Digital Commons Network^™

Who Do Civilian Review Boards Serve And Protect? Applying Andre Gorz’S Non-Reformist Reform Theoretical Framework To Empirical Analysis From New York State, Jackson Diamond

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the wake of countless high-profile instances of police violence and repression against civilians in the United States, waves of reformation have washed over American police departments. Some have questioned the efficacy of these reforms, as civilians continue to suffer acts of violence at the hands of the police. One such reform measure, adopted broadly in recent years, is the creation of civilian police review boards. To analyze how this reform has affected citizens’ ability to hold their police departments accountable for their actions, I analyzed a sample of 89 municipal police departments in New York state in the year …

Understanding The Role Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Resilience In Police Officers, Wayne F. Handley

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Police officers are subject to a variety of stressors not only from job-related events resulting from direct or vicarious trauma exposure (Andersen & Papazoglou, 2014; Brown et al., 1999; Iversen et al., 2008) but also from family and personal concerns (Burke, 1998; Page & Jacobs, 2011), and administrative pressures originating from within their own agencies (Violanti et al., 2018; White et al., 2016). Prior to their careers as police officers, individuals may also be exposed to traumatic events early in life. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are described as negative events related to emotional, physical, or sexual abuse or neglect, exposure …

The Spatial Risk Of Assault On Police Officers In Toronto, Ontario, Stephanie C. Pongracz

MA Research Paper

Since September 12^th, 2022, nine police officers in Canada have been fatally assaulted in the line of duty. These officer deaths raise important questions concerning the nature of risks police face on duty, as well as the ways we can better understand those risks. Utilizing a Risk Terrain Modelling (RTM) approach, this study examined the risk of assault to police officers in Toronto, Ontario using Assault to Peace Officer data from January 1^st, 2022, to December 31^st, 2022. This study revealed that the risk of assault to police varies by the physical features present …

Transforming Law Enforcement To Attract Candidates From The Millennial Generation, Jason Muelken

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

There is a widespread shortage of law enforcement candidates throughout the nation, resulting in agencies needing to increase their efforts to maintain staffing. The largest group in the workforce, the millennial generation, holds unique set of traits that make recruiting, retention, and leadership challenging for law enforcement administration. With the decrease in law enforcement applicant pools, recruitment and retention success is paramount to maintaining a successful organization in the future. An action plan is needed to practically, and ethically apply the change of approach to a workplace. This paper discusses how these changes may impact peers, the community, and additional …

Improving Police Officer Recruiting, Retention, And Job Satisfaction, Mitch Christensen

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

This Capstone paper covered the topics of police officer recruiting, retention, and job satisfaction. It detailed current issues surrounding these topics, and promoted actionable and evidence-based changes to improve those issues. Topics were analyzed through administrative, ethical, and legal and legislative lens views. These proposed measures served as confirmation that current concerning trends can be mitigated, if not reversed, with thoughtful and thorough actions by police administrators and frontline employees alike.

Worst Practices: Departmental Predictors Of Police-Involved Deaths In Minnesota, 2013–2022, Joseph D. Ramlet

Capstone Projects

For decades, police departments in every part of the United States have been scrutinized for incidents of excessive and unjustified force. Some departments kill more of the citizenry than others, both with and without justification. Attention is drawn to Minnesota in the decade since the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement, through and after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent racial reckoning. Existing scholarship categorizes factors as individual and contextual, both of which are included in partial least squares regression performed on crowdsourced data and responses to Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics surveys from 29 departments in …

Examining The Experiences Of Dei Practitioners: A Look At The Racial Disparity In Policing Of Black People And The Subsequent Need For Adaptive Leadership, Lashawn Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, Black people in the U.S. have had to navigate structural and institutional racism. This is especially true for the system of policing, which evolved from pre-emancipation slave patrols. Though law enforcement agencies have made strides in the past 160 years, Black people continue to be targeted and killed by police at a disproportionate rate. Evidence shows that DEI training initiatives within policing often fail to reduce this racial disparity that exists in policing. Yet, improved training outcomes surrounding racial relations continues to be a priority. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of …

Shifting Blame And Gendered Differences: A News Media Study Of The Characterization Of Police Sexual Violence, Brittany Nieman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis offers a critical analysis of media representations of police sexual violence cases in Canada. This paper looks to fill the gap on media representations of police sexual violence cases and to contribute to long standing literature on gendered issues in policing. Symbolic interactionism, framing theory, and critical feminist ideologies make up the theoretical background for this work. Using Altheide and Schneiders (2012) Qualitative Document Analysis Process, a media analysis was conducted on 104 Canadian news articles revolving around police sexual violence cases occurring on Canadian policing services. This study primarily revealed a dichotomy in representations of the complainant …

