President’s Task Force

- Established by Executive Order signed by President Barack Obama, December 18,

2014.
- Created to strengthen community policing and trust among law enforcement
officers and the communities they serve.
- Charged with identifying best practices, offering recommendations on how policing
practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.

- Two overarching recommendations:

o The president should support the creation of a National Crime and Justice
Task Force to examine all areas of criminal justice and propose reforms.
o The President support programs that take a comprehensive and inclusive
look at community-based initiatives addressing core issues (poverty,
education, and health and safety).

Six Pillars of what the programs needed to focus on

- Pillar One: Building Trust and Legitimacy

o People are more likely to obey the law when they believe law enforcement to
be a legitimate entity
o Public confers legitimacy only on those whom they believe are acting in
procedurally just ways
o Law Enforcement cannot build community trust if they are an “occupying
force”
o Law Enforcement culture should adopt a “Guardian,” rather than “warrior”
mentality
- Pillar Two: Policy and Oversight
o Police policies should reflect community values
o Clear and comprehensive policies – use of force, mass demonstrations,
consent before searches, and performance measures
o Policies should be periodically reviewed
o Federal government should assist local departments in this area
- Pillar Three: Technology and Media
o Implement modern technology to engage the community
o DOJ should invest in technology information for law enforcement
- Pillar Four: Community Policing and Crime Reduction
o Community policing the guiding philosophy for all stakeholders
 o Law enforcement should engage in multi-disciplinary community (team)
approaches for planning, implementing, and responding to crisis situations
with complex casual factors
o Practice of policing must promote protection and dignity for all
- Pilla Five: Training and Education
o Training should address a wide variety of challenges – international
terrorism, evolving technologies, rising immigration, changing laws, new
cultural mores, and a growing mental health crisis
o Instructors should be community members with real expertise in these
areas, not just other police officers who “took a class”
- Pillar Six: Officer Wellness and Safety
o DOJ should enhance and further promote its multi-faceted officer safety and
wellness initiative
o Two specific strategies mentioned: Encourage and assist departments in the
implementation of scientifically supported shift lengths. (And) Expand
collection and analysis not only of officer deaths, but of injuries and “near
misses”
 TRESPASSING – Misuse of Police force

Shooting of Christopher Lee Mercurio: ~10:30 pm, reported speaking of violent

behavior and refusing to leave the Macy’s. Additional information indicated the
male was sleeping in front of the business and refused to leave. Says the only way
he would leave would be forced. ~ 10:57 pm a deputy responded. Upon arrival, a
deputy contacted Mercurio in front of the business and asked him to leave the area.
Mercurio refused and threatened to kill her. Mercurio advanced toward the deputy
and punched her in the face and head. The deputy used self-defense techniques
and created distance between her and Mercurio; however, he continued to advance
toward her, and a deputy-involved shooting occurred. She fired two shots into his
chest, then he went to go lie down in front of the store. The other deputy arrives,
gives the man on the ground aid, and calls the correct people.

Core transaction: For every interaction between police and citizen, there must be a
valid reason for the police officer to occupy that civilian's space. Voluntary does not
matter much, but involuntary needs to have reason for suspicion, i.e., property or
people in danger, or a crime or the possibility of a crime being committed.

Use of Police Force, and What the Law Says

• Deadly Force Basics

o The basic things required for lawful deadly force
▪ Ability (means and capability) I.E, can they hurt me?
▪ Opportunity (proximity) I.E, literal distance, and range of weapon
▪ Imminent Jeopardy (immediate threat)
▪ Preclusion (lesser force not possible/effective) [perception-based
decision]

