Large Police Department Research Articles

Evaluating the determinants of support for police militarization among officers

AbstractWe evaluate the determinants of officer support for their agency participating in the 1033 Program: a program that facilitates the flow of military hardware to local law enforcement agencies. In doing so, we provide insight into why officers demand such equipment, which, in turn, may partially explain patterns of program participation and equipment usage. We utilize a series of random forest models to examine survey data collected from officers in a large police department, finding that being White and exhibiting animus toward minority communities are highly predictive of officer support across models. Our findings validate long‐held public concerns regarding the distributional patterns and consequences of 1033 transfers: concerns that have led to a number of proposed policy changes at the state and federal levels meant to restrict program usage (e.g., EO‐13688, HR‐1694, MO HB‐330). Policy makers should consider how out‐group animus may drive distributional patterns and usage when considering policy reform.

Evaluation of a Mental Health Liaison Program at a Small Police Department

Police officers typically are the first responders to a mental health crisis call. Often, they do not have the required training or tools to deal with these types of calls. This problem is exacerbated in small police departments, which often have fewer resources than large police departments. Alternative programs are needed in smaller police agencies to assist with these issues that officers are facing. This study uses a mixed methods approach to evaluate a recently developed mental health liaison internship program implemented in a small police department in Pennsylvania, exploring whether the program affected police morale and calls for service. Qualitative data from officer interviews indicated officers had a positive perception of the mental health liaison. Compared to the year before the internship program started, emergency calls for service for emotionally disturbed persons increased by 47% during the year the internship program was implemented, although this could be due to citizens trying to connect with the mental health liaison. Additionally, these calls were concentrated in four main addresses, comprising 30% of the emergency calls for service for emotionally disturbed persons in 2021 and 2022. These findings are discussed in light of the extant literature. Overall, the internship program provided an experiential learning opportunity for the student, assisted the small police department and improved officer morale.

A Decade of Decision Making: Prosecutorial Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases

In the United States, it is estimated that fewer than 30% of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement, less than 5% will result in an arrest, and approximately 3% will result in a felony conviction. The present study examines a census of sexual assault reports from 2012 to 2020 in a large police department in the Midwest region of the United States, considering only those cases presented to the district attorney’s office for consideration (n = 700). Victim characteristics, suspect characteristics, and incident characteristics were examined as relating to a prosecutor accepting a case for charges. Further, a series of “ideal victim” characteristics were identified and used to create an additive scale based on prior research. The most significant predictors of prosecutor acceptance in the full sample were a lack of “date rape” drugs, continued cooperation from the victim, the suspect having a prior arrest for sexual assault, and the assault being reported within 24 h of occurring. A separate model was conducted for only those cases with continued cooperation from the victim. The researchers discuss the implications of these significant factors and suggest training to change false perceptions of victims among criminal justice officials and to increase victim reporting/cooperation in cases of sexual assault.

Suspect resistance, police use of force, and officer injuries in a post-Floyd era: an analysis of two large police departments

ABSTRACT While the events following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, undoubtedly brought about anti-police sentiment, the death of George Floyd may have brought about even greater hostility towards police. Utilizing data from two large police departments, we test whether there were significant increases in the incidence of civilian resistance, Black civilian resistance, use of force, and officer injuries. Estimation of multiple interrupted time-series models revealed that except for officer injuries in one agency, all outcomes significantly increased post-Floyd. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Reaching and engaging people: Analyzing tweeting practices of large U.S. police departments pre- and post- the killing of George Floyd.

Finding ways to improve police legitimacy and police-community relations has for long been an important social issue in the United States. It becomes particularly urgent following the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020. An emerging area that holds potential in remediating police-community relations pertains to the use of social media by police. Yet, this body of research stays highly exploratory (e.g., case studies based on a small sample of agencies) and different viewpoints exist regarding the objectives of police social media usage. The current study identified 115 large police departments in the U.S. and collected their tweets over a 4-month period between 4/1/2020 and 7/31/2020. We investigated how police agencies (both individually and as an aggregate) leveraged social media to respond to the nationwide protests directed at the police and community reactions to such responses. We found that police agencies tweeted more frequently in the immediate aftermath of the murder and posted an increased number of civil-unrest related tweets. The public showed a greater interest in engaging with law enforcement agencies (i.e., average favorite and retweet counts) following the murder. A great variability emerged across agencies in their responses on social media, suggesting that examining only a handful of agencies or a particular dimension of social media usage would limit our understanding of police behaviors and citizen interactions on social media. In conclusion, we suggested a few avenues for future research (and practices) on responsible and effective use of social media by police, while pointing out the challenges associated with such inquiries.

