Digital Commons Network^™

Law Enforcement Perspectives Towards Mental Health Crisis Interventions, Anna P. Silva

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mental health crisis calls create significant challenges for law enforcement officers, who often serve as the first responders to individuals experiencing psychological distress. Research indicates that 50% of fatal encounters with law enforcement involve individuals with a mental health disorder (Fuller et al., 2015; Kindy & Elliott, 2015). Although the increasing prevalence of mental health- related calls, law enforcement officers frequently lack the specialized training and resources necessary to effectively de-escalate these situations (Cohen & Bagwell, 2023). As a result, interactions between police officers and individuals with mental illness tend to lead to criminalization, unnecessary incarceration, and even fatal outcomes. …

Understanding The Needs Of The Intellectually And Developmentally Disabled And Autistic Population In The Criminal Justice System, Emily Sateary

Master of Arts in Human Services

This paper explores the inequitable treatment of the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled and Autistic (IDD/A) population in the criminal justice system. Although progress has been made over the past century with understanding the unique needs of this population, they still face challenges at all stages of the criminal justice system. Behavioral, social skills, and sensory challenges make it difficult for the IDD/A population to avoid criminal justice contact and to understand the criminal justice process. Insufficient training for police and attorneys harms both persons with IDD/A and criminal justice professionals. This paper examines current practices in place that are barriers …

Relationship Between Department Of Justice Consent Decrees And Police Use Of Force And Search And Seizure Incidents, Judith Crowell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Efforts to reform law enforcement practices related to use of force and search and seizure incidents have largely involved policy revisions and training enhancements. This study compares use of force and search and seizure incidents in the Baltimore City (BCPD) and the Chicago (CPD) Police Departments before and after the implementation of a Department of Justice (DOJ) Consent Decree. An Independent Samples t-test was used to analyze whether there was a statistically significant difference between pre and post use of force incidents and search and seizure incidents by the BCPD and the CPD. Secondary data regarding the BCPD use of …

Warriors And Guardians: Police Recruit Role Orientation And Heterogeneity, Robert Boxerman

Dissertations

American police have experienced an expansion of duties over the last century, and their function has become increasingly diverse. As a result, researchers have developed role orientation typologies to understand how officers view themselves, their attitudes toward their work, and their responsibilities. One such typology is the warrior/guardian framework, where warrior-oriented officers see themselves as crime-fighting soldiers in conflict with criminals, while guardian-oriented officers view themselves as protectors of the community and providers of broader public services. Despite its popularity, there is limited empirical evidence supporting this framework. Further, little research examines how police recruits differentially view their role as …

Advancing Inclusivity: The Case For Change In Law Enforcement Training Regarding Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities And Autism, Sarah Stendel

Honors Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are two neurodevelopmental disorders that, while different, can overlap for some individuals. ASD can present itself in difficulties in areas such as communication, processing of senses, and restricted and/or repetitive behavior. ID can present itself in ways such as difficulties with social skills, reasoning, problem-solving, and processing information. This honors thesis began from the thought that both ASD and ID may make any encounter with law enforcement officers more challenging as compared to law enforcement interactions with neurotypical individuals. In fact, research referenced in this thesis project shows that police officers frequently …

Achieving Positive Outcomes Using Rapport-Based Police Interviewing In Sex Offense Investigations, Mark A. Dainty

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Rapport is a critical component of interpersonal communication marked by verbal and non-verbal behaviors including attention, positivity, and coordination. The presence of these indicators during police interviews is positively correlated with information yield. This grounded theory study examined the relationship between rapport and information yield as measured by the quantity of details interviewees disclosed to investigators, particularly sensitive or incriminating details. The theory guiding this study was Cesare Beccaria’s classical criminology Rational Choice Theory, which suggests offenders are rational beings who conduct a cost-benefit analysis before engaging in crime. Investigators applying this theory and employing rapport-based interviewing skills will elicit …

Community-Driven Policy Solutions To Police Accountability, Rashawn Ray

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

George Floyd’s death shifted public opinion as 76% of Americans agreed that incidents such as the killing of Floyd are signs of racism within law enforcement. While police reforms such as implicit bias training and body-worn cameras gained public support, they insufficiently address the structural, cultural, and organizational components of policing that can obstruct accountability and contribute to racial disparities in policing. In this lecture, Brooking Senior Fellow Rashawn Ray presents interview, survey, social media, and virtual reality data with police officers, activists, and civilians, and demonstrates state- and city-level databases on police reform legislation. Ray posits that evidence-based policy …

