IACP Center for Police Research Products
Deconstructing the Power to Arrest: Lessons from Research
The objectives for this review are to extract from existing research the principal questions concerning arrest and police-led diversion, critically evaluate the tentative answers to those questions that empirical evidence provides, and form suggestions for future inquiry. More specifically, the objectives for this review are as follows:
- Provide a comprehensive discussion of the factors associated with arrest and alternatives to arrest including citations in lieu of arrest and third party diversion
- Evaluate the research that has been conducted thus far and highlight the most consistent and applicable lessons learned
- Outline suggestions for future scholarship to better illuminate unanswered empirical questions, which will have the potential to better impact policy and programs related to alternatives to arrest.
Our intention is to provide a starting point for more advanced discussions among practitioners, academics, policy makers, and philanthropists regarding informed, evidence-based opportunities to reduce the use of arrest while simultaneously enhancing public safety and reducing crime.
Access the literature review here.
Systematic Review of De-Escalation Training
In response to several controversial police use of force incidents over the past several years, law enforcement agencies, academic researchers, and criminal justice policymakers have advocated for the adoption of de-escalation training for police officers. Unfortunately, there is little consensus on definitions for police de-escalation and empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of police de-escalation training are rare. However, research disciplines such as psychology, nursing, and education (among others) have produced a substantial amount of literature on the effectiveness of training related to de-escalation.
This review reports the findings from a multi-disciplinary systematic examination of evaluations of de-escalation training programs. It also highlights effective practices for de-escalation training, identifies outstanding questions that require future research, and translates the findings into a set of clear actionable recommendations for the field of law enforcement.
A Multi-Method Investigation of Officer Decision-Making and Force Used or Avoided in Arrest Situations: Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department Administrative Data Analysis Report
The goal of this project was to provide a deeper understanding of how and why police use or desist from the use of force and to identify policy, training, or other ways that law enforcement agencies can reduce the need for force, lower the rate of injuries or deaths to community members, and reduce police victimization when interacting with members of the public under stressful or uncertain conditions.
The arrest analyses detailed in the report covered a 30-month period (Jan 1, 2016 – Jun 30, 2018) and included 31,950 in-custody arrests. The key dependent variable from the arrest data was whether or not any officer used force during the execution of a custodial arrest. This variable allowed for a comparison between arrests that involved the use of force and those that did not. During the period covered by this study, the Tulsa Police Department (TPD) made approximately 32,000 arrests and used force in approximately 1.7% of them.
Implementing Gang & Gun Violence Reduction Strategies in Las Vegas, Nevada: Evaluation of Offender Notification Meetings
Offender notification sessions are designed to alert offenders and alter their decision-making by conveying possible sanctions while offering available services, contingent upon the path that the offender (typically on probation and/or parole) chooses, be it desistance or continued high-risk behavior. Initiatives built on call in sessions ultimately seek to change offender behavior by blending law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service provisions in a targeted and directed fashion. While initiatives such as focused deterrence strategies, which rely heavily on offender notification sessions, have often corresponded with reductions in citywide gun violence and gang homicides, the direct influence of call in sessions on individual-level behavior (for those called-in) is far less understood.
In order to better understand the influence of call in sessions on offender recidivism patterns, officials from LVMPD partnered with researchers from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) / University of Cincinnati (UC) Center for Police Research and Policy, along with academic partners from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to randomize and implement an experimental trial to assess the impact of call in sessions on probationers and parolees in Las Vegas in the Spring and Fall of 2018.
There was no evidence that attendance at a single 90-minute offender notification meeting had an overall impact on recidivism risk among treated Las Vegas probationers and parolees. There was evidence, however, of a specific impact of offender notification sessions within the Low/Moderate-Risk probationer/parolee group. Specifically, attendance at one offender notification meeting by probationers/parolees who were affiliated with a violent group/gang but had no previous arrest for violence, were 26% to 44% less likely to recidivate compared to probationers/parolees at similar risk who did not attend an offender notification meeting. Additionally, when offenders did recidivate, the time until recidivism was longer for those assigned and exposed to call-in sessions within this risk group compared to those who did not attend a notification meeting
Implementing Gang & Gun Violence Reduction Strategies in Las Vegas, Nevada: Hot Spots Evaluation Results
Researchers evaluated the results of a hot spots strategy involving the strategic deployment of saturated police patrols in high-crime locations. Specifically, to address violent street crime, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) engaged in a 6-month cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of street segments receiving additional hot spots deployment (saturation patrols) and streets receiving patrol as usual (control segments).
Analysis indicates the treatment hot spots experienced statistically significant reductions in total crimes and calls for service during the experimental period. The most consistent reductions are seen in violent crime calls for police services, while there was also a more modest reduction in property crime during the intervention period.
Place Network Investigations in Las Vegas, Nevada: Program Review and Process Evaluation
The Place Network Investigation (PNI) strategy, also known as PIVOT (Place-based Investigations of Violent Offender Territories), is grounded in crime science theory and research, which consistently finds that crime is highly concentrated, and patterns of crime concentration generally persist in the same locations over time despite repeated police intervention.
This process evaluation examined the activities conducted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) investigative unit and identified four general PNI investigative and response activities: (1) surveillance and intelligence-gathering, (2) external agency coordination and partnership building, (3) effecting changes to physical locations and in place management practices, and (4) enforcement actions.
Understanding Domestic Violence Patterns: A Problem Analysis Conducted for the Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department
This study documents a problem analysis based on a series of statistical analyses conducted on five years of domestic violence data reported to the Tulsa Police Department (TPD) and victimization data gathered by the Family Service Center in Tulsa.
The results of this problem analyses are somewhat complex. Findings from this problem analysis show relatively low rates of repeat offenders (15%) and extremely long re-arrest periods (average of more than 500 days) indicating that many of the well-known offender-based strategies to reduce domestic violence may not necessarily fit the domestic violence problem found in Tulsa. The patterns related to domestic violence offending did not match what has been seen in previous research. However, this is an important reality in policing—what works in one area may not work in another due to inherent differences in the problem.
Evaluation of Police Use of Force De-escalation Training: Assessing the Impact of the Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) Training Program for the University of Cincinnati, OH Police Division (UCPD)
In May 2018, the University of Cincinnati Police Division (UCPD) began delivering in-service de-escalation training to its officers. Although the implementation of use of force de-escalation training has been emphasized across the field of law enforcement, the effects of de-escalation training have not been systematically evaluated. Neither the agencies themselves, nor the larger law enforcement field fully understand the impact of this training. To address this gap in knowledge, researchers at the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy conducted the first known evaluation analyzing the impact of the ICAT training implemented within the UCPD on officers’ beliefs, confidence, and attitudes as they relate to use of force and managing incidents involving persons in crisis. This evaluation includes analysis of a series of surveys administered to the UCPD between May 2018 and February 2019. This report provides an overview of the evaluation and summarizes the findings.
Street Violence Crime Reduction Strategies: A Review of the Evidence
Despite evidence of gradually declining rates of violent crime over the last several decades, violence continues to pose a serious problem for many urban communities. Recent trends in violent crime within the United States suggest violence is a chronic problem, producing substantial costs to communities and individuals, and requiring immediate response from a coalition of stakeholders. As such, finding effective interventions to target violence is essential for restoring communities and enhancing public health and safety. This literature review examines the available empirical evidence on a variety of police-led violence reduction strategies (offender-focused, place-based, and community-based), as well as community-led, public health-based violence prevention interventions. The purpose of this review is to summarize for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers the state of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of various approaches to reduce violence, highlight implications for practice, and identify the remaining gaps in this knowledge needing to be addressed by future research.
