Law Enforcement Administrators Research Articles

Book Review - Breaking the Barriers Changing the Way We Support the Physical and Mental Health of Police Officers

In Breaking the Barriers Changing the Way We Support the Physical and Mental Health of Police Officers, Ronald A Rufo, EdD, uses personal stories as well as interviews with fellow officers and mental health providers to explain how the police culture and calls police officers handle in their careers create stress and mental health issues. Rufo identifies the responses to those stressors and solutions to address the identified mental health challenges. The book closes with thoughts and recommendations from many of the police officers and mental health professionals interviewed for the book. In the last few years, law enforcement administrators, mental health providers, and legislatures have placed a higher priority on addressing mental health issues among law enforcement officers. In addition, recruitment and retention has been a challenge for most agencies. By addressing police officers mental health, a department can develop healthy and more resilient officers. This benefits the officer, their family, and ultimately the citizens served by the officer.

A national survey of law enforcement post-overdose response efforts

ABSTRACT Background: Law enforcement agencies in the US have provided naloxone to officers and developed initiatives to follow-up after a non-fatal overdose. However, the prevalence and characteristics of these efforts have yet to be documented in research literature. Objectives: We sought to understand the national prevalence of naloxone provision among law enforcement and examine the implementation of post-overdose follow-up. Methods: We administered a survey on drug overdose response initiatives using a multimodal approach (online and mail) to a nationally representative sample of law enforcement agencies (N = 2,009; 50.1% response rate) drawn from the National Directory of Law Enforcement Administrators database. We further examine a subsample of agencies (N = 1,514) that equipped officers with naloxone who were also asked about post-overdose follow-up. Results: We found 81.7% of agencies reported officers were equipped with naloxone; among these, approximately one-third (30.3%) reported follow-up after an overdose. More than half (56.8%) of agencies indicated partnership in follow-up with emergency medical services as the most common partner (68.8%). There were 21.4% of agencies with a Quick Response Team, a popular national post-overdose model, and were more likely to indicate partnership with a substance use disorder treatment provider than when agencies were asked generally about partners in follow-up (74.5% and 26.2% respectively). Conclusion: Many law enforcement agencies across the US have equipped officers with naloxone, and about one-third of those are conducting follow-up to non-fatal overdose events. Post-overdose follow-up models and practices vary in ways that can influence treatment engagement and minimize harms against persons who use drugs.

Make diversity, bias training a positive experience

LAS VEGAS — “This is a training about how to make diversity training and bias training palatable to law enforcement,” Lewis Eakins, Ph.D., CPP, Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, said. Eakins spoke at the recent annual conference for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

How to make your diversity, bias training a positive experience

How to make your diversity, bias training a positive experience

How to make your diversity, bias training a positive experience

LAS VEGAS — “This is a training about how to make diversity training and bias training palatable to law enforcement,” Lewis Eakins, Ph.D., CPP, Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, said. Eakins spoke at the recent annual conference for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

LEGISLATING ANTI-TORTURE REFORM AND HARM REDUCTION SERVICES TO PROTECT INCARCERATED OPIOID USERS IN PAKISTAN

Pakistani anti-torture and harm reduction law is examined, particularly how these regulations, or lack thereof, influence prison safety and user rehabilitation. This study first takes a broad view of Pakistani opioid use, harm reduction, and its public health consequences, and then examines these issues within the Pakistani prison system. As anti-torture laws and inmate protections are weak within Pakistan, law enforcement, prison officers, and prison administrators often exploit these conditions to extract confessions, punish, and extort inmates. Safety and rehabilitation in prisons will likely improve with strongly enforced anti-torture and harm reduction laws. Legal control over physical and psychological torture should also be paired with normalizing harm reduction services in prisons, such as separate detoxification units for users experiencing withdrawal upon entering prison, confidential HIV testing, drug awareness messaging, evidence-based and voluntary treatment, among others. Strengthening anti-torture and harm reduction law has ramifications for the Pakistani legal system, prison system, law enforcement, and public health divisions within prisons. The Pakistani government should legislate anti-torture and harm reduction reforms to improve the safety and rehabilitation prospects of incarcerated opioid users.

Make diversity, bias training a positive experience

LAS VEGAS — “This is a training about how to make diversity training and bias training palatable to law enforcement,” Lewis Eakins, Ph.D., CPP, Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, said. Eakins spoke at the recent annual conference for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

Make diversity, bias training a positive experience for your officers

LAS VEGAS — “This is a training about how to make diversity training and bias training palatable to law enforcement,” Lewis Eakins, Ph.D., CPP, Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, said. Eakins spoke at the recent annual conference for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

4.3 WHEN THE SCHOOL THREAT IS “SERIOUS AND SCARY”: HOW TO ASSESS IT AND WHAT TO DO

Child and adolescent psychiatrists are increasingly being asked to perform extremely challenging school threat assessments. When faced with potentially high-risk cases, the process can be stressful and overwhelming. Beyond obtaining an extensive history and performing the student interview, the clinician faces other issues, including the intricacies of interfacing with parents, law enforcement, and school administrators. The objective of this presentation is to help attendees address the clinical challenges involved in performing threat assessments.

