By Max Schanzenbach

Police misconduct is at the top of the public policy agenda, but there is surprisingly little understanding of how police personnel management policies affect police misconduct. Police-civilian interactions in large jurisdictions are, in principle at least, highly regulated. But these regulations are at least partially counteracted by union contracts and civil service regulations that constrain discipline and other personnel decisions, thereby limiting a city’s ability to manage its police force. This Essay analyzes police personnel management by bringing forth evidence from a variety of data sources on police personnel practices as well as integrating an existing, but relatively siloed, literature on police misconduct. The empirical findings that emerge are as follows: (1) policing is a surprisingly secure, well-paid job with little turnover prior to retirement age; (2) inexperienced police officers are, all else equal, more likely to commit misconduct and, at the same time, more likely to receive high risk assignments; and (3) bad cops are a serious problem, are identifiable, and are rarely removed or disciplined. Taken together, these facts suggest that attempts to regulate police conduct directly or through civil rights litigation are impeded by the inability of those who supervise police to control individual officers through assignments, discipline, and removal. The nexus of compensation, seniority, promotion, discipline, and pension policies that characterize much police personnel management cannot be rationalized under traditional labor and employment contract analysis. Existing compensation  and pension policies could be rationalized, however, if supervisors were empowered to manage police through assignments, penalties, and promotion.

Chicago: Vanderbilt Law Review, 2022, 49p.  

By Carole McCartney and Louise Shorter

The seizure, safe handling and secure storage of evidence during criminal investigations is pivotal to the successful detection and prosecution of offences. The safe retention of materials after an investigation closes, even post-conviction, is also critical both to the ability of the appellate system to function and for ‘cold cases’ to be reviewed. Yet despite periodic high-profile instances in which failures to ensure the integrity and retention of evidence have occurred, there is a reticence to admit to evidence being lost; in particular, to consider the issue on an aggregate rather than a case-by-case basis. This lack of transparency is compounded by an accountability deficit, in which the issue falls through regulatory gaps. Provoked to locate proof of lost evidence, this article examines police retention of investigative materials, and details the results of surveys undertaken with lawyers and miscarriage of justice campaigners (n = 65) and police (n = 87), and 21 interviews with serving and retired police officers. We identify ‘weak links’ in the evidence chain that need strengthening, including the enhancement of training, improved physical packaging and storage facilities, sufficient training of police staff and the creation of specialised ‘exhibits’ roles. Further to practical resource demands, the issue requires accessible data so that the problem can be acknowledged, and accountability and oversight mechanisms created to assure processes.

International Journal of Police Science & ManagementOnlineFirst 2023

By Jesse Jannetta, Sino Esthappan, Jocelyn Fontaine, Mathew Lynch , and Nancy G. LaVigne

Many communities throughout the United States that face high levels of crime and concentrated disadvantage—particularly communities of color—also struggle with high levels of mistrust in the police and strained police-community relations. Recognizing that a lack of legitimacy and community trust in policing was a serious and persistent problem with deep historical roots, and that addressing that problem required a wellresourced, multidimensional approach combining proven practices with new tools and approaches, the US Department of Justice launched the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. Led by John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC), and in partnership with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), Yale Law School (YLS), and the Urban Institute, the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice (National Initiative) brought together practitioners and researchers to deliver a suite of interventions focused on law enforcement and community members in six cities: Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Worth, Texas; Gary, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Stockton, California. Core National Initiative interventions included (1) training and technical assistance for police officers on engaging with residents in a procedurally just manner, (2) trainings that encouraged officers to understand and mitigate implicit biases, (3) developing model police department policies and identifying key changes to extant policies, and (4) reconciliation discussions, during which police officers and community members had authentic conversations to acknowledge historic tensions, harms, and misconceptions and to repair relationships. The Urban Institute evaluated the National Initiative’s implementation and impact to inform potential replications and/or modifications of the initiative’s components, and to guide future research on police efforts to build community trust. The evaluation focuses on National Initiative activities occurring from January 2015 through December 2018. Researchers collected the following qualitative and quantitative data to support the evaluation: ◼ monthly teleconferences among members of the National Initiative implementation team that included partners from CPE, NNSC, and YLS ◼ publicly available information and media coverage of the National Initiative and issues pertaining to police-community relations in the pilot sites ◼ fieldwork that included observations of National Initiative activities and interactions between National Initiative partners and site stakeholders ◼ routine teleconferences with site coordinators, police chiefs, and other stakeholders ◼ documents provided by the sites and National Initiative partners ◼ semistructured interviews with police and community stakeholders in each site ◼ learning assessment surveys of officers receiving National Initiative trainings in each site ◼ surveys of residents in areas with high levels of concentrated crime and poverty/disadvantage in each site The implementation evaluation focused specifically on the successes and challenges of the collaboration among the National Initiative partners, participating police departments, and communities.