• Kentucky Revised Statue

• 503.090, Use of physical force in law enforcement
o Justifiable when making an arrest, and
▪ Believes such force is necessary
▪ Makes known the purpose of the arrest
▪ Believes the arrest is lawful
 o Deadly force is justifiable when:
▪ Acting as a peace officer
▪ The arrest is for a felony involving physical force likely to cause
serious injury
▪ The person is likely to endanger human life unless apprehended
without delay
• Graham V Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
o Leading case on police use of force
o Arrest/detention should be viewed as a “seizure”
o Force must be analyzed against the 4th amendment’s “objective
reasonableness” standard:
▪ “The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from
the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with
20/20 vision of hindsight.” (Rehnquist, majority opinion)
• Tennessee V Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
o Majority decision regarding use of deadly force
o Widely known as “the fleeing felon rule”
o Simple escape from capture does not alone allow for deadly force
o Deadly force during capture requires officer to articulate immediate threat of
bodily harm
• Plakas V Drinski, 19 F. 3D 1143, 1150 (7 th Cir. 1994)
o Less lethal alternative not required when the use of deadly force by police
was justified
o What is a deadly weapon?
▪ Kentucky has a list of deadly weapons, per se
• “Dangerous Instrument” covers ordinary items used as
weapons. In this case, a fire poker counts. It matters the intent
of the instrument.
• Thompson V Hubbard, 257 F.3D 896, 899 (8 th Cir. 2001)
o “An officer is not constitutionally required to wait until he sets eyes upon the
weapon before employing deadly force to protect himself against a fleeing
suspect who turns and moves as though to draw a gun.”
o The officer should not be expected in the heat of the moment to figure out
the possibility of a suspect to be carrying a weapon in the heat of the
moment. I.E, sweatpants waistband not being able to pocket a gun.
o Any type of movement to quickly grab something can be perceived as this.
• Prevalence of Force
 o Threat or nonfatal use of force by police in 1.9% of police/citizen encounters
(BJS, 2020, referring to 2019)
o Nonfatal force 2002-2011: 1.2% of police/citizen contacts (BJ, 2015)
o 44% of residents experiencing use of force had multiple contacts with police
• Factors influencing use of force
o Nature of encounter dictates use of force, much more than any demographic
characteristics of officer or citizen (Bolger 2015)
o Subject holding weapon is the most significant encounter characteristic
(Bolger, 2015)
o Behavior and level of resistance most significant factor in use of force
decision-making (Cojean, et al., 2020)
o Higher education linked to lower force frequency (Rydberg and Terrill, 2010)
and less tolerance for excessive force among peers (Telep, 2011)
o Police supervisor education leads to reduced use of force (Lim and Lee,
2015)
POLICE HIRING PROCESS (9/12/24)

• Hiring overview
o Long multi-step process
o Steps can be in any order
o 6–12 month process
• Written Test
o Many times, this is the first step
o Results of written test offers initial ranking
o Spelling, vocabulary, language skills
o Basic math
o Reasoning ability
▪ Provides a set of written rules/laws, followed by a question where the
rule must be applied
o Spatial reasoning
• Physical Test
o Police physical ability tests (PATs) are designed to simulate the tasks police
officers perform in the field.
o Varies state to state on what is required
• Interview panel
o Basic questions
▪ “Explain why we should hire you”
▪ “Why do you want to be a police officer?”
▪ “In what areas did you excel in your last position?”
▪ People apply to multiple agencies to try and snag at least one.
o Skill related questions
▪ “Tell us about the biggest problem you’ve faced and describe how you
handled it”
▪ “How do you handle conflict with coworkers?”
▪ “What are your biggest strengths at work?”
o Situational questions
▪ “A citizen approaches you to complain about reckless driving and
speeding on their street. How do you respond?”
• The wrong answer is that you don’t care.
▪ “If a supervisor ordered you to do someting which was against policy,
what would you do?”
• Wrong answer is you’d do it anyway
 ▪ “You observe another officer back into a parked car and drive away.
What would you do?”
• Wrong answer is no harm no foul if nobody else is there
o Medical Examination
▪ General health exam
• Height, weight, medical history, flexibility, vision, hearing
▪ Blood test/Urine test (Usually is the only time ever)
▪ Stress test
o Background Investigation
▪ Education history
▪ Credit history
▪ Criminal associations
▪ Military records (if any)
▪ Social media
• Nothing is ever fully off the web
▪ Applicant must provide list of:
• Previous addresses
• Landlords contact info
• Previous employers
• Schools attended
• Drugs used and when
• Crimes committed and when
• Family
• Friends
• Teachers
• Other references
▪ Polygraph
▪ CVSA (Computerized Voice Stressed Analyzer)
o Hiring Panel
▪ The final step
▪ Police Chief makes the final decision
▪ Issues “Conditional Offer of Employment” if they like the applicant
• Must complete the program
 Police Rank Structure

