Tag: Research

Study of US law enforcement co-responder programs identifies wide variations

In response to demands for police reform, agencies have begun to pursue alternative responses to calls involving mental health crises. Across the United States, jurisdictions are adopting co-responder teams that bring qualified mental or behavioral health professionals to police emergency response calls. In a new study, researchers have surveyed local and state law enforcement agencies to determine the prevalence and use of these teams. They found wide variation in the types of teams and how they operate.
— Read on phys.org/news/2024-11-law-wide-variations.html

State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies and Recruits, 2022 – Statistical Tables | Bureau of Justice Statistics

Description
This report describes the number and types of law enforcement training academies in the United States in 2022, and it presents findings on the characteristics of recruits and training outcomes. Findings in the report are based primarily on the 2022 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA), the fifth iteration of the data collection.
Conducted periodically since 2002, CLETA collects information from training academies that are responsible for administering mandatory basic training to newly appointed or elected law enforcement officers on recruits, staff, training curricula, equipment, and facilities. These academies are operated by state, regional, county, and municipal agencies and by universities, colleges, and technical schools. Academies that provide only in-service training are excluded from CLETA.
— Read on bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/state-and-local-law-enforcement-training-academies-and-recruits-2022

Police Department Staffing Study | South Hadley, MA – Official Website

On April 3, 2024 the town contracted with Municipal Resources Inc, (MRI) of Plymouth NH to conduct a staffing study of the Police Department.  MRI will conduct a multi-year look-back at various aspects of the organization , including calls for service, staffing levels, budget and project data into a reasonable future view to assist with identifying what the town should anticipate for staffing now and in the future. 

The Town Administrator solicited letters of interest to serve on the Police Staffing Study Advisory Committee from May 2024 to May 2025. The committee will provide input into the process and draft of the study. There will be a minimum 3-5 meetings over the course of the term, and depend on committee member availability and the need. There will be a public forum held prior to January 2025, the date that MRI will be finalizing a report. There will also be committee input into the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process in early 2025. 

The committee members will work with the Town Administrator, Police Chief and the consultant for the Police Staffing Study.
— Read on www.southhadley.org/1427/Police-Department-Staffing-Study

The Impact of Individualized Focused Deterrence on Criminal and Prosocial Outcomes

This research memorandum published by CNA’s Safety and Security Division (SAS) and funded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, examines the impact of individualized focused deterrence on criminal prosocial outcomes.
— Read on www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/impact-individualized-focused-deterrence-criminal-and-prosocial

Celebrating 40 Years of Impact: A Special Episode with Former Directors of BJA

In this special episode of Justice Today, we’re marking a major milestone in the world of justice and public safety—the 40th Anniversary of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). As one of the nation’s leading agencies for advancing justice reform and supporting public safety initiatives, BJA ha…
— Read on www.buzzsprout.com/1861872/episodes/16091268

More Law Enforcement Spending Accompanies Worse, Not Improved Crime-solving | Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

Nothing is mentioned about progressive policies that reshaped crime, discourage victims to participate in the CJS, and embolden criminals. These factors contribute to lower clearance rates.

Rising law enforcement inefficiency — not reforms— is the key issue affecting Californians’ safety.
— Read on www.cjcj.org/reports-publications/report/more-law-enforcement-spending-accompanies-worse-not-improved-crime-solving

Did American Police Originate from Slave Patrols? by Timothy Hsiao | NAS

Critics of American policing often make the claim that it is a direct descendant of antebellum slave patrols, the mostly voluntary groups organized to capture runaway slaves and stifle slave rebellions in the early eighteenth century. Consider just a few examples:

“The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the ‘Slave Patrol.’” — NAACP1
“Policing itself started out as slave patrols. We know that.”—Rep. James Clyburn.2
— Read on www.nas.org/academic-questions/36/3/did-american-police-originate-from-slave-patrols

Declines in victims calling the police in 21st-century America: how the trends vary by race/ethnicity and racial-immigration contexts | Crime Science | Full Text

Abstract
Victims’ willingness to call the police facilitates access to the justice system and potential resources. Research shows a decline in police notification in the United States in recent decades, but the research has not assessed variation in trends across different racial/ethnic groups and different racial-immigration contexts. This study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data from 52 metropolitan areas in the United States from 2000 to 2015 to investigate how victims across racial/ethnic groups vary in the likelihood of crime reporting based on geographic context. The results show that Black, Latino, and Asian victims’ crime-reporting behavior is influenced by the racial/ethnic and immigrant composition of the metropolitan areas. While the likelihood of police notification between racial/ethnic minorities and Whites is often similar when averaged across areas, minority victims in areas with higher percentages of Black or immigrant residents show a lower likelihood of crime reporting than their White counterparts. The higher percentage of immigrants is also associated with a steeper decline in the reporting of property crimes. These findings demonstrate the context-dependent nature of crime reporting. They help explain mixed evidence on the associations of race/ethnicity with police notification. To understand the crime-reporting behavior of victims, especially those who are racially marginalized, more attention to racial-immigration contexts is needed.
— Read on crimesciencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40163-024-00233-7