Washington, Urban Institute, 2019. 112p.

By The National Policing Institute

The Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) partnered with the National Policing Institute (the Institute) to conduct a workload study and organizational assessment in 2022. Police and City leaders wanted an independent assessment of the number of officers necessary to respond to service demand from the community in conjunction with an examination of the overall operations of the department. As talks were progressing, the City of Brooklyn Center became the focus of national attention after BCPD Officer Kim Potter shot and killed an unarmed African-American man, Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop. In the following months, numerous officers and non-sworn employees resigned, and the ones that remained felt they were under increased scrutiny. The resignations and resulting increased workload made the study even more important for the department as they sought to renew themselves and provide safety for the community.

The report presents the key findings from the following groups: surveys of department employees: key findings from the interviews and the focus group with the community: key findings from the quantitative analyses:

The following are selected key recommendations based on the findings: • The department should authorize a total of 36 officers for patrol to ensure officers have adequate time for problem-solving, training, and vacation time. • The department should authorize two additional sergeants in the Patrol Division to ensure sergeants are able to attend training and proactively supervise officers. • The department should add an additional detective to lower the workload of detectives. • The department should immediately hire individuals to fill the authorized records technician positions and add an additional position to compensate for the recommended officer increase. • The department should champion and expand the department employee wellness program and seek grants to provide additional resources. • The department should create a comprehensive crime reduction strategy in collaboration with the community and communicate it internally and externally. • The department and City should initiate programs with the community to foster positive interactions between community members and department employees.

Arlington, VA: The National Policing Institute, 2023. 90p.

By Karen Bullock, Aiden Sidebottom, Rachel Armitage , Matthew P.J. Ashby, Caitlin Clemmow, Stuart Kirby, Gloria Laycock and Nick Tilley

This article analyses and critically reflects on the position of problem-oriented policing within England and Wales. Problem-oriented policing is a framework for improving police effectiveness. Its adoption has consistently been shown to be associated with sizable reductions in a wide range of crimes and public safety issues. However, many studies also find that problem-oriented policing is difficult to embed and sustain within police organisations. This article draws on the experiences and perspectives of 86 informed stakeholders to critically examine the position and practice of problem-oriented policing 40 years after its original formulation by Herman Goldstein in 1979. We argue that despite evidence of renewed interest in problem-oriented policing, the approach is not habitually conducted within police organisations in England and Wales. Where it is conducted, the practice of problem-oriented policing is found to lack discipline, the processes tend not to be faithfully followed, and there are weaknesses at all stages of the process. Implications of the findings for future research and police practice are discussed.

