In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man Is King: Knowledge Brokerage in the Age of Learning Algorithms

This paper presents research on how knowledge brokers attempt to translate opaque algorithmic predictions. The research is based on a 31-month ethnographic study of the implementation of a learning algorithm by the Dutch police to predict the occurrence of crime incidents and offers one of the first empirical accounts of algorithmic brokers. We studied a group of intelligence officers, who were tasked with brokering between a machine learning community and a user community by translating the outcomes of the learning algorithm to police management. We found that, as knowledge brokers, they performed different translation practices over time and enacted increasingly influential brokerage roles, namely, those of messenger, interpreter, and curator. Triggered by an impassable knowledge boundary yielded by the black-boxed machine learning, the brokers eventually acted like “kings in the land of the blind” and substituted the algorithmic predictions with their own judgments. By emphasizing the dynamic and influential nature of algorithmic brokerage work, we contribute to the literature on knowledge brokerage and translation in the age of learning algorithms.

Family Violence Risk Assessment: An Early Study of Police Officers' Experiences at the Frontline

<p>The key notion of a police organisational culture unique to frontline police officers explains why police services are resilient to reform, as past attempts by police management to change the traditions of the street-cop culture have proved difficult to achieve. The key tenets of the organisational culture of frontline policing see street-level police negotiate and resist aspects of the NZ Police family violence risk assessment model to which they do not subscribe. Frontline officers' resistance is an expression of their attitudes and beliefs about 'real' police work. These beliefs are informed by the occupational subculture of which they are a part. Officers in this study also resist the increasing bureaucratisation of their role and oppose attempts by management to change the informal rules by which they operate. The established autonomy and isolation of frontline policing allows officers discretion in their implementation of the risk assessment model. This thesis examines the experiences of frontline police officers responsible for implementing family violence risk assessment, in selected areas of the Waikato District. The study employed face to face semi-structured interviews with frontline police officers and sought accounts of their experiences of responding to family violence and their use of the risk assessment tools. The research found that officers recognise and support the improvement of the police response to victims of family violence. Despite this, the introduction of family violence risk assessment in the Waikato District has achieved limited change. This study found considerable evidence of a discrepancy between management policy and operational practice, as the risk assessment model is neither implemented as intended by police management or for which it was designed. This is the result of issues with training and tensions between management directives and established practice at the frontline. These challenges faced by NZ Police are typical of the problems encountered by police organisations implementing similar reforms in other Western jurisdictions.</p>

Family Violence Risk Assessment: An Early Study of Police Officers' Experiences at the Frontline

<p>The key notion of a police organisational culture unique to frontline police officers explains why police services are resilient to reform, as past attempts by police management to change the traditions of the street-cop culture have proved difficult to achieve. The key tenets of the organisational culture of frontline policing see street-level police negotiate and resist aspects of the NZ Police family violence risk assessment model to which they do not subscribe. Frontline officers' resistance is an expression of their attitudes and beliefs about 'real' police work. These beliefs are informed by the occupational subculture of which they are a part. Officers in this study also resist the increasing bureaucratisation of their role and oppose attempts by management to change the informal rules by which they operate. The established autonomy and isolation of frontline policing allows officers discretion in their implementation of the risk assessment model. This thesis examines the experiences of frontline police officers responsible for implementing family violence risk assessment, in selected areas of the Waikato District. The study employed face to face semi-structured interviews with frontline police officers and sought accounts of their experiences of responding to family violence and their use of the risk assessment tools. The research found that officers recognise and support the improvement of the police response to victims of family violence. Despite this, the introduction of family violence risk assessment in the Waikato District has achieved limited change. This study found considerable evidence of a discrepancy between management policy and operational practice, as the risk assessment model is neither implemented as intended by police management or for which it was designed. This is the result of issues with training and tensions between management directives and established practice at the frontline. These challenges faced by NZ Police are typical of the problems encountered by police organisations implementing similar reforms in other Western jurisdictions.</p>

Understanding what works in the police management of child sex offenders in the community

