Cyber Bullying - Law Enforcement Executive Forum

Cyber Bullying

Vol. 11, No. 4 • December 2011

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Executive Institute

Law Enforcement Executive

Law Enforcement Executive Forum • 2011 • 11(4)

Law Enforcement Executive Forum Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute

Western Illinois University 1 University Circle

Macomb, IL 61455-1390www.ILETSBEI.com

Senior EditorThomas J. Jurkanin, PhD

EditorsVladimir A. Sergevnin, PhD, and Susan C. Nichols, MS Ed.

Associate EditorsJennifer M. Allen, PhD

Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, North Georgia College and State University

Barry Anderson, JDProfessor, School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Western Illinois University

Tony A. Barringer, EdDDivision of Justice Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University

Michael J. Bolton, PhDChair, Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, Marymount University

Becky K. da Cruz Criminal Justice and Law and Society, Armstrong Atlantic State University

Jose de Arimateia da Cruz Political Science and Comparative Politics, Armstrong Atlantic State University

Larry Hoover, PhDDirector, Police Research Center, Sam Houston State University

William Lewinski, PhDDirector, Force Science Research Center, Minnesota State University

Hyeyoung Lim, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Western Illinois University

William McCamey, PhD Professor, School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Western Illinois University

Stephen A. Morreale, DPASchool of Public Policy and Administration/Criminal Justice, Walden University

Gregory Boyce MorrisonDepartment of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University

Deborah W. Newman, JD, EdDProfessor and Chair, Department of Criminal Justice, Middle Tennessee State University

Michael J. PalmiottoProfessor, Criminal Justice, Wichita State University

Gene L. Scaramella, PhDDean of Graduate Studies, Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology

Wayne Schmidt, LL.M., JDDirector, Americans for Effective Law Enforcement

Aaron Thompson, PhDDepartment of Sociology, Eastern Kentucky University

Brian N. Williams, PhDSchool of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia


Editorial ProductionDocument and Publication Services, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois

Production AssistantLinda Brines

The Law Enforcement Executive Forum is published online four times per year by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute located at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois.

ISSN 1552-9908

No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

DisclaimerReasonable effort has been made to make the articles herein accurate and consistent. Please address questions about individual articles to their respective author(s).


Table of Contents

Editorial .................................................................................................................. iThomas J. Jurkanin

“Off-Duty” Comments: The Effects of Social Networking on Public Careers ..................................................................................................... 1

Jill Joline MyersTodd A. LoughKatharine Pawelko

School Bullies—From Playgrounds to Computers: The Ethics of Monitoring Social Networks ............................................................................ 21

John R. Schafer

Internet Recruitment and Youth Trafficking ................................................... 27Vladimir Sergevnin

Police StressStress, Emotions, and the Psychological Impact of Discrimination ........... 35

Robert T. CarterNancy Cha

Police Work Stress vs. Police Life Stress as a Predictor of Domestic Violence .............................................................................................. 53

Victoria Ziemski

Who Is Your Buddy? Does Your Department Prepare Its Officers for the Job They Never Knew They Were Going to Have .......................... 61

Fletcher Stone

Drugs and InvestigationsEnhancing the Police Response to Injected Illicit Drugs ............................. 63

Rick Parent

Methamphetamine: The Resurgence of Manufacturing After Oklahoma House Bill 2176 ............................................................................... 71

Rashi K. ShuklaE. Elaine Bartgis

The Role of Suspect and Victim Information in Investigation Outcomes: Revisiting Eck’s Triage Theory .................................................... 91

William V. Pelfrey, Jr.Chaswell André Hanna

TerrorismFaith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and the Criminal Justice System:

What Do They Do? ............................................................................................. 101Shani P. WilfredMelvin C. Black


Anwar al Awlaki: The Man, His Ideology, and His Impact on Transnational Jihad ............................................................................................ 113

Uri RossetDean C. Alexander

Law Enforcement and CommunitiesThe Influence of Professional Associations on County Sheriffs’

Participation in a Mail Survey: An Experiment ........................................... 127T. Casey LaFranceJonathan DayChad EwingDavid Rohall

The Effectiveness of the New Independent School District Police Department Model ............................................................................................. 135

Magdalena DenhamAnthony J. Onwuegbuzie

The Sensibility of Turning Community-Oriented Policing into a Force of Civility and Democracy ..................................................................... 165

Sam S. Souryal

A Higher Education Programme Designed to Encourage Informed Career Decisions and Career Retention of Police Officers ........................ 185

Ruth McGrathIan K. Pepper

Socialization Process to Improving Treatment to Meet the Social Developmental Needs of Delinquent Youth ................................................ 193

Barry S. McCrary

Legal IssuesDue Process, Termination Procedures, and Last Chance Agreements ....... 199

Muna BusailahJ.C. Allen

Navigating the First Amendment Minefield: An Analysis of Developments in Public Employee Speech and Points to Remember .... 203

Michael P. StoneMelanie C. Smith

Retirement with a Disciplinary Appeal Pending May Render the Appeal Moot: A Survey of Recent Cases Reveals Tension Between Courts of Appeal ................................................................................................. 207

Melanie C. Smith

Materials/publications are available through the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute.

Law Enforcement Executive Forum • 2011 • 11(4) i

Editorial

Police Must Manage Their Professional ImageRecent events throughout the country related to the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations have pitted the police against citizens. While the focus and intent of the protests is still murky at best, it does seem clear that there is growing resentment, among a segment of society, based upon issues of economic class and wealth distribution in America. For the police, it does not matter what the message is or the nature of the protest. As on-the-ground agents of the government, the police must deal with these often volatile protests and balance the First Amendment rights of the protestors with issues related to the maintenance of order and citizen safety.

Videotape from recent clashes between Occupy Wall Street protestors and the police are reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s when Civil Rights and Vietnam protestors stood against the government, and the police were called to intervene. In reflecting upon that era, two things seem clear. First, numerous government-initiated studies in the aftermath of those riots and conflicts cited the police for being unprepared. Second, one would hope that the police have learned from lessons of the past and, as a result, are better prepared to respond to (largely peaceful) “Occupy Wall Street” protests and similar citizen demonstrations. The evidence is not clear regarding the second assumption, however.

Police in America face a difficult task in responding to citizen protests. Most often, the police serve as scapegoats and face the emotional (and sometimes physical) wrath of citizen dissatisfaction, which, in reality, represents citizen resentment and a feeling of powerlessness toward the government or other institutions. That being said, the police cannot relinquish their duty to maintain order in society while concurrently protecting constitutional guarantees. This juxtaposition is part and parcel to the police role in a democratic society. So, where do the police turn? The answer is for the police to understand their role, to properly plan and train to meet such challenges, to approach such situations with caution and forethought, to thoroughly assess situations as they unfold, and to employ reasoned and intelligent tactical responses.

At the outset, police should always strive to promote their professional image by simply “doing what is fair and right.” This statement may strike some as simplistic and trite. However, if police always strove to do what is right, they would do themselves a favor and would receive less criticism. If this is not enough incentive for the police to be thoughtful and intelligent in handling volatile encounters, let’s consider another incentive—YouTube. Today, policing takes place in a YouTube society. Police must be forever aware that their every action may be sent worldwide in a matter of minutes. And, unlike our system of American justice, guilt is established by video evidence captured on a one- or two-minute broadcast to millions. The damage is done. The profession suffers. We cannot take it back. This editorial is advocating for professional, intelligent policing.

In November 2011, the University of California (UC) at Davis received worldwide attention, when campus police officers were videotaped pepper-spraying students at a sit-in protest on a campus roadway. The students sat quietly in protest and were asked by the police to disassemble; when they did not, officers began to pepper-spray them in the face at close range. Welcome to YouTube. For those who do not support the police and for many who do, the evidence of police overreaction was palpable—and the professional image of all police was further tarnished by this single incident.

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It should be noted that an outside investigative report of the UC Davis incident has been initiated by the Chancellor, and it is not the intent of this editorial to fully evaluate the intricacies of what occurred or how it occurred. The point is that it did occur. So, in the remainder of this piece, I will provide some personal perspective on the contextual surrounding of the incident—the “bigger picture” view.

Monday morning quarterbacks are a dime a dozen. However, indulge my thoughts for a moment. First, this was a situation in which students were exercising their First Amendment rights. The nature of the protest aligned with the “Occupy Wall Street” protests but was focused on recent tuition rate increases at the university. So, the students had a focus and they had something to say. As a professor, I applaud the students for “getting involved.” I find it refreshing that students are at long last taking a stand and getting involved in wider issues in society. And, what is a better environment to exercise the freedom of speech than on a university campus? Second, contrary to early reports by university officials, the students were not combative and did not pose an immediate threat to the officers or others.

While peacefully demonstrating on a campus roadway may be cause for police intervention and the removal of the students, there is room for compromise and discretion. Could there have been a better way of handling this situation? Of course, the answer is yes. I am reminded of the old saying, “You may win the battle, but lose the war.” How might the police have handled this situation differently? How about some type of accommodation?

In the fall, on college campuses throughout the nation, hundreds of thousands of people flock to football stadiums to tailgate before the big game and to later cheer their teams on to victory. University administrators do everything possible to market tickets, resulting in millions of dollars of revenue for the university. University administrators also do what needs to be done to accommodate the football crowds. This involves hiring extra security, blocking off roads, arranging for parking, and planning for easy ingress and egress—accommodation.

In the scheme of things, is college football more important than allowing a few socially conscientious students to demonstrate in a peaceful manner? Shouldn’t universities seek to promote or retrain divergent opinion, thought, and expression? Why not just redirect traffic, accommodate the students, and let the demonstration run its course? Ironically, the manner by which this protest was handled by the university may provide validation for a central issue in the “Take Back Wall Street” movement—money as a driving force in American society.

Returning to the title of this editorial, police must intelligently manage their professional image. The formidable challenges police face are often driven by outside forces, but police administrators and officers cannot allow outside forces to influence who they are. They must ultimately operate and survive based upon their own actions; and all the while, they must manage their professional image.

Thomas J. Jurkanin, PhDSenior Editor

Note: As a 37-year veteran in policing, I have always been the most formidable advocate for the police. However, as a veteran of a noble profession, I cannot excuse or tolerate inappropriate police actions. I have always advocated for the police to perform better and more professionally than they have in the past. My editorial comments are not intended to be critical of police actions but simply to encourage police to embrace the ethos of professionalism and to be cognizant of the intended and unintended consequences of their actions and decisions.

Law Enforcement Executive Forum • 2011 • 11(4) 1

“Off-Duty” Comments: The Effects of Social Networking on Public CareersJill Joline Myers, JD, Associate Professor, School of Law Enforcement and

Justice Administration, Western Illinois UniversityTodd A. Lough, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Law Enforcement and

Justice Administration, Western Illinois UniversityKatharine Pawelko, PhD, Professor, Department of Recreation, Park &

Tourism Administration, Western Illinois University

The Extent of Social Networking Effects on Public Careers

Social networking tools are valuable assets for public agencies. The tools are useful in recruiting new employees, alerting the public to its services and programs, and projecting a positive perspective on the agency and its employees. A Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey (2011) revealed the widespread use of social media by companies to recruit and hire new employees. The survey found that 89% of surveyed companies used social media for human resource management in 2011, up from 73.3% in 2010. Moreover, almost 9% of U.S. companies indicated they plan to begin using social media in the coming year. Nearly two-thirds (63.3%) of the companies surveyed reported having successfully hired a new employee through social media websites like LinkedIn and Facebook. Fifty-five percent of companies surveyed reported plans to increase their budgets for recruiting via social media. The top three methods used for recruiting quality candidates were (1) referrals, (2) direct sources, and (3) social networks.

Social media sites are used to promote public education and safety goals, to keep the public informed, and to build good community relationships. The use of social media is so extensive that the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, has a Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section devoted entirely to obtaining and using evidence from social networking sites (Cohen, 2010; Lynch & Ellickson, 2010). Additionally, police departments widely use social media to further their mission. They use social media communications to

1. update the public and media via Twitter and Facebook,2. conduct real-time interactions with police officers through blogs,3. investigate criminal activity,4. conduct undercover operations, 5. absolve the innocent by providing electronic alibis, and 6. track fugitives through their digital footprints. (Dunlap, 2010)

As shown above, law enforcement agencies use social networking sites in a number of innovative ways. Law enforcement also uses social media to post digital wanted posters; to pose as gang members to gain trust and insider information; to disseminate police blotter blogs to journalists; to encourage anonymous E-tipster access; to conduct stakeouts; and to track and “tweet” information about crowds, traffic, crimes in progress, or missing children to the public (Cohen, 2010; Sieberg, 2009; Smith, 2010).

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From a personal perspective, social media enables individuals to maintain relationships without geographical boundaries; to communicate; and to share information in real time easily, efficiently, and economically. Just how quickly and easily social media communication formats have expanded is indicated by the fact that Facebook now has 700 million users (Facebook Statistics, 2011). Almost half (48%) of the 18- to 34-year-old population begin their day by checking Facebook. Facebook users over the age of 35 are a fast growing sector representing one-third of Facebook accounts. Seventy-two percent of the 206.2 million Internet users in the U.S. have a Facebook account.1 During a 20-minute period, over one million Facebook links are shared, two million requests for friends are accepted, three million messages are sent, and three million photographs are relayed. Over half (57%) of Facebook users reported talking to others more often online than in face-to-face encounters. In 2010, “Facebook” was the most frequently searched term on the Web.

Along with benefits, social media also have disadvantages. The information is public with little, if any, legitimate expectation of privacy. The information remains potentially in the public domain forever. Everything said online can, and quite possibly will, be used against social media users. Such was the case in Florida when a public recreation director sent an e-mail that was critical of his city administrators (Kozlowski, 2008). Burton v. City of Ormond Beach, Florida (2008) examined when, and if, the First Amendment provides public employees protection when they speak out on matters. The Court made distinctions between speech which contains personal attacks on someone or private matters and speech which discusses matters of public concern. The court acknowledged “If the manner and content of an employee’s speech is disrespectful, demeaning, rude, and insulting, and is perceived that way in the workplace, the government employer is within its discretion to take disciplinary action” (p. 30). Ultimately in this case, the federal district court determined that Burton’s e-mail contained sufficient content concerning matters of public concern. Thus, his speech was protected, and he should not have been terminated. Many other public employees have not been so lucky. Their e-speech exhibits vituperative characteristics unprotected by the First Amendment.

For example, in a school-related case, a Florida history teacher was suspended and told his employment could be terminated for his anti-gay marriage posting. The teacher, after following the evening news accounts about same-sex unions and the New York legislation related thereto, posted his reactions on his personal Facebook page from his home computer. The school claimed the teacher violated a code of special ethics and launched an investigation. The teacher, with 22 years of experience and acclaimed as “Teacher of the Year,” told Fox News Radio that he was stunned by the school’s claims: “It was my own personal comment on my own personal time on my own personal computer in my own personal house, exercising what I believed as a social studies teacher to be my First Amendment rights” (Stames, 2011).

