Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

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. …

Criminogenic Risks Of Interrogation, Margareth Etienne, Richard Mcadams

Indiana Law Journal

In the United States, moral minimization is a pervasive police interrogation tactic in which the detective minimizes the moral seriousness and harm of the offense, suggesting that anyone would have done the same thing under the circumstances, and casting blame away from the offender and onto the victim or society. The goal of these minimizations is to reinforce the guilty suspect’s own rationalizations or “neutralizations” of the crime. The official theory—posited in the police training manuals that recommend the tactic—is that minimizations encourage confessions by lowering the guilt or shame of associated with confessing to the crime. Yet the same …

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. …

Defining The Police Mission, Devin Neal

Criminology Student Work

Directives and duties of law enforcement have changed drastically over time. Today there is little agreement within society regarding what is needed and wanted from police. Even within the police ranks, it is unclear whether there is a single view of what “good” police work is (and if so, what that looks like). An officer may learn what “good” policing is from numerous channels including departmental missions, informal cultures, personal characteristics, and community contexts. Officers’ opinions may also derive from personal beliefs about policing, personality traits, and/or attitudes toward police work. The purpose of this study is to determine what …

Facebook For Law Enforcement, Stephen Carlisle

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

This article introduces what some law enforcement agencies have done to mitigate trust issues by utilizing social media as a form of community policing. There is a silent majority out there that support law enforcement. As a pioneer of using Facebook as a platform for community policing, taking criticism from my law enforcement peers was unavoidable. However, these same peers would turn to Facebook shortly after for personal and professional use. The key is to reach out and to educate the public to help gain trust in law enforcement, and using modern social media platforms to reach the masses only …

Remarks, Andrea L. Dennis

Scholarly Works

Over the course of one week, the Michigan Journal of Law Reform presented its annual Symposium, this year titled Reimagining Police Surveillance: Protecting Activism and Ending Technologies of Oppression. During this week, the Journal explored complicated questions surrounding the expansion of police surveillance technologies, including how police and federal agencies utilize their extensive resources to identify and surveil public protest, the ways in which technology employed by police is often flawed and disparately impacts people of color, and potential reforms of police surveillance technology. Before delving into these complicated questions, I presented remarks on the history of police surveillance in …

Communities In Conflict: A Critical Look Into Police And Deaf Interactions In Central Kentucky, Savannah Sublette

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine historical and social patterns of audism, as expressed through criminal justice institutions, within local communities in central Kentucky. Previous research has pointed to patterns of discrimination by surveying either police or deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people. By conducting research with members of both populations, the present study is able to explore the respective experiences and opinions on various topics, including knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), criminal justice policy and procedure, and the interaction techniques utilized by law enforcement. Themes and patterns emerge showing the disconnect between a …

Redefining What It Means To Be A ‘Warrior’: Dismantling Mental Health Stigma In Law Enforcement From The Classroom To The Academy, Maeve Lyons

Criminology Student Work

No abstract provided.

Schools On The Frontlines Of Governance: How The Convergence Of Criminal Justice And Education Shapes Adolescent Perceptions And Behavior, Jennifer O'Neill

Dissertations

Theories of legal socialization posit that individuals’ interactions with both nonlegal (e.g., teachers) and legal (e.g., police officers) authorities impact our broader orientation towards governance our compliance with rules and laws. Examining the process of legal socialization in adolescents is critical for understanding individuals’ relationships with major institutions of social control, and further, predicting delinquency. Extant literature tends to consider legal socialization in the school and in interactions with the police as distinct processes related to offending, neglecting the potential influence of school contextual factors; and yet, because the incorporation of carceral features (e.g., exclusionary discipline, restrictive security, and enhanced …

The Future Of Policing, Marissa Eastwood

Criminology Student Work

No abstract provided.

Municipal Police Officers: Responsibilities, The Hiring Process, The Challenges They Face, And Possible Solutions, Isabella Palmeira

Criminology Student Work

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And Police Officer Wellbeing: An Empirical Examination Of One Agency, Silas Patterson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between organizational culture and police officer well-being, using an empirical examination of one agency. Culture is important in law enforcement. Previous studies on police culture have typically sought to understand the effect of culture on officer behaviors. This thesis takes a different approach by examining the effects of culture on individual officer well-being. The results of this study indicates that culture is related to well-being, along certain dimensions. Cultural attitudes towards an organization’s administration and the citizens officers interact with are shown to be consistent predictors of well-being. The results of this study provide implications …