Explaining Police Officer Intentions To Leave Their Career Field, Michael T. Rossler, Charles Scheer

Faculty Publications - Criminal Justice Sciences

Research examining police officer retention has generally relied upon general work environment predictors to explain intentions to leave a police career. Recent research has applied theory explaining departures as a multistep process, where job satisfaction and stress mediate the relationship between work conditions and leaving the profession. These prior inquiries have been methodologically limited in the number of predictors and agencies included. The current inquiry uses a survey of eight police agencies to test the conceptual framework that job satisfaction and stress mediate the relationship between workplace environment and intentions to leave policing. Findings indicate that many commonly theorized predictors …

Individual Liberty, Safety And Police Liabilities Under The Mental Health (Care And Treatment) Act, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

How should a society strike a balance between the objective of ensuring safety from dangers that may be posed by individuals believed to have a mental disorder and the deprivation of their liberty? How should police officers discharge their duties in apprehending such individuals with a view to conveying them to a medical practitioner at a psychiatric institution? These legal issues took centrestage in the Singapore High Court decision of Mah Kiat Seng v Attorney-General in which the apprehended individual brought claims in false imprisonment against a police officer. The decision examined the underlying purposes of the Singapore Mental Health …

Strategies Police Agencies Can Implement To Improve Officer Mental Health, Robert Gleason

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The profession of law enforcement is commonly recognized as being extremely stressful. Policing has the potential to produce extraordinarily high levels of stress among officers, particularly in contemporary political and social situations. This stress can be induced by several reasons, including but not limited to the occupation itself, the organization, and the organizational leadership. Long-term exposure to chronic stress has been linked to adverse effects on mental and physical health, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, exhaustion, and, in extreme situations, suicidal ideations and attempts. This qualitative study examined strategies and initiatives that police officers believe would help agencies …

Police Wellness, Autum Shurbert-Hetzel

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

A career in Law Enforcement allows people to build partnerships with community members to work towards a common goal of enhancing public safety through collaboration and trust. It's a rewarding yet often challenging career because officers must make split-second decisions in high-stress situations while working long hours and missing family events. Over time, police officers experience stressors from their jobs and personal lives that become overwhelming and difficult to navigate due to the unforeseen challenges of their chosen career in law enforcement. These challenges make it crucial for officers to find approaches that enable them to overcome these challenges that …

Creating Peer Support For Law Enforcement And Incorporating Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Justin Day

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Creating change such as a new wellness program can be a difficult task, but it can be broken down into specific steps that make it slightly less daunting. Leaders need to be at the forefront of changes within their organization by leading by example and creating a culture that is inclusive of wellness. Utilizing policy creation, a wellness committee and clearly defining goals can help leaders successfully implement a new wellness program. Ethically, many reasons support the creation of a peer support program to help support employees in the criminal justice field. Ensuring ethical expectations and accountability are paramount in …

Ever-Increasing Statistics Of Police Response To Mental Health Crisis Calls: Best Practices, Lauren Olson

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

This paper explores the evolving role of police officers in addressing mental health crises, emphasizing the challenges and ethical dilemmas they face due to insufficient training and resources. It highlights the need for specialized training, ethical guidelines, and collaboration with mental health professionals to equip officers better and ensure public safety.

The paper advocates for policy and practice shifts to address the growing demands on law enforcement in mental health situations. The rising trend of mental health calls presents significant challenges for police officers, who often lack the resources and training to provide appropriate assistance, resulting in higher incarceration rates …

An Investigation Of Homicide And Aggravated Assault Rates In Relation To Police Attrition, Terence Sweeney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Between January 2021 and December 2022, a surge in retirements and resignations among U.S. police departments coincided with a notable rise in violent crime in urban areas. This correlational study used a retrospective approach to test the theory that a correlation existed between the unprecedented attrition of sworn officers following the 2020 social unrest and the contemporaneous sudden spike in violent crime rates in major cities during that same period. In addition, this study aimed to explore whether the four cities reacted similarly and simultaneously during the 24 months under study. The population under study was the attrition rates of …