The examples above indicate the growing trend of tracking employees’ online behavior. A report by Ostrow (2009) concludes that employers are increasingly tracking employee online behavior and taking action to dismiss employees for misuse of social media sites. Ostrow found 15% of U.S. companies took disciplinary action when employees violated employers’ multimedia sharing/posting policies. These figures are expected to rise as companies clamp down on questionable employee web activities perceived to put the company at risk or to characterize the company in a poor light.


MindFlash posted a digital infographic outlining “How Companies Are Using Social Media to Hire/Fire Employees: And 5 Ways to Ensure You Never Get Hired” (Haefner, 2009; Ross, 2011). The infographic included these behaviors: (1) leaving a trail of “digital dirt” tracks of self-incriminating behavior on the Internet; (2) being a “Terrible Troll” by making pointless and annoying comments on social media; (3) being a “Big Mouth” spewing negative comments or revealing confidential information about past employers and mentioning how you hated your last job; (4) having numerous questionable “friends” in your social network who post strange, offensive, or filthy comments on your social network page; and (5) being totally negative in your social media postings.

Although statistics reveal that companies track their employees, only 7% of Americans believe information about them online had affected previous job searches. In reality, 70% of U.S. hiring managers said they had eliminated candidates based on what they found. Obviously, there is a great chasm between what citizens believe and what the industry does.

In addition to the hiring and firing decisions influenced by social media postings, other serious concerns exist. Social media can endanger officer safety, interfere with employment, and blemish an agency’s reputation. Personal opinions of police officers represented on their own social network sites pose serious potential risks. With information so freely exchanged, public servants need to be prudent about establishing boundaries in what they share, with whom, and where. In 2009, in Santa Monica, California, police department efforts to conceal a wounded officer’s identity and location were compromised when a retired officer inadvertently posted the information on Facebook (Goode, 2011a; Haefner, 2009; Ross, 2011). Further, photo tagging, a new phenomenon, poses even greater dangers to agency operations and officer safety. The tags remain in the public domain even if removed by others who have access to the photos (Ellis, 2010).

Many government agencies routinely review applicants’ social networking pages when they apply for employment. After an interview with a Michigan police department, the job candidate placed the following post on Facebook: “Just returned from the interview with the Southfield Police Department and I can’t wait to get a gun and kick some ass.” The candidate was not hired (Goode, 2011b).

Houston Police Department General Order Number 200-41 targets postings that involve the job or are discriminatory. A Houston veteran officer posted inappropriate photos online. She posted photos depicting work situations, including a photo showing a man who had passed out near a sidewalk on one of her police calls. She was sanctioned.

The Legal Limits on Public Employees’ Free Speech

The democratization and usage of social media affects careers and hiring practices. In an age of communication connectivity via Twitter, texting, blogging, and Facebook, public employees can easily lose or destroy their careers by improper postings. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the antiquated premise that “public employees may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but they have no constitutional right to be a policeman” (McCauliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford, 1892), a teacher, or a correctional officer, numerous public employees are terminated for


their “political” expressions. This section examines the legal limits on a public employee’s free speech. More specifically, this section examines the parameters surrounding a public employer’s right to monitor and restrict a public employee’s expression within and outside of the workplace.

Social media has changed the way people communicate. Social media or web-based platforms provide an easy, interactive forum for sharing information over the Internet. Often its use blurs professional and personal lines of behavior. Employees share information over these sites much like they did over a backyard fence or at a water cooler with the difference being that social media reaches a much larger audience, far faster, and on a more permanent level. By using social media, employees face a greater risk of exposure for their inappropriate communications. The technology captures digital expressions, making it easy for employers to eavesdrop on employees. Likewise, employers face a greater risk of harm due to the burgeoning use of social media by employees. Employee usage of social media creates productivity, quality, and safety issues for employers. Additionally, inappropriate posts place an employer at risk for civil liability claims and reputation damage.

Research from 2009 reflects the significant connection between social media and the workplace. According to Deloitte’s Ethics & Workplace Survey (The Problem with . . ., 2009), nearly three-quarters of U.S employees believe that social media usage can damage a company’s reputation. Yet 53% of those employees believe that their online profiles “are none of their employers’ business,” and more than 33% “never consider what their bosses, clients or colleagues think before posting.”

Public employees who maintain these beliefs face employment risks. Further, those employees who rely solely on their off-duty status or the First Amendment’s right to free speech for protection from employer control are at risk. Likewise, the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches affords the employee little protection from public employer eavesdropping. These imprudent beliefs and reliance may cost public employees their careers.

First Amendment Protection

Several recent court cases shed light on the issue of a public employer’s right to monitor a public employee’s social media communications in hiring and firing practices. Generally, public employees enjoy the same rights and privileges as all U.S. citizens. Their status as government employees does not, sua sponte, cause them to relinquish their First Amendment right to free speech. Public employees may speak freely upon matters of public concern provided that the commentary is neither contrary to the regulations of the public agency nor harmful to the proper functioning of the agency of employment. In other words, government employees are free to express themselves on topics unrelated to their employment (U.S. v. National Treasury Employees Union, 1995). If, however, a government employee expresses himself not as a citizen, but instead as an employee, his speech will be subject to review regardless as to whether the speech was made on- or off-duty. Expressions made pursuant to employment duties and functions are not insulated from employer discipline by the Constitution (Garcetti v. Ceballos, 2006).


It is a well-settled premise that “the government as an employer indeed has far broader powers than does the government as a sovereign” (Waters v. Churchill, 1994). As a sovereign the government must accept and tolerate free speech and even offensive utterances as a side effect of open debates (Cohen v. California, 1971). But as an employer, the government may exercise considerable control over an employee’s expression, especially when the expression contravenes the government’s policies or impairs or interferes with the government’s functioning. As a sovereign, the government must tolerate rudeness and offensive comments; but as an employer, the government need not.

Several cases illustrate this point. In Connick v. Myers (1983), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the discharge of an assistant district attorney for expressing her views opposing a transfer of job assignments. The employee, disgruntled by the transfer, created and distributed a questionnaire soliciting the views of fellow employees concerning, among other things, the office transfer policy, office morale, and confidence in supervisors. Her actions caused a “mini-insurrection within the office” (at 151). The employee was discharged for insubordination. Her speech (the questionnaire) did not fall within the protection of the First Amendment as it did not discuss matters of public concern. Her speech was not the speech of a citizen commenting on matters of public affairs, but, rather, her speech reflected the personal views of a dissenting employee.

Likewise, in Waters v. Churchill (1994), a public hospital fired an obstetrics nurse for insubordination after she allegedly complained about her superiors to other hospital workers during a dinner break in the hospital’s Obstetrics Unit. The Court found the nurse’s comments were not speech on a matter of public concern as protected by the First Amendment. Thus, the public hospital had the authority to discharge her.

Waters (1994) and Connick (1983) reflect the sentiment that the government as an employer enjoys greater authority over communications of its employees and prospective employees than it does over expressions by the general public. The power comes from the employer’s mission to operate efficiently and effectively. If employees were allowed to debate each decision, combat every command, and constitutionalize every matter, government offices could not function (Connick at 143).

Government positions that require the employee to meet a high standard of comportment or refrain from conduct that is immoral or unbecoming may also support employee free expression restrictions. The government as an employer has an interest in regulating the conduct of its employees such that they do not bring discredit upon the organization or themselves. This interest in regulating employee conduct is of particular importance in military and paramilitary (police) organizations (Thaeter v. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2006)2 where the “law and their own safety demands that they be given a degree of respect” (Dible v. City of Chandler, 2007). Activities and expressions that undermine that respect and do not involve matters of public concern are afforded no First Amendment protection. Activities and expressions that undermine that respect but do involve matters of public concern are afforded limited First Amendment protection.


In Thaeter v. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (2006), two deputy sheriffs were dismissed for participating in sexually explicit videos available for paid viewing on the Internet. The videos displayed the officers engaging in a variety of live sexual acts with multiple partners. Some videos included footage of a female posing nude on a PBCSO police car. The Court began its analysis by assessing the threshhold question of whether the videos for profit were matters of public concern thereby entitling the officers to at least a qualified or limited First Amendment protection.

Speech is a matter of public concern if the subject is one of general interest and of value to the public at the time it is made (Thaeter at 1356). Here the Court held that the participation in pornographic recordings for Internet display did not qualify as a matter of public concern. The website did not offer any social or political commentary. It was designed to make money, not to address public concerns (Dible v. City of Chandler, 2007). Thus, no First Amendment protection was given. Additionally, neither their off-duty status when the videos were made nor the officers’ attempt to disguise their appearances altered the result. The dismissals were upheld as proper because the expression discredited the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

In a similar case, City of San Diego, California v. Roe (2004), the Supreme Court upheld the termination of a police officer based on his off-duty, non-work-related expression. The expression was injurious to the employer’s mission. Therein, a San Diego police officer sold videos of himself masturbating and stripping over eBay. Using the same reasoning mentioned above in Thaeter (2006), the Court found that the expression was not a matter of public concern. The activities of the officer discredited the San Diego Police Department’s image. The officer’s use of the screen name, “’Code 3 stud @aol.com,’ a word play on a high priority police radio call” (at 78), his wearing of a police uniform, and his profile identifying himself as employed in the law enforcement field clearly demonstrated a sufficient adverse impact on the government to merit sanctioning. The impact on the government’s employer was not mere speculation.

The government’s power as an employer over an employee’s speech is not unlimited. The government cannot condition public employment on a basis that infringes upon the employee’s constitutionally protected interests. Public employees still enjoy First Amendment freedom of expression and Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches. In Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, Will City (1968), the Supreme Court established a two-prong analysis for reviewing public employee statements under First Amendment protection. The Court held that statements are protected when (1) it addressed a matter of public concern and (2) the employee’s interest in making the statement outweighs the employer’s interest in suppressing it.

In essence, Pickering (1968) asserts that the government as an employer has broad discretion to restrict expression; however, the restrictions must be directed at speech that has the potential to affect its governmental functioning or its operation. If the speech is a personal attack or an act of insubordination against the employer, or an expression that undermines or discredits the government organization, it may be regulated without further justification. If, however, the speech concerns a matter of public concern, then the government bears the burden of “proving [beyond mere speculation] that its interests in promoting the efficiency of the public services it


performs through its employees” (at 568) is greater than the interests of the citizen employee in commenting upon matters of public concern.

Pickering, a public school teacher from Will County, Illinois, was dismissed for sending a letter to the local newspaper criticizing the school administration’s spending of money on athletics and its proposal to raise taxes for the schools. The Court found that the comments by the teacher, although critical of his employer, were matters of public concern. The Court also found that the comments did not impede his performance of classroom duties or sufficiently interfere with the general operation of the school (at 573). The government’s interest in curtailing the comments did not outweigh the teacher’s right to freely espouse on a public matter. Thus, the comments could not furnish grounds for dismissal. Without sufficient proof showing a detrimental effect on the operation of the school, school administrators cannot limit a teacher’s ability to contribute to public debate.

The same result was reached in Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District (1979). A unanimous Supreme Court held that an English teacher had a First Amendment right to malign the school’s racist employment practices. Comments concerning racist employment practices clearly involve a matter of public concern—even when made privately by the teacher to her supervisor. Since the speech was a matter of public concern, discipline could be imposed only if the employer could establish a sufficient detrimental effect on its organization. No detrimental effect was established; therefore, the teacher could not be sanctioned.

Similarly, in Rankin v. McPherson (1987), the First Amendment protected a police officer’s job when she made a comment on-duty, within hearing of other employees, but outside the course of her duties. Specifically, the officer, upon learning of the attempted assassination of President Reagan, stated, “If they go for him again, I hope they get him” (at 394). Justice Scalia in his dissenting opinion strongly advocated that the First Amendment should not protect an employee’s expression that is so overtly offensive to its employer’s position. Justice Scalia reflected his sentiment on the matter by stating, “no law enforcement agency is required by the First Amendment to permit one of its employees to ‘ride with the cops and cheer for the robbers’” (at 394). The Court’s majority opinion rejected Justice Scalia’s argument. Instead, the Supreme Court held that although the remark was boorish and patently offensive, it did involve the subject of a legitimate news interest; thus, it merited a qualified First Amendment protection.

As the statement reflected on a matter of public concern, the Court required the application of the Pickering (1968) balancing test. In applying the test, the Court found that the government did not meet its burden of proving that its interests in suppressing the statement to promote public services was greater than the interests of the citizen employee in commenting upon matters of public concern. The comment was made quietly to a fellow officer. No insubordination, impact on performance, or decrease in general morale was shown. The public confidence in the agency was not discredited. Hence, the officer could not be sanctioned for her comments. The Pickering balancing test plays a critical role in assessing the authority of the government as an employer to limit free speech concerning matters of public concern.


Fourth Amendment Protection

The Fourth Amendment offers public employees some protection from governmental scrutiny of social media for employment purposes. A public employee has privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment that guard against unreasonable searches by an employer; however, a legitimate employer interest can override an employee’s Fourth Amendment right to privacy. The 2010 Supreme Court case of City of Ontario, California v. Quon (2010), illustrates this point. Sergeant Quon was employed by the Ontario Police Department as a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member. When his employer, the police department, seized and viewed his personal text messages sent on his government-provided pager, he sued, claiming that the government had violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The search of the pager revealed many sent and received messages that were sexually explicit and not work related. He was fired for his inappropriate activities.

As a general principle, the Fourth Amendment “guarantees a person’s privacy, dignity, and security against arbitrary and invasive governmental acts, without regard to whether the government actor is investigating crime or performing another function” (Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Association, 1989). Prior government as employer cases have established that no warrant or reasonable suspicion specific to an individual employee need be established to satisfy the Fourth Amendment. Government employer searches and seizures are proper if the compelling governmental interests served by the actions outweigh employees’ privacy concerns.

O’Connor v. Ortega (1987) provides the framework for determining whether a public sector employee’s workplace privacy under the Fourth Amendment has been violated. Initially it must be determined whether the employee possessed a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in the contested activity. Then, if a reasonable expectation of privacy was found to exist, the court must examine whether the employer’s action (search) was reasonable in its inception and scope.

The first question, whether an employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy, must be addressed on a case-by-case basis involving a fact intensive inquiry. What is reasonable depends upon the environment and the context within which the search takes place. Office workplaces run the gamut of being private spaces to open spaces akin to Grand Central Station. Electronic communications may be readily visible, clearly audible, hidden in metadata, or protected by passwords. Searches through these spaces or searches revealing electronic communications may be reasonable in some circumstances and unreasonable in others.