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(4): 2021

By Charles Fain Lehman

In 2019, the Chicago Police Department (CPD)—one of the most controversial police departments in the nation—was placed under a federally enforced consent decree that mandates sweeping reforms and subjects the department to the supervision of a court-appointed independent monitor. Although implementation of the decree is still ongoing, this report reviews the preliminary evidence of its effects. Across a variety of indicators, it seems that the consent decree has not had an appreciable effect on police conduct or public perception of the department. And there is at least some evidence that the process leading up to the consent decree exacerbated Chicago’s already-substantial crime problem. While prior research on consent decrees suggests that they can sometimes have an effect, that outcome is far from certain, casting further doubt on the prospects of Chicago’s decree. Why is the consent decree having little or no measurable impact? It may be the result of unwillingness on the part of CPD and the city to embrace reform. Alternatively, the consent decree’s ineffectiveness may be attributed to preexisting reforms that CPD had already implemented on its own before the decree took effect. Both of these explanations, however, cast doubt on the viability of the federal investigation and consent decree process as a tool for achieving police reform.

New York: The Manhattan Institute, 2023. 21p.

By Stephen B Perrott

The recruitment of women and minority group members was intended to move Canadian police forces towards societal representation and to enhance services provided to, and improve relations with, women and racially marginalized groups. This review contemplates progress towards these goals at a time of extraordinary public dissatisfaction with Western policing. A rationale is offered for reconsidering the 50% representation target for women and it is emphasized just how little we yet know about racial bias in policing. The review ends with a call for rigorous, apolitical, research to untangle the complex interactions underscoring the considered questions within.

The Police Journal Volume 96, Issue 1, March 2023, Pages 26-44

By Dorothy Moses Schulz

  This report examines the issue of “wandering cops”—officers who leave one police department after alleged misconduct and are then hired by another agency. After discussing the problem of wanderers, its causes, and the relevant literature, this paper proposes a number of recommendations to address the problem and related concerns. These recommendations include: 1. Strengthen the National Decertification Index (NDI) maintained by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST): a. Create incentives and set aside federal funding for all police agencies to report to their states’ police officer standards and training (POST) bureau any changes in officers’ employment or disciplinary status—including dismissals and retirements/resignations of personnel under investigation—within 30 days. Existing and pending legislation should be reviewed to ensure that these events are promptly recorded. b. Require an NDI inquiry as part of the background check for any applicant who claims prior police or peace officer employment, in order to determine whether the applicant’s certification was ever canceled. 2. Strengthen individual state POSTs, particularly since some are reporting varying levels of success in implementing the new powers that they have already received.1 States should consider requiring police departments to report all terminations and questionable departures to their state POST, as well as requiring the POST to submit the information to NDI.  3. States should pass legislation that clarifies the authority of POSTs not to merely list officers but to decertify them. State law should clearly specify the criminal or civil offenses or departmental violations that trigger decertification; whether decertification is automatic or whether it may be decided by a panel of law-enforcement and civilian personnel; whether officers have the right to appeal; and how decertified officers are to be recertified if they are found not guilty in a criminal or civil procedure or are returned to full duty based on legal or union appeals. This will ensure a precise definition of “listing” versus “decertifying.” 4. The federal government and/or states should subsidize the costs of recruit training: a. States should use a portion of the $350 billion that they will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to directly subsidize the costs of training for all police departments or, at a minimum, departments below a certain size or budget. By subsidizing the cost of training new officers, states can reduce the incentive for local police departments to hire wandering police officers. b. States should also use ARPA funds to hire and train POST staff with the technological expertise to ensure that information shared with NDI is timely and accurate. 

New York: The Manhattan Institute,  2022.  18p.

By The Joint Federal/Provincial Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Casualty, 

  As Commissioners, we grounded our work every day in the memory of those whose lives were taken. Interacting with and learning from the individuals, families, and members of the communities most affected is an additional catalyst to the completion of our tasks. We have also been spurred on by the remarkable wisdom and generosity of everyone who contributed to our work: Participants and their counsel, witnesses (both through interviews and in public proceedings), experts, stakeholders, the media, community members, the wider public, and Commission staff. To all of you, we express our gratitude. This Report marks the end of our mandated responsibilities as a public inquiry and the shift to a shared responsibility to act. We do not absolve ourselves of obligations to contribute to the implementation of the Report’s recommendations in the days, weeks, and years to come. Yet acting on our recommendations is clearly in the hands and purview of others once the Commissioners have produced the Report. The leadership for this next phase includes those who participated in the Commission’s work; those external to the Commission, such as those who have reported on it and followed it; and others who have a formal, recognized duty to contribute to public safety and community well-being. We have said many times that this is a shared responsibility and opportunity. In Volume  6, Implementation, we expand on the importance of this collective responsibility, highlighting the significance of co-operation among politicians, policy-makers, institutions, organizations, community groups, and individuals right across society.   