• “Quasi-Military”
o Uniforms
o Military-style rank designations
o Hierarchy, Chain of command
o Authoritarian
o Weapons
• Officer/Deputy/Trooper
o Bottom of the “chain”
o “Face of policing
o Typical duties:
▪ Respond to service calls
▪ Locate criminal behavior
▪ Investigate crime
▪ Enforcement action
▪ Write reports
▪ Testify in courts
• A Day in The Life...
o Shift briefing – receives info about the day and things going on in the community
o “Second briefing” - informal, short briefing between a couple of officers, just bs-
ing with each other
o Respond to calls – Priority #1
o Try to stay busy
o Go to lunch
o Rinse and repeat
o File paperwork
• Sergeant
o Officer’s direct supervisor
o Typical duties
▪ Supervise staff
▪ Approve reports
▪ Direct activities at crime scenes
▪ Daily scheduling
▪ Investigate crimes
▪ Interpret policy for practical use
• Lieutenant
o Watch Commander
o Supervises the sergeants and all other personnel
o Mostly it’s a desk job
o Coordinate larger scale projects
 • Captain/Commander/Major
o Oversight of entire division
o Goal setting
o Policies
o Budget
o Discipline recommendations
o Attends meetings – majority of their time
• Assistant Chief
o Oversees larger operational areas
o Interacts with political entities
• Chief/Sheriff
o The “CEO”
o Essentially a politician
o Drives the philosophical mission of the agency
• Criticisms of the Structure
o Lines of authority dull officer’s creativity (to fix a problem, whether it works or
not)
o Creates “us versus them” mentality

Qualifications to be a Police officer

• Two angles on minimum qualifications

o Statutory requirements
o Departmental requirements

KENTUCKY REVISED STATUTE

• Citizen of the United States

• At least 21 years old
• High School Graduate/Equivalency (GED)
• Driver’s License
• Fingerprinted for a background check
• No Felony convictions (and certain misdemeanors) [Domestic Battery]
• Can legally own a firearm
o Who can’t?
▪ Convicted of a felony
▪ Is a fugitive
▪ Unlawful user of controlled substance
▪ “Mentally defective”
▪ Illegally in the U.S.
 ▪ Dishonorably discharged from Armed Forces
▪ Renounced U.S. citizenship
▪ Subject of a restraining order
▪ Convicted of domestic violence
• Have read Kentucky LEO Code of Ethics
o Don’t have to agree or confirm, just have read it
• No dishonorable discharge from military service
• Pass medical examination
• Pass drug screening
• Pass background investigation
• Completes interview with hiring agency
• Neer had peace officer certification revoked
• Pass psychological screening
• Pass physical agility test
• Pass polygraph test

Departmental Standards

• Can be stricter than state

• Cannot be more lenient
• Designed to reflect the priorities of the individual agency

Kentucky State Police

• Everything from Statute, and:

o Three years' experience, or;
o 60 college credits, or;
o 2 years active military, or;
o 2 years Law Enforcement experience
• No false statements on application/interview
• Used political influence on secure advantage in selection process (BAD)
• No cheating during the testing
• No failing to comply with testing instructions
• No “crime of moral turpitude”
o A crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) is a criminal or offensive act that
can be defined as vile and/or insulting to one's moral compass
• No current use of controlled substance
 o It used to be if you ever used a hallucinogen, 5 years prior to cocaine and
heroin, three years for marijuana. But they’ve changed since then, being lax
on marijuana.
• Not addicted to a control substance (CS)
• Not more than 6 demerit point on DL (Driver’s Liscense)
• No tattoos visible in a short-sleeved shirt
o Nov 1st: Long-sleeved, May 1st: Short-sleeved. Uniform is a huge strict rule.