Fast‐track accreditation with strong team buy‐in, policy reviews

Typically, it takes about three years for a college or a university to receive accreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. But for Stephen F. Austin University police department, the process took six months.

Addressing the inappropriate use of force by police in the United States and beyond: A behavioral and social science perspective.

Recent high-profile incidents involving the deadly application of force in the United States sparked worldwide protests and renewed scrutiny of police practices as well as scrutiny of relations between police officers and minoritized communities. In this report, we consider the inappropriate use of force by police from the perspective of behavioral and social science inquiry related to aggression, violence, and intergroup relations. We examine the inappropriate use of force by police in the context of research on modern policing as well as critical race theory and offer five recommendations suggested by contemporary theory and research. Our recommendations are aimed at policymakers, law enforcement administrators, and scholars and are as follows: (1) Implement public policies that can reduce inappropriate use of force directly and through the reduction of broader burdens on the routine activities of police officers. (2) For officers frequently engaged in use-of-force incidents, ensure that best practice, evidence-based treatments are available and required. (3) Improve and increase the quality and delivery of noncoercive conflict resolution training for all officers, along with police administrative policies and supervision that support alternatives to the use of force, both while scaling back the militarization of police departments. (4) Continue the development and evaluation of multicomponent interventions for police departments, but ensure they incorporate evidence-based, field-tested components. (5) Expand research in the behavioral and social sciences aimed at understanding and managing use-of-force by police and reducing its disproportionate impact on minoritized communities, and expand funding for these lines of inquiry.

Law Enforcement Perspectives on Public Access to Misconduct Records

Laws restricting public access to law enforcement misconduct records are the subject of national debate. Opponents of these laws argue that public access to law enforcement misconduct records is critical to holding officers accountable, while proponents claim that permitting public access violates privacy rights and endangers law enforcement officers. Neither side has much data to support its arguments. This article summarizes the results of a research project conducted in the summer and fall of 2019, which surveyed hundreds of law enforcement administrators (primarily police chiefs and sheriffs) on their experiences with and attitudes toward disclosure of misconduct records. Several dozen administrators also participated in follow-up phone interviews. The project is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge after an extensive interdisciplinary literature review, the first systematic effort to gather data on the topic of how laws regulating public access to law enforcement misconduct records affect law enforcement agencies, officers, and the communities in which those officers work. The results of the study are enlightening. While law enforcement unions typically portray officers as universally opposed to release of misconduct records, the administrators in this study were deeply divided on the topic. More administrators found public access to misconduct records beneficial to their departments and communities than harmful to their officers. Most of the benefits came in the form of improved community relations and public trust. The harms administrators did identify were largely reputational; very few provided support for the notion that public access to misconduct records endangers officers. Administrators also provided many suggestions for changes to existing records laws.

Take steps to address public safety challenges common among international students

International students present unique challenges for campus public safety units. In a webinar for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, Ed Book, chief of police, behavioral intervention team chair, and emergency manager at Santa Fe College in Florida; and Angelica Suarez, international student services coordinator at Santa Fe, explained the strategies they use to support these students and meet their needs.

Personality trait differences in law enforcement officers

Purpose Law enforcement is a stressful career, especially to US-based officers. Officers are typically psychologically screened and declared fit for duty prior to completing training. Current personality research has demonstrated the potential for traits to increase or decrease due to a variety of factors, including time and stress levels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how officers’ personality traits may differ based upon their levels of stress and lengths of service. This quantitative non-experimental research design recruited potential participants from several online-based, law enforcement officer-centric channels. Participants then completed a five-factor model (FFM) personality measure, the Law Enforcement Officer Stress Scale, and an accompanying demographic questionnaire. The participants’ FFM personality trait levels (dependent variable) were measured and compared to other participants’ trait levels based upon the independent variables of lengths of service and stress levels. The authors found the current sample had a higher mean stress level than any previously reported law enforcement officer sample. The personality trait agreeableness was significantly correlated with extraversion, and extraversion was significantly correlated with openness to new experiences. The authors found significant differences in several FFM traits for both career-related stress and length of service. The findings support previous research, contribute to the job demand-control model, and suggest the continued stress of the job may psychologically impact an officer. It is recommended law enforcement administrators be more aware of this potential and consider findings strategies to mitigate these trait differences. Design/methodology/approach This quantitative non-experimental research design recruited potential participants from several online-based, law enforcement officer-centric channels. Participants then completed a five-factor personality measure, the Law Enforcement Officer Stress Scale, and an accompanying demographic questionnaire. The participants’ FFM personality trait levels (dependent variable) were measured and compared to other participants’ trait levels based upon the independent variables of lengths of service and stress levels. Findings The authors found the current sample had a higher mean stress level than any previously report law enforcement officer sample. The personality trait agreeableness was significantly correlated with extraversion, r(159)=0.36, p<0.000; and, extraversion was significantly correlated with openness to new experiences, r(159)=0.28, p<0.000. The authors found significant differences in several FFM traits for both career-related stress and length of service. Research limitations/implications These findings support previous research, contribute to the job demand-control model, and suggest the continued stress of the job may psychologically impact an officer. Practical implications It is recommended law enforcement administrators be more aware of this potential and consider findings strategies to mitigate these trait differences. Originality/value This is the first study to examine how personality may differ in law enforcement officers (LEOs) with both high stress and long careers. Logical follow-ups to this study would be longitudinal studies on LEOs.

