Overcoming the benchmark problem in estimating bias in traffic enforcement: the use of automatic traffic enforcement cameras

Objectives

The existence of bias in law enforcement can be difficult to verify or disprove, in part because of the difficulty of finding a benchmark—an objective estimate of actual offenses committed by the studied population—that can be compared with police enforcement. In the current study, we propose and test a method for examining bias in enforcement of speeding offenses.

Method

Using all speeding tickets issued in Israel in 2013–2015, we compare speeding tickets generated by stationary automatic traffic cameras, which provide an objective estimate of speed offenses, with speeding tickets issued manually by police officers, based on drivers’ ethnicity with further distribution by gender and age.

Results

Initial findings indicate that, overall, speeding tickets issued by police officers in Israel are not biased based on drivers’ ethnicity.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of distinguishing between overrepresentation and bias in law enforcement, which sometimes seem to be blurred in the literature.

     

Cops and drivers: Police discretion and the enforcement of Maine's 1981 OUI law

This study examined police discretionary behavior in stopping and arresting drivers suspected of drunken driving in the state of Maine (U.S.A.). A sample of 186 officers was questioned at the beginning and end of a one-year period with respect to their attitudes toward OUI (Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol) law enforcement and their discretionary behavior in regard to OUI.Significant minorities of police officers reported that they made decisions either not to apprehend (thirty-three percent) or not to arrest (forty-one percent) OUI suspects in the study year. Officers who reported discretionary decisions not to apprehend or arrest generally did so infrequently—i.e. five percent of possible apprehensions and ten percent of possible arrests.Type of police department was significantly associated with decisions not to stop OUI suspects: officers in large departments ( ≥ 20 officers) reported more discretion. Officers with longer service careers, administration responsibilities, high personal priorities on OUI enforcement, and favorable opinions of the climate of OUI enforcement were less likely not to arrest OUI suspects.     

Officer gender and traffic ticket decisions: Police blue or women too?

Contradictory scholarly arguments and limited previous research currently compromise understanding of whether officer gender affects street-level police actions. This research probed those contradictions and added to the limited previous research by examining traffic ticket decisions by women and men Boston police during April and May of 2001. The multivariate story the data tell was one of no differences between women police and men police. If gender propels women and men police in different directions, as some scholars argue, then evidence of those differences simply was not visible when viewed through the lens of the present research.     

Chapter 3: The Influence of Juveniles' Race on Police Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study

Previous studies evaluating the effects of juveniles' race on police decision-making have rendered inconclusive results. Many of these studies have suffered from methodological shortcomings. The present study utilized vignettes to describe police-juvenile encounters in order to determine police charging practices for black and white youth. The results suggest modest offense-related race effects. Black youth tend to be charged with more offenses while white youth were released more frequently. A refinement in the research methodology is indicated for further explorations of the critical issue of police bias.     

Police officer support for quasimilitary stress training and orientation toward outsiders and nonlaw enforcement functions

This paper is about the meaning of police officers' support for the traditional socialization model of the quasi-military stress academy and its effects on their attitudes toward outsiders and non-law enforcement functions. More specifically, it examines consequences of quasi-military training on attitudes toward civilians in police departments, on serving minority groups and the community, and on criticality ratings of job functions such as mediation, crime prevention and community policing. Based on part of a larger job task survey conducted under the auspices of a state criminal justice training council, it includes over 70 percent of all patrol officers and their first-line supervisors in a rural New England state.     

Driving across campus: Assessing the impact of drivers' race and gender on police traffic enforcement actions

This study examined the effect of drivers' race and gender on officers' decision to search a driver/vehicle and invoke a legal sanction, controlling for legal and extralegal factors. Logistic regression analyses of 10,210 traffic stops on a university campus indicated that drivers' race and gender had a significant effect on officers' decision to search a driver/vehicle and invoke a legal sanction. Black male drivers were more likely than White drivers to be searched, but were less likely to receive a legal sanction. Unexpectedly, the results showed that Asian drivers were less likely to be searched, but more likely to receive legal sanctions than White drivers. Findings, however, indicated that legal and extralegal factors (i.e., types of traffic violation, time, officer type) were found to have significant effects on officers' decisions during traffic stops.     