Physical Fitness And Wellness In Law Enforcement, Tavion Buchanan

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Long hours, shift work, and general poor nutrition factor into a multitude of reasons why first responders are obese, suffering from mental illnesses, and dying at a faster rate than the general public. First responders also suffer from PTSD, alcoholism, and commit suicide as a direct result of the horrendous things they see and respond to. Administrators should attempt to mitigate these issues by leading from the front when it comes to physical fitness and mental health. Administrators should also give first responders ample opportunity to work on their mental health and physical wellbeing. Law enforcement is one of the …

Recruitment And Retention In Law Enforcement, Jefferson Dennis

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

This capstone paper covered the topic of recruitment and retention. It detailed issues around this topic and ways to improve it. United States law enforcement agencies face challenges when recruiting qualified personnel, including issues related to image, working under stress, low pay scale, and disciplined organizations. Topics were analyzed through administrative, ethical, legal, and legislative lenses. The study outlines comprehensive policy changes that include a broad and competitive pay structure, increased support to mental health workers, better community outreaches, and product modernization in recruitment and retention.

The Reality Of The Good Faith Exception, Matthew Tokson, Michael Gentithes

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The Fourth Amendment’s primary remedy is the exclusion of unlawfully obtained evidence at trial. But not every defendant whose rights are violated gets a remedy. The most substantial obstacle for defendants is the good faith exception, which directs courts to admit unlawfully collected evidence if the police can show they relied in good faith on existing authority. If the police rely on a statute that turns out to be unconstitutional, or a warrant or precedent that turns out to be invalid, the evidence they obtain will nonetheless be admitted under the good faith exception. The Supreme Court has justified this …

The History Of Policing And The Impact On Minority Communities: The Case Against Police Abolition, F. Lee Francis

MC Law Review

This article critically examines the implications of former FBI Director James Comey’s assertions regarding the rise in violent crime and the phenomenon known as “The Ferguson Effect,” which posits that law enforcement officers are increasingly hesitant to engage in proactive policing due to fear of public backlash and viral scrutiny. Comey’s comments, made in a 2015 speech, sparked significant debate about the psychological impact of heightened scrutiny on police behavior and the potential consequences for public safety.

Through a multi-part analysis, the article first traces the historical development of policing in ancient civilizations and its evolution in the United States …

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

The Assessment Of Implicit Bias Among Police Personnel: A Systematic Review, Emily Deutsch

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the essential and powerful role police officers play within the communities they serve, systematic racism in law enforcement has become a key topic of public discourse, including increased demand for evidence-based changes in police selection. This includes recommendations or requirements to assess implicit bias in police candidates (e.g., California Assembly Bill 846). Implicit bias refers to the spontaneous/automatic associations or evaluations made of members of a particular group (Kim & Roberson, 2021). The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training’s (POST’s) Bias Assessment Framework provides recommendations to police psychologists on the assessment of implicit bias, but curiously …

“People [Are] Not Dying Because Officers Aren't Following Their Training. ‘It's Because They Are.”: The Construction Of Police De-Escalation Of Individuals In Mental Health Crises In Canadian Media, Renée Haddock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Police are often assumed to be the "de facto" response to people in mental health crises. Contact between police and Canadians with mental illness and in crisis is routine and on the rise (Livingston, 2016). Police responses to these incidences have been criticized after several, highly publicized and tragic encounters between police and people in mental health crisis and the overrepresentation of people of colour in these instances. Media outlets determine which stories are prioritized, how they are framed, and which information to include or omit (Fawzi, 2018). Notably, public knowledge of police activities greatly impacts community perceptions of police …

Religious Police Forces With Public Powers, Jonathon J. Booth

Publications

No abstract provided.

