State Police Officers Research Articles

Caribbean street vending experiences: Guyanese migrant women in Trinidad and Tobago

ABSTRACT This article offers a critical overview of how South-South migration operates in the Caribbean. It represents an intersectional feminist analysis of the experiences of Guyanese migrant women who work as street vendors in Trinidad and Tobago. Via the use of narrative inquiry, the study examines the daily challenges migrant women face as they interact with state officials, police officers, customers, and other vendors. We also provide a summary of the individual and collective tactics migrant women employ to navigate a context in which they are often stigmatised, marked as Other, and experience multiple barriers to be able to make a living. In doing so, the piece details how sexism, xenophobia and racism are mutually constituted and function in a Caribbean context, as well as how interlocking systems of oppression create barriers for migrant women to secure sustainable livelihood. We also illustrate the political agency of Guyanese migrant women by highlighting the ways they co-create safe spaces and build community despite obstacles. This article contributes to critical migration studies from the Global South/Majority World, fosters greater regional consciousness across the Caribbean, and underscores the importance of centring migrant women’s experiences in research and scholarship.

Waging a good war: a military history of the civil rights movement, 1954–1968

On 7 March 1965, a young activist named Willie Emma Scott noted that approximately 600 unarmed Black protesters were organizing ‘into companies and squads, with company commanders and squad leaders’ and preparing to walk the 54 miles (87 kilometres) from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (p. 267). Their aim was to draw attention to their quest for voting rights. Standing in their path, at the eastern edge of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, were hundreds of enemy troops, mostly state police officers, who attacked the marchers with steel pipes, clubs, whips, tear gas and pieces of hard rubber wrapped in barbed wire. The demonstrators were forced to retreat after suffering horrific casualties. Their leader, future Congressman John Lewis, suffered a fractured skull and 140 others were injured, 70 of whom required hospitalization. Fay Powell, an organizer listening to events unfold on the telephone, stated: ‘We could hear people screaming and sirens blaring; it sounded like the soundtrack from a war movie’ (p. 269).

A holistic approach to diversity recruiting in state police agencies

ABSTRACT This qualitative study seeks to fill a gap in the literature by providing state police agencies with specific strategies to improve diversity recruitment and hiring. Enhanced agency legitimacy is discussed as a potential by-product of creating a more diverse workforce. The intent of this study is not to evaluate legitimacy or prove diversity recruitment will positively affect the overall perceptions of agency legitimacy. Seven focus groups of sworn female (n = 15) and minority (n = 23) state police officers from a mid-south state police agency are organized to provide insight into diversity recruiting challenges and strategies. We conducted thematic analysis to isolate the themes from the focus groups. The themes resulted in a compilation of diversity recruitment strategies. Additional strategies were added based on the literature. Recommendations are provided for improving diversity recruitment and hiring within state police agencies through a holistic approach.

Improving policing in a multicultural society in the Republic of Latvia: theoretical legal aspects

On analysing the Latvian regulatory framework governing the work of the state police in a multicultural society and the practice of its application, the author proposes a number of improvements, mostly concerning the internal regulatory framework of the state police. With respect to the practice of applying the legal framework, the author proposes to follow the recommendations of the European Union institutions and the best practices of the Member States in this area, with emphasis on the Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies developed by the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In the author’s opinion, this article will become a useful source of information for both state police officers and other law enforcement officers performing their duties in a multicultural society and will facilitate their interaction with representatives of national minorities and other social groups.

An fsQCA Analysis of Qualified Immunity and Police Use of Force: An Applied Sociology Approach

Police officers are expected to serve and protect civilians. Yet cases of police officers harming, sometimes killing, people they are expected to serve and protect have received renewed attention in the United States. Notable cases have led to protests, calls for reforms, and disputes about roles of police officers. This study employs Applied Sociology approaches to questions around reforms of policing in the United States. This study examines reforms to legal protections police enjoy through use of force and qualified immunity laws. Analyzing data for the 50 U.S. states and Washington, DC, this study examines whether legal protections police officers possess are associated with excessive use of force against civilians. This study finds that civilian killings by police tend to be higher in states whose governments are characterized as beyond civilian control. Where Republicans control state government and police officers enjoy broad protections, police killings of civilians tend to be higher. This study finds that racial conflict may be a powerful factor related to police killings of civilians. Applied Sociology demonstrates that reforms should concentrate on not only legal protections police enjoy but also societal structures shaping their efforts to serve and protect civilians.