Privacy violations are determined by establishing whether the person manifested a subjective expectation of privacy and, if so, was that an objectively reasonable expectation (Katz v. United States, 1976, Justice Harlan Concurring). Stated another way, the Court looks to whether the person has “exhibited a subjective expectation of privacy [in his communications or activities] that would remain free from governmental intrusion” and whether the person “took normal precautions to maintain privacy” (Kee v. City of Rowlett, 2001).3

The reasonableness of a person’s subjective expectation of privacy depends on several factors, including (1) the volume or visibility of the communication


or conversation; (2) the proximity or potential of other individuals to overhear or observe the communication; (3) the potential for the communications to be reported; (4) the affirmative actions taken by the speakers to shield their privacy; (5) the need for technological enhancements to hear or view the communications; and (6) the place or location of the communications as it relates to the subjective expectations of the individuals who are communicating (Cressman v. Ellis, 2003).

Users of social networking sites have little reasonable expectation of privacy to the information posted thereon. The very nature of the site and its purpose to connect with others precludes privacy. Anyone, including an employer who has an account with a company like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc., can search the site for employees by name. Unless the user employs privacy settings (“Friends Only”), all of the user’s information, photos, comments, and acquaintances are open to the public. Search engine monitoring by an employer produces similar results by exposing public information to which the employee has no reasonable expectation of privacy. Google.com or Yahoo.com searches are easy to conduct, and the material publicly posted cannot be controlled or removed by the individual. Finally, employee use of government e-mails affords little privacy protection. Most government e-mail sites have automatic screen log-in warnings notifying that the site is being monitored by the employer.

A 2007 Survey from the American Management Association (AMA) (2008) and the ePolicy Institute found that “83% [of employers] inform workers that the company is monitoring content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard; 84% [of employers] let employees know the company reviews computer activity; and 71% [of employers] alert employees to e-mail monitoring.” Additionally, 43% of employers actually engage in e-mail monitoring of their employees, and 28% of those who do monitor employee messages have fired an employee for inappropriate e-mail usage.4

The statistics clearly reveal that employees use social media and employer’s e-mail to post inappropriate communications and conduct improper activities in violation of company policies (AMA, 2008).5 Employees engage in these activities despite the obvious public nature of the communications and the specific warnings alerting them to the lack of privacy while online. Employers take advantage of this situation. The employer’s eavesdropping is legal when employees have manifested no reasonable expectation of privacy in the activity or communication and when the government employer has demonstrated a need to search to maintain a professional and efficient management of the workplace.

In Quon (2010), the Court assumed that the sergeant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his private text messages, despite the fact that the City of Ontario had both provided the pager and had a formal computer policy that specified that the City “reserves the right to monitor and log all network activity including e-mail and Internet use, with or without notice. Users should have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality when using these resources” (at 2625). Informally, Quon was assured that his messages would remain private if he paid the overage fees for its use.

After concluding that Quon had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his text messages, the Court proceeded to examine whether the government employer’s


action (search) was reasonable at its inception and in scope. Reviewing the employer’s actions under a variety of circumstances, the Court found the City of Ontario’s actions reasonable.

The City of Ontario began its review of the pager data upon notice that its employees regularly exceeded its character limit causing the employees to pay for the overage. The goal of the audit was to determine whether the volume of work-related texts necessitated an increase in the City’s text character limit. The scope of the investigation was limited and focused solely on the efficacy of the service plan. The search was not excessively intrusive in light of the stated purpose giving rise to the search. The employer’s act (searching and reviewing pager records) was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was confined in scope to what was necessary to serve the governmental interest or purpose. Thus, the City of Ontario’s legitimate employer’s interest overrides Quon’s right to privacy.

As many government employers require good moral character in their public employees and applicants, will employer searches justify and override employees’ rights to privacy in social media? The Florida Bar Association Board of Bar Examiners believes so and is now considering using Facebook and MySpace accounts to screen and monitor the behavior of its applicants (Pudlow, 2009).

Quon (2010) and Ortega (1987) provide guidance for government employers and employees when searches are conducted pursuant to specific work-related purposes. However, the Supreme Court has not addressed whether the government can lawfully access social media communications without a specific goal when the communications occur during work hours or on work equipment.

Statutory Protection

Several statutes also govern when social media searches may be properly conducted by public employers. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)6 and its two relevant titles, the Wiretap Act (Title I)7 and the Stored Communications Act (SCA) (Title II)8 are the most viable provisions, but other provisions such as the newly implemented Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Title II are also instructional. GINA prohibits an employer from discriminating based upon genetic information. Under these new regulations, an employer may not conduct an Internet search likely to uncover genetic information. Further, an employer is mandated to avoid situations and to take precautions where it is foreseeable that such information may be revealed.

Social media communications are replete with health and genetic commentary. As demonstrated by the cases cited herein, people post anything and everything on social networking sites. The new GINA II regulations underscore the risks of revealing protected information when conducting social media searches. Employers who conduct social media searches that uncover protected information may be exposing themselves to liability lawsuits under several statutory provisions. Disclosure of protected information may also expose employers to lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,9 the Age Discrimination in Employment Act,10 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.11 Are social media searches worth the risk?


Title I, the Wiretap Act, controls accessing and acquiring wire, oral, and electronic information as it is in transit. Title II, the Stored Communications Act, controls the accessing and acquiring of information once it is in storage. The most commonly used exceptions under the ECPA, which permit access and monitoring by government employers, are the Consent Exception,12 the Service Provider Exception,13 and the Course of Business Exception.14 All of these exceptions are favorable to employers. Most government employers have automatic screen warnings similar to the provision mentioned in Quon (2010) that alert employees that their communications are being monitored. If employees choose to use the equipment for non-work-related business, they then consent to its monitoring by the employer. Automatic screen warnings present upon log-in establish consent and repudiate the employees’ claim of a reasonable expectation of privacy (U.S. v. Heckenkamp, 2007).

Bohach v. City of Reno (1996) serves as an example of the application of the Service Provider Exception by a police department employer. Officer Bohach sent personal messages to other officers over the Reno Police Department’s “Alphapage” messaging system.15 Several months elapsed, and then Officer Bohach was investigated by internal affairs concerning the content of those messages. Officer Bohach claimed that the accessing and retrieval of those messages violated the ECPA wiretap statute. The court rejected the officer’s claims for three reasons: (1) the messages were electronic communications similar to e-mails; hence the officer could not reasonably have believed them to be private; (2) the officer was on notice that messages would be logged onto the network and that sending inappropriate messages was proscribed; and (3) since the City of Reno provided the pager service, it was a service provider as defined by the statute. The statute, Section 2701(c) (1) “allows service providers to do as they wish when it comes to accessing communications in electronic storage.” Therefore, the City of Reno was “free to access the stored message as it pleased.”

Most employers, government and private, monitor the online activities of their employees. Many employers are proactive in this endeavor and take measures to assist in this monitoring by reducing or eliminating an employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy. Monitoring online activities of employees is a sound business practice to prevent discrimination liability lawsuits, to increase and improve productivity, to monitor morale, to manage misconduct, to investigate issues, and to secure leaking of confidential communications. Social media merely moves monitoring into the new millennium. Understanding the legal limits and parameters of public employer/employee relations is prudent. First and Fourth Amendment rights and several statutory provisions provide safeguards to public employees’ privacy. But employee rights will not prevail if their expectation of privacy is unreasonable or if the government’s right to maintain a productive workplace outweighs the individual employee’s right to privacy. Employee rights to free expression will not prevail, even if created off-duty, if the expression is detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer (City of San Diego, California v. Roe, 2004) or if the expression results in a reasonable prediction of disruption (Dible v. City of Chandler, 2007).

Identifying Effective Social Media Policy

This research now turns to an examination of the process by which public entities can establish guidelines for the effective use of social media by their agencies and


employees, and to an analysis of the content of an effective social media policy. To demonstrate this policy process, special attention is given to recent efforts by public law enforcement to craft policies which allow for the use of social media to further agency goals while simultaneously restraining the improper use of such media by agency employees. As this study has already suggested, the challenge of realizing the agency benefits of social networking while simultaneously avoiding the hazards of embarrassing employee revelations and conduct has significantly impacted American law enforcement careers.

Law enforcement agencies are increasingly recognizing the potential benefits of utilizing social media to assist in accomplishing agency goals. Criminal investigators have grown to view the Internet as a valuable tool to obtain information about individuals and gather evidence against suspects. Social media sites can prove to be valuable sources of information regarding a range of criminal activity, including missing or wanted persons, stalking, cyber bullying, and gang activity (International Association of Chiefs of Police [IACP] National Law Enforcement Policy Center, 2010b). In the era of Homeland Security, social media has also been used to gather important information for law enforcement regarding potential terrorist threats at home and abroad. Likewise, law enforcement agencies now regularly monitor social networking sites in an effort to anticipate protests and demonstrations that may create public order disruptions. The utility of using social media as an investigative tool is obvious to even the most traditionally minded law enforcement organizations.

Social networking sites have also proven to be excellent venues for promoting the ideals of community policing. Information sharing and community outreach efforts are greatly enhanced by the use of social media. Successful public agencies, including police departments, cannot rely solely on the traditional media to distribute their message. In an age of media cutbacks traditional news media rarely have the resources to fully cover the activities of public entities. The effective use of social media provides a valuable service. This resource allows for the dissemination of critical information that might not be shared during the average news cycle. The use of social media outlets could prove especially important in emergencies such as natural disasters where continuous updates on potential hazards are essential (Alexander, 2011). Many public agencies have recognized as well, that for younger citizens, social networking sites are often their primary sources of information. As communication styles have evolved, agencies too must evolve or risk losing contact with a significant portion of the citizenry they serve.

Social media is recognized by public entities as an effective tool for the recruitment of new employees. For law enforcement agencies, the use of social media in this area has proven useful not only as a tool for attracting new recruits, but also as a mechanism for gleaning more detailed information about the personal behavior and beliefs of both potential applicants and current employees. Postings on social networking sites can provide a mirror into the true character of a recruit or an established officer or agent. This allows agencies the opportunity to behave proactively by foregoing the hiring of questionable applicants, or by terminating employees whose social media behavior might prove to be a source of liability or a potential risk to future investigations.


Having recognized the importance of employing social media techniques and strategies in their activities, law enforcement agencies have turned their attention in recent years to the creation of coherent policies to guide those activities. As suggested earlier, such policies are essential given the potentially negative consequences of an improper use of social media by agencies or their employees. Thus, effective policies must both describe for employees the proper use of social media as a tool for promoting the agency’s goals and outline clearly the limits on social media use and expression by employees in their private lives. Put more simply, agency employees must be educated as to what constitutes proper and improper use of social media from their employer’s perspective. Formulating such policies will require the cooperation of public information staff, agency legal counsel, and administrative personnel to conduct a needs assessment and current policy reviews (IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center, 2010b, p. 1).

Once agency administrators have a clear picture of what, if any, current policy exists regarding social media use, they must focus their efforts on establishing guidelines in the three areas where social media are most often employed by law enforcement agencies: (1) communications, (2) cyber-vetting, and (3) investigations (Stevens, 2009, p. 2). The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recently crafted a model policy which recommends some best practices for the utilization and management of social media by law enforcement agencies. The IACP’s recommendations include formulating an agency strategy whereby target audiences are identified and social media pages are created especially for them that then link back to the agency’s main website (IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center, 2010a). Such pages should also include introductory remarks stating the purpose for the agency’s creation and maintenance of the site. The IACP further recommends that procedures be established clearly delineating what agency personnel bear responsibility for approving site content and ensuring that such content is subject to public records laws, and that the content is managed, stored, and retrieved in compliance with state and federal law (p. 2). The model policy also stresses the importance of clearly stating on social media pages that opinions expressed there do not always reflect the opinion of the agency sponsoring the page, and that disclaimers be clearly visible, advising visitors to the site that posts will be monitored, removed under certain circumstances, and viewable by the general public (p. 2).

Personnel acting as administrators and participants in agency-sanctioned social media sites must be thoroughly trained in both their responsibilities for promoting and maintaining the sites and in what behavior is prohibited in such venues. Here the IACP model policy recommends agency personnel be clearly instructed that they must

1. Conduct themselves at all times as representatives of the agency and adhere to all agency standards of conduct.

2. Identify themselves as members of the agency in their activity on department sites.

3. Not make statements about the guilt or innocence of any suspect or arrestee, or comments concerning pending prosecutions, nor post, transmit, or otherwise disseminate confidential information, including photographs or videos, related to department training, activities, or work-related assignments without express written permission.

4. Not conduct political activities or private business on agency sites. (pp. 2-3)


In general, agency employees must be instructed that department social media sites, department equipment for creating and accessing such sites, and all activity conducted on department sites must work toward the purpose of furthering the goals of the agency.

An effective social media policy should also provide guidance to agency staff regarding how social media activity inquiries of prospective employees must be conducted. Essential elements of cyber-vetting guidelines should include mandatory notification of prospective employees that their social networking activities will be examined. Agencies may require that job candidates give consent for such examinations and can disqualify those applicants who decline to provide consent (Stevens, 2009, p. 1). It is also important that agencies notify prospective employees of the kinds of information they will be collecting in their social media searches, and whether they might make inquiries of the candidate’s social networking friends (pp. 1-2). Cyber-vetting of job applicants for public employment is an important and effective tool that may help prevent future negligent hiring lawsuits, but only if conducted in a transparent and ethical manner.

Besides clearly delineating proper use of agency-sponsored social media, a comprehensive policy must also address general use of any type of social media by employees whether on or off duty. Improper use of social media by employees can create a variety of potential problems for public entities. The most frequent problem created for public agencies regarding the private use of social media by their employees is when the online comments or behavior of those employees damages the agency’s image or contradicts its mission. As described earlier, the potential trouble for law enforcement agencies from the private use of social media by their employees is magnified by the potential for such behavior to undermine both criminal investigations and subsequent prosecutions. With defense counsel increasingly looking to discredit police witnesses by identifying any signs of prejudice, partiality, or ill-intent, which would be evident in their private use of social media, it is incumbent upon law enforcement agencies to train officers to avoid such behavior and to sanction those who ignore such admonishment.

To combat the potential problems created by employee use of social media, the Boise Idaho Police Department created the following exemplary list of precautionary guidelines to instruct officers in proper use of the Internet both on- and off-duty:

No member shall allow or permit any digital media to be posted on the Internet that:

•

•

couldreasonablybeinterpretedtoexpresstheopinionsoftheBoisePoliceDepartment. A member may comment on a subject of general interest and of value and concern to the public provided that, in doing so, the member does not suggest or imply that the views expressed are those of the Boise Police Department.hasbothareferencetothememberbeingaffiliatedwiththeBoisePoliceDepartment and that contains content that is unprofessional, unbecoming, or illegal, such as lewd sexual conduct, excessive alcohol consumption, or similar behaviors. Members are reminded that courts may scrutinize the credibility of a witness from unintentional sources like the Internet.


