practices ◽  
Internal Capacity

Police research and planning units have been in existence for decades, yet little is known about these types of organizational functions. This study compared research and planning staffing arrangements within American police organizations with the reported implementation of innovative practices to assess the association between unit existence and innovative practice. Utilizing a national survey of police practices, we found that agencies with formal research and planning units reported significantly greater levels of innovative practices than those without units. This study suggests that investing in research and planning may have a positive influence on the adoption of innovative police practices. As expectations for more progressive and sophisticated policing intensifies, then a promising pathway may be building the internal capacity via research and planning-type functions. Results from this study are of value to leaders and researchers who want to understand the organizational mechanisms that support innovative police agencies.

Working with communities on social media

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 782-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyan Dai ◽  
Wu He ◽  
Xin Tian ◽  
Ashley Giraldi ◽  
Feng Gu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hampton Roads ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
American Police

Purpose American police departments are beginning to implement social media as a strategy to engage the surrounding communities through various methods, including Facebook and Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to examine the varieties in the use of Facebook and Twitter by local police departments. Design/methodology/approach This study collected all data between October 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014 from Facebook and Twitter accounts of seven city police departments in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. These agencies resemble many police departments in the USA, and in total serve a diverse population of approximately 1,435,000. Content analysis and statistical tests are conducted. Findings Results show that specific types of posts are more engaging for the community. Facebook and Twitter interactions vary depending upon the type of posts, demonstrating that citizens are using Facebook and Twitter to interact in different ways. Research limitations/implications The findings presented here give police agencies’ insight on how to appropriately adjust their use of social media to fulfill the needs of the citizens and optimize interactions with the community. Originality/value This is the first study to systematically examine and analyze the varieties in the use of social media by traditional American local police departments and their interactions with citizens.

Understanding Body-Worn Camera Diffusion in U.S. Policing

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Nix ◽  
Natalie Todak ◽  
Brandon Tregle
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Police Executives ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
Perceptions Of Police ◽  
American Police ◽  
National Probability Sample ◽  
The Impact

By 2016, approximately one half of American police agencies had adopted body-worn cameras (BWCs). Although a growing body of research has examined the impact of BWCs on outcomes such as use of force, complaints, and perceptions of police, few have considered how and why some agencies adopted BWCs, while others have not. With guidance from the diffusion of innovations paradigm, this study explores variation in BWC adoption by police agencies. Drawing on a survey administered to a national probability sample of 665 municipal police executives in the spring of 2018, we found agency size, region, and the demographic composition of municipalities were associated with BWC usage. We then examined executives’ support for (or opposition to) legislation that would require BWC footage to be released publicly. Results suggest (a) a variety of environmental factors were associated with support and (b) the correlates of support varied across agencies of different sizes.

Peel's Principles and Their Acceptance by American Police: Ending 175 Years of Reinvention

2003 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Metropolitan Police ◽  
Police Service ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
American Police

Since the inception of modem policing in 1829, the policing styles of Britain and the United States have run incongruent courses. While the Metropolitan Police Department of London has stayed true to the principles first articulated by Sir Robert Peel, American policing has undergone several sweeping changes in the administration of service. These reinventions have hampered the establishment of a true ideology of police service in America. Through a comparative historical overview of these policing models, this article will strive to explain the reason behind the lack of acceptance of Peel's original nine principles by police in America. Further discussion will focus on the current acceptance of these principles by many police agencies within the United States in their community policing missions and ask what might have been had the Peelian virtues been accepted from the beginning.

Proactive policing in the United States: a national survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 861-876
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Koper ◽  
Cynthia Lum ◽  
Xiaoyun Wu ◽  
Noah Fritz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proactive Policing ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Formal Policy ◽  
Officer Performance ◽  
American Police

PurposeTo measure the practice and management of proactive policing in local American police agencies and assess them in comparison to recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Proactive Policing.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with a national sample of American police agencies having 100 or more sworn officers to obtain detailed information about the types of proactive work that officers engage in, to quantify their proactive work and to understand how the agencies measure and manage those activities. Responding agencies (n = 180) were geographically diverse and served populations of approximately half a million persons on average.FindingsProactivity as practiced is much more limited in scope than what the NAS envisions. Most agencies track only a few forms of proactivity and cannot readily estimate how much uncommitted time officers have available for proactive work. Measured proactivity is mostly limited to traffic stops, business and property checks and some form of directed or general preventive patrol. Many agencies have no formal policy in place to define or guide proactive activities, nor do they evaluate officer performance on proactivity with a detailed and deliberate rubric.Originality/valueThis is the first national survey that attempts to quantify proactive policing as practiced broadly in the United States. It provides context to the NAS recommendations and provides knowledge about the gap between practice and those recommendations.

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