The Delicate Balance: Police In Our Schools, Mark Hanneman

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

School resource officers (SROs) face the arduous task of balancing expectations from both police and school administrations. This paper will serve to provide an overarching view of the circumstances surrounding SROs and the job they are tasked to complete. Administrative stakeholders will be identified, unique considerations for the duality of administrations within the SRO position will be considered, and administrative strategies to mitigate the potential for conflict will be explained. A formulated action plan will analyze the impact of ethical principles within work as an SRO through the lens of fellow officers, the school district community, students, parents of students, …

The Development And Validation Of The General Attitudes Toward Police (Gap) Questionnaire, Rachel Greis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Previous studies have examined the relationships between various demographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, prior arrest experience, residential living area, political affiliation) and various measures of attitudes toward police (e.g., trustworthiness, legitimacy; Brown & Benedict, 2002; Hindelang, 1974; Rizer & Trautman, 2018; Schuck et al., 2008). However, a measure of overall general attitudes toward police has not been established. The main goal of the present research was to fill this gap in the literature by creating and validating a brief questionnaire that effectively captures respondents’ general attitudes toward police. In Study 1, a brief 14-item questionnaire that captured general attitudes toward police …

Mental Distress Calls: Should Police Be Frontline Responders?, Audrey Suwarno

Capstone Showcase

Due to an over-reliance on law enforcement, police officers have become frontline responders to individuals suffering with mental illness, despite not being properly trained to handle such situations. Many studies have addressed officers’ feelings of incompetence and lack of preparedness when faced with an individual in distress. Without proper training, police tend to resort to force against individuals in mental distress, which can escalate the situation even further. This paper serves to analyze the excessive use of force that is commonly used amongst police officers during mental distress calls, as well as its potentially dangerous and fatal outcomes for individuals …

Boroughs And The Badge: Local Contexts And Confidence In Police, Henry F. Goodson

Student Publications

As citizens interact with the police more than most civil servants, increasing the citizenry’s confidence in police is key to helping maintain rule of law and internal stability within a state. One of the key areas to be investigated in the pursuit of better police-community relations is on the impact of public services and housing on police legitimacy. Historically, American cities have been widely segregated based on race and income, especially in urban areas, which in turn alters the services available in those areas. The public services and the neighborhoods in which they are delivered are key parts of many …

Officer-Involved Deaths In Nevada 2013-2019, Madison Frazee-Bench, Yanneli Llamas, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

Between 2013 and 2019, 7,669 people were killed by police officers across the United States. Using data compiled by Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research and advocacy project tracking incidents of police violence throughout the U.S., this fact sheet focuses on officer-involved deaths in the State of Nevada between January 2013 and December 2019.

Animal Assisted Therapy On Law Enforcement Mental Health: A Therapy Dog Implementation Guide, Melena Purvis

Honors Projects

The mental health of law enforcement officers is an ever increasing problem, with our nation’s police officers seeing a constant increase in things like PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses. However, mental health is already a highly stigmatized topic that is not commonly addressed, and a police subculture of strength and toughness just reinforces that stigma and makes it that much harder for police officers struggling with these issues to get help. This project combines innovation with research to come up with a way to try and improve the mental health of those officers struggling. It provides a manual for …

Public’S Perception Of Law Enforcement In Schools, Amarielis Morales

Criminology Student Work

Law Enforcement is inserted into schools all over the United States to ensure the school’s safety. Law Enforcement and community relationships are most important in developing trust between law enforcement and schools, including staff, students, and families. Once trust is established, law enforcement in schools is utilized by providing their services to better the school’s community. This research aims to get an insight into how people currently feel about law enforcement and what people would want from law enforcement in schools. Which raises the question, what does the public think about law enforcement in schools? The sample includes people above …

From The Legal Literature: The Threat And Promise Of Police Use Of Dna Databases, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Law Enforcement, Jason L. Sharp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of public perception towards law enforcement. Students from three different Kansas community colleges were surveyed about their perceptions of law enforcement effectiveness and professionalism, and what might impact those perceptions.

A total of 159 community college students responded to the survey. The majority of the respondents were female (78%), and Caucasian (77.4%). Respondent’s age represented the following percentage breakdowns: 29.6% being 18-19 years old, 27.7% being 20-24 years old, and 30.8% being 25-34. Resulting in 88% of respondents being between the ages of 18-34 years old.