•

•

•

couldbereasonablyinterpretedashavinganadverseeffectuponagencymorale, discipline, operation of the agency, safety of staff, or perception of the public.containsanyrecording,includingimages,obtainedwhileengagedintheperformance of enforcement activities, tactical situations, or anything that will have an adverse effect upon the agency. does not apply to Internet postings for legitimate law enforcementpurposes. (Masterson & Bones, 2011, pp. 66-68)

Law enforcement agencies are not the only public entities that recognize the importance of establishing clear social media policies to guide the actions of their employees. Public schools often share some of the same benefits and potential problems from the proactive use of social media as do police departments. Both are in the business of public service, and both are susceptible to significant damage to their public image and ability to pursue organizational goals when employees misuse the Internet. The Mobile, Alabama, Public School System recently drafted the following social media policy that provides a good example of the types of guidelines that address the primary concerns of public schools in regard to staff use of social media:

a. Board policy prohibits employees from communicating with individual or small groups of students outside of system owned means and resources. Mobile County prefers that its employees utilize only school owned resources to communicate and interact with students.

b. Do not mix personal and school profiles. Employees should not use their personal social network profiles to interact with any student.

c. Remember that anyone can access the Internet and view what you write on a blog or, in many cases, your personal social network profile.

d. Any written text, whether in a text message, an email or posted on a Facebook page, can easily be taken out of context or misunderstood. Avoid inappropriate language, exaggeration, provocation, and sarcasm.

e. Protect confidential and proprietary information. Do not post confidential or proprietary information about individual schools, students, or other employees.

f. Think twice before posting. Privacy does not exist in the world of the Internet and social media. Consider what could happen if a post becomes widely known and how that may reflect on both the employee and the school.16

The sets of guidelines discussed above demonstrate a clear understanding of the legal principles and court decisions related to the use of social media by public employees, and they provide a broad description of the types of social media behaviors from which officers and other public employees should refrain. In order for public entities to minimize internal conflict and/or reduce the likelihood of wrongful termination lawsuits, they must demonstrate that both coherent social media policies are in place at the agency, and that employees are properly trained in the meaning and application of those policies. Like it or not, public employers must assume the responsibility of educating their prospective and current employees. Internet communications and activities on- or off-duty are not private when the expressions affect employers. Such communications can profoundly and adversely affect an individual employee’s future and the agency he or she serves.


Endnotes1 70% of all Facebook users reside outside of the U.S.2 Thaeter v. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (2006), citing Thorne v. City of El Segundo

(1983).3 Kee v. City of Rowlett (2001), quoting U.S. v. Cardoza-Hinojosa (1988).4 “The 28% of employers who have fired workers for e-mail misuse did so for the following

reasons: violation of any company policy (64%); inappropriate or offensive language (62%); excessive personal use (26%); breach of confidentiality rules (22%); other (12%). The 30% of bosses who have fired workers for Internet misuse cite the following reasons: viewing, downloading, or uploading inappropriate/offensive content (84%); violation of any company policy (48%); excessive personal use (34%); other (9%)” (AMA, 2008).

5 The study by the AMA and the ePolicy Institute did not distinguish between public and nonpublic workplaces in their report.

6 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2522 (2010); 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2711 (2010).7 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2522 (2010).8 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2711 (2010).9 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-2(a)(1)-(2) (2006).10 29 U.S.C. Section 623(a) (2006).11 42 U.S.C. Section 12112(a) (2006).12 8 U.S.C. Section 2511 (2) (c) states, “It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person

acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.”

13 18 U.S.C. Section 2701 (c) (1) (2002) states, “Exceptions—Subsection (a) of this section does not apply with respect to conduct authorized—(1) by the person or entity providing a wire or electronic communications service.”

14 18 U.S.C. 2511 (2) (a) states, “(i) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for an operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a provider of wire or electronic communication service, whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic communication, to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity which is a necessary incident to the rendition of his service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service, except that a provider of wire communication service to the public shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or service quality control checks.”

15 The system’s intended purpose was to allow officers to broadcast mini news releases and disseminate timely information to the media.

16 See the Mobile County Public School System website: www.MCPSS.com/socialmediapolicy.

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Dunlap, K. (2010). Police use social network tool for public updates. FindLaw website. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2010/05/police-use-social-network-tool-for-public-updates.html.

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Goode, E. (2011b, April 6). Police lesson: Social network tools have two edges. The New York Times website. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/us/07police.html?pagewanted=all.

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International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) National Law Enforcement Policy Center. (2010a, August). Social media – Model policy. Alexandria, VA: IACP.

IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center. (2010b, September). Social media (Concepts and Issues Paper). Alexandria, VA: IACP.

Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011, from http://recruiting.jobvite.com/resources/socialrecruiting-survey.php.

Kozlowski, J. C. (2008, February). Law review: Director fired after critical e-mail. Parks & Recreation, 43(2), 24-30.

Lynch, J., & Ellickson, J. (2010). Obtaining and using evidence from social networking sites. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from www.eff.org/files/filenode/social_network/20100303__crim_socialnetworking.pdf.


Masterson, M., & Bones, W. L. (2011, July). Protecting officers online. Off duty: How police chiefs can safeguard officers with policy guidance on social networking. The Police Chief, 78, 66-68.

Ostrow, A. (2009, August 10). Facebook fired: 8% of U.S. companies have sacked social media miscreants. Mashable.com. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse.

The problem with social media in the office. (2009, May 27). Emarketer Digital Intelligence website. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007109.

Pudlow, J. (2009, September 1). On Facebook? FBBE may be planning a visit. The Florida Bar News. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/jnnews01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/d288355844fc8c728525761900652232?OpenDocument.

Ross, D. (2011, August 9). How companies are using social media to hire/fire employees: And 5 ways to ensure you never get hired. Mindflash.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011, from www.mindflash.com/blog/2011/08/social-screening-how-companies-are-using-social-media-to-hire-fireemployees/?view=mindflashgraphic.

Sieberg, D. (2009). Social networking sites help combat crime. CBS.com. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/13/eveningnews/main4864837.shtml.

Smith, T. (2010). Social networking sites: Helps you connect and share with the people not in your life. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from www.sheldensays.com/socialnetworking.htm.

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Stevens, L. (2009, August 17). The ingredients of a solid social media policy for law enforcement agencies. ConnectedCOPS.net. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from http://connectedcops.net/?p=42.

Cases Cited

Bohach v. City of Reno, 932 F. Supp. 1232 (D. Nev. 1996).Burton v. City of Ormond Beach, Florida, 301 Fed. Appx. 848, 2008 WL 4996771 (C.A.

11) (Fla. 2008).City of Ontario, California v. Quon, 560 U. S. ___, 130 S. Ct. 2619, 2625 (2010).City of San Diego, California v. Roe, 543 U.S. 77, 78 (2004).Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 24-25 (1971).Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 143, 151 (1983).Cressman v. Ellis, 77 Fed. Appx. 744, 745-746 (5th Cir. 2003).Dible v. City of Chandler, 502 F. 3d 1040, 1048, 1053 (9th Cir. 2007).Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).


Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District, 439 U.S. 410 (1979).Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360 (1976).Kee v. City of Rowlett, 247 F. 3d 206, 213 (5th Cir. 2001).McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford, 155 Mass. 216, 220 (1892).O’Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709, 724 (1987).Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, Will City, 391 U.S.

563, 568, 573 (1968).Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 394 (1987).Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Association, 489 U.S. 602, 613-614 (1989).Thaeter v. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 449 F. 3d 1342, 1356 (11th Cir. 2006).Thorne v. City of El Segundo, 726 F. 2d 459, 470, n. 10 (9th Cir. 1983).U.S. v. Cardoza-Hinojosa, 140 F. 3d 610, 615 (5th Cir. 1988).U.S. v. Heckenkamp, 482 F. 3d 1142, 1147 (9th Cir. 2007).U.S. v. National Treasury Employees Union, 513 U.S. 454, 465 (1995).Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 671 (1994).

Jill Joline Myers, JD, is an associate professor and the Assistant Director of the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University. Prior to coming to WIU, she earned her Juris Doctorate degree and served as a prosecutor in Baltimore, Maryland, for over two decades. As a state and SAUSA prosecutor, she served as the division chief of the Special Investigations Division, which focused on employing wire, electronic, and oral surveillance techniques to investigate major criminal organizations. Currently, she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses, addressing legal issues concerning criminal justice practitioners. In addition, she regularly teaches and acts as a consultant to state and federal law enforcement agencies and legislative bodies, including the Washington, DC/Baltimore HIDTA and ATF, and provides expertise regarding Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment issues, surveillance technologies and applications under the USA PATRIOT Act, and various state and federal statutes. Furthermore, her research interests include the collection of information and data through technology and its impact on privacy rights, First Amendment protections relating to cyber bullying, constitutional due process, and witness intimidation legislation and policy.

Dr. Todd A. Lough is an assistant professor in the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University. Prior to beginning his teaching career, Dr. Lough worked for nine years as a Chicago Police officer in various capacities, including patrol officer, gang and tactical officer, neighborhood relations officer, and gang violence analyst.

Dr. Katharine A. Pawelko is a professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration at Western Illinois University. Dr. Pawelko has also worked for the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service on various applied projects in the field. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses that deal with research and evaluation methods, measurement and statistical analysis, and the human dimensions of natural resource management.


School Bullies—From Playgrounds to Computers: The Ethics of Monitoring Social NetworksJohn R. Schafer, PhD, Special Agent (ret.), FBI; Associate Professor,

School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Western Illinois University

The same bullies who intimidate classmates on the playground are typically the same bullies who terrorize fellow students on the Internet (Raskauskas & Stolz, 2007; Smith et al., 2008). Although cyberbullying occurs less frequently than traditional bullying and takes place off-campus more than on-campus (Smith et al., 2008), the psychological impact is just as devastating (Drogin & Young, 2008; Smith et al., 2008). In light of the recent tragedies of students taking their own lives because of cyberbullying, school administrators and law enforcement officers monitor social networks more aggressively to identify and prosecute cyberbullies.

This article examines the ethical issues surrounding the use of the Internet by school administrators and law enforcement officers to gather evidence to identify and prosecute cyberbullies. School administrators and police officers face two primary ethical issues when monitoring social networks for cyberbullying: (1) Should they eavesdrop on the private conversations of social network subscribers? and (2) When are school administrators and police officers obligated to intervene in cyberbullying activities?

Traditional Bullying Versus Cyberbullying

Traditional bullying consists of repeated face-to-face contact using physical abuse or verbal taunts with the intent to harm or to intimidate others and is characterized by an inability of the victim to stop the mistreatment (Espelage & Swearer, 2003; Olweus, 1994). Cyberbullying typically takes place on social networks. It is indirect and uses electronic media to harass victims. It takes the form of text messages, e-mails, pictures, and websites dedicated to disparaging victims (Raskauskas & Stolz, 2007). Cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying in that words on the playground evaporate beyond earshot, but they cannot be deleted from the Internet. Disparaging remarks scrawled in the bathroom disappear under a fresh coat of paint, but they remain permanently imprinted on the Internet. Rumors dissipate over time, but they thrive on the Internet. Victims of cyberbullying may suffer more prolonged physical and psychological harm because electronic bullying extends beyond the boundaries of the school campus and, in some cases, cyberbullies remain anonymous tormentors (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004).

Social Networks

Social networks are third-party, Web-based services that allow subscribers to communicate; collaborate; and share pictures, videos, and musings with friends and family. Some of the most popular social networks are Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Most social networks require subscribers to register and establish profiles. Subscribers agree to the terms and conditions set by the


third-party network. One of the terms usually allows the social networks to change the terms and conditions of the agreement, including privacy parameters. While social networks provide a platform for instant global communication, their ultimate goal is to make a profit for the Web host. Social networks rely on subscribers’ willingness to share information, especially with advertisers.

Expectation of Privacy on Social Networks

Subscribing to a social network is an opt-in activity. Subscribers choose the social network or networks that meet their communication needs and agree to the terms and conditions set by the social network. Granted, most subscribers push the “agree” button without reading the terms and conditions. Some subscribers attempt to read the terms and conditions but do not understand the complex language of the agreement and push the “agree” button without fully understanding what they read. Few subscribers understand the implications of using social networks (Vinson, 2010).

Social networks allow subscribers to set personal privacy settings; however, the default privacy setting for many social networks is usually set at “full disclosure,” forcing subscribers to manually restrict access to their accounts (Vinson, 2010). Even when subscribers restrict access, social networks often change the amount of information and the type of information they share with third parties. Social networks will often make these changes without notifying their subscribers (Vinson, 2010). Subscribers may think they have an expectation of privacy on social networks, but this is not always the case. For example, Facebook, without notifying subscribers, made a decision to make personal information more accessible to third parties regardless of privacy settings. After numerous subscriber complaints, Facebook reversed course and allowed subscribers to opt out of the information sharing program (Vinson, 2010). Facebook did not reverse course because of any legal obligation but, rather, yielded to subscriber pressure to avoid desertions to competing social networks.

Privacy controls and the solitary activity of posting to social networks provide the illusion of privacy. Subscribers would think twice before making untoward comments in a room crowded with their friends but will readily push the “post” button without thinking about the consequences because they are alone in front of their keyboards. The unintended consequences of posting to social networks can be devastating. Posts to social networks are permanent even if the post has been deleted. Posts can be replicated and altered; they also can be viewed by people outside a closed circle of friends, notwithstanding privacy settings. Subscribers should constantly remind themselves that social networks set the terms and conditions of use. If subscribers do not want social networks to share their personal information, they can terminate their enrollment and remain private.

The courts have not yet established a uniform finding regarding social networks and the expectation of privacy; however, they have generally ruled that there is no expectation of privacy for unrestricted material posted to social networks (Vinson, 2010). Subscribers may lose the expectation of privacy if trusted friends re-post material originally meant to be private. Subscribers may unwittingly lose the expectation of privacy when they accept friends who are not vetted. These unvetted friends may share private information with unintended subscribers. Since there is no expectation of privacy for unrestricted posts to social networks—and


in many cases restricted posts—police officers can legally and ethically monitor social networks to glean evidence to identify and prosecute cyberbullies.

School Administrative Authority

School administrators can intervene to stop traditional bullying on school campuses if a student’s behavior causes substantial disruption in school activities or discipline (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 1969). A subsequent court ruling broadened the definition of substantial disruption to include a “reasonable forecast” of substantial disruption (Boucher v. School Board of the School District of Greenfield, 1998). School administrators now have the authority to intervene if there is a substantial disruption or a reasonable forecast of substantial disruption of school activities or discipline. Since most cyberbullying takes place off campus and during nonschool hours, prevention necessitates school administrators to monitor students’ off-campus activities.