Why did the use of force go up? Investigating the unexpected impact of a body-worn camera program on a use of force time series

PurposeThis study uses an interrupted time series research design to investigate the impact of a body-worn camera (BWC) program on a large police department. MethodsWe estimated a generalized linear model on a time series of monthly use of force and civilian complaint counts from January 2013 to September 2021 (N = 105) and controlled for other confounding influences. ResultsWe observed a statistically significant increase in use of force incidents after the implementation of the BWC program. In comparison, the time series for civilian complaints experienced a statistically significant decrease over the same period. There was a substantial increase in use of force incidents during the early 2020s even after accounting for the BWC program. This period was defined by major social disruptions and civil unrest such as the protests surrounding George Floyd's death and the COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionsDespite the large number of previous evaluations of BWC programs these results are categorically distinct. The most plausible explanations for these findings are officers either increased reporting of use of force incidents or felt more confident using force because of this oversight. Future research should explore how major events of the early 2020s impacted police-civilian encounters across disparate communities.

The role of emotions for citizen engagement via social media – A study of police departments using twitter

Police departments increasingly use social media for enhancing their relationships with citizens. However, little is known about how specific characteristics of police-initiated messages affect whether and to what extent citizens engage with the former. This study looks at 11 large police departments using Twitter in Germany. Based on a multimethod approach, it explores the effect of content type and two emotional elements (i.e. arousal and valence) of tweets on different dimensions of citizen engagement. The latter is measured as observable online behavioral responses to police tweets in form of likes, comments, and retweets. The results suggest that emotional arousal (i.e. the emotional intensity of a tweet) plays a key role in triggering all forms of citizen engagement, while emotional valence (more specifically, the negativity of a tweet) largely shows no effect. Moreover, the impact of content type (informative versus interactive) varies across the different engagement dimensions.

Is Police Misconduct Contagious? Non-trivial Null Findings from Dallas, Texas

ObjectivesUnderstanding if police malfeasance might be “contagious” is vital to identifying efficacious paths to police reform. Accordingly, we investigate whether an officer’s propensity to engage in misconduct is associated with her direct, routine interaction with colleagues who have themselves engaged in misbehavior in the past.MethodsRecognizing the importance of analyzing the actual social networks spanning a police force, we use data on collaborative responses to 1,165,136 “911” calls for service by 3475 Dallas Police Department (DPD) officers across 2013 and 2014 to construct daily networks of front-line interaction. And we relate these cooperative networks to reported and formally sanctioned misconduct on the part of the DPD officers during the same time period using repeated-events survival models.ResultsEstimates indicate that the risk of a DPD officer engaging in misconduct is not associated with the disciplined misbehavior of her ad hoc, on-the-scene partners. Rather, a greater risk of misconduct is associated with past misbehavior, officer-specific proneness, the neighborhood context of patrol, and, in some cases, officer race, while departmental tenure is a mitigating factor.ConclusionsOur observational findings—based on data from one large police department in the United States—ultimately suggest that actor-based and ecological explanations of police deviance should not be summarily dismissed in favor of accounts emphasizing negative socialization, where our study design also raises the possibility that results are partly driven by unobserved trait-based variation in the situations that officers find themselves in. All in all, interventions focused on individual officers, including the termination of deviant police, may be fruitful for curtailing police misconduct—where early interventions focused on new offenders may be key to avoiding the escalation of deviance.

Examining the relationship between the unique work experiences and cultural orientations of police officers

ABSTRACT The current study builds upon limited prior research that has assessed the relationship between elements of police culture and a host of unique officer work experiences (e.g. tenure, assigned shift and area, the number of shifts and areas worked, supervisory experience, specialized unit assignment). The sample consists of survey data from over 700 officers from a large police department in the western United States. The results demonstrated that while officers’ assigned shift and area had little effect, a number of other experiences were influential. Officers who had worked a greater number of shifts in their career were more likely to view policing as dangerous; and patrol officers were more likely to view management negatively. Further, specialized unit officers were less likely to view citizens negatively and less oriented toward order-maintenance or community policing than their patrol counterparts. Importantly, experience as measured simply by the number of years on the job, as opposed to other unique work experiences, showed that more senior officers were less likely to view citizens negatively and believe crime fighting should be a top priority, but more likely to view top management through a negative lens. We conclude by reviewing several implications and directions for future research.

Elevated police turnover following the summer of George Floyd protests: A synthetic control study

AbstractResearch summarySeveral of the largest U.S. police departments reported a sharp increase in officer resignations following massive public protests directed at policing in the summer of 2020. Yet, to date, no study has rigorously assessed the impact of the George Floyd protests on police resignations. We fill this void using 60 months of employment data from a large police department in the western United States. Bayesian structural time‐series modeling shows that voluntary resignations increased by 279% relative to the synthetic control, and the model predicts that resignations will continue at an elevated level. However, retirements and involuntary separations were not significantly affected during the study period.Policy implicationsA retention crisis may diminish police departments’ operational capacity to carry out their expected responsibilities. Criminal justice stakeholders must be prepared to confront workforce decline and increased voluntary turnover. Proactive efforts to improve organizational justice for sworn personnel can moderate officer perceptions of public hostility.

More and better video evidence for police investigations of shootings: Chicago's area technology centers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe the creation, implementation, activities and rationale for the Area Technology Centers (ATCs), an innovation adopted by the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD’s) Bureau of Detectives (BoD) in 2019 for the purpose of supporting investigations of crimes of serious violence by deploying specialized teams of officers to gather and process video and digital evidence.Design/methodology/approachThis case study utilizes historical information and descriptive data generated by a record-keeping system adopted by the ATCs.FindingsThe ATCs were developed as a collaboration between the CPD and the University of Chicago Crime Lab (a research center). The start-up was funded by a gift from the Griffin Foundation. Detectives have made extensive use of the services provided by the ATCs from the beginning, with the result that homicide and shooting investigations now have access to more video and digital evidence that has been processed by state-of-the-art equipment. The CPD has assumed budget responsibility for the ATCs, which is an indication of their success. The ATC teams have been assembled by voluntary transfers by sworn officers, together with an embedded analyst from the University of Chicago.Practical implicationsThe ATC model could be adopted by other large police departments. The study finds that ATCs can be effectively staffed by redeploying and training existing staff and that their operation does not require a budget increase.Social implicationsBy arguably making police investigations of shooting cases more efficient, the ATCs have the potential to increase the clearance rate and thereby prevent future gun violence.Originality/valueThe ATCs are a novel response to the challenges of securing and making good use of video and digital evidence in police investigations.

Improving the clearance of serious crime: the case of aggravated assault

PurposeThis paper addresses the clearance of aggravated assaults (AAs). Specifically, the authors consider variations in these clearances over time for large agencies and test which crime, investigation and agency factors are associated with the likelihood of clearance by arrest or exceptional means. In doing this work, they seek to extend the understanding of how police can improve their investigations and ability to solve serious offenses.Design/methodology/approachUsing case, investigative and organizational data collected from seven large police departments selected on the basis of their trajectory of index crime clearances, and measures of case characteristics, investigative effort and organizational best practices, this paper uses descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze AA investigations and case clearance.FindingsKey findings include the following: trajectories of AA clearance vary across large agencies and covary with a measure of organizational best practices, and the relationship between investigative effort and case clearance can depend on organizational practices. The authors find that measures of investigative effort are either not related to case clearance or there is a negative association.Research limitations/implicationsNow that police researchers have a better understanding of AAs and their investigations, they need to test how this knowledge can be used to improve the quality of police investigations. Tests, preferably multi-agency randomized control trials, of new investigative strategies and organizational practices are needed.Originality/valueThis research is original in that it uses a multi-agency sample and crime, investigation and organizational measures to understand AA clearance.

