Archive
Study of Deaths Following Electro Muscular Disruption
Study of Deaths Following Electro Muscular Disruption (PDF)
Source: National Institute of Justice
This final report provides findings concerning death investigation, CED use, CED-related health effects, and medical response. The panel recommends a thorough review of the entire report and the associated research literature for medicolegal personnel and those making decisions concerning CED deployment and associated policies. The following findings are provided as those of most general interest to date.
There is no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death to humans from the direct or indirect cardiovascular or metabolic effects of short-term CED exposure in healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons. Field experience with CED use indicates that shortterm exposure is safe in the vast majority of cases. The risk of death in a CED-related useof-force incident is less than 0.25 percent, and it is reasonable to conclude that CEDs do not cause or contribute to death in the large majority of those cases.
Law enforcement need not refrain from using CEDs to place uncooperative or combative subjects in custody, provided the devices are used in accordance with accepted national guidelines and appropriate use-of-force policy. The current literature as a whole suggests that deployment of a CED has a margin of safety as great as or greater than most alternatives. Because the physiologic effects of prolonged or repeated CED exposure are not fully understood, law enforcement officers should refrain, when possible, from continuous activations of greater than 15 seconds, as few studies have reported on longer time frames. All deaths following deployment of a CED should be subject to a complete medicolegal investigation, including a complete autopsy by a forensic pathologist in conjunction with a medically objective investigation that is independent of law enforcement. The complete investigation should include the collection of information specific to CED-related deaths, such as the manner in which and the location where CED darts or prongs were applied. A recommended checklist is contained in chapter 11, “Considerations in Death Investigation,” pages 36-37 in this report.
Mitigating Corruption in Government Security Forces: The Role of Institutions, Incentives, and Personnel Management in Mexico
Mitigating Corruption in Government Security Forces: The Role of Institutions, Incentives, and Personnel Management in Mexico
Source: RAND Corporation
Mexico has undertaken reforms in recent years to professionalize its police. This report draws on the literature on corruption and personnel incentives and analyzes information related to police reform in Mexico. It addresses questions about the roots of corruption and the tools that could be used to mitigate corruption, with a focus on compensation and personnel management policies. It also provides an initial assessment about the effects of Mexico’s attempts at reform. The results suggest progress on some fronts. Although police corruption has remained generally stable at a high level, compared with corruption levels in other organizations, it appears to have fallen. The types of reforms being introduced are consistent with the literature on incentive mechanisms for effective workforce management, though evidence is absent on their effectiveness. The authors argue that continuity in elected officials and their policies, coordination within and between levels of government, and transparency and accountability can contribute to reducing police corruption.
Strategic Cutback Management: Law Enforcement Leadership for Lean Times
Strategic Cutback Management: Law Enforcement Leadership for Lean Times (PDF)
Source: National Institute of Justice
The United States is experiencing the 10th economic decline since World War II. This document presents lessons learned from past experience and suggests approaches leaders can use to address financial crises in law enforcement agencies.
Leadership is the most critical element for success. We know from the past that an organization’s leaders create a shared sense of the importance of the priorities and tasks of the group. It is this inspiration that induces workers to follow along in support of the group’s mission.
Additional lessons learned from the past:
- Avoid across-the-board cuts. They cause disproportionate harm.
- Use the crisis to improve management and improve productivity. In law enforcement, examples abound of departments faced with unfortunate crises — from consent decrees to accidental shootings — where the events provided meaningful moments of reflection, learning and process improvement. Budget crises are no different.
- Think long term. Research has shown that organizations capable of enduring a deep fiscal crisis had developed and were able to stick to a strategic plan with a multiyear time frame.
- Do not just cut costs, look for revenue opportunities. Research on past reces sions shows that increasing a tax or fee provides relief faster than cutting expenditures. Although police agencies do not have the power to levy taxes, they may be able to charge user fees for some services.
- Invite innovation. During past fiscal crises, new approaches were tried that are now standard in many cities. For example, local governments have privatized certain city services and sold public facility naming rights.
- Look outside for help. Law enforcement can look outside the department to other government agencies, or to suppliers, academics or other subject matter experts for suggestions on improving operations at reduced cost.
- Targeted layoffs are more effective than hiring freezes.
Use Of Victim Service Agencies By Victims Of Serious Violent Crime, 1993-2009
Use Of Victim Service Agencies By Victims Of Serious Violent Crime, 1993-2009
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics
Presents data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) on trends in the percentage of serious violent crime victims who received help or advice from a victim service agency from 1993 to 2009. This special report examines the relationship between a victim receiving assistance and criminal justice system actions pertaining to the crime, such as reporting the crime to the police, the police making an arrest, or a judge or prosecutor contacting the victim. It also examines the percentage of serious violent crime victims who received assistance by the characteristics of the victim and the victimization, including the victim’s age, gender, race, the type of crime, the extent of the victim’s injury, and victim-offender relationships.
Highlights include the following:
- About 9% of serious violent crime victims received direct assistance from a victim service agency from 1993 to 2009.