Why stay with the police? How meaningfulness in life moderates the mediated effects of role stressors’ appraisals on anxiety and intention to leave the State Brazilian Police

Brazilian police officers’ increasing levels of work anxiety and intention to leave the job are consistent with other police forces around the world. Among the important variables that appear to be antecedents of these unwanted organizational outcomes are increasing role stressors associated with police work. We conjecture that how police officers appraise stressors would affect whether adverse outcomes prevail. Specifically, stressors appraised as challenges result in weaker adverse outcomes compared with stressors appraised as hindrances. We also anticipate that a boundary condition that might further attenuate adverse outcomes is having meaningfulness in life (MIL). Likewise, having low MIL can intensify the potential adverse outcomes of stressors appraised as hindrances. This study aims to investigate how role stressors appraised as either challenges or hindrances may influence anxiety and intention to leave among state police officers in the Brazilian Federal District (DF), as well as implications of MIL as a moderator variable of these relationships. Our hypotheses supported the mediating effect of role stressors’ appraisals in their prediction of police officers’ anxiety and intention to leave their job, and the moderator effects of MIL in these same relationships. Findings are discussed in terms of changes in police regulations and training programs aimed at increasing officers’ MIL and coping strategies to redirect how they appraise role stressors as challenges rather than as hindrances, which may lead to a healthier work experience for DF State Police officers.

Police perceptions of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by type of police agency

ABSTRACT This study compared police perceptions of BWCs in terms of officers’ perceptions of BWCs acceptance (police support for BWCs, citizen support of BWCs, and comfort with the use of BWCs), the effect of BWCs on police (transparency, accountability, respectful treatment, use of force, and officer safety), the effect of BWCs on citizens (general perceptions of police, perceptions of police trustworthiness, respect toward police, satisfaction with police, and citizen safety), officer activity (response to calls for service and enforcement of the law), and complaints (internal and citizen complaints) among different types of police agencies. The data were collected from a survey administered to 131 police officers from the State Police (SP), City Police (CP), and University Police (UP). The results of bivariate and multivariate analysis showed that CP officers have the most positive views of BWCs, followed by UP officers, and SP officers. The multivariate analyses also showed that a significant difference was found between CP and SP officers for BWCs acceptance, effect of BWCs on police and citizens, and complaints, between CP and UP officers for effect of BWCs on citizens, while no significant difference was found between SP and UP officers. The results and policy implications are discussed.

Escala de competências profissionais para policiais: evidências de sua adequação psicométrica

Resumo Esta pesquisa avaliou a estrutura fatorial e a adequação psicométrica da Escala de Competências Profissionais para Policiais (ECPP). Após o desenvolvimento do instrumento de medida, realizado em três etapas junto a policiais e doutores dos campos de psicologia e administração, realizou-se uma etapa quantitativa com amostra de 916 policiais militares. As análises fatoriais exploratórias e confirmatórias apontaram uma estrutura bidimensional de 16 itens. O primeiro fator (competências comportamentais) está relacionado a aspectos que envolvem relações complexas entre habilidades relativas ao indivíduo e atitudes enquanto o segundo (competências técnicas) se refere a conhecimentos e habilidades necessários para o bom desempenho de atividades no serviço policial. Os resultados suportam a estrutura e apontam consistência interna e validade psicométrica adequada.

Children of State Police Offi cers and Soldiers of the Polish Army in NKVD Special Camps

The article presents issues concerning juvenile prisoners of three special camps in Kozielsk, Starobielsk and Ostashkov. The author draws attention to the lack of definition of the legal status of minors after 1918, and thus — the lack of provisions on ensuring the safety of children in the international standards governing the treatment of prisoners of war in force during World War II and internal legal acts of the Soviet Union. The article emphasizes that the participation of children in armed conflicts was regulated as late as ten years after the outbreak of World War II in international humanitarian law, adopting on 12 August 1949 “The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War” (Fourth Geneva Convention), under which children are entitled to special treatment or protection measures. The provisions of conventions protecting children during the war included, among others, regulations concerning the creation of special zones and sanitary facilities, evacuation from the besieged zone, provision of necessary food and clothing, provision of medical and hospital care, education or transfer to a neutral country. The author notes that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not contain a provision on special protection and care for juveniles, and that children during warfare are classified exclusively as civilian population. The circumstances of the Soviet captivity of minors after September 17, 1939, their stay in and leaving the camps, the reasons for selection, after which they were left alive and not included in the “death transports”, described in the article, make it possible to determine the number of rescued and murdered.

Predicting state police officer alcohol consumption and use of tobacco

Criminal justice research has well documented the fact that law enforcement officers experience a significant amount of stress. Research also suggests law enforcement officers use tobacco (which is not healthy at any rate) and alcohol at rates exceeding those of other populations. Although several studies have documented the above across a wide variety of law enforcement populations, research has not previously explored the extent to which state police officers use tobacco and alcohol. Because no studies explore state law enforcement officer use of tobacco and alcohol, no studies exist that identify factors predictive of state police officer use of alcohol and tobacco. This study addresses these gaps in the literature by surveying all sworn state police officers of one state police agency. Policy recommendations, as they pertain to reducing state police officer use of alcohol and tobacco are discussed below.