Some courts have ruled that school administrators do have the right to monitor cyberbullying activities that occur off campus if that activity causes a substantial disruption or a reasonable forecast of substantial disruption of school activities or discipline; however, a consensus has not yet been reached (Trager, 2009). The Second Circuit Court noted that “school officials have an affirmative duty not only to ameliorate the harmful effects of disruptions, but to prevent them from happening in the first place” (Doninger v. Niehoff, 2008). The courts have consistently held school administrators liable for failing to protect students from intentional harm by third parties (Trager, 2009). The duty to protect students from harm logically extends to cyberbullying. Prevention and amelioration of cyberbullying requires school administrators to monitor social network posts sent during school hours as well as after school hours since that activity could reasonably forecast a significant disruption in school activities or discipline. School administrators are ethically bound and, in some cases, legally obligated to monitor social networks for cyberbullying.

Law Enforcement Intervention

Law enforcement officers are charged with enforcing statutes. In 2011, eight states passed laws specifically prohibiting cyberbullying, 39 states passed laws that include language that prohibits electronic harassment, and no federal laws have been passed prohibiting cyberbullying or electronic harassment (Hinduja & Patchin, 2011). In many states, cyberbullying is not prohibited by statute and, therefore, cannot be enforced by law enforcement officers.

In all states, police officers can investigate criminal activities that result from cyberbullying such as batteries and assaults. In states with no cyberbullying statutes, cyberbullies cannot be prosecuted until they make a credible threat and have the means to carry out that threat.

All crimes consist of four universal principles: (1) ideation, (2) communication, (3) facilitation, and (4) actuation (Navarro & Schafer, 2003). These principles chart all criminal behavior. Criminal acts begin with a thought (ideation); however, thoughts alone do not constitute criminal behavior and cannot be prosecuted. People thinking about committing a criminal act communicate their intentions either verbally or nonverbally (communication). With few exceptions, speech


is a protected activity and cannot be prosecuted. Next, criminals take active steps to obtain the information or material necessary to commit the intended crime (facilitation). Unless these activities are illegal or constitute a conspiracy, law enforcement agents cannot intervene. The last step in the criminal process is to commit the crime (actuation). Once a criminal act has been committed, police officers can take action to bring the criminal to justice. In states without cyberbullying laws, police officers cannot intervene until a criminal act occurs.

When cyberbullies think about seeking revenge or destroying the reputation of another student, no crime has been committed. Cyberbullies can openly communicate their evil intent and still no crime has been committed unless the evil intent is deemed credible and the cyberbullies have the means to carry out their evil intent. At this point, school administrators may be able to take disciplinary action if the communication poses a significant disruption or could reasonably forecast a significant disruption in school activities or discipline. Since no crime has occurred, the police cannot take legal action. If cyberbullies take specific actions such as obtaining weapons to facilitate their evil intent, the police can intervene because the threat is credible, and the cyberbullies have the means or are attempting to obtain the means to carry out their threat. If no criminal acts result from cyberbullying, the police cannot take legal action. In states that enacted legislation prohibiting cyberbullying, the act of posting a threatening electronic message constitutes a criminal act. In these instances, police officers are ethically bound to respond and, in many cases, have a legal responsibility to act. In states that have not passed cyberbullying statutes, the same conduct represents communications protected by free speech. In these cases, police officers are not ethically or legally obligated to take action.

Duration of Cyberbullying

More than half of all cyberbullying incidents last for less than two weeks (Smith et al., 2008). Inevitably, students will encounter disagreements with fellow students for myriad reasons. Before the advent of social media these disputes typically ran their course in the school arena without administrative or legal intervention. The Internet adds a new dimension to schoolyard intrigues in that they can now be recorded and distributed to wide audiences. Other students are more likely to pile on because they do not have to engage in a face-to-face confrontation, which is more intimidating than anonymously pressing the “send” button. Piling on adds fuel to a fire that may have burned itself out following a face-to-face confrontation.

Intervening in every schoolyard dispute is not practical. Police officers and school administrators face the dilemma of when to intervene and when to let the disputes run their natural course. Schoolyards serve as training grounds for developing conflict resolution skills. Mastering conflict resolution skills takes practice. If students do not master these skills, they will be ill-prepared to face a working world replete with adult bullies. A clear line of when to intervene can be drawn with reporting. If the victim of cyberbullying or a third party who witnesses cyberbullying reports the incident to school administrators, they are ethically and legally obligated to intervene. Depending on the legal jurisdiction, the police may or may not have the same obligations.


Victim’s Responsibilities

Ybarra and Mitchell (2004) surveyed 1,501 American school-aged students ranging in age from 10 to 17 years old. Twelve percent of the students reported that they engaged in cyberbullying during the previous 12 months. Four percent of the students reported that they were victims of cyberbullying, and 3% of the students reported that they were both aggressors and victims of cyberbullying. The study also found that both aggressors and victims were more likely to engage in cyberbullying activities from their home computers. The authors posited that the victims of cyber attacks were more likely to seek revenge for traditional and cyberbullying attacks using their home computers rather than risking face-to-face confrontations. In these instances, the students were both the victims and aggressors of cyberbullying.

The majority of students do not report that they are victims of cyberbullying to people who have the authority to intervene to stop the attacks (Smith et al., 2008). In many instances, school administrators and police officials only become aware of severe cyberbullying attacks after physical violence occurs or when the victims of cyberbullying incur psychological trauma or, in rare cases, take their own lives to escape the sustained attacks or public humiliation. School administrators and police officials cannot be held responsible for not stopping cyberbullying if the victims of cyberbullying do not report the attacks. School administrators and police officials do not have an ethical or legal obligation to stop cyber attacks if they are not aware that the activity is ongoing.

Awareness Training

The best strategy to combat cyberbullying has two components. First, develop programs to educate students and parents as to what activities constitute cyberbullying and provide contact information to report cyberbullying. School administrators can intervene or report the cyberbullying to law enforcement officials when required. Second, develop programs to educate students on methods to stop cyberbullying before it escalates. The simplest way to stop cyberbullies is to ignore them and block them from “friends lists.” Responding to cyberbully attacks rewards the cyberbullies and increases the probability of additional attacks. Blocking cyberbullies from “friends lists” prevents cyberbullies from further access to personal accounts. If the cyberbullying attacks continue, students should report the activity to their parents or the appropriate school administrators. No action can be taken to stop cyberbullying if the school administrators or police are not aware of the cyberbullying activity, regardless of their ethical and legal obligations.

References

Boucher v. School Board of the School District of Greenfield, 134 F. 3d 821 (7th Cir. 1998).

Doninger v. Niehoff, 527 F. 3d 41, 51 (2nd Cir. 2008).

Drogin, J. D., & Young, K. (2008). Forensic mental health aspects of adolescent “cyber bullying”: A jurisprudent science perspective. Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 36, 679-689.


Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M. (2003). Research on school bullying and victimization: What have we learned and where do we go from here? School Psychology Review, 32, 365-383.

Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2011). State cyberbullying laws: A brief review of state cyberbullying laws and policies. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from www.cyberbullying.us/Bullying_and_Cyberbullying_Laws.pdf.

Navarro, J., & Schafer, J. R. (2003, June). Universal principles of criminal behavior: A tool for analyzing criminal intent. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 72(1), 22-24.

Olweus, D. (1994). Bullying at school: Basic facts and effects of a school-based intervention program. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1171-1190.

Raskauskas, J., & Stoltz, A. D. (2007). Involvement in traditional and electronic bullying among adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 43, 564-575.

Smith, P. K., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., & Tippett, N. (2008). Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 376-385.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

Trager, D. B. (2009). New tricks for old dogs: The Tinker standard applied to cyber-bullying. Journal of Law and Education, 38, 553-562.

Vinson, K. E. (2010). The blurred boundaries of social networking in the legal field: Just “face” it. The University of Memphis Law Review, 41, 355-412.

Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2004). Online aggressors, victims, and aggressor/victims: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(7), 1308-1316.

Dr. John R. ”Jack” Schafer, PhD, retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2005 as a special agent. At the time of his retirement, he was assigned to the FBI’s National Security Division, Behavioral Analysis Program. His investigative experience includes foreign counterintelligence, counterterrorism, civil rights, and crimes against children. Before he began his 20-year career with the FBI, Dr. Schafer was a police officer in Hinsdale, Illinois, for five years. Dr. Schafer has published numerous journal articles and two books. He specializes in content analysis and the examination of written statements from a psychosocial perspective. Dr. Schafer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Western Illinois University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College, a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Fielding Graduate University, a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Western Illinois University, and a Master of Arts degree in Media Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology from Fielding Graduate University. Dr. Schafer currently serves as an associate professor at Western Illinois University. He may be contacted at (661) 547-9572 or via e-mail at [email protected].


Internet Recruitment and Youth TraffickingVladimir Sergevnin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Director of the Center

for Applied Criminal Justice, Western Illinois University, Editor of the Law Enforcement Executive Forum, Editor of the Western Journal of Criminal Justice

Many contemporary researchers describe human trafficking as the fastest growing source of profitmaking for organized crime next to drug and illegal arms sales. Trafficking of children is becoming an increasingly attractive business for individual criminals and organized crime networks all over the globe. Youth activity on the Internet provides one of the most growing critical concerns to law enforcement and school administrators. Social networks are the leading sources of all types of harassment (e.g., cyberbullying, sexting, etc.) and a pathway to possible exploitation. This article explores the online recruitment and control strategies that traffickers implement that include establishing Internet networks and manipulation of vulnerable youth. Internet recruiters implement sophisticated tactics to dehumanize and destroy their victim’s defenses and his or her ability to escape from human trafficking nets.

The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (PL 106-386), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (HR 2620), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (HR 972), and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (HR 7311) provide the tools to combat trafficking in persons both domestically and worldwide. The Acts authorized the establishment of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to assist in the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts (U.S. Department of State, 2011). It is critically important to provide law enforcement agencies with related training. According to a survey of 3,000 police departments, approximately 20% of agencies with human trafficking training identified a case of human trafficking compared to only 4.4% of those agencies with no training (Farrell & Fahy, 2009). Suffering from budget cuts, law enforcement agencies are faced with the necessity of utilizing significant resources to clear such cases. One arrest in Cook County associated with ads on Craiglist.org cost the agency $105,081, three officers, and 20 hours of time (Cunningham & Kendall, 2010). Respondents to another survey believe that schools (36%), Internet providers (31%), and the media (21%) have to supply information on safer Internet use (Sykiotou, 2007).

According to the Acts cited above, the term severe forms of trafficking in persons means (1) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (2) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (U.S. Department of State, 2011). More than half of the victims worldwide are children, according to the U.S. Department of State. Child victims of trafficking are often exploited for commercial sex, including prostitution, pornography, and sex


tourism. They also are exploited for labor, including domestic servitude, migranfarming, landscaping, and hotel or restaurant work, etc. UNICEF indicates that amany as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commerciasex trade. International covenants and protocols obligate criminalization of thcommercial sexual exploitation of children. The use of children in the commerciasex trade is prohibited under both the Palermo Protocol and U.S. law as well aby legislation in countries around the world (Internet Crime Report, 2011). It iimportant to remember that trafficking prosecutions involving minors do norequire a showing of force, fraud, or coercion.

The U.S. is one of the top destinations for human trafficking. There have beereports of trafficking in over 90 U.S. cities for the purposes of forced labor ancommercial sexual exploitation (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). A 2001 report by thUniversity of Pennsylvania estimated that about 293,000 American youth arcurrently at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Most othese children are either runaways or have been abandoned by their families anlive on the streets (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre [CEOP], 2011)Nearly all of the domestic children trafficked for sexual purposes are girls (95%)most are at least 13 years of age, albeit some younger girls have been observein 28 U.S. cities (Estes, 2008). Nationally 450,000 children run away from homeach year. Up to 90% of these runaways will be commercially sexually exploite(National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and ThrownawaChildren [NISMART], 2011). One out of three minors will be lured into prostitutiowithin 48 hours of leaving home (Estes & Weiner, 2001). The majority (70%) of thforeign trafficked children for sexual exploitation had entered the country legallon some type of visa (i.e., with families, as members of extended families, or oindividual/group tourist visas) (Estes, 2008).

The Internet became the tool of choice for criminals involved in child traffickinbecause of the increasingly wide usage of online services by youth. It appears tha89% of 12- to 17-year-olds love to chat on the Internet with classmates, unknowusers, and in game networks via chat rooms (Trafficking in Human Beings [THB]2010). Around 40% of high school girls have developed a personal contact after ainitial anonymous meeting in cyberspace (Ilić et al., 2006). In European countries25% of children and young people surveyed said they had met up in the offlinworld with someone with whom they had made initial contact online (based oa partial sample of 6,000 respondents) (CEOP, 2011). One in seven U.S. teenagerwho regularly log on to the Internet says they have received an unwanted sexuasolicitation via the Web. The results of the Cyber Safety Survey by the Office of thIllinois Attorney General indicated that of 4,231 students (grades 3 through 12)24% have received an inappropriate picture, 18% have been threatened by someononline, 25% have said something inappropriate to someone online or by text, an24% have been approached by a stranger online (Migas, 2009). According to thInternet Watch Foundation (IWF) in 2010, its hotline processed 48,702 reportabout child abuse content on the Web, a 27.6% increase over 2009. Around 73of the child victims appear to be under 10 years old; 65.6% of the images anvideos depicted sexual activity between adults and children, including the rapand sexual torture of the child. Confirmed child sexual abuse URLs by locatio(continent) of hosting provider are North America, 42% (7,058); Europe (includinRussia), 41% (6,829); and Asia, 17% (2,839).

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Cyber recruitment benefits criminal traffickers in many ways: it is easily committed; cheaper than the traditional method of “yellow pages” advertisements; anonymous since the criminal does not have to reveal his identity; fast, leaving only digital traces; and cannot be committed by just anyone since it requires a thorough grasp of the technology involved. The criminal does not have to leave his home base, while the crime itself can produce consequences in various countries simultaneously, affect numerous victims, and can be hard to locate (Sykiotou, 2007). Internet sites advertising victims of sex trafficking are becoming a common tool for individuals buying sexual services: “65% of the johns [buyers] that go on the Internet are more responsive if the ads have age descriptors like “young” or “barely legal” (Hume, Bowman, & Brunner, 2010).

Internet recruitment for child trafficking to the United States is becoming more attractive to traffickers. The recruitment tool most frequently exploited by recruiters is for the victim to come to the U.S. under the guise of opportunity—children may believe they are coming to be united with family, to work in a legitimate job, or to attend school. Additionally, children may be subject to psychological intimidation or threats of physical harm to self or family members. In one case in Oakland, California, in 2002, there were 218 minors prostituted by 155 pimps, including girls between 11 to 15 years of age, who earned $500 a day, with an average profit of $35,970,000 per year (Hughes, 2006). There are several “successful” forms of Internet recruitment of youth for various forms of exploitation.

