Dumping: Police-Initiated Transjurisdictional Transport of Troublesome Persons

Abstract

Those who write about the police have generally neglected the informal ways police officers handle situations involving troublesome persons. Troublesome persons, including homeless and mentally disturbed people, prostitutes, juveniles, and people under the influence of alcohol or drugs, are not necessarily best handled by arrest. In fact the recent move by many police agencies to handle situations with either aggressive order maintenance or community policing may encourage officers to handle troublesome persons via informal methods. This article focuses on one such informal method: police-initiated transjurisdictional transport (PITT) of troublesome persons, or dumping. This article describes PITT, explores the literature for examples of it, describes some of its possible causes, and proposes three ways to control PITT. We conclude with four research strategies for studying police dumping of troublesome persons.