Police are becoming increasingly responsible for monitoring convicted child sex offenders in the community. A Rapid Evidence Assessment was undertaken to capture ‘what works’ and what ‘shows promise’ in existing and emerging, innovative policing practices. A total of 920 searches were performed across five databases, spanning the last 5 years. After removal of duplicates and those that did not meet inclusion criteria, 61 articles were analysed. Two key strategies, with sub-strategies, emerged: (1) formalised, targeted management and (2) technology-assisted management. An adapted ‘EMMIE’ framework presents the ‘effects’, the overarching ‘mechanisms’ and ‘moderators’ of success, and ‘implementation’ considerations for effective practice.

Using Crowdsourced Data to Study Crime and Place

Crowdsourcing refers to the practise of enlisting the knowledge, experience or skills of a large number of people (the crowd) through some digital platform to collect data towards a collaborative project. Crowdsourcing can generate large volumes of data in relatively little time at a very small cost, and can be useful for research, strategic police management and many other purposes. To make effective use of crowdsourced data, it is important to understand its key strengths to emphasize, and limitations to mitigate. In this chapter we highlight the main strengths and weaknesses of crowdsourcing, and illustrate how to acquire, make sense of, and critically evaluate crowdsourced data to study crime and place. We present a step-by-step exemplar study using crowdsourced data from a platform called Place Pulse, where people rate their feelings of safety between different areas. Taking the case study of Atlanta, Georgia, we work through analyzing and interpreting these data while highlighting how to emphasize and evaluate the strengths and limitations of crowdsourcing. Exercises are presented using R software.

Continuity and change in Scandinavian police reforms

The paper provides an overview of recent police reforms in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, including what is known about the results of those reforms. The reform processes in the three countries are quite similar. The number of individual police districts is drastically reduced, strong centralized management is introduced, and reforms are expected to yield additional manpower though rationalization. To date, however, the results do not live up to expectations; reforms are hard realize in the expected time, resources are scarce, local policing is hard to maintain, and police performance and efficiency do not seem to increase. The paper offers two related explanations for the lack of results. First, all three reforms place emphasis on centralizing police management, regardless of the problems they are expected to solve. Second, a staple of Scandinavian police reforms is the quest for viability; police districts must be large enough to handle all eventualities. Even though the concept of viability has changed over the past 50 years, it is still at the core of reform plans. The paper concludes with a discussion about the possibility of ever achieving police viability.

Off the Record? Arrestee Concerns about the Manipulation, Modification, and Misrepresentation of Police Body-Worn Camera Footage

Police body-worn cameras (BWC) have become the latest technological device introduced to policing on a wave of panacean promises. Recent research has reported the perspectives of police officers, police management, and the general public, but there have been no studies examining the views of police arrestees. Remedying this significant omission, this article presents findings generated from interviews with 907 individuals shortly after their arrest. Overall, we report a strong in principle support for police body-worn cameras amongst this cohort, particularly if the cameras can be operated impartially. The findings are organised into a trilogy of prominent and interrelated concerns voiced by the police detainees, namely the potential for the manipulation, modification, and misrepresentation of events captured by police body-worn cameras. The findings are discussed in a broader context of the “new visibility” of police encounters and contribute much needed findings to understand the culturally specific ways in which different publics experience and respond to visual surveillance.

How to Keep Protests Peaceful

Chapter 8 discusses the practical implications of the findings discussed in Chapters 2 to 7. It highlights that violence can be avoided on the micro-level and presents specific measures to do so. First, it discusses the relevance of a flow of communication between protesters and police, clear territorial boundaries, and preventing rumors from spreading. It outlines boredom as a vital factor against violence. Second, the chapter highlights practical measures, such as focusing on communication, focusing on effective police management, respecting territorial boundaries, increasing awareness of the effect of escalation signs and property damage, as well as focusing on the danger zone of 1½ to 2½ hours after the start of a protest, during which time violence usually occurs. Discussing detailed examples of protests in Germany and the United States from 1960 until 2010, the chapter indicates that much can be done on the micro-level to prevent violent clashes if we know what to look for.