The influence of community norms on black officers’ decision-making in a large municipal police department in a majority minority United States city: a quasi-experiment

For decades, scholars have called for and investigated the effects of representative bureaucracy, with some scholars explaining that common lived experiences, or “subject positions” between street-level bureaucrats and community members might facilitate better communication that in turn could lead to consensus or shared meaning in discourse and behavior between these two groups. Building upon the theoretical scaffolding of the Target Model of discretion, our study uses self-reported survey data from 190 sworn officers in a large majority minority city in the southern United States to investigate the relationship between officer race and the priority Black and non-Black officers ascribe to community norms and expectations as influences on their decision-making processes. Our findings indicate that Black police officers in this city are significantly more likely than their non-Black counterparts to recognize community norms as a factor that influences their decisions, in line with the research hypothesis.

Assessing Data Completeness, Quality, and Representativeness of Justifiable Homicides in the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports: A Research Note.

The most widely used data set for studying police homicides-the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation-is collected from a voluntary sample. Using a journalist-curated database of police-related deaths, we find the SHR police homicide data to be substantially incomplete. This is due to both non-reporting and substantial under-reporting by agencies. Further, our inquiry discloses a pattern of error in identifying "victims" and "offenders" in the data, and finds that investigating agencies are often incorrectly listed as the responsible agency, which seriously jeopardizes police department-level analyses. Finally, there is evidence of sample bias such that the SHR data system is not representative of all police departments, nor is it representative of large police departments. We conclude that the SHR data is of dubious value for assessing correlates of police homicides in the United States, as all analyses using it will reflect these widespread biases and significant undercounts. Analysis of SHR data for these purposes should cease.

Segregated Spaces and Separated Races: The Relationship Between State-Sanctioned Violence, Place, and Black Identity

This article explores segregation and the social status of black people, focusing in particular on the ripple effects of Plessy v. Ferguson on policing in the United States. Specifically, we ask how the legacy of Plessy v. Ferguson has helped maintain state-sanctioned racially based violence. We draw from Mapping Police Violence, which compiles data on the number of police-involved homicides in large police departments in the United States from 2013 to 2017. Using these data, we analyze the relationship between space and the number of deaths of black people caused by police. The findings reveal a positive association between segregated communities, the percentage of black people in a population, and the number of police killings of black people. This study provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact that segregation and place have on state-sanctioned violence, particularly for those who identify or are identified as black.

Surveying Surveillance: A National Study of Police Department Surveillance Technologies

Discussions of surveillance practices within U.S. law enforcement agencies often suggest that police departments have ready access to a wide range of high-tech tools. To date, however, most of the empirical evidence regarding police surveillance has come from either qualitative case studies of cities or surveys of the largest departments. While these studies have led to important insights into the surveillance capacities of large police departments located in larger jurisdictions, our current understanding of police surveillance is limited by a lack of empirical data on police departments in smaller jurisdictions. This study fills this gap by using data from an original nationwide survey of police departments. First, we discuss existing studies of police surveillance access and the legal regimes underlying each type of technology. Next, we use descriptive statistics to empirically investigate the variation in police access to surveillance tools when we account for differences in jurisdiction type. Our findings suggest that rates of police access vary widely depending on the type of technology and jurisdiction size. Overall access to and use of cell phone location tracking far outpaces access to facial recognition and Stingray devices. We discuss these findings and their implications for civil rights and liberties and the state of mass surveillance more generally.

“A Change Would Do You Good”: How HR practices can promote change‐championing behaviour in police organizations

AbstractThe current study attempts to determine whether HR practices such as job autonomy, training, and organizational support in terms of rewards are related to positive change behaviours toward the community policing program among first‐line police officers. We also test the role of affective commitment and change‐related self‐efficacy as mediators of these relationships. Based on a survey of 476 officers in a large police department in the United States, our results show that affective commitment to change emerged as a mediator while the mediating effect of change‐related self‐efficacy was not significant. The study has important implications for HR and for implementing change programs in police organizations globally and in Canada.