NYPD

• Minimum age 21, but can take the written test at 17 ½

• No older than 35
• 60 college credits with 2.0+ GPA
• Must live in the 5 boroughs
o Live in NYC
• Disqualifiers:
o History of disrespect for the law.
o Tendency towards violence.
o Terminated from any job at any time from poor behavior.
o Or fired from any job at any time for not adjusting to discipline.
POLICE HIRING PROCESS

• Hiring overview
o Long multi-step process
o Steps can be in any order
o 6–12 month process
• Written Test
o Many times, this is the first step
o Results of written test offers initial ranking
o Spelling, vocabulary, language skills
o Basic math
o Reasoning ability
o Provides a set of written rules/laws, followed by a question where the rule
must be applied
o Spatial reasoning
• Physical Test
o Police physical ability tests (PATs) are designed to simulate the tasks police
officers perform in the field.
o Varies state to state on what is required
• Interview panel
o Basic questions
▪ “Explain why we should hire you”
▪ “Why do you want to be a police officer?”
▪ “In what areas did you excel in your last position?”
▪ People apply to multiple agencies to try and snag at least one.
o Skill related questions
▪ “Tell us about the biggest problem you’ve faced and describe how you
handled it”
▪ “How do you handle conflict with coworkers?”
▪ “What are your biggest strengths at work?”
o Situational questions (No perfectly right answer but plenty of incorrect ones)
▪ “A citizen approaches you to complain about reckless driving and
speeding on their street. How do you respond?”
• The wrong answer is that you don’t care.
▪ “If a supervisor ordered you to do something which was against
policy, what would you do?”
• Wrong answer is you’d do it anyway
 ▪ “You observe another officer back into a parked car and drive away.
What would you do?”
• Wrong answer is no harm no foul if nobody else is there

• Medical Examination
o General health exam
o Height, weight, medical history, flexibility, vision, hearing
o Blood test/Urine test (Usually is the only time ever)
o Stress test
• Background Investigation
o Education history
o Credit history
o Criminal associations
o Military records (if any)
o Social media (Nothing is ever fully off the web)
o Applicant must provide list of:
▪ Previous addresses
▪ Landlords contact info
▪ Previous employers
▪ Schools attended
▪ Drugs used and when
▪ Crimes committed and when
▪ Family
▪ Friends
▪ Teachers
▪ Other references
o Polygraph
o CVSA (Computerized Voice Stressed Analyzer)
• Hiring Panel
o The final step
o Police Chief (or a board) makes the final decision
o Issues “Conditional Offer of Employment” if they like the applicant
▪ Must complete the program and academy training
Pre-Service Police Training