“Business-Like” Internet Recruitment

Modern traffickers and recruiters are using the Internet for criminal business purposes in a way that is no different than legitimate business entities: they recruit by advertisements, which are offering jobs, marriages, education, and other types of opportunities. These types of Internet sites are very attractive to recruiters because they provide open and legal ways to contact possible victims, allowing a tremendous increase in their potential victim pool. At the same time, the most disadvantaged and poor victims may not be reached this way because having computers and the Internet requires some level of income.

According to Louise Shelley (2003), there are six different business models used by traffickers/recruiters around the globe. The type of model was influenced by location of the traffickers and victims, the region’s background, and the market dimensions. Individual models have an impact on the Internet recruitment format:

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Model 1: Natural Resource Model: Post-Soviet Organized CrimeIn this business model, the traffickers make a short-term profit by selling women. The business involves recruiting women and selling them to intermediaries as a commodity. The majority of the recruitment Internet sites are located in these countries and are using the victims’ native languages (Russian, Ukrainian, etc.).

Model 2: Trade and Development Model: Chinese TraffickersChinese traffickers organize integrated trafficking and prostitution business networks which control the victims at all times, from recruitment to exploitation.


Recruitment Internet sites are located in the victims’ country (China), using their native languages, and “delivery sites” are in the countries of exploitation (U.S. and Europe).

•

•

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Model 3: Supermarket Model: Low Cost and High Volume: U.S.-Mexican TradeThe traffickers/smugglers are charging a relatively low amount to a large number of people who they assist in crossing the border. Recruitment Internet sites are located in the countries of the victims’ origin and are using their native language.

Model 4: Violent Entrepreneur Model: Balkan Crime GroupsThe traffickers run an integrated trafficking and prostitution business. They buy women and children from recruiters in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and recruit women from the Balkans. They deliver and exploit victims, controlling them the entire time. Recruitment Internet sites are located in countries of the victims’ origin using their native languages, and “delivery sites” are in the countries of exploitation.

Model 5: Traditional Slavery and Modern Technology: Trafficking out of AfricaThe traffickers combine the tribal custom to psychologically control victims and modern technology to deliver victims to Western European markets, where they exploit victims for profit. Recruitment Internet sites are located in countries of the victims’ origin using their native languages, and “delivery sites” are in the countries of exploitation.

Model 6: Rational Actor Model: Dutch Approach to RegulationIn this model, the business is based on legalized prostitution in which the state regulates the market. The model assumes that businessmen are rational and will not use trafficked women and children because of the risk of criminal prosecution.

“Business-like” Internet recruitment is mimicking legitimate business entities and is generating material interest in youth in some specific area of professional activity. Such recruitment is attractive to youth from economically disadvantaged countries, areas, and families, and it deceives children, providing fake promises of economic opportunities. “Business-like” Internet recruitment is open in certain ways and can produce a high volume of victims.

Social Networks Recruitment

Social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, and a dozen other popular social networking sites), various chat rooms, live synchronous communication, webcams for the live transmission of images or videos, and live video-conferencing are often used to establish virtual relationships between young people and traffickers/recruiters. Such recruitment is attractive to youth from environments of psychologically deficient relationships and unhealthy families, and it deceives children, offering them fake promises of friendship and intimate relationship opportunities. Social networks recruitment is secretive in nature and requires a significant investment of the recruiter’s time and efforts.


A recent estimate showed that 55% of online teens have profiles on a social networking website such as Facebook. A survey of 10- to 17-year-old kids revealed 34% had posted their real names, telephone numbers, home addresses, or the names of their schools online where anyone could see; 45% had posted their dates of birth or ages; and 18% had posted pictures of themselves (Keeping Kids Safer, 2009). A total of 252 Facebook complaints on grooming for sex and bullying were made to police in January through March of 2010, which was a major increase from 2009 when 292 complaints were received in 12 months (Edwards, 2010).

“Curiosity and Excitement” Sites Recruitment

Pornographic sites which provide youth with “food” for curiosity and excitement are often used to recruit them to participate in risky behavior. Such recruitment is attractive to youth from all social segments and families and deceives children, offering them fake promises of intimate relationship opportunities. “Curiosity and excitement” recruitment is also secretive in nature and requires a significant investment of the recruiter’s time and efforts. This type of recruitment is advantageous for recruiters because it does not require physical contact or trafficking per se but does allow sexual exploitation.

The “curiosity and excitement” type of recruitment uses such techniques as “page-jacking” and “mouse-trapping” to pull in youth who had no intention of visiting a pornographic page but find themselves trapped on an unwanted site (Sykiotou, 2007). Pornography is used by recruiters as an “educational tool” and to break down the child’s psychological defenses (Shematz, 2010).

Spam Recruitment

Spam or mass-produced, unsolicited bulk messages are increasingly focused on the social media sites. According to Google, e-mail security and archiving services, powered by Postini, process more than 3 billion e-mail messages per day, and spam accounts for 55% to 85% of all e-mail (Soghoian & Hollman, 2010). E-mail and other forms of online recruitment usually include “grooming” of a child for sexual abuse. Grooming is a process whereby the Internet perpetrator with a sexual interest in children seeks to prepare or “groom” a child for sexual abuse. Online “grooming” may include (1) the friendship phase in which the recruiter tries to befriend the victim using psychological and Internet exploration of the victim’s personality; (2) the secrecy phase in which the perpetrator establishes rules toward the child’s self-isolation; (3) the pornography phase, which helps to develop tolerance and to convince youth that sex is acceptable; and (4) the exploitation phase (Shematz, 2010).

Internet recruiters are using technological advantages to prevent law enforcement from identifying them. They often establish sites in jurisdictions with fewer legal restrictions or where law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to investigate. In 2010, the majority of reported perpetrators (65.9%) were from the United States and a relatively high number of perpetrators were also in the UK, Nigeria, China, Canada, Malaysia, and Spain (Internet Crime Report, 2011). In the U.S., a significant number of police departments are technologically not prepared to deal with these kinds of criminal activities: 46.7% police agencies did not have a computer crime division; 20% had one or more officers for these cases, and 93% of departments prefer computer crime laws be enforced by federal agencies (Holt, 2011).


The problem of Internet recruitment for child trafficking is critical for law enforcement agencies due to the serious consequences and lifelong damage to the youth. Internet recruitment and child trafficking cases are extremely complicated and include a wide spectrum of violations. They required major training efforts for police personnel and close cooperation with nongovernmental organizations. Technological solutions are limited and require collaboration of law enforcement agencies with Internet service providers. Police departments should consider establishing computer crime divisions (or individual assignment for such functions) with the purpose of regularly monitoring the Internet in order to discover possible online recruitment for trafficking purposes and providing informational services for communities to educate youth about the potential dangers of Internet recruitment.

References

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). (2011). Homepage. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from http://ceop.police.uk.

Cunningham, S., & Kendall, T. (2010). Sex for sale: Online commerce in the world’s oldest profession. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.toddkendall.net/SFS_1207c.pdf.

Edwards, R. (2010, April 9). Complaints about grooming and bullying on Facebook quadruple. The Telegraph. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7567922/Complaints-about-grooming-and-bullying-on-Facebook-quadruple.html.

Estes, R. (2008). Trafficking in children for sexual purposes. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.sp2.upenn.edu/restes/Powerpoint%20Presentations/Trafficking_ 091008.pdf.

Estes, R. J., & Weiner, N. A. (2001). The commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from www.sp2.upenn.edu/restes/CSEC_Files/Exec_Sum_020220.pdf.

Farrell, A., & Fahy, S. (2009). The problem of human trafficking in the U.S.: Public frames and policy responses. Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(6), 617-626.

Hepburn, S., & Simon, R. J. (2010). Hidden in plain sight: Human trafficking in the United States. Gender Issues, 27, 1-26.

Holt, T. J. (2010). Crime on-line: Correlates, causes, and context. In T. J. Holt (Ed.), Crime on-line: correlates, causes, and context (pp. 3-28). Raleigh, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

Hughes, D. (2006). The dynamics of sex trafficking. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.docstoc.com/docs/89785319/Sex-Trafficking.

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Ilić, N., Anlelković, M., Rajić, Z., Jovanović, A., Ðorić, A., & Jirić, J. (2006). Human (child) trafficking: A look through the Internet window. Belgrade: ASTRA - Anti-Trafficking Action. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from www.astra.org.rs/eng/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/internet-research-eng.pdf.

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Contact Information Vladimir Sergevnin, PhD Assistant Professor Director of the Center for Applied Criminal Justice Western Illinois University www.wiu.edu/users/cacj Editor of the Law Enforcement Executive Forum www.iletsbei.com/lee_forum Editor of the Western Journal of Criminal Justice www.wiu.edu/users/cacj/research/journal.html


Stress, Emotions, and the Psychological Impact of DiscriminationRobert T. Carter, Professor, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityNancy Cha, PhD, Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center

for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder–Pacific Islands Division

Researchers who have investigated the impact of stress from life events such as marriage, sudden death, or an accident (Kendler, Kuhn, & Prescott, 2004; Tosevski & Milovancevic, 2006), and the impact of stress from psychosocial and environmental factors such as unemployment, police or law enforcement encounters, discrimination, poverty, combat, and natural disasters (Braithwaite & Taylor, 2001; Dohrenwend, 2000; Schwarzer & Schulz, 2003; Taylor, 1999; Wated & Sanchez, 2006), have found that stressful life events have a strong effect on mental and physical health. For instance, for many people, exposure to stressful life events was associated with the development of depression and other emotional reactions (Kessler, 1997).

Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) model of stress and coping is used to study and understand the effects of life-event stressors and reactions. Those researchers posit that stress is the result of a transaction between a person and his or her environment. The person must appraise the event to determine if it requires action or resources. If the person judges that the event is a challenge or threat, more resources are needed to address the challenge. If the demands of the event exceed the resources allocated, then the person experiences a stress reaction that can possibly be harmful. According to Slavin, Rainer, McCreary, and Gowda (1991), the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) stress model does not consider racially and culturally relevant aspects of environmental stressors or the stress response process. Slavin et al.’s (1991) multicultural stress model does consider race and nondominant social status as sources of psychosocial stressors and stress reactions. Law enforcement-related encounters could be appraised as a stressor.

Stressful effects on mental health arising from race and class typically result from discrimination in the form of blocked opportunities, cultural conflict, and social isolation for American racial minorities or People of Color—African, Latino, Asian, or Native/Indian Americans (Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999; Yoder, Whitbeck, Hoyt, & LaFromboise, 2006). Clark et al. (1999) and Slavin et al. (1991) define discrimination as group bias in the form of beliefs, attitudes, acts, or institutional processes that denigrate individuals or groups based on their skin color or ethnic group membership. These researchers contend that it operates as a stressor for many racial minorities. Researchers have found that Blacks and other minorities, as groups and by implication individuals, have been stereotyped or stigmatized by many, including law enforcement personnel, as amoral, unintelligent, lazy, violent, and criminal (Eberhardt, Goff, Purdie, & Davies, 2004; Flynn, 2005; Peffley & Hurwitz, 2002). Negative stereotypes of Blacks and other minorities have been shown to be behind support for punitive legal policies and penalties (Quillian & Pager, 2001).

Carter (2007) offered another conceptualization of racism and its emotional impact. He contends that specific types of racism (i.e., hostile, avoidant, and aversive) can be


traumatic, a notion not previously presented in the psychological or law enforcement literature. Approaches to investigating stress reactions to discrimination and racism have been global and not specific to the type of racial encounters in particular domains (e.g., law enforcement or life-event stress) (Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Carter (2007) stated further that emotional reactions to racism might include indicators of traumatic reactions (e.g., intrusion, avoidance, and arousal). Researchers have not studied these contentions in depth. In particular, aspects of stressors (e.g., duration, severity, etc.) have not been investigated. If law enforcement encounters with minorities are associated with stress and/or severe stress reactions, that outcome could hamper law enforcement efforts and create unwanted complaints and legal action. Thus, it would be important to understand the mental health impact of various types of acts that could be appraised as discrimination or stressors and that could compromise mental health. What is known, as observed by Kessler et al. (1999), is that the relationship between discrimination and mental health was similar to other stressors and mental health. They note “discrimination is among the most important of all the stressful experiences that have been implicated as causes of mental health problems” (p. 224). Several gaps exist in the discrimination and stress literature.

One issue not well-understood is whether specific acts of discrimination are associated with any particular aspect of a stress response (e.g., duration or severity). Another purpose of the current investigation was to clarify whether specific types of discrimination (e.g., verbal assaults, being stereotyped, being denied service, being profiled) are stressful and, if so, what aspect of the stress reaction (e.g., duration, severity, etc.) is related to the specific event. We also wanted to explore whether one’s emotional and psychological responses to types of discrimination are also related to a particular aspect of the stress reaction.

In general, some things about discrimination and stress responses are known, but few have captured details of the type of racism and aspects of stressors as well as whether these combine to impact emotional and psychological reactions. As the literature on general stress shows, acute experiences of discrimination may trigger short-term or limited episodes of distress that can become chronic, while long-term or chronic discrimination may worsen mental and physical stability (Bhattacharyya & Steptoe, 2007). In the case of law enforcement, some could experience the practice of targeted surveillance of sections of minority communities by police as a source of chronic racial discrimination.

From the perspective of the individual experiencing a racial encounter, racism is a complex stressor, requiring a range of different coping resources to manage both its practical and emotional elements (Brondolo, Brady ver Halen, Pencille, Beatty, & Contrada, 2009; Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Some studies provide evidence that specific types of encounters with discrimination might result in different emotional and psychological reactions for minorities. Broman, Mavaddat, and Hsu (2000) surveyed African-American adults and found that discrimination in getting a job, shopping, and in dealing with the police were significantly related to distress, while workplace discrimination was not. Similarly, Franklin-Jackson and Carter (2007), using the individual race-related stress measure of the Index of Race-Related Stress (IRRS) developed by Utsey and Ponterotto (1996), found that experiences while shopping or at restaurants were associated with greater psychological distress for African-American adults than other race-related discrimination stressors. In contrast to these findings, Deitch et al. (2003) found that daily racial hassles in the workplace were associated with


lower emotional well-being for Black army personnel. Wated and Sanchez (2006) found that one’s speaking accent was associated with less job satisfaction. Researchers have found relationships between the experience of racial discrimination and a number of behavioral and emotional reactions, some severe. The reactions have been anger, use of alcohol, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and somatization in Asians, Asian-American war veterans, African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians (Araujo & Borrell, 2006; Gee, Spencer, Chen, Yip, & Takeuchi, 2007; Klonoff, Landrine, & Ullman, 1999; Loo et al., 2001; Mossakowski, 2003; Prelow, Mosher, & Bowman, 2006; Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006; Whitbeck, Chen, Hoyt, & Adams, 2004; Whitbeck, McMorris, Hoyt, Stubben, & LaFramboise, 2002).