Prevalence of Mental Illness and Mental Health Care Use Among Police Officers

Limited literature has characterized patterns of mental illnesses and barriers in seeking mental health care among police officers. To assess the prevalence of mental illness (diagnosis) and symptoms of mental illness, evaluate the characteristics of officers interested in seeking mental health care, and characterize perceptions of mental health care use. This survey study was conducted among officers at a large police department in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Focus group sessions were conducted from April 1, 2019, to November 30, 2019, and the survey was conducted from January 1 to February 27, 2020. A total of 446 sworn, employed patrol officers who were present during the recruitment briefing were eligible to participate in surveys and focus groups. Officers reported lifetime or current diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as current mental health symptoms (using validated screeners of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation or self-harm) and mental health care use in the past 12 months. Focus group data were collected to contextualize mental health care use. Logistic regression analyses were used for quantitative data, and focus groups were iteratively coded by 4 coders using inductive and deductive thematic identification. Of the 446 officers invited to participate, 434 (97%) completed the survey (mean [SD] age, 37 [10] years; 354 [82%] male; 217 White [50%]). Of these officers, 19 (17%) had sought mental health care services in the past 12 months. A total of 54 officers (12%) reported a lifetime mental health diagnosis, and 114 (26%) had positive screening results for current mental illness symptoms. Among officers with positive screening results, the odds of interest in using mental health services was significantly higher for officers with suicidal ideation or self-harm than for those who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 7.66; 95% CI, 1.70-34.48). Five focus groups were conducted with 18 officers and found 4 primary barriers in accessing mental health services: (1) inability to identify when they are experiencing a mental illness, (2) concerns about confidentiality, (3) belief that psychologists cannot relate to their occupation, and (4) stigma that officers who seek mental health services are not fit for duty. The study found that although few officers were seeking treatment, they were interested in seeking help, particularly those with suicidal ideation or self-harm. Additional interventions appear to be needed to systematically identify and refer officers to health care services while mitigating their concerns, such as fear of confidentiality breach.

Who Watches the Watchmen: Evidence of the Effect of Body-Worn Cameras on New York City Policing

We present a multi-year study of the rollout of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) to the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Our study adds to the prior body of work by clarifying some of the discord within it, particularly with respect to large urban police departments. We estimate the effect of BWC deployment on precinct volumes of citizen stops, arrests, complaints against officers and use-of-force incidents. Results indicate that BWCs drive significant increases in stops and decreases in arrests and citizen complaints. We observe no effect on use of force. We also document heterogeneity in affected stops and complaints. Our findings speak to three potential benefits of BWCs in urban law enforcement: an increase in legitimate stops made by police; a decrease in complaints alleging officers’ abuse of authority; and a reduction in arrests (which appears beneficial, regardless of whether this results from improved behavior among police or citizens).

Unfounded, Cleared, or Cleared by Exceptional Means: Sexual Assault Case Outcomes From 1999 to 2014.

Sexual assault is a highly underreported crime with even fewer cases proceeding to the point of charges and prosecution, suggesting that sexual assault victims have less opportunity for legal justice than other crime victims. Case attrition may, in part, be due to negative attitudes and rape myth acceptance (RMA) in police decision making. Yet, little attention has been paid to examining the evidentiary and extralegal factors surrounding the case that contribute to police decision making and case outcomes through examination of police case files. This examination is necessary to address the issue of differential processing of sexual assault cases in the criminal justice system. This study uses police data of sexual assault case files from 1999 to 2014 (N = 23,525) to examine the assault, victim, and detective characteristics that contribute to case outcomes of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared through arrest and victim refusal to prosecute. Logistic regression models tested 15 years of reported sexual assault data from one large police department and found that elements that correspond with RMA were predictive of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared case decisions, providing further indication that officers consider evidentiary but also extralegal factors in decision making. Overall, results support previous contentions that sexual assault victims have unequal access to legal justice, particularly victims possessing demographic and assault characteristics that do not align with stereotypical notions of rape. Implications for future research and policing practices are discussed.