Build, support your team for an effective unit

By any objective measure, Mike Ragan has been very successful in his role as director and chief of police at Texas A&M University. He was recently awarded the Bill G. Daniels Award for Outstanding Police Administrator, and his department was the first in higher education to be chosen for the Destination Zero General Officer Safety Award. He's also on the board of directors for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

Burnout in Blue: An Analysis of the Extent and Primary Predictors of Burnout Among Law Enforcement Officers in the United States

Job-related burnout is a significant concern for researchers, law enforcement administrators, and government authorities because of its broader effects on officer health, job performance, and service provided to the public. This topic is particularly relevant amidst a variety of complex challenges and heightened scrutiny surrounding law enforcement officers, their decisions, and relations with the public. Although much work has been conducted on burnout among police officers, the aim of this study is to build on the literature through analyzing survey data from roughly 13,000 sworn respondents representing 89 agencies throughout the United States to describe the extent of two components of burnout—emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Then, based on Leiter and Maslach’s (2004) six areas of worklife, this study uses multivariate analysis to identify the primary predictors of those two components of burnout and how they are shaped by the characteristics of the agencies and communities in which these officers work. The analysis indicates approximately 19% of the total sample was experiencing severe levels of emotional exhaustion and 13% had extreme values of depersonalization. In addition, regression analyses suggest that specific measures of workload and values were the strongest predictors of emotional exhaustion, while depersonalization was driven by similar factors in addition to a measure of community that tapped into relations with the public. Furthermore, little empirical support was found for the importance of agency and community-level variables as predictors of either component of burnout. A discussion of how to translate those results into efforts to mitigate burnout is also presented.

Address public safety challenges of international students on campus

International students present unique challenges for campus public safety units. In a webinar for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, Ed Book, chief of police, behavioral intervention team chair, and emergency manager at Santa Fe College in Florida; and Angelica Suarez, international student services coordinator at Santa Fe, explained the strategies they use to support these students and meet their needs.

The fourth amendment and the potential use of field-portable mass spectrometry systems in law enforcement

ABSTRACTThe advent of new technology presents new opportunities for forwarding thinking law enforcement administrators and new legal challenges for the courts. One such new technology is portable mass spectrometry. Such devices are very powerful analytical tools that can be used in the field to identify a wide range of contraband and other dangerous materials, including illegal drugs, explosive residue, and toxic substances. This paper examines the potential uses of portable mass spectrometry devices by law enforcement and presents analysis of the legal challenges that its use would present. Because criminal justice practice and legal analysis often lags behind the development and use of new technologies, comparison to current methods for detecting contraband is useful. In the case of portable mass spectrometry, the closest comparison would be the use of narcotics detection canine sniffs. Case law concerning dog sniffs is examined and predictions regarding the application of those legal guidelines to the use of portable mass spectrometry are made.

Translating Behavioral Science into Practice: A Framework to Determine Science Quality and Applicability for Police Organizations.

Policy on officer-involved shootings is critically reviewed and errors in applying scientific knowledge identified. Identifying and evaluating the most relevant science to a field-based problem is challenging. Law enforcement administrators with a clear understanding of valid science and application are in a better position to utilize scientific knowledge for the benefit of their organizations and officers. A recommended framework is proposed for considering the validity of science and its application. Valid science emerges via hypothesis testing, replication, extension and marked by peer review, known error rates, and general acceptance in its field of origin. Valid application of behavioral science requires an understanding of the methodology employed, measures used, and participants recruited to determine whether the science is ready for application. Fostering a science-practitioner partnership and an organizational culture that embraces quality, empirically based policy, and practices improves science-to-practice translation.

Adopt a trauma‐informed response to sexual assault investigations

When you're investigating a sexual assault allegation, understanding how trauma impacts victims can help you conduct a comprehensive and fair investigation. Josh Bronson, director of training for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, formerly the lead sexual assault investigator at the University of Maryland, developed training on trauma‐informed investigations for IACLEA.