Procedural justice, routine encounters and citizen perceptions of police: main findings from the Queensland Community Engagement Trial (QCET)

Objectives

To test, under randomized field trial conditions, the impact of police using the principles of procedural justice during routine encounters with citizens on attitudes towards drink-driving, perceptions of compliance, and their satisfaction with the police.

Methods

We conducted the first randomized field trial??the ??Queensland Community Engagement Trial?? (QCET)??to test the impact of police engaging with citizens by operationalizing the key ingredients of procedural justice (neutrality, citizen participation, respect, and trustworthy motives) in a short, high-volume police?Ccitizen encounter. We randomly allocated 60 roadside Random Breath Testing (RBT) operations to control (business-as-usual) and experimental (procedural justice) conditions. Driver surveys were used to measure the key outcomes: attitudes towards drinking and driving, satisfaction with police and perceptions of compliance.

Results

Citizen perceptions of the encounter revealed that the experimental treatment was delivered as planned. We also found significant differences between the experimental and control groups on all key outcome measures: drivers who received the experimental RBT encounter were 1.24 times more likely to report that their views on drinking and driving had changed than the control group; experimental respondents reported small but higher levels of compliance (d?=?.07) and satisfaction (d?=?.18) with police during the encounter than did their control group counterparts.

Conclusions

Our results show that the way citizens perceive the police can be influenced by the way in which police interact with citizens during routine encounters, and demonstrate the positive benefits of police using the principles of procedural justice. Our study was limited by the use of paper-only surveys and low response rate. We also recognize that the experiment setting (RBT road blocks) is limiting and non-reflective of the wider set of routine police?Ccitizen encounters. Future research should be undertaken, using experimental methods, to replicate our field operationalization of procedural justice in different types of police?Ccitizen encounters.     

Police officers’ and Registered Intermediaries’ use of drawing during investigative interviews with vulnerable witnesses

ABSTRACT

Attempts to enhance episodic retrieval focus largely on verbal strategies which do not always address the limited or impaired free recall ability of vulnerable witnesses. Asking a witness to draw while recalling episodic information has long been deemed an effective method of improving communication and cognitive performance. Thus far, research has revealed these effects within laboratory settings but with scarce attention paid to real-life interview practice. In this paper, we explore police officers’ and Registered Intermediaries’ use of drawing during investigative interviews with vulnerable witnesses. A sample of specialist practitioners (n?=?85), comprising of vulnerable witness interviewing police officers (n?=?50) and Registered Intermediaries (n?=?35) completed a self-report questionnaire. As expected, frequent use of drawing was reported by both practitioner groups, and there was a positive correlation between reported use and perceived effectiveness. There were similarities between groups in reported techniques employed when using drawing, but some differences were apparent and these were attributed to the differing functions in police and Registered Intermediary roles. Overall, a consensus between empirical research and practice is evident, but these findings warrant further exploration in order to establish whether such practice is wide-spread.     

An Exploratory Study of Two Decades of Promotional Testing in a Metropolitan Police Department

This study explored the career progression of police officers in a police department by examining the relation among 13 promotional tests at four ranks administered to 1,960 candidates over two decades. It was hypothesized that performance on promotional tests would be relatively stable during a law enforcement career, consistent with research demonstrating consistency in general mental ability. Overall, 28% of subjects retested one or more times and their retest scores on non-equivalent forms correlated about .40 with their initial scores. On average, subjects increased their score by one-fifth of a standard deviation by retesting. With some exceptions, candidate performance on promotional tests significantly correlated with tests for the immediately superior rank as well as tests for higher ranks as much as 15 years later. However, using multiple regression to predict performance on higher rank tests by combining lower rank tests was unsuccessful. Implications for the management of police promotional testing programs are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.     

TBOR2 compliance plans: from rebuttable presumption to enforcement

This Article analyzes the implications and strategies of incorporating the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 ("TBOR2") into tax-exempt healthcare organizations' compliance plans. Beginning with a brief overview of TBOR2, the author examines the presumption of fair market value, how such organizations establish safe harbors, the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS or Service) position regarding enforcement of TBOR2, and the lurking potential for "whistleblowers" to start auditory procedures with an eye toward IRS bounties. Mr. Griffith concludes that the best advice for exempt organizations is to follow the rebuttable presumption procedure for all transactions involving potential disqualified persons, including staff and employed physicians, and seek to fit within the safe harbors for the less routine and larger of those transactions.     