The Impact Of De-Escalation And Mental Illness Trainings On Civilian Complaints, Deaths, And Injuries Across United States' Police Departments In 2005, Annabeth Fox

Master of Science in Criminal Justice Theses & (Pre-2016) Policy Research Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential impacts that mandatory police trainings, such as de-escalation tactics and use of force trainings, have on the number of suspects who are injured, shot and killed, and citizen complaints of unnecessary force used by police officers. An examination on training programs specifically aimed at responding to incidents involving people with mental illnesses will determine if the use of these trainings results in fewer suspect injuries and reported unnecessary force incidents. It is thus hypothesized that the mandatory enforcement of these mental health trainings within police departments will result in fewer …

Restrictive Pursuit Policies And Rising Violent Crime, Ryan Kelly

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Consequences can be a driving factor for why citizens follow laws in the United States. Financial and physical freedom is valued. Citizen’s behavior may change if police officers threaten to take these things away for breaking laws. Policymakers today are working to restrict when law enforcement officers can chase criminals for breaking the law. Suppose the ability of law enforcement to hold criminals accountable is restricted. Would this not lead a reasonable person to believe that criminals may think they are free to commit crimes? This paper will cover current trends in violent crime in both the United States and …

Where Do We Go From Here? Reconsidering Crowd Management And Control In The Wake Of The George Floyd Era Of Protests., Nicholas Steiger

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

This research evaluated police response to protests and considered crowd management and control in the wake of the George Floyd era of protests. The research reviewed the history of crowd management and control and evaluated new methods to increase police legitimacy. It proposed the adoption of the Elaborated Social Identity Model of crowd control and provided agencies with additional recommendations that may increase ethical decision-making. It proposed that forming multi-jurisdictional mobile field force teams for crowd management and control will increase the professionalism of the police and help ensure the rights and safety of those participating in First Amendment activities. …

Exploring And Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Greeley’S Mental Health Co-Responder Program And “Squad 1”, Mikelle Angiuli

Master's Theses

Law enforcement officers are often the de facto emergency response for mental health crises despite having little to no mental health training. With nearly 20% of U.S. adults reporting experiencing a mental illness and recent police reform movements bringing attention to alternative policing practices and policies, there is arguably a need for comprehensive mental health treatment and emergency response in the U.S. (Mental Health America, n.d.). The cities of Greeley and Evans, Colorado have implemented a mental health co-responder program that involves individual mental health clinicians and a mental health ambulance, Squad 1, responding alongside police on mental health calls …

Segmenting The Thin Blue Line: An Ethnographic Content Analysis Of Myth And Ritual In Contemporary U.S. Police Film, Alexandra Szmutko

Doctoral Dissertations

The continued ills of mass incarceration, combined with the more recent rash of police-caused killings of people of color, make it clear that the U.S. criminal justice system is experiencing a period of profound crisis related to policing. This dissertation aims to interrogate the cultural ideologies supporting the existing policing enterprise in the U.S. To do this, the study first examines the foundational myths that shape prevailing cultural perceptions of the police and their social role. Ethnographic content analysis methodology is then utilized to identify both the presence and the subversion of these myths and their attendant rituals in a …

The Future Of Deep Fakes: Analyzing The Potential Future Consequences Of The Widespread Use Of Deepfakes On The Policing Sector, Maryam Salem Alshamsi

Theses

In today’s world there is a growing uncertainty in terms of the truthfulness of what we see and hear. People digest a great amount of information throughout the day using their devices, yet the quality and credibility of content is in question. People question if we are experiencing and perceiving the same reality at this point. This issue is not novel, however, it has progressed and developed to a level of realism that deceives people and affect their comprehension of information. Rapid technological advancement has raised the concern of what is referred to as “Deepfakes”, a machine learning technique that …

Sex Trading, Exiting, And Interactions With Police: A Mixed Methods Study Of Women Engaged In Street Level Sex Trading, Daria J. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

Street level sex trading is associated with multiple risks to health, safety, and well-being, thus many individuals who are currently engaged would like to exit and/or have attempted to do so. Multiple facilitators and barriers at all levels of a person’s ecology have been found to affect the exiting process, such as substance use, formal and informal social supports, and the collateral consequences of criminalization of sex trading. Yet, a more comprehensive examination of the complex interplay of these factors has been lacking. In addition, little attention has focused on women’s encounters with police and the ensuing effects on their …