Race, Politics, and Public Safety: A Panel Study of U.S. Highway Patrol and State Police Strength, 1981-2015

This study assesses the social, political, economic, and traffic-/travel-related predictors of sworn highway patrol and state police strength in the United States between 1981 and 2015. Fixed-effects estimates based on analyses of 1,635 state-years indicate that theoretical accounts centered on racial threat theory, partisan politics, and gendered politics in part explain variation in this outcome. Findings suggest that changes in population density, the tax base, the percentage of the population without a high school degree, violent crime rates, and spending on social welfare at the state level, as well as shifts in local law enforcement strength, also influence state police and patrol organization strength over this period. Surprisingly, fluctuations in the number of state traffic fatalities per million vehicle miles traveled and the number of driver’s licenses per 100,000 state population—two seemingly important traffic-/travel-related factors—have no impact on the rate of state police and patrol officers per 100,000 population.

Do Work-Family Conflict and Resiliency Mediate Police Stress and Burnout: a Study of State Police Officers

Occupational stress and burnout have long been recognized as common hazards among police officers. The present study examines whether demographic characteristics and assignment affect police officers’ work-family conflict (WFC), resiliency, stress and burnout, and whether WFC and resiliency mediate the stress and burnout of police officers. The data were collected from a Mid-Atlantic state police agency in the United States of America through a web-based survey. Regression results revealed that minority officers tended to have lower levels of WFC and burnout and better educated officers reported lower degrees of WFC and stress. WFC was positively related to stress and burnout, while resilience was inversely linked to stress and burnout. The effects of race and education disappeared when WFC and resiliency entered the regression, suggesting that their impact was largely mediated by WFC and resiliency. Lastly, stress was found to be positively associated with burnout. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

How cops see themselves

This study provides the first assessment of officer self-regard and physical confidence among a sample of state police officers. Specifically, this study aims to identify health and wellness predictors of officer self-regard and physical confidence. Data were collected from surveys of all sworn members of one state police agency. State police officer self-regard is predicted by officers’ work shift, officer exercise, fast food consumption, officer sleep, and officers experiencing depression. No significant predictors of officer physical confidence were identified. This is the only study of health and wellness predictors of officer self-regard and physical confidence. Several health and wellness factors are predictive of officer self-regard, but more research should be conducted to identify health and wellness predictors of officer physical confidence.

Policing prostitution in an era of human trafficking enforcement

Prostitution and commercialized vice have been variously prioritized as urban crime problems across U.S. history. In response, lawmakers have historically been guided by a prohibititionst view where people selling, buying or facilitating the sale of sex are considered to be immoral and criminal. In recent years, public concern about the trafficking of persons for sex has reframed prostitution and the expectations of government response. The U.S. federal government and all fifty states have passed legislation that is guided by an abolitionist view of prostitution where people who are forced or coerced to sell sex are redefined as victims. State, county and municipal police officers are now receiving training on how to identify human trafficking cases and investigators are being trained to investigate and prepare cases for prosecution. Despite these efforts under the new legal regime, confusion exists about how sex trafficking differs from prostitution and correspondingly necessitates different types of law enforcement responses. Adding to this complication is the fact that in many major cities the responsibility for identifying and eradicating human trafficking has fallen to the same group of investigators who are responsible for enforcing vice and prostitution laws. As a result, prostitution enforcement is expected to change as police increasingly focus on identifying sex trafficking victims. Using data on police arrests for prostitution from 1980 to 2012, we examine the impact of federal and state anti-trafficking legislation on the local enforcement of prostitution. Our findings inform debate about legal reform as a response to urban crime problems and illustrate the complexities of policy implementation and interpretation.

State police officer sleep patterns and fast food consumption

This study provides one of the first assessments of sleep patterns and fast food consumption among a sample of State police officers. Amounts of sleep and fast food consumed and the predictors of such are identified. Data are collected from surveys of all sworn members of one State police agency. State police officers get less than the recommended amount of sleep and eat an average of four fast food meals weekly. Significant predictors of sleep include participation in intramural sports, health self-assessment, higher consumption of stimulant drinks and shift worked. Predictors of fast food consumption are age, health self-assessment and higher consumption of stimulant drinks. This is the first study to focus on State police sleep and diet with an emphasis on identifying correlates of both. By identifying the predictors of officer sleep and fast food consumption the researchers are able to make several law enforcement policy recommendations that may improve officer health and wellness, and subsequently, officer performance.