Internal Or External: An Exploration Of The United States Police Chief Hiring Process, Kayleigh Walker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the hiring processes of police chiefs across the United States, focusing on internal versus external hiring practices. The goal of this research was to identify common trends, legislative barriers, and the impact of leadership on the hiring process through historical context, legal analysis, and case studies. The findings suggest that internal hires dominate chief appointments, though external hires are often sought during crises. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and highlights the need to more fully understand this phenomenon. Understanding the processes and limitations surrounding the appointment of new leadership is critical to reform and …

Abolish What?, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

From leading academic journals to popular press outlets, abolitionist activism and scholarship have earned airtime in national debates about criminal justice reform. But what is "abolition?" When scholars, lawyers, and activists talk about abolition, they seem to mean very different, even conflicting, things. In this Essay, I focus on a core question that might divide different abolitionists-and different critics of abolition: what is to be abolished? Abolitionists argue that it's critically important to abolish something, while critics of abolition insist that something is necessary to a well-functioning society. Yet, it's not always clear what that something is-both for abolitionists and …

Video Analytics And Fourth Amendment Vision, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

What does the Fourth Amendment have to say about video analytics running on citywide camera systems? Video analytics (also known as computer vision) involves hardware and software in cameras that turns video surveillance streams into useful data, identifying, categorizing, matching, and alerting police about objects, people, and incidents. Video analytics can identify objects (e.g., hat, backpack, person, car) and track that person or thing back in time and through the streets using video surveillance footage. For police officers conducting virtual patrols or retrospective investigations, video analytics lets police scan thousands of linked cameras for suspicious behavior or a particular suspect, …

What Factors Improve Police Legitimacy?, Nyomi Powers

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Legitimacy in law enforcement can be defined as the perception of the police as an appropriate and respected source of power and authority. United States law enforcement is facing a legitimacy crisis stemming from a growing distrust in the police and decreased police community relationships. In order to address this problem, solutions are being sought in both police agencies and by researchers in the field. This systematic review aims to compile all relevant experiments and analyze the findings to create a comprehensive list of policy implications that most effectively improve police legitimacy. For experiments to be included in this review, …

Guardians Of Their Own: Routine Activities, Risk Perceptions, & Self-Protection Among Police Officers In The Line Of Duty, Amy Clifton-Mills

Theses and Dissertations

This research illuminated how police officers perceive risks in the line of duty and whether police officers implement protective behaviors on duty. This was done by implementing two phases of data collection: focus groups (I) and self-report surveys (II). The focus groups (N = 21) were conducted to inform the self-protective behaviors instrument in the self-report surveys (N =143). Officers self-reported their risk of assault and injury in the line of duty in the next six months to be 33.86% (SD = 27.13) and their risk of felonious death to be 14.4% (SD = 18.1). Results show that …

Police Abuse In America And The Search For Remedy, Howard Ryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The dissertation contends that, despite many diligent efforts—from mass protests to a presidential task force—America is not yet on path to remedying its outsized patterns of police abuse. The abuse problem is broadly characterized herein through a “triad” of over-enforcement, excessive force, and racial discrimination. The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” database, covering the years 2015 through 2024, is offered as a bellwether of American progress in addressing its police abuse; and, it is observed, the nation’s yearly count of fatal police shootings of civilians has been increasing, rather than decreasing.

To help make sense of our lack of national progress, …

Examination Of The Influence Of A Standardized Law Enforcement Curriculum, Christopher E. Powell

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined the extent to which the standardized 2024 Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC) Basic Law Enforcement recruit curriculum influenced the attitudes of 33 cadets at the Broward Police Academy concerning critical policing issues. Employing a pre- and post-survey design with a convenience sample, the research specifically assessed changes in cadets' preconceived notions regarding the appropriate use of force, the perceived dangerousness of individuals experiencing mental illness, and the necessity of police discretion in community interactions. The findings revealed statistically significant shifts in two key areas following academy training: cadets demonstrated a reduced perception that police …

Officers’ Perceptions Of Body-Worn Cameras: An Exploratory Study Of Small Police Departments In Upstate New York, Stefan A. Dela Riva

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The aim of this exploratory study is to examine how police officers perceive the impact of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on their use of discretion when communicating with members of the public. In this context, “discretion” refers to an officer’s authority to make independent judgments while enforcing the law; deciding whether to issue a warning, make an arrest, or resolve an incident informally when legality permits. To understand officers’ opinions, a cross-sectional, quantitative online survey was distributed to various police departments and sheriff’s offices in upstate New York. Participants completed a series of Likert-style survey items addressing their general views on …