Police Use of Force Escalation and De-escalation: The Use of Systematic Social Observation With Video Footage

As police agencies continue to incorporate body-worn cameras, it becomes increasingly important for researchers and practitioners to explore how to best use these data to better understand patterns of suspect and police behavior. Thus, drawing on a joint project between the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and Arizona State University, we expand on prior research demonstrating how social systematic observation (SSO) can be used with video footage to methodically detail the evolving nature of police-suspect encounters. We then illustrate how the data could be evaluated within the framework of escalation and de-escalation using an expanded version of the Resistance Force Comparative Scale (RFCS) first developed and employed in 2001. Finally, we assess the merits and challenges of using video footage to account for suspect and police behaviors in relation to escalation and de-escalation.

Understanding the Expertise Required by Law Enforcement Investigating Cybercrime: An Exploration of Social Engineering Techniques

<p>Cybercrime represents a significant threat for the 21st century, a threat that traditional methods of policing cannot adequately manage. Consequently, new ways of policing utilising specialised teams have been implemented to address cybercrime proactively. One method of policing that has been relatively unexplored within academic literature is covert online investigations, wherein law enforcement creates false identities to interact with offenders from. Existing research has not comprehensively explored what tactics, techniques, and procedures law enforcement use when conducting these investigations. Accordingly, selection and training of employees presents unique challenges. Therefore, this study aims to provide a detailed evaluation of what skills are needed by law enforcement. This information can then inform future training and selection. This study examines in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight New Zealand Police investigators using Applied Cognitive Task Analysis. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results revealed three themes with 18 sub-themes. The first theme explored operational pre-planning, the second theme explored social engineering techniques used to gather information, and the third theme explored the wide-ranging external considerations. Finally, the discussion outlines the implications for theories of social engineering, applications for law enforcement training and recruitment, and potential future research opportunities within social engineering and police psychology.</p>

Understanding the Expertise Required by Law Enforcement Investigating Cybercrime: An Exploration of Social Engineering Techniques

<p>Cybercrime represents a significant threat for the 21st century, a threat that traditional methods of policing cannot adequately manage. Consequently, new ways of policing utilising specialised teams have been implemented to address cybercrime proactively. One method of policing that has been relatively unexplored within academic literature is covert online investigations, wherein law enforcement creates false identities to interact with offenders from. Existing research has not comprehensively explored what tactics, techniques, and procedures law enforcement use when conducting these investigations. Accordingly, selection and training of employees presents unique challenges. Therefore, this study aims to provide a detailed evaluation of what skills are needed by law enforcement. This information can then inform future training and selection. This study examines in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight New Zealand Police investigators using Applied Cognitive Task Analysis. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results revealed three themes with 18 sub-themes. The first theme explored operational pre-planning, the second theme explored social engineering techniques used to gather information, and the third theme explored the wide-ranging external considerations. Finally, the discussion outlines the implications for theories of social engineering, applications for law enforcement training and recruitment, and potential future research opportunities within social engineering and police psychology.</p>

The Effectiveness of a Coordinated Response Toward Nonfatal Strangulation in Facilitating Evidence-Based Prosecution

Many states’ laws now classify nonfatal strangulation as part of domestic violence as a felony offense, but prosecution of offenders remains challenging due to the nature of this type of violent offense. This study evaluates a coordinated effort designed to improve one county’s response to nonfatal strangulation. The impact of law enforcement training and specialized forensic medical examinations on facilitating evidence-based prosecution of nonfatal strangulation offenders is examined. Preliminary support is found for the effectiveness of the coordinated effort, highlighting the importance of comprehensive law enforcement training and detailed medical evidence in facilitating evidence-based prosecution.

Leadership Hiring: Does the Promotional Practice and Selection in Public Service Result in Placing Highly Skilled Experts in Our Communities?

Primarily, this technical article intends to address the hiring practices of executive police leadership. The article questions police executives’ capability based upon a significant number of police chiefs exiting their position for several reasons related to the summer of 2020, whereas several societal crises ensued. The article demonstrates how police executives are not hired based on their ability to be capable leaders or, highly skilled experts but are repeatedly hired based upon tenure, deemed as qualified. Subjective measures exclude specific demographics, human and conceptional skills, and the lack of community input from the societies they are appointed to serve are continually used to hire police leaders. Additionally, the subsequent promotional exams allowing aspiring police leaders are subjective, demonstrated by the multiple suits filed from across the country, as is the proper selection or lack of essential training such as entry to the FBI academy law enforcement training. A specific model, the Three Skill Approach, outlines the various skills for selection criteria. The article asserts that other models can be employed, emphasizing that multiple skills within potential leaders are critical. Also strongly suggested in the report is that the community in which police serve must be aware of how police executives are selected and included in that process, allowing for a partnership between the police leadership and the community. Often, unknown to the community is the right to articulate and establish how they are policed, which can only be realized by a leader who has the multiple skills and has developed a genuine relationship with the community, eventually seen as part of the community.

Optimizing Scenario-Based Training for Law Enforcement

In order to optimize public and officer safety, law enforcement training needs to adequately prepare officers for the complex tasks they will experience in the field. The incorporation of carefully-designed scenario-based training (SBT) into pre- and in-service training is essential for the development of effective decision making during dynamic, potentially volatile interactions with the public. This chapter provides an overview of various frameworks that should be adopted when developing SBT before identifying some issues to consider throughout this process. Finally, this chapter provides practical examples of how the development process can be completed. Given the very challenging task that curriculum designers and police trainers have to develop skilled police officers, this chapter seeks to provide valuable guidance to those seeking to optimize limited resources to improve police training.