Mean and standard deviation …

Media Influence On College Students' Perceptions Of The Police, Matilda Foster

Theses and Dissertations

The first of Sir Robert Peel’s nine principles of law enforcement (1829) tells us that the police exist to prevent crime. However, the next six principles address the police’s need to develop a relationship with the public and maintain the publics’ approval, favor, respect, and voluntary cooperation. Although these principles were written in 1829, they still apply to police organizations today. This paper addresses the struggles policing organizations in the United States of America had over the years in maintaining these principles of law enforcement, the strategies the police have used to increase public approval, and factors associated with how …

Lethal Use Of Force: Insights Into Mental Illness, Robert A. Ryan

Student Theses

Fatal use of force incidents involving police officers in the United States have recently seen widespread media attention, emotionally charged rhetoric, and calls for reform. The present study examines police use of force encounters with the mentally ill given the significant proportion of incidents and wanting body of literature. The objective of this study is to examine fatal police interactions to test whether those displaying signs of mental illness in encounters with law enforcement are more dangerous than those not displaying signs of mental illness. Open source data from the Washington Post were used from 2015 to 2018 (n=3942) due …

Municipal Police Under Federal Control: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Title 42 U.S.C. Section 14141 Negotiated Settlements, Jason W. Ostrowe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the Law Enforcement Misconduct Statute 42 U.S.C. 14141 (§ 14141) authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate, and enter into a court-enforceable structural reform agreement with a law enforcement agency engaged in patterns or practices of systemic misconduct, violations of federal law, and unconstitutional policing.

Under § 14141 authority, 33 investigations of municipal police have been conducted since 1994 where the DOJ determined that a police agency was engaged in, or at unreasonable risk of engaging in, a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing. Publicizing …

Heien V. North Carolina And Significant Interpretive Court Cases: An Empirical Examination Of Police Officers’ Perceptions And Knowledge, Michael De Leo

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

This empirical study examines legal aspects of policing in relation to the recent, landmark United States Supreme Court case of Heien v. North Carolina. In Heien, the Court found that objectively reasonable mistakes of law by police can support traffic stops. By doing so, it extends the permissible margin of error for stops by law enforcement officers. Due to the potential, far-reaching implications of the Heien decision, including implications for law enforcement and for the Fourth Amendment privacy protections of individuals, it is important to better understand how the lower courts have interpreted and applied Heien. Therefore, …

"All The Flowers May Die, But The Thistles Will Live": Sex Trafficking Through The Eyes Of A Police Officer-Researcher, Robert Chrismas

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article is a description of the research I conducted on the sex industry in Manitoba, Canada, from 2016-2017. I interviewed 61 people, of which six were political leaders, 23 were social workers, 24 were police officers, and eight were sex industry survivors. About half of the practitioners I interviewed are also sex industry survivors. As a veteran police officer with 35 years of law enforcement experience, my research journey was unique from conducting the interviews to reporting my findings. These are some of my experiences and the lessons I learned about gathering and sharing the stories of sex industry …

Symbolically Annihilating Female Police Officer Capabilities: Cultivating Gendered Police Use Of Force Expectations, Howard Henderson

Center for Justice Research Reports

This first step cultivation analysis examines the quantity, temporal dynamics, and stance of muni-cipal police officer use of force depictions based on the gender of the officer. The 112 theatri-cally released films that comprise the core cop film genre were systematically identified. Subsequently, a population of 468 police use of force scenes was identified to serve as the units of analysis for this study. Findings revealed male officer use of force scenes appeared across all 40 years of films. Female officer use of force scenes, however, were highly restricted to specific films, years, and often dwarfed by male scenes within …

The Deaf & Law Enforcement Listening Though Deaf Eyes: A Grounded Theory Approach, John L. Garner

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the perceived and practical schism between deaf society and the police when the deaf attempt to obtain police services. The paper challenges current police culture and operating procedures, which tend to marginalize deaf society and largely ignore the mandates contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This qualitative research project is focused upon perceived law enforcement practices and culture through a multi-layered study of police customs, law, policy, and standard operating procedures as experienced, perceived, and reported by deaf individuals.

A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to examine the way law enforcement is perceived by …

Badges And Bongs: Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Drugs, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

For unknown reasons, the research investigating police officers’ attitudes toward drug use is underdeveloped. One study, by Wilson, Cullen, Latessa, and Wills, has directly investigated police officers’ perceptions toward general vice crimes (including drug use) and perceived appropriate sanctions for committing these offenses. This article built upon that study. A survey measuring officers’ attitudes toward drugs was developed and used to gather data from a large metropolitan police department in the South. Responding officers displayed fairly serious and punitive attitudes toward drug offenses. In addition, they reported an interventionist attitude, believing that more can and should be done to control …