Halifax, NS: Joint Federal/Provincial Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Casualty, 2023. 83p.

By David H. Bayley

From the Exec. Summary: This report sets forth the lessons that observers and participants have learned about the process of changing police organizations so as to support democracy. It is based on the study of three bodies of literature: studies of efforts to change police practices in the developed democracies, especially in the United States; accounts ofthe experience with foreign assistance to police abroad under both bilateral and multilateral auspices; and accounts of the actions of nongovernmental human rights organizations to rectify police abuses. More than 500 books, articles, reports, and documents were reviewed in this study. The bibliography attached to this report probably encompasses the largest number of materials on efforts to change police organizations ever collected.

Washington. National Institute of Justice. 2001. 127p

By Jamein Cunningham, Donna Feir and Rob Gillezeau

Do collective bargaining rights for law enforcement result in more civilian deaths at the hands of the police? Using an event-study design, we find that the introduction of duty to bargain requirements with police unions has led to a significant increase in non-white civilian deaths at the hands of police during the late twentieth century. We find no impact on various crime rate measures and suggestive evidence of a decline in police employment, consistent with increasing compensation. Our results indicate that the adoption of collective bargaining rights for law enforcement can explain approximately 10 percent of the total non-white civilian deaths at the hands of law enforcement between 1959 and 1988. This effect is robust to a contiguous county approach, accounting for heterogeneity in treatment timing, and numerous other specifications. While the relationship between police unions and violence against civilians is not clear ex-ante, our results show that the popular notion that police unions exacerbate police violence is empirically grounded.

Bonn: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics , 2021. 75p.

Edited by Mike Stephens and Saul Becker

British policing faces major decisions about its future direction. Should it promote itself as a police force, dedicated to the attack on crime and public disorder, or should it adopt the mantle of police service, devoted to providing reassurance, flexibility to community wishes, and care? These are the critical decisions that the police face. The choice made will have implications for all citizens in our society. Together, a panel of eminent contributors examine the issues involved in this choice. They push the debate forward and show how complex are the interconnections between care and control within British policing. The implications are far-reaching and will influence not only the quality of policing but also the quality of life for all of us.

Houndmills, Basingstoke, UK:Palgrave Macmillan, 1994. 256p.

By Kristy Docherty and Brigid Russell

The purpose of this report is to present the findings of the evaluation of the Police Scotland and Local Government Collaborative Leadership Pilots (hereafter referred to as ‘the programme’). This evaluation has been undertaken independently by Dr Kristy Docherty and Brigid Russell on behalf of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) between August 2021 and February 2022. The objectives of the evaluation were: • To critically examine the programme. • To capture and analyse information about the activities, processes, characteristics, and outcomes of the programme. • To offer insights and suggestions for future action with the purpose of improving programme effectiveness, and/or to inform and shape future programme decisions. It is important to note that our evaluation took place while the programme was still running, participants were at various stages and they had not completed all of their sessions. This ‘formative’ approach was deliberate and links in principle with the embedded evaluation process adopted by the facilitation team.

Edinburgh: Scottish Institute for Policing Research. 2022. 68p.

Edited by Judith Andersen, Eamonn Patrick Arble and Peter Ian Collins.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Thus, from theoretical and empirical perspectives, the research within this special edition will consider how the functioning of the bidirectional signals between the brain and the central and peripheral nervous systems relate to police decision making in order to inform police training, policy, and legal judgements regarding police behavior.

Frontiers Media SA, 2020. 121p.