Police And Their Relationship With The Public, Kevin Hebri

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This research essay aims to understand some of the social themes relevant to issues present between the public and the police institutions of the United States. Existing literature about this topic has noted the decentralized nature of law enforcement in the United States and the differences in policies and procedures used by different police departments and agencies. The existing literature has also cited the importance of police officer discretion and the situational factors that contribute to their decision-making. Occupational stress, and characteristics of a civilian involved in a police interaction, influence the decision-making process for police officers. This research is …

Individual Differences In Police Officers’ Decision Styles In Order Maintenance Policing, Damarrah Elisheba Jameson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Day-to-day police work tends to be in order maintenance policing. These encounters necessitate officer discretion in decision responses to manage them. These decision responses reflect an officer’s decision style which precedes the encounter and drives subsequent decision making to manage them. However, little is known about officer-level decision style. For example, whether an officer has a rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, or spontaneous decision style (Scott& Bruce, 1995). Police training in any format often lacks attention to decision styles. As such, an officer’s decision style is most likely associated with demographics (e.g., age, gender) and occupational self-efficacy – a reflection of …

Alternative Approaches To Police Interventions When Responding To Mental Health Crises Incidents, Karen Rivera Apolinar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Purpose: This study explored mental health workers perspectives on alternative approaches in responding to mental health crises.

The study was carried out in Southern California, in collaboration with mental health workers who currently work or previously have worked in mental health crisis. It adopted a post-positivists paradigm and data was gathered through individual interviews with mental health workers who have direct experience with mental health crisis response in the community and with the police. The twenty participants in the study were men and women working in the mental health field, and of various backgrounds, licensures, and ages.

The study found …

Police Harassment And Latinx Mental Health: The Moderating Role Of Family Support And Nativity, Veronica Lauren Heredia

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Relative to their population size, communities of color experience disproportionate occurrences of harassment (Wilson et. al., 2020). Reports on police killings from 2013 to 2018 display that Black individuals constituted 27.5% of those killed, despite making up only 13% of the population (Siegel, 2020). The U.S. Latinx population is similarly impacted, given reports that they also experience police targeting (Edwards et. al., 2019; Gaston et. al., 2021; Harris et. al., 2020; Zimmerman et. al., 2021). Empirical evidence has shown a positive association between police harassment exposure and depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms in Latinx populations (Chin et. al., 2020; Del …

The Faces Of Crime: How Municipal Police Department Presence On Social Media Influences The Lives Of Incarcerated Americans, Carley Frost

Honors Theses

This photographic exposé and the complimentary research was designed to highlight the impact of municipal police department presence on social media and the consequences it has on those who are featured on the pages. As social media became a centerpoint of social life, police departments sought to utilize social media in a way that uplifted the department; however, in doing so, incarcerated members of the community were simultaneously being publicly humiliated. Their mugshots and alleged charges were published onto the department social media pages, allowing their family and peers to comment and share freely. These individuals report difficulty finding a …

An Evaluation Of Three Procedures To Achieve Robust Responding For Police Informed Curriculum For Care Providers Of Individuals Diagnosed With Asd, Lauren St. Vincent

Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy

Abstract

To address improving interactions between the ASD community and police, various assessment formats were analyzed to determine a tool that evokes robust responding (i.e. answers that are varied, informative, and in-depth) from police officers. Within participant analysis and across participant analysis were used to determine which procedure evokes the more robust response. Officer responses were more informative when provided assessments that used open-ended questions rather than close-ended questions. Results also suggest that using multiple question formats for the same information aid in obtaining response diversity.

Keywords: ASD, police, assessment, robust responding, within and across participant analysis

Law Enforcement's Assistance To The Mental Health Community, Megan Thompson

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Mental health calls are an overwhelmingly consistent part of the law enforcement profession. With the lack of resources for the mental health community, law enforcement officers are becoming the contingency strategy. Relationships between the law enforcement and mental health communities are becoming imperative for every community. While developing these relationships, law enforcement officers can begin to develop response teams to handle mental health calls for service. Bringing on board clinical and non-clinical professionals from the mental health community can provide different intervention and therapy programs. Basic ethical principles, accepted in culture, include but are not limited to respect, honesty, and …