While these studies have begun to provide evidence of how specific types of encounters with discrimination may be related to mental health outcomes, they have not added greater specificity about which aspects of stress and which types of emotional reactions are associated with racial discrimination. Researchers rarely disaggregate specific events or types of stress responses or emotional reactions to fully grasp possible relationships among these variables. This practice provides little information about how to effectively recognize and address the stress and psychological impact of discrimination. Carter, Forsyth, Williams, and Mazzula (2007) argued that the use of undifferentiated sum scores of discrimination and mental health indices make it difficult for research to contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of People of Colors’ reactions to discrimination.

Carter et al. (2007) tested whether racial encounters were related to traumatic stress reactions with a racially diverse sample. They grouped the specific experiences of being denied access or service, being profiled by police or others, being stereotyped, and so on, as either avoidant or hostile experiences, and they examined whether the two types of experiences would predict psychological injury. They found that hostility (racial harassment) was predictive of more severe emotional reactions (e.g., extreme emotional distress, hypervigilance, intrusion, etc.) than experiences of avoidance. A limitation of this study was that the researchers grouped the specific experiences as hostility and avoidant instead of using the participants’ perceptions of these experiences. It is also important to note that the study did not examine aspects of stress.

What is needed to fill this gap is a way to understand how individual events such as being profiled by police and avoidant, hostile, and aversive-hostile discrimination (Carter et al., 2007) are associated with stress responses and emotional reactions. The current investigation examined how minorities reacted to specific memorable encounters with discrimination, using their own descriptions of encounters. In particular, we wanted to determine whether aspects of stress reactions (i.e., duration, severity) predicted distinct emotional and psychological responses within a class of incidents such as avoidant, hostile, and aversive-hostile discrimination.

Method

Participants

A total of 324 people completed the study in its entirety. Of those 324, 91.4% (296) indicated that they had experienced racial discrimination, while 8.6% (28) had not. Of those who had experienced discrimination, 36 were removed because they did not identify their racial group, leaving 260 participants.


In the 260 completed responses, individuals self-identified as the following: 81% (n = 210) were female and 19% (n = 49) were male. The participants’ mean age was 39.92 (SD = 12.77). The majority of the participants (176) were Black (68%), 30 were Asian/Pacific Islander (12%), 28 were Hispanic/Latino (11%), 10 were Native American/American Indian (4%), and 16 identified themselves as Biracial (6%). The majority identified their self-reported socioeconomic status (SES) as middle or upper-middle class (74%), and 23% identified their SES as working class. Most of the participants, 147, had a graduate degree (57%), 41 had some graduate education beyond college (16%), 42 had a college degree (16%), 27 had some college education (10%), and 3 (1%) had a high school diploma or some high school education. Most of the participants (81%) reported that they were born in the United States. Participants were from various regions of the country: Northeast (27%), Mid-Atlantic (17%), Southeast (16%), Pacific West Coast (15%), Great Lakes (11%), Southwest (8%), Rocky Mountain Region (4%), and the Central Plains (2%).

Measures

The Racial Discrimination Experiences Questionnaire (RDEQ; Carter et al., 2005) employed an exclusively qualitative (open-ended questions) approach to investigate participants’ experiences with racism. For the current study, the RDEQ was modified in the following ways: a question was added requesting that participants indicate (yes/no) if they had ever experienced “racism, racial prejudice, or racial discrimination.” Participants who answered “yes” were asked follow-up questions such as whether the experience had consisted of a single episode or recurring episodes (yes/no), and an open-ended request to describe it.

Those who indicated that they had experienced discrimination were also asked to select an episode of discrimination that stood out in their minds (was memorable) and to describe it in their own words (open-ended). Next, they were asked to focus on the specific memorable incident they had just described and to respond to the following questions with respect to that incident alone: “How long ago did the incident happen (in the last week, a year ago, 10 years ago, etc.)?,” “Where did the incident take place (e.g., restaurant, school, work, etc.)?,” and “Did you consider the incident to be an instance of racial harassment or of racial discrimination?” Participants designated their experience as either discrimination (n = 165) or harassment (n = 82).

The RDEQ questions were followed by the Emotions and Coping Checklist (EC), which is a portion of Harrell’s Racism and Life Experiences Scale (RaLES; Harrell, 1997). The EC assesses emotional reactions and coping activities employed in response to a specific experience of discrimination. Participants were asked to indicate which of the 60 emotions and 35 coping strategies from the checklist applied to the incident they experienced. Additional questions, in Likert-type response format, assessed the extent to which the experience was stressful. Since Harrell (1997) did not provide scoring procedures or psychometric properties for the EC of the RaLES, nine scales were rationally constructed from the checklists of 60 emotions and 35 coping strategies of the EC as part of a previous investigation and were used for the data analyses (Carter & Forsyth, 2010). Two raters (graduate students of Color) independently combined the EC items to construct psychological scales that represented affective, cognitive, and behavioral (coping items) aspects of the symptom clusters theorized by Carter (2007) to be associated with race-based


traumatic stress experiences. After independently constructing the scales, the two raters compared the items in the scales. Initial percentage agreement on the items included in each of the scales ranged from 87 to 96%. In order to determine final scale composition, the raters discussed discrepancies in items and established agreement, resulting in nine psychological reaction scales: Intrusion, Hypervigilance, Avoidance/Numbing, Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Low Self-Esteem, Positive/Vigor, and Guilt/Shame (see Table 1 for descriptions). The raters included 14 behavioral items (from the coping behaviors) on six of the nine scales, which strengthened the scales’ reliability and captured the reactions more accurately. Table 1 presents means, standard deviations, and coefficients of reliability for the nine scales.

Table 1. Psychological Responses to Discrimination Scale Descriptions, Psychometric Properties, and Means and Standard Deviations

ScalesDescriptions

Psychometric Properties Assessed

Emotions/Coping Items

M

SD

Theta and

Alpha

Intrusion (12 items)

Hypervigilance (9 items)

Avoidance/numbing (12 items)

Depression (10 items)

Anxiety (9 items)

Anger (15 items)

Lowself-esteem(11 items)

Positive/vigor (6 items)

Guilt/shame (11 items)

Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with memories of the event

Increased psychological, emotional, and physical arousal resulting from the event

Feelings, thoughts, and behaviors geared toward avoiding reminders of the event

Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness

Thoughts and feelings, including fear, agitation, nervousness, and worry

Angry feelings and behaviors about the event

Feelings of rejection, inferiority, and isolation

Feelings of empowerment motivation, and confidence

Internalization of blame for the event

Obsessed, sleeplessness, angry, thought constantly, crazy, irritated, agitated, nervous, sick, confused, enraged, helpless

Scared, nervous, sleeplessness, vulnerable, threatened, trapped, worried, agitated, changed myself

Paralyzed, shocked, numb, nothing, alternative explanation, avoid people, withdrew, get mind off, fantasized, alone, trapped, isolated

Sad, demoralized, isolated, sleepless, helpless, alone, trapped, hopeless, cried, disappointed

Scared, nervous, obsessed, sleepless, vulnerable, threatened, worried, agitated, thought constantly

Angry, disrespected, outraged, vengeful, frustrated, indignant, enraged, crazy, hateful, irritated, verbal conflict, revenge, told off, threatened someone, betrayed

Inferior, misunderstood, rejected, isolated, confused, helpless, alone, invisible, hurt, disliked, stupid

Enlightened, prepared, empowered, confident, resolved, motivated

Embarrassed, humiliated, insignificant, ashamed, naive, blamed self, withdrew, threatened, alternative explanation, cried, kept to self

2.70

1.37

1.95

2.14

1.47

3.91

2.38

0.40

1.71

2.04

1.78

2.06

2.08

1.84

2.54

2.42

0.92

1.97

0.69 0.65

0.74 0.72

0.72 0.70

0.75 0.72

0.74 0.72

0.75 0.73

0.78 0.77

0.68 0.66

0.72 0.69


The authors accessed the scales’ psychometric properties by calculating internal consistency reliability. Ferkeitch (1990), Helms, Henze, Sass, and Mifsud (2006), and Helms (2007) have argued that Cronbach’s alpha may not be an adequate measure of reliability for scales meant to assess multidimensional and/or racial-cultural constructs; rather, these researchers point out that internal consistency reliabilities might reflect the influence of sample characteristics on a participant’s endorsement of scale items, or internal consistency reliabilities may be a mismatch in measurement theory. Therefore, they and other researchers suggest using theta or other internal consistency estimates as a better approximation of internal consistency reliability after testing Cronbach’s alpha appropriateness. Ferkeitch (1990) describes theta as a special case of alpha that intends to compensate for multidimensionality. It is calculated from the largest eigenvalue obtained from a principal-component analysis of the scales’ item responses.

The authors used the variance ratio test recommended by Feldt and Charter (2003) for examining inter-item homogeneity of variances to determine whether alpha was the appropriate index of internal consistency reliability for the psychological and emotional scales. The test compares within each scale the largest standard deviation for an item to the smallest standard deviation for an item. If the result of the comparison is less than 1.3, alpha may be an appropriate estimate of internal consistency reliability. Using this test, the authors found that Cronbach’s alpha was not the appropriate internal reliability coefficient since the ratio exceeded the cutoff value of 1.3. The authors then used theta as a better approximation of internal consistency reliability. Table 1 shows the theta and alpha reliabilities for the nine PRDS measures; the participant group theta values ranged from 0.68 to 0.78. Validity evidence for the scales were reported by Carter and Forsyth (2010), who used the scales to explore differences in specific racial events and found that overall psychological reactions to specific racial experiences were fairly similar across types of incidents. The differences that were found included at least one core symptom (e.g., hypervigilance, avoidance/numbing, etc.), suggesting that workplace hostility in particular and experiences of harassment more generally were associated with severe or traumatic stress reactions for some people.

Stress Scores

The authors used high scores from three stress questions in our analyses, each reflecting an element of stress. The first question dealt with stress level: “How stressful was this experience for you at the time it occurred?” Participants answered along a five-point Likert-type scale from “not stressful at all” (1) to “extremely stressful” (5). The second question probed the duration of the stress: “How long did you feel any stress related to the experience?” Participants selected responses from a ten-item Likert-type range: “never” (1), “less than an hour” (2), “one day or less” (3), “a few days” (4), “1-2 weeks” (5), “about a month” (6), “a couple of months or so” (7), “around 4-6 months” (8), “6 months to a year” (9), and “more than a year” (10). The third question asked about the impact of the incident: “How much of an impact has this experience had on you?” The item was rated along a five-point Likert-type range from “no impact at all” (1) to “one of the most impactful experiences of my life” (5).

Procedures

The Web-based research design employed a phenomenology-based qualitative approach that was intended to investigate participants’ experiences of racial discrimination. Participants were solicited by sending an e-mail announcement to


listservs of various organizations throughout the country. The announcement gave potential participants the Web address for access to the study and asked recipients to pass the information about the study on to others in order to create a snowball sampling effect. The first page of the Web-based study included a consent form, which told participants their rights, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Once subjects agreed to participate, they were directed to the demographics questions, followed by the discrimination questionnaire created for the study, the RDEQ, the EC, and finally a briefing form, which included resources for participants who wanted further assistance with their experiences.

Results

Gender and Racial Differences

We found no meaningful gender or racial differences in the specific and memorable incidents described, although there were minor differences in encounters with law enforcement. Men were stopped more often while driving, and Latinos were told more often by people in general that they had violated racial rules, perhaps due to language use.

Emotions Experienced

In considering a memorable discrimination event, 53% of respondents checked between 1 and 10 emotions (n = 138), 44% of respondents checked between 11 and 20 emotions (n = 87), and 3% of respondents checked between 31 and 42 emotions (n = 8). At the time of the event, the most frequently endorsed emotions included disrespected (75%; n = 195), angry (74%; n = 193), insulted (59%; n = 154), disappointed (51%; n = 132), frustrated (45%; n = 116), outraged (44%; n = 113), hurt (43%; n = 111), shocked (42%; n = 109), and irritated (38%; n = 99).

Stress Effects by Incident

Multivariate multiple regressions were conducted to test whether the specific incidents were related to the stress variables. This analysis was necessary because we wanted to group incidents to capture avoidant and hostile discriminatory experiences. If there were significant differences by incident, we could not have conducted the main analyses. We would expect that most encounters with law enforcement, such as being stopped while driving that the men experienced, might be appraised as hostile. In this analysis, the dependent variables were the three stress items (i.e., duration, intensity, and level) and the covariates were the 10 incidents. We found no significant relationships in the multivariate test for any of the incidents. The following are multivariate results: verbal assault (Wilks’ lambda = 0.991, F(3, 226) = 0.714, p < 0.545), denied access (Wilks’ lambda = 0.993, F(3, 226) = 0.494, p < 0.687), hostile work environment (Wilks’ lambda = 0.979, F(3, 226) = 1.61, p < 0.186), violated racial rules (Wilks’ lambda = 0.986, F(3, 226) = 1.04, p < 0.376), profiled (Wilks’ lambda = 0.994, F(3, 226) = 0.450, p < 0.717), stereotype (Wilks’ lambda = 0.991, F(3, 226) = 0.704, p < 0.550), multiple experiences (Wilks’ lambda = 0.983, F(3, 226) = 1.29, p < 0.279), physical assault (Wilks’ lambda = 0.989, F(3, 226) = 0.859, p < 0.463), own group discrimination (Wilks’ lambda = 0.993, F(3, 226) = 0.537, p < 0.657), and other (Wilks’ lambda = 0.994, F(3, 226) = 0.455, p < 0.714). Thus, we could proceed with the planned main analyses.


Canonical Correlation

The authors conducted three canonical correlation analyses—(1) for general racial discrimination, (2) for avoidant discrimination, and (3) for hostile discrimination—to determine whether stress reactions were related to distinct and different emotional and psychological responses. The authors also wanted to test Carter’s (2007) contention that classes of discrimination (avoidant and hostile) were associated with different stress responses and emotional reactions.

Canonical correlation evaluates shared multivariate relationships between two variable sets. In the three canonical correlation analyses, the three stress variables—(1) stress level, (2) stress duration, and (3) stress impact—were the predictor set, and the nine psychological and emotional variables—(1) intrusion, (2) avoidance/numbing, (3) hypervigilance, (4) low self-esteem, (5) depression, (6) anger/hostility, (7) vigor, (8) anxiety, and (9) guilt/shame—were the dependent variable set.