试论“劝告式”执法与构建城市和谐交通——以湖州市为例

如何构建城市和谐交通，是以罚治路还是依法治路？对交通违法行为是单纯的“严罚”，还是宽严相济？是动不动就“罚款”，还是有所区分，辅之于教育？在交通管理中如何全面落实科学发展观和为构建和谐社会作出努力？湖州交警正是基于这些问题的思考，勇于创新，在交通管理实践中推出了针对轻微交通违法行为的“劝告式”执法．这是湖州交警为构建城市和谐交通的一种创新实践。“劝告式”执法的推出给我们的启示是：要构建和谐交通，必须要解放思想、转变观念；必须实施政务公开制度；必须牢固树立“执法为民”的宗旨。     

The role of the forensic scientist in the application of chemical tests for alcohol in traffic law enforcement

The role and ethical responsibilities of the forensic scientist are reviewed. The context of this discussion includes the application and support of chemical tests for alcohol statutes in the United States adversary system of justice. The goal of this review is to stimulate awareness among the various participants (that is, scientist, prosecutor, defense counsel, judges, and law enforcement officials) in traffic law enforcement situations. Their mutual understanding and cooperation is essential to the effective and efficient use of chemical test procedures. The relative scientific weight that should be given to blood, breath, and urine tests for alcohol is presented.     

上海公安教育“轮训轮值”机制的重要启示

上海市公安局“轮训轮值”机制在教育培训制度、管理体制、培训科目、警衔晋升机制、教官队伍建设等方面颇具特色，广东省的公安教育培训应结合实际，学习、借鉴上海市公安局公安教育培训的先进经验，创建具有广东特色的公安教育培训体制，以促进广东省公安教育培训的改革与发展。     

Credit,crisis and contract enforcement: evidence from the Spanish loan market

A number of theoretical and empirical studies have shown that the development of credit markets is affected by the efficacy of enforcement institutions. A less explored question in this context is how these institutions interact with turns in the economic cycle and the impact of different types of legal procedures on credit market performance. This paper fills these gaps by analyzing how differences in the availability of credit and the evolution of non-performing loans ratios may be partially explained by regional variations in the quality of loan contract enforcement during recent periods of sustained growth (2001–2007) and recession (since 2008) in the Spanish economy. This research concludes that a rise in the clearance rate of executions (i.e., when a judge enforces the repayment of a debt) increases the ratio of total credit to GDP. However, the declaratory stage of the procedure (i.e., when a debt is firstly verified by a judge) does not seem to be statistically significant. A possible explanation to this finding is that, throughout the economic cycle, a relevant proportion of the defaults that take place are strategic (i.e., defaults by a solvent debtor). Furthermore, it is observed that, in regions where declaratory procedures are more efficient, less credit is declared as non-performing. The latter effect, however, is only observed after the onset of the “Great Recession” in 2008. This may be related to the increase of non-strategic defaults during a downturn.     

Private antitrust enforcement and the role of harmed parties in public enforcement

It is commonly believed that the possibility to sue privately for antitrust damages increases the probability that anticompetitive actions are prosecuted at the cost of an increased probability that procompetitive actions are prosecuted. We extend the analysis by taking into account that private parties often submit evidence during public investigation. Such parties consider private suit as a partial substitute for public prosecution. The trial option might induce these parties to be less willing to contribute evidence to public cases. Private trials crowd out public prosecution. In effect, the probability of prosecution of anticompetitive actions might decrease, while the earlier result that the probability of prosecuted actions being prosecuted is confirmed. In general, while the attractiveness of trials weakly decreases by considering a reporting possibility, they can remain an enforcement efficacy increasing institution.     

宽严相济刑事政策视野中的上海社区矫正工作回顾与评价

一、增强社会力量参与社区矫正工作的力度，为贯彻宽严相济刑事政策提供新型的组织和力量保障 上海市在社区矫正工作中，建立了一个不同于监禁刑刑罚执行的组织体系，更加强调发挥社会力量的作用。该组织体系包括三支队伍：