- From 2000 to 2009, 14% of violent crime victims who reported the crime to the police received direct assistance from a victim service agency, compared to 4% when the crime was not reported.
Victims who received direct assistance from a victim service agency were more likely to see an arrest made in the case and have contact with a non-law enforcement criminal justice official, such as a judge or prosecutor, than victims who did not receive direct assistance.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Methods for Assessing Racially Biased Policing
Methods for Assessing Racially Biased Policing
Source: RAND Corporation
As part of the response to allegations of racially biased police practices many police agencies began collecting information on the stops made by their officers. Social scientists have attempted to use these administrative data on stop decisions to assess the existence or extent of racially biased policing and, in the process, have developed a number of benchmarks for comparison to police stop data. This chapter describes an array of benchmarking methods that have been used around the country including the use of U.S. Census population estimates, non-at fault driver crash data, crime and arrest data, drivers’ license data, red light cameras, observations, instrumental variables, assessments of post-stop outcomes, and officer-to-officer comparison via internal benchmarks. Each method’s application, strengths, and weaknesses are discussed in the context of their ability to establish a reasonable estimate of the population at risk for being stopped by the police and to draw a causal inference about the extent to which race is a relevant factor in police decision-making on whom to stop, question, and search.
Census Of State And Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2008
Census Of State And Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2008
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics
Presents the results of the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, which is conducted every four years and covers approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. This report includes the number of state and local law enforcement agencies as of September 2008 and the number of sworn and civilian employees. Breakdowns are presented for general purpose agencies, including local police departments, sheriffs’ offices, and primary state law enforcement agencies. The report also provides data for agencies that serve special jurisdictions “such as parks, college campuses, airports, or transit systems” or that have special enforcement responsibilities pertaining to laws in areas such as natural resources, alcohol, or gaming.
+ Full Report (PDF)
AU — Police interviews with vulnerable adult suspects
Police interviews with vulnerable adult suspects
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
In this paper, some of the key issues police are likely to encounter when dealing with vulnerable adult suspects are considered and an overview of the Australian legislation and police policies governing police interviews in such circumstances is presented. This paper is concerned with vulnerable adults interviewed by the police as suspects. It is acknowledged, however, that many of the observations about good practice when interviewing witnesses continue to apply—perhaps to an even greater extent—when interviewing suspects. For example, interviewers’ questions need to be matched to respondents’ communicative abilities and suggestive/leading questions and other coercive practices should be avoided (Powell 2002). Smith and Tilney (2007), and Bull (2010) have described the following steps as a means of achieving the best evidence when dealing with vulnerable witnesses:
- establish good rapport, including establishing the ground rules and advising the interviewee that it is acceptable to say if they do not understand or know the answer;
- obtain as much free narrative as possible, encouraging the interviewee with prompts and open-ended questions such as ‘tell me more about that’ and ‘what happened next?’;
- ask questions of the right type in the right order. For example, open questions should precede specific questions and then closed questions. Leading questions should only be used as a last resort;
- have meaningful closure, including a summary of the interviewee’s evidence and providing them with an opportunity to correct any errors; and
evaluate the interview, in terms of both the information obtained and the interviewer’s performance.This paper does not consider issues relating to court processes and the admissibility of evidence; nor does the paper explore the literature in relation to child witnesses (eg see Powell, Wright & Clark 2010) or the specific issues of vulnerable witnesses as victims, for example, in the context of sexual assault matters (eg see Powell & Wright 2009), although these are all important linked areas of research.
+ Full Document (PDF)
Police Discipline: A Case for Change
Police Discipline: A Case for Change (PDF)
Source: Harvard University Kennedy School of Government/National Institute of Justice
This paper describes the challenges law enforcement agencies nationwide experience with current disciplinary procedures and offers alternate approaches that can improve internal morale and external relationships with the community. The author also highlights proactive approaches (such as education-based discipline, mediation, peer review, and early intervention) that some agencies are employing to manage and/or reform officer behavior.
Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons
Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons (PDF)
Source: National Institute of Justice
This study looked at injuries that occur to law enforcement officers and citizens during use-of-force events. Most applications of force are minimal, with officers using their hands, arms or bodies to push or pull against a suspect to gain control. Officers are also trained to use various other force techniques and weapons to overcome resistance. These include less-lethal weapons such as pepper spray, batons or conducted energy devices (CEDs) such as Tasers. They can also use firearms to defend themselves or others against threats of death or serious bodily injuries.
This study found that when officers used force, injury rates to citizens ranged from 17 to 64 percent, depending on the agency, while officer injury rates ranged from 10 to 20 percent. Most injuries involve minor bruises, strains and abrasions.
The study’s most significant finding is that, while results were not uniform across all agencies, the use of pepper spray and CEDs can significantly reduce injuries to suspects and the use of CEDs can decrease injuries to officers. The researchers assert that all injuries must be taken seriously.
When police in a democracy use force and injury results, concern about police abuse arises, lawsuits often follow and the reputation of the police is threatened. Injuries also cost money in medical bills for indigent suspects, workers’ compensation claims for injured officers or damages paid out in legal settlements or judgments.
