A Collaborative Effort Toward Resolving Family Violence Against Women

Traditional attitudes and practices of noninterference toward family violence are changing. Multilevel, public-private, collaborative partnerships among the criminal justice system, the medical community, educational leaders, the religious community, human services, and public and private advocates have emerged in an effort to promote the safety and welfare of the victims of family violence and to prevent further abuse. The collaborative approach to family violence recognizes that crime problems and their effects on victims are not solely a law enforcement matter. Through the formation of partnerships, typically within the context of community policing, a comprehensive, coproductive approach to family violence is currently viewed as a promising way to reduce the occurrence of family violence. For example, Straus (1993:29) emphasizes that complex, multiparty conflicts require the design and large-scale collaborative problem solving processes

Drug Court Program Monitoring: Lessons Learned About Program Implementation and Research Methodology

Drug courts were established in the United States as part of an effort to deal with the problems of drug-related criminal offending and the resulting overloading of the courts. Drug courts are purported to offer considerable hope for positive change in offenders, largely because of the balance between intensive supervision and rehabilitative services offered through such programs. This article reviews the implementation of one such drug court in a southern state, discusses noted implementation benchmarks for effective programs from the drug court literature, and examines the findings and lessons learned about program implementation and research methodology from a process evaluation that used multiple methods to assess program implementation

Community Policing and Family Violence Against Women: Lessons Learned from a Multiagency Collaborative

Although traditional attitudes and policies toward family violence are now changing to reflect its magnitude and severity in the United States, multiagency collaborative partnerships have emerged in an effort to develop a system that promotes the safety and welfare of victims of family violence and to prevent further abuse. This study analyzes the process of a multiagency collaborative involving a large, municipal police department and other service providers as an attempt to find meaningful solutions to family violence against women in a southwestern metropolitan area. The results suggest that even in an era of multiagency collaboration, one cannot presume that personnel of relatively autonomous organizations have the organizational capacity and/or the willingness among personnel to truly collaborate. Formidable barriers toward effective collaboration abound and result in a less effective process of negotiation rather than collaboration

The Effectiveness of External Assessments in Facilitating Organizational Change in Law Enforcement

Police departments across the USA have been challenged in their efforts toward broad implementation of community policing. This paper examines the level of change at five law enforcement agencies in the western USA. The changes at these agencies were precipitated by an independent, external, on-site assessment of each department conducted by the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), one of 28 regional community policing institutes funded by the US Department of Justice\u27s COPS Office. The nature of the on-site assessment is discussed, along with reasons as to why the process tends to promote rather significant organizational changes in some law enforcement agencies, but only cursory changes in others

Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management

Using an active-learning approach and real-world examples, Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management examines all relevant facets of the criminal justice system and includes practical exercises in most chapters. The text flows logically, from basic justice administration, to police, courts, and corrections, and finally, ethical, financial, and technological influences. The 9th edition focuses on accountability — particularly of the police, in the aftermath of police shootings of unarmed minorities — and includes a new chapter on homeland security.https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/fac_books/1494/thumbnail.jp

Areal Policing and Public Perceptions in a Non-Urban Setting: One Size Fits One

Purpose – A neighborhood-based notion of the distribution of policing services is a hallmark of community policing philosophy. The purpose of this research is to focus on two policy issues: are there significant differences in important policing issues among the different communities, and what factors within the Sheriff’s control might account for these differences? Design/methodology/approach – In 2002, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), servicing the area around Boise, Idaho, carried out a survey of citizens stratified across four areas: two contract communities, one non-contract community, and the unincorporated remainder of the county. Findings – The survey found significant variation in perceptions of crime and disorder, in perceptions of safety, in social cohesion, and in attitudes toward deputies and to the sheriffs office. Findings suggested the importance of local policy through the tailoring of services to local needs. However, some community factors appeared to provide limits on the extent to which the police could respond to dissatisfaction with their services, regardless of adaptive strategy. Originality/value – Only limited empirical research has studied neighborhood variation in citizens’ perceptions of differences pertinent to policing services, and virtually no such research has been carried out outside urban areas. This research fills this gap

Internal and External Challenges to Implementing Community Policing: Examining Comprehensive Assessment Reports from Multiple Sites

The Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), funded by the US Department of Justice’s COPS Office, provides organizational assessments to law enforcement agencies in an effort to facilitate a department’s transition to community policing. Here, assessment reports written for law enforcement agencies in five northwestern states are analyzed to determine barriers that make the transition to community policing problematic. These challenges are organized around the themes of Vision and Mission, Organizational Goals, Organizational Structure, Organizational Climate and Community Environment. The results suggest that law enforcement agencies transitioning to community policing face common internal and external challenges that need to be addressed if community policing is to be successfully implemented

The Ineffectiveness of Training on Increasing Time at the Scene, Acceptance for Prosecution, and Convictions of Domestic Violence Cases

Does police officer training for managing a domestic violence scene improve the chances for a case to be accepted for prosecution and to result in a conviction? If such training emphasises more careful evidence collection and response to victim, would not there be an increase in time spent on the scene? This article is an evaluation of domestic violence training for police officers and analyses the effect of the training on the amount of time police officers spend on the scene with victims of domestic violence, number of cases accepted for prosecution, and the case\u27 s culmination in a conviction. Data from 291 domestic violence cases were collected from a southwest, predominantly Mexican American, metropolitan police department and district attorney\u27 s office. Findings indicate no significant increases in time spent at the scene, acceptance of the case for prosecution, and conviction when comparing cases managed by trained officers to cases managed by untrained officers

The Noble Cause: An Empirical Assessment

Literature on police ethics has employed the term noble cause to describe a utilitarian orientation toward crime control. No empirical research, however, has systematically investigated the noble cause, a shortcoming addressed in this study. A survey of deputies in a western sheriff\u27s office provided the setting for the current research. Twelve items tapping the noble cause revealed a multidimensional latent structure composed of three factors. Findings did not support the presence of a link between measures of the noble cause and crime. A positive though inconsistent relationship was found between measures of the noble cause and deputies\u27 attitudes toward administrators