• Police Training Overview

o Two distinct phases:
▪ Pre-service Academy
▪ Field Training
o Pre-service Academy
▪ Primarily academic
▪ Secondarily high(er) stress scenarios/situations
▪ Designed to address the core information necessary
▪ Can be operated by a college or a police agency
o 2018 Statistics (Buehler, 2021)
▪ 618 academies in U.S
▪ 59,511 recruits trained (86% completion rate)
▪ 833 hours (about 21 weeks)
o Academy Topics
▪ Nearly all included legal topics, patrol procedures, report writing,
firearms, ethics, and defensive tactics
▪ Nearly all utilize scenario-based evaluations
▪ 90% contain de-escalation techniques and less-lethal weapons
▪ 80% contain identifications and intervention on excessive force
o Special Topics
▪ Varies based on local concerns
▪ Related to specific crime types:
• DUI
• Sex crimes
• Child crimes
• Domestic violence
• Local ordinances
o Academy Requirements
▪ Minimum attendance
▪ Performance during scenario evaluations (practical)
▪ Written testing (weekly and cumulative)
▪ Physical testing
o Field Training
▪ Prior to 1970s – no on the job training structure
▪ San Jose, CA - “San Jose Field Training Program” model
• Incidents with new officers
 • Academics & administrators' collaboration
• Standardized model introduced in 1972
• National recognition 1973, adopted statewide in 1974, still
widely used
o San Jose FTO Program
▪ 16-20 weeks of on-the-job training (trainee goes from glorifies ride
along to doing most of the work and the trainer goes from just having a
shadowed to going to an evaluation position of the trainees work)
▪ Three distinct phases
o Orientation
o Training
o Quasi-solo
▪ Daily Observation Reports (DOR)
• 30 specific categories (have had major changes over the years,
may differ based off of department, must be consistent
between trainees)
• Ranked 1-7 (any score not a 4 requires a written explanation)
o 1 – does not meet standards
o 4 – meets standards
o 7 – exceeds standards
▪ Written narrative detailing observed performance
o San Jose FTO Model
▪ Phase changes (new training officer every phase change)
▪ Phase extensions (meeting between training officer and
administration, decides if trainee is ready for next phase
▪ Routine requirements
• Call types
• Area orientation
▪ Program Completion
▪ Requires agreement of multiple trainers
▪ Program graduation to independent status
▪ Remainder of probationary period
• President’s Task Force Revisited
o Supervisors are instrumental in officers’ wellness and preparedness
o Supervisors hold influence over officer performance
o Supervisors should receive training
• LMPD DOJ Findings (2-3 years ago)
o Specifically states issues with “Supervisors” mentioned 66 times
o Mostly critical:
▪ Lack of investigation (not investigating claims of misconduct),
documentation (of addressing the claims of misconduct), and
guidance (correcting and telling the officers what they want)
o Supervisors lack specific training and are “winging it”
o Recommended training for supervisors (along with other recommendations)
• Who Are The Supervisors?
o Attitudes and goals of police supervisors (Scott Phillips, 2015)
▪ 412 police supervisors responded to his survey
▪ Average education = bachelor's degree
▪ Between 4-37 years of service
• Promotional Qualifications
o Largely determined by preference
o Lack of scientific understanding on what sort of qualifications make the best
supervisors
o Varying combinations of:
▪ Experience
▪ Tenure
▪ Education
• Promotional Process (In order for once)
o Start with a written test
o Assessment Centers (Expensive process, scenario based) [3 hours, ~ 5
scenarios)
o Interview panel (Take the scores together and combine them)
o Personnel file review
• Supervisor Training
o OJT (On Job Training) deemed to be lacking
o First-line Supervisor school (About a week or two weeks long)
o Advanced leadership schools (3 in the U.S., one in UofL)
• Supervisor “Styles”
o ‘How Police Supervisory Styles Influence Officer Behavior’ (Engel, 2000)
 o Identified four police supervisory “styles”
▪ Traditional:
• Task Oriented
• Expect aggressive enforcement
• Less Likely to reward/more likely to punish behavior
• Ultimate concern – control subordinate behavior
▪ Innovative
• Expect community - oriented activity
• Relationship oriented – do not measurable output/outcome
• More receptive to change in strategy and policy
• Ultimate concern – develop problem-solving through
mentoring
▪ Supportive (Annoying)
• Concern for subordinates – by protecting them from criticism
and punishment
• Provide buffer between officers and management
• Most likely to reward
• Ultimate goal – develop subordinates by protecting them from
management
▪ Active (Officers hate this one, they clean up after them)
• High levels of activity in the field
• Take over situations
• Lead by example
• Ultimate goal – perform dual function of street officer and
supervisor
o Roughly equal distribution of styles (25% across the board)
o Which has the most influence on officer behavior in the field?
o Outcomes:
▪ Supervisory style not a predictor in arrest decisions
▪ Mere presence of supervisor increases arrest outcome
▪ Twice as likely to use force with active supervisor
o Bottom line – supervisors DO have an influence in officer behavior (at least in
arrest decisions and use of force)
o Influence can be either positive or negative
• Effects of Supervision
o Officers’ priorities guided by supervisor priorities (Engel and Worden, 2003)
o Officers more likely to arrest when supervisor is present (Engel, 2000)
o Supervisor prioritizing arrests may lead to higher use of force (Engel, 2001)
o Supervisors’ understanding of use of force policy directly affects officer use
of force frequency (Ingram, et al., 2014)
Policing Strategies

• Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment

o Experiment:
▪ Cause and effect variables (the staffing levels and numerous
outcomes)
▪ Experimental and control groups (Reactive and Proactive vs. Control)
▪ Pretesting and post testing (Outcome variables before and after)
▪ 15 patrol beats – computer matched (pg. 7)
• Crime Data
• Calls for service
• Ethnic composition
• Median income
• Population transiency
▪ Outcomes
• No significant effects on:
o Victimization
o Arrest patterns
o Citizen fear of crime
o Citizen and business protective measures
o Attitudes towards police
o Behavior of police towards citizens
o Response time
o Traffic accidents
• Small effect on reports of crime
• What is the major point of this experiment?
o Increasing or decreasing police staffing alone doesn’t
appear to have much (or any) effect on the variables im
this study
o Police-Based Strategies
▪ Crime concentration
• High percentages of crime occur in few locations
• “Hot spots” remain active over time
• All crime types concentrate similarly
▪ Minneapolis – 50% of calls generated in 3% of the city (Sherma, 1987)
o Hot Spots
▪ Micro places with high crime
▪ Identified through GIS mapping of:
 • Calls for service
• Reports taken
• Officer self-initiated activity
o Hot Spots Policing
▪ Deployment of personnel to identified hot spots
▪ What about calls for service?
▪ What about beat assignments?
▪ Enforcement focused
• Offenders more likely to commit crime near:
o Their own homes
o Family homes
o Their schools
o Their prior crime locations
o Their other police interactions
o Near places visited more frequently
▪ GIS mapping of known offenders
▪ Prevention focus
• Deployment of marked patrol
• 15-minute visits/several times daily (Koper, 1995)
• Saturation of police to deter crime
• Diffusion
▪ Direction deployments lead to:
• Reductions in crime overall
o Violence in specific
o Property crime
o Calls for service
▪ Problem-Oriented Approach
• Taken on in cooperation with residents/businesses
• Crime prevention through environmental design
▪ Place-based Strategies Reviewed
• Crime tends to concentrate at high rates in small areas
• Identifies through mapping of crime data
• Heavy deployment in those areas reduces crime
▪ Individual-based Strategies
• Two goals of individual-based strategies
o Identify prolific offenders
o Interrupt prolific offender criminal activity
▪ Prolific Offenders
• Small amount of individuals commit a disproportionally large
amount of crime
• The 1% of the population accountable for 63% of all violent
crime convictions 9 (Falk, et al., 2014)
o Nearly 2.5 million people
o 93k at least 1 violent conviction (3.9%)
o 24k (1%) accounted for 63.2% of convictions
o Average homicide arrestees have 12 prior arrests
(Chicago 2017)
▪ Enforcement Focus
• Physical arrests
• “Zero tolerance”
o Traffic stops
o Subject stops
o Probation/parole checks
• Strict enforcement approach – seeking evidence to solve
existing crimes
• Bleeds over to a prevention focus
▪ Prevention Focus
• Incapacitation
o Prolific offenders can't reoffence if they’re locked up
• Offender perception
o Designed to make offenders believe there is a higher
risk of detection
• Stop and Frisk
o Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
o Reasonable suspicion of crime
o Can perform cursory search for weapons (if articulable)
▪ Does it work?
• Meta-analysis in 2015
• Very effective crime reduction in hot spots
• In conjunction with problem solving
• Not effective when conducted randomly
▪ Other Individual-Base Strategies
• Focused deterrence
o Found effective in gang enforcement
• Early risk prevention
o Police athletic leagues
o Volunteer programs
o DARE
o Enhanced Domestic Violence
▪ Mixed effectiveness
• No reduced recidivism
• Increased calls for future events
SPECIALIZED UNITS

• Define
o Officially designated component of a law enforcement agency
o Requires specialized training, skills, and mission
o Can be put together for a wide range of problems
o May be separated from “routine” patrol work
• Agencies may consider creating a special unity when:
o Patrol resources disproportionally spent on a reoccurring problem
o Solving the problem requires a special skill set
o A vocal source in the community is asking LE to solve a problem
• Special Unit Types
o Specialized tactical units
▪ SWAT
▪ K9
▪ Bomb Squad
o Specialized Investigation Units
▪ Robbery/Homicide
▪ Human Trafficking
▪ ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children – Child Pornography)
o Specialized Enforcement Units
▪ Drug
▪ Gang
▪ Street Crimes
▪ Traffic (Most Important)
o Specialized Analysis Unit
▪ Forensic Sciences
▪ Crime/Intelligence Analysis
o Specialized Community Units
▪ Community Relations
▪ Homeless Outreach
▪ Crisis Intervention
• COOL UNIT NAMES (ACRONYMS MANDATORY)
o S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N - Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our
Neighborhoods, Memphis PD
o V.I.P.E.R - Violent Incident Prevention, Enforcement, Baton Rouge PD
o B.R.A.V.E - Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination, Baton Rouge PD
o F.I.S.T - Fugitive Investigations Strike Team, U.S. Marshalls
 o H.O.P.E - Homeless Outreach Proactive Engagement, Washoe County
Sheriff’s Office
• Specialized Unit Selection
o Minimum tenure requirement
o Performance review
o Performance related to the specialized unit mission
o Selection Process:
▪ Interview
▪ Scenario testing
▪ Practical skills testing
• Does It Work?
o Tempe, AZ specialized units use substantially more force – Gaub, et al.
(2021)
o Agencies with CP units are likely to see CP outputs – Namgung (2018)
o Specialized drug unit in Chicago mainly focused on violent drug markets, did
more work in violent hot spots, arrests associated with race – Burke, P.J.
(2022)
o Specialized domestic violence units have impact on number of DV cases
which move through the court process – Regoeczi and Hubbard, 2018
COMMUNITY POLICING