See also: Study of Deaths Following Electro Muscular Disruption (PDF)
Australian crime: Facts & figures 2010
Australian crime: Facts & figures 2010
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
Australian Crime: Facts & Figures is an up-to-date snapshot of crime patterns and trends in Australia. It contains information on specific crimes, victims, offenders, the location of criminal acts and the operation of criminal justice systems—focusing on the work of police, courts and prisons.
Police Science: Toward a New Paradigm
Police Science: Toward a New Paradigm (PDF)
Source: National Institute of Justice
We have argued in our essay for the importance of the adoption of the norms of evidence-based policy in policing and of the police taking ownership of police science. Such ownership would facilitate the implementation of evidence-based practices and policies in policing, and would change the fundamental relationship between research and practice. It would also fundamentally change the realities of police science in the universities. We believe that such a change would increase the quality and prestige of police science. It is time to redefine the relationship between policing and science. We think that bringing the universities into police centers, and having the police take ownership of police science will improve policing and ensure its survival in a competitive world of provision of public services.
Police Interaction With Autistic Persons: The Need For Training
Police Interaction With Autistic Persons: The Need For Training (PDF)
Source: Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc
From a third to a half of all persons with autism have such stunted speech development that they cannot meet their ordinary daily communication needs. Some may repeat others’ words. Unlike mute persons, the difficulty is not physical inability to make sounds, but a neurological and cognitive problem. Some autistic persons have difficulty making and maintaining eye contact with others. A police officer may mistakenly interpret this as “suspicious,” having something to hide, or defiance, when in reality it is not being able to or not knowing how to respond appropriately, or even fear from what, to many, would be a routine social encounter. The result has sometimes, unfortunately, been rapid escalation of the encounter, with ensuing injury or death.
The purpose of this article is to briefly examine some of the circumstances in which police have and will encounter autistic persons in the community. It does not focus on “theories of liability” for unfortunate consequences that may result from such encounters. A small number of court decisions, however, are used as examples. Instead, the focus here is on bringing needed attention to a problem, and hopefully, helping to create awareness of some possible solutions.
New From the GAO
New GAO Report (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Bureau of Prisons: Evaluating the Impact of Protective Equipment Could Help Enhance Officer Safety. GAO-11-410, April 8. Highlights
Characteristics of Law Enforcement Officers’ Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes
Characteristics of Law Enforcement Officers’ Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes (PDF)
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT)
The Law Enforcement Officers Killed & Assaulted (LEOKA) data is collected and published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide information on the law enforcement officers who were killed feloniously or accidentally as well as of those who were assaulted while performing their duties. The LEOKA data shows that the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty by violent means dominated those who were killed in motor vehicle crashes until the middle of the 1990s. However, the recent trend shows that motor vehicle crashes have become the major cause of fatalities of law enforcement officers. These observations suggested an in-depth analysis of the data.
The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is maintained by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The FARS is currently the only database that contains detailed information on the fatal crashes involving law enforcement officers. The characteristics of law enforcement officers’ fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes were investigated using the FARS data from 1980 to 2008. The characteristics were analyzed at the crash level for 772 crashes that involved at least one law enforcement officer’s fatality, at the vehicle level for 776 police vehicles with law enforcement officers’ fatalities, and at the person level for 823 law enforcement officers killed in motor vehicle crashes.
The characteristics of fatalities in passenger vehicle crashes were compared between the law enforcement officer (LEO) and non-LEO groups using the FARS data from 2000 to 2008. The LEO and non-LEO groups show substantially different characteristics at crash time, first harmful event, roadway function class (rural/urban), emergency use, fire occurrence, rollover, most harmful event, impact point, vehicle maneuver, crash avoidance maneuver, age, sex, person type, seating position, restraint use, and air bag availability and deployment.
See also: Police Officer Involved Vehicular Fatalities in 2009 (PDF; National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center)
DoJ: Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department
Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
On May 15, 2010, the Civil Rights Division opened an investigation of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following its comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department on March 17, 2011, announced its findings that the NOPD has engaged in patterns of misconduct that violate the Constitution and federal law. The documents on this page provide more information about the investigation, the Justice Department’s findings, and next steps.
+ Letter to Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu from Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez (PDF)
+ Full Report (PDF)
Also available in Spanish and Vietnamese.
UK — Police and Thieves in the Stadium: Measuring the (Multiple) Effects of Football Matches on Crime
Police and Thieves in the Stadium: Measuring the (Multiple) Effects of Football Matches on Crime (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
During large sporting events criminal behaviour may be affected via three main channels: (i) fan concentration, (ii) self incapacitation, and (iii) police displacement. In this paper I exploit information on football (soccer) matches for nine London teams linked to detailed recorded crime data at the area level to empirically estimate these different effects. My findings show that only property crime significantly increases in the communities hosting football matches but that they experience no changes in violent offences. These results are robust to controlling for a large number of game type and outcome characteristics. There is no evidence of temporal displacement of criminal activity. Our conceptual model suggests that the away game attendance effect on crime is due to voluntary incapacitation of potential offenders. I argue that the police displacement effect of hosting a match increases property crime by 7 percentage point for every extra 10,000 supporters.
