Search results

This paper sets out to encompass a comparative analysis of news reports and official police records of TASER deployments from 2002 to 2005.

The methodology involves a content analysis of all LexisNexis and New York Times articles involving police use of the TASER during the study period (n = 353). Regional (New York Times) and national (LexisNexis) news reports describing police use of the TASER are compared with police reports of all TASER deployments by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during the same timeframe (n = 375).

Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are used to compare the data sources with respect to: the circumstances in which the weapon is deployed; the characteristics of the suspects involved in the TASER incidents; and the significant predictors of continued suspect resistance and repeated use of the TASER by an officer.

The paper examines official police records on TASER deployments from one police agency. This limits the ability to generalize the research findings to other police agencies that have adopted different practices and policies regulating the deployment of CEDs. Additionally, the content analysis includes only articles in the mainstream print media.

The paper concludes with a discussion about some myths associated with news reports on police use of the TASER, and their potential impact on both public perception and police practices.

To date, research has not systematically compared media representations of the TASER with official reports on police deployments of the weapon. That is the focus of this paper.

This study identifies the policing pre-deployment training content for Korean experts based on needs assessments. Korean policing is at an excellent level to transfer knowledge and skills. Pre-deployment training should be designed systematically and training of trainers approaches should be implemented.

This study used T-tests, Borich needs assessments, and Locus for Focus model analyses to determine the priorities of needs for pre-deployment training in policing. A survey of 116 experienced experts was conducted, with 87 responding (75%).

The study identified 26 factors that deployed law enforcement professionals want to learn from pre-deployment training. These factors were categorized into three areas: research, training design and methods and understanding of partner countries and international development cooperation. The nine highest priorities for training needs were related to understanding the status and conditions of police training in the country to which policing experts are deployed.

This study was limited to Korean policing experts. And the study did not evaluate the validity of the training curriculum or indicators.

Technical assistance in international policing development cooperation aims to train future trainers who can train local police. This study found that limited learner information and poor communication skills can lead to ineffective technical assistance.

This study highlights the importance of knowledge transfer and effective pre-deployment training for policing. The findings can be used to improve training programs and police human resource development.

The majority of the previous research on hot spots policing focuses on a single set of relatively small selected experimental areas. However, given limited resources, most law enforcement agencies dispatch hot spots intervention units to several areas on a rotation basis. The purpose of this paper is to examine policing activities in hot spots to determine if the various types of crimes were affected when deployment was applied on a rotation basis.

This study uses data from the Dallas Police Department. The differential influence of police activities, including stops, citations, and arrests, are observed against a number of aggregate crime measures (i.e. violent, property, nuisance offenses, and total index crimes). The impact of police activities have been observed for their immediate and lagged effects during the following week to measure residual deterrence effects.

It was found that the DPD's Disruption Unit's hot spots policing immediately affected violent crimes, nuisance offenses, and total index crimes, while there were no residual effects of hot spots policing. The Disruption Unit was engaged in policing activities that include motor vehicle and pedestrian stops, issuing citations, and making arrests. Among these activities, the number of police stops was the most significant factor for the reduction in violent crime and nuisance offenses.

The researchers use a patrol sector as a unit of analysis in order to compare the influence of various types of police activities on crime across a broader area. Future research should consider using an intermediate geographic unit of analysis (e.g. patrol beat).

The paper examines the differential influence of policing activities on different types of crime around hot spots when deployment was applied on a rotation basis. Both immediate and lagged effects were investigated to find residual deterrence effects of hot spots policing.

This paper aims to present an application of location optimization techniques for deploying police facilities subject to budgetary and feasibility constraints. The objectives considered included minimizing the distances and maximizing the coverage of police stations over potential crime spots.

The optimization consists of two stages. In Stage 1, a minimum distance model is used to determine the locations of police stations. Given the locations of police stations, Stage 2 uses a maximum coverage model to determine the police patrol area. The framework is applied to a case in the Greater London Area. The authors also evaluate the resilience of the optimal solutions with the terrorist attack scenario on 7 July 2005 in Central London.

With the optimization models, it is shown that the average distance between police stations and potential crime spots is reduced by 19 per cent. The coverage percentage of potential crime spots is also increased from the existing 91.99 per cent to a nearly perfect 99.82 per cent. Nevertheless, the results reveal that the optimal police resources deployment is less resilient with respect to the existing one. The findings herein suggest the importance of incorporating measures of resilience into the optimization framework and the authors leave this topic for further investigation.

The study highlights the value of location optimization to police force deployment in terms of finding the optimal locations of police force with respect to the spatial distribution of crimes. In particular, the authors investigate its implication on urban resilience, which is among the first study of this kind.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a contemporary review of the research on racial disparities in police decision making.

State of the art literature review.

The findings are mixed on racial disparities in the primary policing domains of stops, arrests, use of force, and neighborhood deployment. While minorities are often overrepresented among those subjected to police enforcement actions, these findings vary considerably. Almost all of the current studies that have reported racial disparities in the exercise of police authority lack the methodological rigor or statistical precision to draw cause and effect inferences.

Efforts underway to document the impact of body-worn cameras on citizen complaints and force used by police could be extended to examine the impact of cameras on racial disparities in other enforcement-related outcomes such as arrests, stops and frisks, or searches. In addition, evaluating the effects of police training, such as anti-bias training or training on police legitimacy, on reducing racial disparities in police enforcement outcomes is another promising line of research inquiry.