Local Resistance to Immigration Federalism

The policy of “immigration federalism” has justified granting state and local police officers greatly increased responsibilities for enforcing immigration laws, but the devolution of power has also generated enormous controversy. Supporters argue that the vast number of local police and their knowledge of local conditions can substantially assist federal immigration enforcement. Critics say that the policy has caused serious problems, including increased racial profiling and more pretextual arrests for minor crimes, and that the resulting alienation of immigrant communities has reduced public safety. The controversy is not just academic, as more than 270 local jurisdictions have adopted policies designed to resist immigration federalism. In response, national legislators have now proposed legislation to squelch local resistance by cutting federal funds to those localities. Such a response is, however, fundamentally inconsistent with the very theory of federalism. The widespread resistance to immigration federalism is a reaction to the serious, if unintended consequences of localized immigration policing. A true immigration federalist should view such local resistance not as mere opposition to quash, but as a source of insight into the on-the-ground problems with current immigration policies. This article argues that the policies enacted as part of the local resistance movement may point the way both to specific solutions, and to a better – and more theoretically sound – immigration federalism.

Sex trafficking and the role of state police within Australia

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine operational policing practice with reference to reducing sex trafficking.Design/methodology/approach– This is a qualitative study in which in-depth structured interviews were conducted with state police officers in one state of Australia.Findings– The paper reveals that state police officers have a good understanding of sex trafficking and are involved in reactive policing methods in order to reduce this crime type. The data set yields a limitation in proactive policing methods for reducing sex trafficking, primarily due to human and financial resources and the composition of state and federal laws and policing practices in Australia. Those interviewed also noted how sex trafficking can disguise itself as legitimate sex work.Research limitations/implications– The effectiveness in operational practice at the local, national and international level in reducing sex trafficking can be enhanced through a more co-ordinated response to the problem. Recognition of better communication strategies and partnership working can support a reduction in sex trafficking as well as allowing those who are trafficked the status of “victim”.Practical implications– To ensure those who are trafficked for sexual servitude are viewed and treated as victims within the law. To review how state police forces in Australia are resourced in order to proactively address sex trafficking. To ensure state police forces can engage in more proactive policing initiatives in order to prevent sex trafficking. Reflect on examples of good practice between federal and state police forces in Australia to implement a co-ordinated approach for combatting sex trafficking.Originality/value– This is one of just a few studies examining organised crime from the perspective of law enforcement personnel within Australia.

Relationships of individual and organizational support with engagement: Examining various types of causality in a three-wave study

The challenges associated with facilitating an organizational environment that promotes work engagement and is supportive of employee psychological well-being are well documented. This study focused on the longitudinal relationships between work engagement and three supportive job resources: supervisor support, colleague support and individual perceptions of the wider resource of work culture support. The sample comprised 1196 employees of an Australian state police service, both police officers and civilian staff, who completed self-report surveys across three waves of data collection. Work culture support predicted higher supervisor support, colleague support and work engagement over time lags of 12 and 18 months. Furthermore, work engagement was a significant predictor of work culture support over the two time lags. Significant indirect relationships were also observed. With the large volume of work-related factors potentially influencing work engagement, the results of this research assist in clarifying the specific supportive job resources that impact upon work engagement over time. The paper discusses practical implications for the promotion of support and work engagement within high-stress occupations.

FIRE ALARMS, JURIES, AND MORAL JUDGMENT

It's nearly 10:00 AM on a Thursday morning and the courtroom is filled with more than 100 members of the jury pool. Court officials, state police officers, and defendants line the halls waiting to be called for pre-trial conferences and for jury selection to begin, then the fire alarm sounds. There is no obvious evidence of fire, no smoke, no shouts, and no other warnings. At the same time, no one announces that there is a fire drill in progress, that the alarm is merely being tested, or that the alarm was pulled by accident. Sitting in the court room, what would you do? And, more importantly, why would you do it? What goes through your head when you hear the alarm?

PTSD: Extinction, reconsolidation, and the visual-kinesthetic dissociation protocol.

Every year thousands of returning military, state, and local police officers and civilians of every description suffer from the intrusive symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Current treatments rooted largely in extinction protocols require extensive commitments of time and money and are often ineffective. This study reviews several theories of PTSD and two important mechanisms that explain when treatment does and doesn’t work: extinction and reconsolidation. It then reviews the research about and suggests an explanatory mechanism for the visual-kinesthetic dissociation protocol (V/KD), also known as the rewind technique. The technique is notable for its lack of discomfort to the client, the possibility of being executed as a content-free intervention, its speed of operation, and its long-term, if largely anecdotal, efficacy. A case study, specific diagnostics for extinction, and reconsolidative mechanisms and suggestions for future research are provided.