Race has long been recognized as playing a critical role in policing. In spite of this awareness, there has been little previous research that attempts to quantitatively analyze the impact of officer race on tangible outcomes. In this paper, we examine the relationship between the racial composition of a city’s police force and the racial patterns of arrests. Increases in the number of minority...

Prevalence rates for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in police officers may be six or more times the prevalence rates for the community. Once established, is PTSD in police officers more severe than PTSD in civilians? This small study looks at the symptom frequencies in established cases of PTSD in 31 police officers and 72 civilians and compares the two. No significant differences were f...

T first contact that a young juvenile offender has with the juvenile justice system is with a police officer. The nature and circumstances of this police contact are likely to be significant and have a lasting impression on a young person. In this chapter we examine police roles and responsibilities in general, and the unique roles that police have when dealing with juvenile offenders. Children...

The authors review research on police effectiveness in reducing crime, disorder, and fear in the context of a typology of innovation in police practices. That typology emphasizes two dimensions: one concerning the diversity of approaches, and the other, the level of focus. The authors find that little evidence supports the standard model of policing—low on both of these dimensions. In contrast,...