Formation Of A Mental Health Co-Responder Unit, Tom Smith

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

The current models of treating mentally ill people with police contact are not working and have never worked. Mentally ill people, or those in crisis, often slip through gaps in the criminal justice and hospital systems. It is time for criminal justice and medical treatment systems to work together to help those with mental illnesses. Properly implemented programs and policies will allow officers to respond better to people experiencing a crisis. These programs, and ethically implemented policies, will enable officers to better serve people by getting them the necessary services while limiting the potential for using force, jail, and hospitalization. …

The Impact Of Utilitarian Public Policies On Minority Communities: A Comparison Of New York City And New South Wales, Australia., Nicholas Reyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to highlight and critique the ways in which utilitarianism manifests itself in comparative public policy. While public policy studies tend to focus on national levels, cities, and states can also be major sites of theoretical and policy formulation that are adopted globally. The moral ethics that are involved in public policy are especially important because these policies have a direct impact on society. Utilitarianism encompasses the logic of utility maximization: the ends justify the means and the idea that the moral ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the …

Exploring Dual Roles In Law Enforcement Officers Who Administer Naloxone, Regina Sullivan Wachenheim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the introduction of law enforcement-administered naloxone, officers are assuming the dual role of law enforcer and caregiver with opioid users. This study used cognitive role theory and Thorne’s interpretive approach to explore the dual roles experienced by officers. The purpose of this study was to understand (1) how officers who administer naloxone describe their experience of the dual role, and (2) how the officers describe the role expectations of law enforcer and caregiver. Seven officers completed semi-structured, one-on-one, telephone interviews. The eight themes that emerged were related to the officers’ views of (1) saving and changing opioid users’ lives; …

Exploring Dual Roles In Law Enforcement Officers Who Administer Naloxone, Regina Sullivan Wachenheim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the introduction of law enforcement-administered naloxone, officers are assuming the dual role of law enforcer and caregiver with opioid users. This study used cognitive role theory and Thorne’s interpretive approach to explore the dual roles experienced by officers. The purpose of this study was to understand (1) how officers who administer naloxone describe their experience of the dual role, and (2) how the officers describe the role expectations of law enforcer and caregiver. Seven officers completed semi-structured, one-on-one, telephone interviews. The eight themes that emerged were related to the officers’ views of (1) saving and changing opioid users’ lives; …

How Police Investigators View Credibility Of Victims Of Sexual Assault Crimes, Lakesha Richele Boone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual assault is a sensitive topic, and research has become increasingly popular. Most literature focuses on stigma, attitudes, and perceptions that victims and law enforcement have about each other. Law enforcement officers are responsible for making charging decisions based on their investigations and ways by which they determine credibility and reliability of victims. It was unclear what criteria law enforcement officers use to ascertain relevant flaws in victim character and credibility. The purpose of this study was to explore how law enforcement officers evaluate credibility of sexual assault victims during investigations. The feminist legal, just world, and rape myth acceptance …

Lived Experiences Of College-Educated African American Males During Police Interactions In Central Kentucky, Lawerence Eric Charles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recent high-profile incidents involving police interaction with Black citizens have increased community outrage and racial divisions between police and African Americans. Despite previous research on relations between African Americans and police, little literature has focused on the lived experiences of college-educated African American males when interacting with police. In the study 12 participants were interviewed. The analytical approach was grounded theory, which identified seven themes that most of the men had in common. One shared lived experience expressed the need for collaborative and inclusive policies that prevent bias, police brutality, and wrongful arrest and detention of the African American community. …

Lived Experiences Of College-Educated African American Males During Police Interactions In Central Kentucky, Lawerence Eric Charles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recent high-profile incidents involving police interaction with Black citizens have increased community outrage and racial divisions between police and African Americans. Despite previous research on relations between African Americans and police, little literature has focused on the lived experiences of college-educated African American males when interacting with police. In the study 12 participants were interviewed. The analytical approach was grounded theory, which identified seven themes that most of the men had in common. One shared lived experience expressed the need for collaborative and inclusive policies that prevent bias, police brutality, and wrongful arrest and detention of the African American community. …

How Police Investigators View Credibility Of Victims Of Sexual Assault Crimes, Lakesha Richele Boone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual assault is a sensitive topic, and research has become increasingly popular. Most literature focuses on stigma, attitudes, and perceptions that victims and law enforcement have about each other. Law enforcement officers are responsible for making charging decisions based on their investigations and ways by which they determine credibility and reliability of victims. It was unclear what criteria law enforcement officers use to ascertain relevant flaws in victim character and credibility. The purpose of this study was to explore how law enforcement officers evaluate credibility of sexual assault victims during investigations. The feminist legal, just world, and rape myth acceptance …