• President's Task Force for the 21st Century

o Pillar 4. Community Policing and Crime Reduction
o “Community policing requires the active building of positive relationships
with members of the community”
o Recommendations:
▪ Adopt policies to reinforce importance of community policing
▪ CP (Community Policing) should be infused in the culture of LE
agencies
▪ LE should engage with team approaches to crisis situations
▪ Communities should support CP
▪ LE should work with communities to identify problems
▪ Communities should adopt programs for at risk youth
▪ Communities should recognize youth input
• Community Policing Defined
o Use of partnerships and problem-solving to proactively address public safety
issues – President Task Force
o Collaborative partnerships between the police and the community in which
police become more integrated into local community and citizens take
active role in crime control and preventative (Reporting, taking steps to
prevent crime, neighborhood watch) - Textbook
o Inclusion of citizens to solve problems – Criminal Justice in America 9th
Edition
o Decentralization: Police officer making decisions vs the chief making them –
Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy
• Expected Benefits
o Generates positive expectations: increased collective efficacy including
citizen (Yesberg and Bradford, 2021)
o Strengthening of social ties (Lee and Zhao, 2016)
o Promotion of transformative justice (Gready and Robins, 2014)
o Should contribute to more effective fight against crime (Friedmann, 2013)
o According to the “Lesniak Institute for American Leadership”
▪ Builds trust and encourages community compliance
▪ Creates a positive perception of law enforcement for children
▪ Reduces crime rate
▪ Promotes accountability
 o Increase in job satisfaction = reduction in corruption (?????) - U4 Expert
Answer. (n.d.). Community policing as a tool against corruption
o “Although some feared this restored intimate relationship would result in
renewed unethical police behaviors, evidence does not support the
criticism.” - Ziembo-Vogl, J and Mesko G. (2000). Conceptualizing the ethical
aspects of community policing's inception ...
• Community Policing in Practice
o Two common methods of adoption:
▪ Department wide philosophy
• ALL members of the department are expected to engage in CP
▪ Specialized Units
• Small groups of officers assigned to CP, all others business as
usual
• Does it work?
o Reduced frequency of force used (but only in high crime areas) - McCarthy,
et al. (2019)
o Limited effects on citizen fear of crime – Crowl (2017)
o Meta-analysis of 12 studies found no evidence of crime reduction – Crowl
(2017)
o No crime reduction regardless of agency size that can be contributed to CP -
Alper and Merlo (2013)
o No crime reduction in hot spots – Taylor (something, something, fuck if I
care)
o Reduced behavioral complaints, increased complaints for criminal behavior
when it’s officers – Kessler (1999)
o Improved citizen perception of police – Crowl (2017)
o Encourages help-seeking behavior among immigrants – Muchow (2022)
• Is it worth it?
o Actual benefits are well known
o Not doing crime reduction, that’s for sure
o Public needs to know what CP does/does not do
o Politicians/Police Administrators need to stop making promises
COMMUNITY RELATIONS

• President’s Task Force

o Recommendation 4.1: Law enforcement agencies should develop and adopt
policies and strategies that reinforce the importance of community
engagement in managing public safety
• National Night Out
o Coordinated event where any police depa