This paper provides a concise review of the current state of the literature on a topic that is dominating the national conversation currently underway about the role of the police in American society.

Although community policing is still in its formative stages in the USA, much of the research has been directed to programmes being implemented in large cities where high levels of crime and fear are part of the social fabric. Research on community policing in small cities and towns is still in the preliminary stage. To meet this challenge, the present paper reviews data from a survey of 82 police departments in cities and towns having less than 200,000 inhabitants. Emphasis is directed to the kinds of community policing strategies employed by the departments and the opportunities for community residents to participate in the decision‐making processes relating to community policing. Data reveal that the transition of police departments from a traditional reactive philosophy to one of community policing is an evolving process. Structured strategies that provide resident input into community policing are likely to occur as the programmes evolve over time, and generally follow changes in police deployment and the establishment of working relation‐ships with community agencies, both public and private.

The purpose of this paper is to use Klinger's theory of negotiated order to examine whether district crime and deviance levels exert influence on levels of police cynicism towards district residents. A secondary purpose is to discuss the policy implications for the proposed relationship between district crime and police cynicism.

Interviews from the Project on Policing Neighborhood (POPN) and patrol district crime data were used to study whether crime and deviance levels exert influence on police cynicism of district residents (n=574). It was hypothesized that officers would be more cynical of citizens in districts with higher rates of violent crime compared with their colleagues assigned to districts with lower rates of violent crime.

The results of OLS regression analyses indicate that district violent crime rate was related to police cynicism and in the direction hypothesized, controlling for both individual and occupational covariates. Officers with more experience were also found to have lower levels of cynicism.

Items used to construct the measure of police cynicism were adapted from the POPN survey data set which asked general questions about officer perceptions of district residents. Further research and better measures are necessary in order to examine the determinants of police cynicism with implications for explaining behavior. Findings from the study might be used by policymakers in terms of police assignment and deployment to high crime areas.

This is the first empirical attempt at examining Klinger's theory of social ecology. The study incorporates a policy argument based on the theoretical precepts and the results from the data analysis.

This paper aims to estimate the effects of gun possession arrests made by a specialized, proactive police patrol unit in the Houston Police Department (HPD).

Time series analyses are used to estimate the effects of weekly gun possession arrests on weekly counts of gun crimes in Houston, TX. Models isolate the effects of arrests made by the proactive patrol unit from gun possession arrests made by other HPD officers.

Citywide and beat‐level analyses show that the proactive unit made meaningful contributions to existing levels of illegal possession arrests. Time series analyses using weekly data show that these additional arrests are associated with significant declines in offences committed with guns. Findings support existing evidence that shows police can affect serious crimes by targeting firearms that are illegally possessed and carried.

The analysis can not precisely determine whether additional patrol presence or arrests are the precise mechanisms that might be influencing gun crimes.

The findings are consistent with existing evidence and suggest that focused police work to seize illegally possessed firearms from the streets and arrest those in illegal possession of firearms will impact offences committed with firearms.

The analysis extends existing work that tests the effects of proactive patrol activities on offences committed with firearms. The analysis is distinct from existing research on this topic because it estimates the effects of gun possession arrests rather than the effects of gun seizures.

The diffusion of innovations paradigm suggests that stakeholders’ acceptance of a police innovation shapes how it spreads and impacts the larger criminal justice system. A lack of support by external stakeholders for police body-worn cameras (BWCs) can short-circuit their intended benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of BWCs among non-police stakeholders who are impacted by the technology as well as how BWCs influence their daily work processes.

The authors conducted interviews and focus groups (n=41) in two US cities where the police department implemented BWCs. The interviewees range from courtroom actors (e.g. judges, prosecutors) to those who work with police in the field (e.g. fire and mental health), city leaders, civilian oversight members, and victim advocates.

External stakeholders are highly supportive of the new technology. Within the diffusion of innovations framework, this support suggests that the adoption of BWCs will continue. However, the authors also found the decision to implement BWCs carries unique consequences for external stakeholders, implying that a comprehensive planning process that takes into account the views of all stakeholders is critical.

Despite the recent diffusion of BWCs in policing, this is the first study to examine the perceptions of external stakeholders. More broadly, few criminologists have applied the diffusion of innovations framework to understand how technologies and other changes emerge and take hold in the criminal justice system. This study sheds light on the spread of BWCs within this framework and offers insights on their continued impact and consequences.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the design and implementation of the police crackdown strategy employed in Mexico City and to discuss its limitations toward a medium-to-long-term reduction of crime rates for six types of robberies.

The present work employs generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models to estimate the effect of police operations on the volatility of the rates of six types of robberies in Mexico City, as well as their persistence over time.

Results suggest that the concentration of policing in certain high-criminality spaces reduces crime rates in the immediate term; however, its permanence is contingent on policing design and behavioral characteristics of the targeted crime. Specifically, the Mexico City police crackdown strategy seems to be better suited for combating crimes of a “non-static” nature than those of a “static” nature.

Due to the nature of the data used for this research, the performed analysis does not enable a precise determination of whether the crime rates respond to temporal or spatial displacement.

Considering the obtained results, a re-design of Mexico City’s police crackdown strategy is suggested for the sustained reduction of the number of reported cases of robberies of a static nature.

Despite their importance, few studies have measured the impact of police crackdowns on city-level crime rates and whether their effect is temporary or permanent. The present study proposes the use of GARCH models in order to integrate the study of this phenomenon into criminal time series models.