Tag: Research

Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2024 Update – Council on Criminal Justice

Key Takeaways

This study updates and supplements previous U.S. crime trends reports by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) with data through December 2024. It examines yearly and monthly rates of reported crime for 13 violent, property, and drug offenses in 40 American cities that have consistently reported monthly data over the past six years. The 40 cities are not necessarily representative of all jurisdictions in the United States. Not all cities published data for each offense (see the Appendix for which cities reported which offenses); trends in offenses with fewer reporting cities should be viewed with caution. Not all crimes are reported to law enforcement. In addition, the data collected for this report are subject to revision by local jurisdictions.

Reported levels of 12 of the 13 offenses covered in this report were lower in 2024 than in 2023; shoplifting was the only offense higher in 2024 compared to 2023.
— Read on counciloncj.org/crime-trends-in-u-s-cities-year-end-2024-update/

Episode 5: Procedural Justice

Police In-service Training Podcasts

This is an interesting and straightforward discussion on Procedural Justice. More of an overview on Procedural Justice. The host Dr. Scott Phillips is a great guy that I know personally. The guest Dr. Justin Nix is a excellent professor that I follow on Twitter. Check out Nix’s website.

Procedural Justice is more than a simple buzzword.  It is related to police legitimacy, de-escalation, hot spots policing, and organizational justice.This week we talk with Dr. Justin Nix, a Distinguished Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University…
— Read on www.buzzsprout.com/2413505/episodes/16416693-episode-5-procedural-justice

Old Saybrook Releases Damning Outside Investigation of Police Chief Michael Spera, Workplace Practices – CT Examiner

A long-anticipated study by the Police Executive Research Forum concluded that the high rate of turnover in the Old Saybrook Police Department was the result of a toxic and “unpleasant” workplace characterized by mandatory overtime, fear of retaliation, unfair promotions and an overall poor organizational climate. 

“In interview after interview, employees described an unhealthy work environment filled with stress and paranoia,” the report read. 

The study was prompted by persistently high levels of turnover in the department. In July 2023, with a staffing level of only 17 officers, Police Chief Michael Spera requested that the town increase officer pay and benefits to incentivize more officers to stay. But First Selectman Carl Fortuna said he wanted to be sure that increasing benefits would reduce the turnover, and asked for an organizational study of the department. 

Residents overwhelmingly voted in January 2024 to approve the study. 
— Read on ctexaminer.com/2025/01/08/old-saybrook-releases-damning-outside-investigation-of-police-chief-michael-spera-workplace-practices/

Get a copy of the report HERE

RIPA Board Report 2025

The Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (Board), supported by CRES and OGC, released its eighth annual report on January 1, 2025. The 2025 report contains an analysis of more than 4.7 million police and pedestrian stops conducted in 2023 under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA). The report focuses on the policing of youth and examines available research that illustrates police stops and their associated actions have harmful repercussions for youth that reverberate beyond the initial stop itself. Studies show that direct contact with law enforcement is associated with poor educational outcomes, including reduced test scores and lower grade point averages, in addition to other downstream effects like disparities in the criminal legal system as well as in health and economic wellbeing.
— Read on oag.ca.gov/ab953/board/reports

Audit of the Municipal Police Training Committee

Executive Summary
In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022.

The purpose of our audit was to determine the following:

whether MPTC developed and implemented the trainings required by Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2018 (also known as the Criminal Justice Reform Act) and Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 (also known as the Police Reform Law), which are codified in Sections 116 A–D and G–K of Chapter 6 of the General Laws;
whether MPTC ensured that all MPTC-operated and MPTC-authorized training academies delivered a standardized training curriculum as required by Section 4(f)(1) of Chapter 6E of the General Laws; and
whether MPTC processed permanent exemptions to, and temporary waivers of, training requirements in accordance with Section 3.03 of Title 550 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations.
— Read on www.mass.gov/audit/audit-of-the-municipal-police-training-committee

What Happened after California Changed the Rules Related to Police Use of Deadly Force? – Public Policy Institute of California

Five years ago, state lawmakers limited the legal justifications for police officers’ use of deadly force. We examine recent trends in the number of people seriously injured or killed during police encounters as well as in the provision of timely medical care for those injured.
— Read on www.ppic.org/blog/what-happened-after-california-changed-the-rules-related-to-police-use-of-deadly-force/