Small and rural police chief perspectives on human trafficking in Pennsylvania
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 25 May 2023
Issue publication date: 30 June 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Research on human trafficking largely focuses on large, urban areas, yet it is a problem in small, rural areas. Police in these areas must have the training to identify human trafficking and resources to combat the issue – both of which may be lacking in small, rural areas. The purpose of this project is to explore police chiefs' perspectives on human trafficking in small, rural areas.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach was used to assess Pennsylvania police chiefs' understanding of human trafficking and their perspective of the extent of the problem in their area. First, 349 police chiefs completed an online survey during the summer of 2020. Follow-up in-depth interviews were conducted with 52 police chiefs.
Findings
Most chiefs believed human trafficking is a problem in Pennsylvania (81%) or in their local area (12%). Logistic regression analysis indicated chief experience, department budget and the number of employees affect small and rural police chief perceptions of human trafficking. Qualitative analyses identified three themes of police chief perceptions of human trafficking: conflation with prostitution, definitional debates and competing beliefs about prevalence. Training on identifying human trafficking would benefit small and rural police departments. Chiefs recommended outside assistance investigating human trafficking cases and other state-level resources would be helpful.
Originality/value
Scant research exists on small and rural police departments in the United States, especially in regards to human trafficking. This study contributes to the literature by addressing this gap with a mixed-methods approach.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Stephanie Wehnau, Tim Servinksy, Nicole Sturges, Jessica See and Neil Shook at the Penn State Harrisburg Center for Survey Research for their help with data collection; Sue Copella at the Pennsylvania State Data Center for help gathering population data; Steve Shelow and Mike Ecker of the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute; Chief Scott Bohn at the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association; and Baha Bachnak, Matthew Fry, Alexander Groff, Samantha Kravits, Katherine Lenart, John Joseph Lewandowski, Jennie Perrone, Jocelyn Zamora, Adam Foltz and Cathy Gibbs for their research assistance. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Citation
Gibbs, J.C., Strohacker, E.R. and Schally, J.L. (2023), "Small and rural police chief perspectives on human trafficking in Pennsylvania", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp. 521-534. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-01-2023-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited