The Decision to Become a Police Officer in a Legitimacy Crisis

This study examines how individuals make the decision to become police officers in the context of a police legitimacy crisis and how men and women’s decision-making processes may be different. In-depth interviews were conducted with 42 criminal justice college students who want to become police officers. Prospective police officers anticipated facing challenges as a direct result of the current climate surrounding American policing, which is characterized by decreased police legitimacy. On top of this, women anticipated facing more challenges than male officers due to their gender and underrepresentation in police work. However, women were uniquely motivated to enter policing to overcome gender-specific challenges and felt that they offered special skills that would provide solutions to the police legitimacy crisis. The paper draws implications for how agencies can identify more quality candidates and increase their representation of women.     

Producing race disparities: A study of drug arrests across place and race*

In studies of race disparities in policing, scholars generally employ quantitative methodologies with the goal of determining whether race disparities exist or, in fewer instances, of ruling out correlates. Yet, lacking from theoretical and empirical efforts is an elucidation of how and why on‐the‐ground policing produces race disparities that are justified in legal, race‐neutral terms. To address this knowledge gap, I analyze officers’ self‐reported accounts of their enforcement activities, justifications, and decision‐making in a representative sample of 300 official reports of drug arrests made in St. Louis from 2009 to 2013. These accounts are analyzed across neighborhood racial contexts and arrestee race, revealing important differences that help illuminate the race disparity problem. Unlike drug arrests in White neighborhoods or of White citizens that primarily stem from reactive policing, drug arrests in Black and racially mixed neighborhoods and of Black citizens result from officers’ greater use of discretionary stops based on neighborhood conditions, suspicion of ambiguous demeanor, or minor infractions. During such stops, officers’ discovery of drug possession often results from discretionary Terry frisks or searches incident to arrests for outstanding bench warrants. These findings fill important theoretical and empirical gaps and have implications for reforms toward racially just policing.     

Small Screens and Big Streets: A Comparison of Women Police Officers on Primetime Crime Shows and in U.S. Police Departments, 1950 to 2008

This article utilizes a longitudinal approach to assess the visibility of women as police officers in primetime crime shows from 1950 to 2008 and compares these numbers for television to actual data on women who work as police officers in the United States. We find that as expected, annual labor force data and crime show data both indicate increases in the number of minorities and women working in the criminal justice system over time. Given the robust literature on the general underrepresentation of women on television, however, we did not expect to uncover that both White and minority women are overrepresented as police officers on television every year compared to the occupational reality. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Index of Reviewers for 2005

Drawing upon literature from developmental criminology and place‐based policing, the Redlands, California Police Department developed the Risk‐Focused Policing at Places (RFPP) approach to preventing and reducing juvenile delinquency. The RFPP program is a community‐oriented policing and problem‐solving strategy that targets risk and protective factors related to delinquency and problem behaviors of youths living in census block group areas. We used a matched block randomized experimental design to evaluate the effects of the program on youths living in 26 census block groups in Redlands. We find that the RFPP program did not influence self‐reported delinquency, or perceptions of risk and protective factors and police legitimacy. We argue that the primary explanation for the absence of a program effect centers on the unit of analysis used for the program. The census block group is too large a geographic unit of analysis to achieve the kind of targeted and focused interventions that lead to positive crime‐prevention outcomes.     

Female Police Officers and Their Experiences: The Metropolitan Police of Buenos Aires Context

This research explores the experience of female police officers in the Metropolitan Police of Buenos Aires, which began providing public safety in 2010. The purpose of this research is to better understand the barriers and opportunities female officers are encountering in this new context of community policing in Latin America. With better understanding, law enforcement officials will be better equipped to ensure that female officers achieve at the highest levels in organizations. Responding female officers identified civic duty as a primary reason for joining the force. Female officers did not report significant levels of institutional discrimination but did report informal disparaging treatment, including sexual harassment. The results of this research suggest that as this young police force matures, officials should pay close attention to the emerging culture of the organization, as many common and negative aspects of it have already started to form.     

Searching for Equilibrium: The Tenuous Nature of the Outcome Test

Based on Engel's critique of the outcome test and Persico and Todd's response, the underlying assumptions critical to the outcome test are summarized and discussed. It is argued that many of these assumptions are not met when applied to police search data. The key underlying assumption—the principle of equilibrium—is examined in detail, and several additional concerns are raised. Thereafter, the proper interpretations of outcome test analyses are reiterated, and discussion regarding the types of racial bias demonstrated by these analyses is further explored.     

Discretion and the Sex Dyad: Exploring the Interactive Effects of Offender and Victim Sex on Reporting and Arrest of One-on-One Assaultive Crime

Gender has been hypothesized to affect how violent offenders are treated within the criminal justice system, but studies have tended to ignore the role of the victim in decision making. This study explores the interactive effects of offender and victim sex (i.e., the sex dyad) on reporting and arrest of one-on-one assaultive crime. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey and National Incident-Based Reporting System, findings show that male-on-female offenses are reported to police more often than other dyads, but female-on-male offenses result in more arrests. Meanwhile, female-on-female offenses result in fewer arrests, despite nonsignificant differences in reporting. Implications of findings for theory and future research on gender discretion are discussed.     

Trust is hard to come by: Disentangling the influence of structural characteristics and race on perceptions of trust in the police in a major Southern County

The current study will add to the literature on public attitudes toward law enforcement by assessing the individual and contextual-level predictors of one of the key concepts in police legitimacy literature: trust. Examining individuals nested within zip code results showed a significant equalizing effect of structural resource deprivation on both White and Black respondents' perceptions of trust in the police. Additionally, results found respondents who perceived racial profiling to be widespread had a universally decreased likelihood of having trust in the police, and these disparities were exacerbated as structural resource deprivation increased.     

The effect of community policing on fear and crime reduction,police legitimacy and job satisfaction: an empirical review of the evidence

Since the 1970s, community policing strategies or the language thereof have been purportedly initiated by a number of police departments nationwide to address notable issues such as crime, neighborhood disorder, and fear of crime. This policing philosophy has received considerable attention and support among scholars, police administrators, and criminal justice practitioners. This article synthesizes the available empirical evidence on the effectiveness of community policing initiatives using a variety of outcome measures. An overview of community policing is first provided with particular attention paid to its essence and objectives. Prior studies that have analyzed community policing effectiveness are then reviewed and assessed in terms of their methodological rigor and scientific merit. A discussion and future research considerations are presented to conclude.     

The Adaptation of License-plate Readers for Investigative Purposes: Police Technology and Innovation Re-invention

Scholarship has focused on the use of license plate readers by patrol officers as a rational instrument for accomplishing key policing goals, including recovering stolen vehicles. In contrast, this paper applies the theoretical framework of innovation reinvention to explain how license plate readers are being used by criminal investigators in more novel ways. This perspective provides insights into the practical benefits of an enhanced version of this technology. More significantly, it helps illuminate the innovation attributes and the organizational determinants that contribute to its adaptation. In our case study of an agency with extensive deployment of license plate readers, we found that factors contributing to their reinvention included their widespread availability and compatibility with other information systems, their lack of complexity, the characteristics of their users, and the role of leadership in promoting their use. These findings have implications for advancing knowledge about the complex nature of the innovation process.     

Translating Behavioral Science into Practice: A Framework to Determine Science Quality and Applicability for Police Organizations

Policy on officer‐involved shootings is critically reviewed and errors in applying scientific knowledge identified. Identifying and evaluating the most relevant science to a field‐based problem is challenging. Law enforcement administrators with a clear understanding of valid science and application are in a better position to utilize scientific knowledge for the benefit of their organizations and officers. A recommended framework is proposed for considering the validity of science and its application. Valid science emerges via hypothesis testing, replication, extension and marked by peer review, known error rates, and general acceptance in its field of origin. Valid application of behavioral science requires an understanding of the methodology employed, measures used, and participants recruited to determine whether the science is ready for application. Fostering a science–practitioner partnership and an organizational culture that embraces quality, empirically based policy, and practices improves science‐to‐practice translation.     

The Relationship Between Crime Reporting and Police: Implications for the Use of Uniform Crime Reports

Empirical studies that use reported crime data to evaluate policies for reducing crime will understate the true effectiveness of these policies if crime reporting/recording behavior is also affected by the policies. For instance, when the size of the police force increases, changes in the perceived likelihood that a crime will be solved may lead a higher fraction of victimizations to be reported to the police. In this paper, three data sets are employed to measure the magnitude of this reporting bias. While each of these analyses is subject to individual criticisms, all of the approaches yield similar estimates. Reporting bias appears to be present but relatively small in magnitude: each additional officer is associated with an increase of roughly five Index crimes that previously would have gone unreported. Taking reporting bias into account makes the hiring of additional police substantially more attractive from a cost–benefit perspective but cannot explain the frequent inability of past studies to uncover a systematic negative relationship between the size of the police force and crime rates.     

从自由到平等:美国言论自由的现代转型

自1960年代开始,美国言论自由开启了从经典时期向现代的转型。在色情作品、仇恨言论和竞选经费三个领域,言论自由分别与性别平等、种族平等和财富平等正面相遇。通过把"平等"价值引入言论自由这一转型,使色情作品、仇恨言论和竞选经费从单纯的自由问题变为平等与自由间的平衡;同时,为了促进平等,它还强调法律和政策应告别形式中立,必须向弱势群体有所倾斜。这一转型相当于一场言论自由的"新政",终结了言论自由的洛克纳时代,重塑了言论自由的范式和议程,并对当代言论自由的发展产生持续和深远的影响。     

Culture and Formal Social Control: The Effect of the Code of the Street on Police and Court Decision-making

Objectives. Drawing on several interrelated lines of scholarship, we argue that cultural beliefs at individual and neighborhood levels may affect police and court decisions. We hypothesize that individuals who more strongly adhere to the code of the street or reside in areas where the street code culture is more strongly embraced will be more likely to be arrested and convicted, and that neighborhood-level effects will amplify the effect of street code adherence. Methods. To test these hypotheses, data from the Family and Community Health Study are examined using multilevel modeling. Results. Blacks who more strongly adhered to street code beliefs were more likely to be arrested and convicted; this effect was greater among those who resided in areas where the code of the street belief system was more entrenched. Conclusions. The findings highlight the potential usefulness of a focus on culture for understanding the exercise of formal social control.     

论量刑规范化的实现路径——以刑罚差异性为切入点

量刑是法官在遵循犯罪事实和刑法规范的基础上,运用自身经验和司法逻辑进行理性判断的过程,科学的量刑结果不可能完全整齐划一。电脑或数学量刑均无法代替法官自身经验和智慧。因此量刑规范化的实现,有赖于在立法完善的前提下,发挥和提高法官自身的司法智慧。     

Living in a Policy State: From Trust for Sale to Trust of Land

The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996has transformed the nature of co-ownership interests in land.The trust for sale, which governed dealings in co-ownedproperty under the Law of Property Act 1925, and whichmade sale the presumptive object of co-ownership, has been replaced by a trust of land, under which co-owners retainan interest in the land itself, rather than its capital value.This article considers the likely impact of this legislativepolicy departure, particularly in relation to the court'swillingness to grant an order for the sale of co-owned propertyon application by a creditor, and against the wishes of anon-debtor co-owner occupier.     

Broken Windows or Window Breakers: The Influence of Physical and Social Disorder on Quality of Life

The relationship between neighborhood disorder and fear of crime is well established. According to Wilson and Kelling's broken windows theory, physical and social disorder lead to fear and cause citizens to retreat into their homes. This breaks down informal social control mechanisms and may lead to more serious crime. Insofar as fear is related to quality of life, an implication of broken windows theory is that disorder may impact quality of life, but that relationship has not yet been examined in the research literature. The present study seeks to fill a void in the literature by investigating the relationship between neighborhood disorder and quality of life. Results indicate that disorder is related to quality of life. In particular, physical disorder is negatively associated with quality of life, but social disorder loses significance when controlling for physical disorder. Policy implications of the findings and direction for future research are discussed.     

论医院的紧急救治权——兼论《医疗事故处理条例》第33条

在患者处于危机情形时，医院根据法律规定对患者负有紧急救治的法定权利和义务，但是这种权利义务不得与患者自己对于治疗的决定权相冲突；在患者无法行使治疗决定权的情况下，医院的紧急救治权也不得与患者家属的治疗决定权相冲突。     

刑事诉讼强制措施的适用应遵守比例原则——兼论相关检察监督

刑事强制措施作为刑事诉讼的重要手段和保障措施长期以来得到了充分的运用,但法律有关强制措施强度及其适用的规定存在着明显不足,客观上导致其在实践中被不正确适用甚至滥用。引进比例原则,对强制措施的适用加以合理限制,使其与被追诉人适用的刑罚相谐调,有利于其在刑事诉讼中发挥合理效能。