Discrimination

The full sample discrimination analysis (N = 260) yielded three functions; the first squared correlation was (R2

c) of 0.319; and only the first function was interpretable. The full model was statistically significant, Wilks’ lambda = 0.60, F(27,724.93) = 5.16, p < 0.001, accounting for about 32% of the variance with an effect size of 0.40.

Table 2 presents the standardized canonical coefficients (in order of magnitude), structure coefficients, and squared structure coefficients. The following variables contributed most strongly to the shared variable set—depression (-0.92) and avoidance/numbing (-0.89)—with anxiety (-0.84), guilt/shame (-0.80), hypervigilance (-0.78), low self-esteem (-0.77), and intrusion (-0.75) making strong contributions to the variate set, while anger/hostility (0.49) made a minimal contribution and vigor (-0.06) did not contribute at all. Regarding the predictor variable set, they were related to the psychological variable set in the following order of magnitude: stress duration (-0.89) was the strongest variable followed closely by stress level (-0.86) and stress impact (-0.84). The variable sets seem to form a canonical variate set that would be best identified as Stress with sadness and withdrawal.

Avoidant

In the analysis of avoidant experiences (N = 170), similar to the analysis for general discrimination, the full model across all functions was statistically significant, Wilks’ lambda = 0.51, F(27,462.08) = 4.40, p < 0.001, and only the first function was interpretable. It accounted for 37% of the variance with an effect size of 0.49.


Table 2. Canonical Correlation with Stress Predicting Psychological and Emotional Reactions for General Discrimination

Variable Coef rs rs2 (%)

DepressionAvoidance/numbingAnxietyGuilt/shameHypervigilanceLow self-esteemIntrusionAnger/hostilityVigorR2

c

Stress durationStress levelStress impact

-0.443-0.274 -0.553-0.0760.170

-0.028 0.082 0.017-0.1070.319

-0.441-0.369 -0.344

-0.918 -0.887 -0.840 -0.798 -0.783 -0.766 -0.751 -0.494 -0.061

-0.889 -0.863 -0.840

84.2776.9170.5663.6861.3058.6756.4024.400.37

79.0374.4770.56

Note: Coef = standardized canonical function coefficient; rs = structure coefficient; rs2 = squared structure coefficient; structure coefficients greater than 45% are italicized; N = 260

Table 3 presents the coefficients, for the function. The variables in order of strength were depression (-0.88), anxiety (-0.85), avoidance/numbing (-0.81), hypervigilance (-0.78), guilt/shame (-0.77), low self-esteem (-0.77), and intrusion (-0.75). Anger/hostility (-0.30) and vigor (0.02) made no contribution, and all variables were positively related. Regarding the stress variable set, stress impact (-0.90) contributed most powerfully, followed by duration of stress (-0.85) and stress level (-0.84). Given the nature of the variable set, the authors thought the function reflected a traumatic emotional reaction as reflected by the loading of two trauma reactions with depression and the impact and level of stress items. We called this shared variate set Stress anxiety and sadness. It should also be noted that the stress items associated with avoidant discrimination were not in the same order as that associated with general discrimination.

Table 3. Canonical Correlation with Stress Variables Predicting Psychological and Emotional Reactions for Avoidant Discrimination


DepressionAnxietyAvoidance/numbingHypervigilanceGuilt/shameLow self-esteemIntrusionAnger/hostilityVigorR2

c

Stress impact Stress durationStress level

-0.367 -0.483 -0.185 0.183

-0.076 -0.025 -0.425 0.451

-0.0590.320

-0.506-0.352-0.295

-0.878 -0.848 -0.806 -0.775 -0.768 -0.767 -0.757 -0.305 0.021

-0.896 -0.847 -0.843

77.08 71.9164.9660.0658.9858.8257.30 9.30 0.04

77.8671.7471.06



Hostile Discrimination

The analysis of the harassment group (N = 82) also yielded three functions with only one that was interpretable. Its squared canonical correlation was (R2

c) of 0.424. However, the full model was statistically significant, Wilks’ lambda = 0.432, F(27, 205.08) = 2.52, p < 0.001, accounting for 42% of the variance with an effect size of 0.57.

As Table 4 shows, the emotional response variables that contributed most strongly to the canonical variate set were anger/hostility (-0.79), avoidance/numbing (-0.78), and depression (-0.77), with hypervigilance (-0.72), anxiety (-0.70), and guilt/shame (-0.68) represented as a second tier of reactions and intrusion (-0.63) and low self-esteem (-0.60) as a third level of reactions to the shared synthetic variate set. This conclusion was supported by the squared structure coefficients. Regarding the stress variable set, stress level (-0.94) contributed most powerfully, and to a lesser degree were duration (-0.79) and impact (-0.75). The pattern of variables that comprise the shared variate set for hostile discrimination suggests that this form of discrimination is experienced differently from general or avoidant discrimination. The emotional variables in the first tier were anger/hostility, avoidance/numbing, and depression coupled with hypervigilance, anxiety, and guilt/shame on a second tier. These are joined with overall stress level or intensity in a canonical variate the authors called Hostile-avoidant distress.

Table 4. Canonical Correlation with Stress Variables Predicting Psychological and Emotional Reactions for Harassment


Anger/hostilityAvoidance/numbingDepressionHypervigilanceAnxietyGuilt/shameIntrusionLow self-esteemVigorR2

c

Stress levelStress durationStress impact

-0.610 -0.110 -0.209 -0.252 -0.084 -0.328 0.376 0.025

-0.2090.420

-0.667 -0.325-0.157

-0.792-0.785-0.772-0.724-0.700-0.678-0.634-0.605 -0.316

-0.936-0.794-0.746

62.7261.6259.5952.4149.0045.9640.1936.60 9.98

87.6063.0455.65


Discussion

Life-event stress and discrimination researchers have reported that both physical and mental health are affected by environmental stressors such as racial discrimination or encounters with law enforcement and that the stress often is related to depression, among other reactions (Broman et al., 2000; Kendler et al., 2004; Kessler et al., 1999; Paradies, 2006; Tosevski & Milovancevic, 2006). However, studies have not generally explored the differential emotional and psychological impacts of stress or of specific types of encounters with discrimination (such as


being denied access or being profiled by the police) or classes of discrimination (avoidant versus hostile acts).

The current study was designed to fill this gap in the research literature with an investigation that examined minorities who had experienced racial discrimination. We asked the participants to code and categorize their own descriptions of memorable racial encounters and to designate whether they perceived it to be avoidant or hostile. Finally, the study explored the relationship between the aspects of stress (e.g., duration, severity) and participants’ psychological and emotional responses to the events.

While a number of studies (e.g., Araujo & Borrell, 2006; Gee et al., 2007; Loo et al., 2001; Mossakowski, 2003; Paradies, 2006; Prelow et al., 2006; Whitbeck et al., 2004) have begun to explore the complex relationships between perceived discrimination and mental health among minorities, research has typically focused on global measures of discrimination and mental health outcomes without providing a more detailed understanding of how minorities react and respond to specific types of incidents or classes of encounters with discrimination. Stress reactions can take various forms; in this study, we examined how the level of stress, its impact, and its duration were associated with particular events people encountered and their emotional reactions.

Minorities’ emotional reactions to racial encounters were varied; they felt disrespected, angry, insulted, disappointed, frustrated, and outraged to name some of the more frequent emotions indicated by our participants. Regarding the type of incident and its relationship to stress reactions, we found in our regression analyses that stress variables did not predict the type of racial encounter. Thus, regardless of the type of event (whether being profiled by police or being denied access), no particular aspect of stress was predictive of any type of event. This finding suggests that stress reactions as measured by duration, impact, and level may occur with respect to any type of racial encounter. While most studies explore global indicators of stress, we did not find that specific incidents were better predictors of stress reactions. In this sense, our result is consistent with the literature on discrimination as reported in various reviews (e.g., Carter, 2007; Paradies, 2006; Williams & Mohammed, 2009).

Overall, participants found their racial experiences to be stressful and, for many of them, this stress persisted from a month to over a year following the incident. The patterns of relationships between stress and psychological variables for each canonical correlation analysis were similar with some notable variations. What is important in understanding canonical correlation is that it should be interpreted in terms of the combination of the variable sets. The particular manner in which the variables combine is what reflects the new shared synthetic variable. Also, it is important to consider the practical significance as reflected in the variance accounted for by the variate set formed by the dependent and independent variables in the canonical set.

The canonical correlation analyses seemed to generate similar patterns with varying amounts of variance accounted for and with somewhat different levels of practical significance as suggested by the effect sizes. The variance for the three canonical correlations grew from 32% for the full sample to 37% for racial discrimination to 42% for racial harassment. This indicates that the variables were more strongly related


in the latter two analyses. However, the effect size, which is an indication of the overall practical meaning of the findings, also grew in size from 0.40, 0.49, and 0.57, respectively.

The patterns of emotional variables were similar across the three analyses, while for the stress variables, there was some variation both in the strength of the predictors as well as in the order. The variate set was different for hostility compared to the general discrimination (full sample) and the avoident group. For racial hostility, the psychological variables were led by anger, avoidance/numbing, and depression combined with stress level as the primary predictor. Thus, the stressfulness of one’s experience seemed to be related to the level of anger, avoidance/numbing, and depression. The authors suspect this pattern might mean that the experiences are different both in terms of what type of stress contributes to the reactions and the type of reactions minorities might have. It is in this area that encounters with law enforcement might take place, and it should be noted that hostile experiences were associated with strong emotions and reactions. Law enforcement personnel should consider how their actions may effect people with whom they work. But more research is needed, and our findings should be interpreted with caution for the reasons discussed below.

Across all three canonical correlations, depression and avoidance/numbing were often strong emotional reactions. Additionally, anxiety was highly endorsed for incidents categorized as racial discrimination or avoidant discrimination but was not as strong for the racial harassment group. The pattern of stress variables varied somewhat for each analysis. For general discrimination, prolonged stress or duration of stress, followed closely by level and impact, were related to sadness, isolation, and anxiety most prominently. The second set of reactions for avoidant discrimination were hypervigilance, guilt, low self-esteem, and intrusion. Thus, because the stress variables for general discrimination seemed closely grouped, it could be argued that they worked together as predictors. However, for the avoidant discrimination variate set, a slight distinction arose with “impact of stress” as a stronger predictor and “duration of stress” and “level of stress” following closely, though they were not clustered to work together as predictors. Another minor difference was that anxiety was more prominent for the avoidant discrimination analysis, whereas shame/guilt was stronger than hypervigilance in the general discrimination group.

It is hard to know what accounts for the differences in patterns across the three canonical correlations. It is possible that the differences are artifacts of statistical relationships and do not reveal much about the different types of experiences. It could be simply a reflection of method bias in that participants reported both the emotional impact and the experience of racism. People could have been prone to report more stress as well as reactions to the stress, which could suggest a confound between the variables (Dohwenrend, 2006). Another possibility may suggest that the experiences are distinct in small ways since our findings show that avoidance and depression occur for all people regardless of the type of experience. At the same time, the variation in type of stress could be meaningful and perhaps should not be ignored. These questions need further exploration and research to clarify our findings.

The authors contend that the results suggest that reactions to different types of discrimination are similar but complex, providing evidence that there may be


utility in studying classes of experiences with discrimination as the associated mental health outcome.

Approximately twice as many participants considered the incident they described to be discrimination rather than harassment, and for the most part, their categorization was consistent with the groupings used by Carter and colleagues (2007) in a previous study. Incidents which participants identified as racial harassment appear to be more blatant and active forms of discrimination (e.g., verbal assault, workplace discrimination, being profiled by police or others), which in turn elicit outward anger and hostility. In addition, with more overt racial incidents of hostility or harassment, participants may feel anger related to the incident. In contrast, for incidents which participants have identified as avoidant (e.g., denied access, treated on the basis of a stereotype), they may feel depression, helplessness, and that they are alone when reflecting on the incident, or they may even experience these emotions subconsciously. These are issues that may be important for law enforcement and mental health research and practice.

Implications, Limitations, and Future Research

The current study has implications for both practice and research. The fact that events that happened many years ago were still memorable for many of the participants suggests that the emotions related to these experiences are intense and may fester over time. However, because of the recall design of the study, the fact that participants relied heavily on memories of the racist encounter is a limitation. One’s retrospective memory can disrupt effective emotional regulation processes, thus the relationship between emotions and psychological distress may be explained by another variable. Nonetheless, it seems that encounters with more hostile discrimination may be more distinct than general or avoidant coupled with the type of stress people report. For some minorities, the level of stress experienced in some cases may include symptoms such as anger/hostility, avoidance, depression, and hypervigilance, two of which are typically associated with traumatic stress reactions. Since many minorities may hesitate to complain or raise racial issues, it might be of some benefit for law enforcement personnel to consider the potential effects of their interactions with some citizens and immigrants

The number of participants in some racial groups was small (e.g., Biracial and American Indian), and each racial group encompassed a number of ethnic groups, so the results found may not generalize to all members of these groups. Furthermore, although statistical procedures were followed to adjust for differences in sample size across racial groups, it is noted that the sample was predominantly African American. Although statistical analyses found almost no significant differences between genders, it is also noted that the majority of the sample was female and highly educated; therefore the results may not generalize to men or populations with less education. Finally, since the study was conducted online, it is difficult to ascertain the quality of information provided by the participants. As Web-based surveys are used more frequently in psychological research, a number of scholars (e.g., Gosling, Vazire, Srivastava, & John, 2004) have argued that many of the limitations encountered are no greater than those encountered in paper survey research. Furthermore, future research should also consider the potential roles of prior history of racism or individual differences in racial identity attitudes.


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Whitbeck, L. B., Chen, X., Hoyt, D. R., & Adams, G. W. (2004). Conceptualizing and measuring historical trauma among American Indian people. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 119-130.

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Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2009). Discrimination and racial disparities in health: Evidence and needed research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 20-47.

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Robert T. Carter, PhD, is professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research and scholarship focuses on issues of race, racism, and culture. He is internationally known for his work on White and Black racial identity. Dr. Carter has applied analyses of race, racism, racial identity, and culture to legal issues, organizational development, health disparities, and educational equity. His most recent area of inquiry is on the stressful and potentially traumatic effects of racial discrimination. He has published more than 80 journal articles and book chapters, and he has authored or edited seven books. His most notable works are The Influence of Race and Racial Identity in the Psychotherapy Process (Wiley, 1995) and Racial Identity Development Theory: Applications to Individual, Group and Organizations (with Thompson, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997). Most recently, he edited the two-volume reference set titled Handbook of Racial-Cultural Psychology and Counseling: Theory and Research (Vol. 1) and Training and Practice (Vol. 2) (Wiley, 2005). He served as the editor of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society of Counseling Psychology journal The Counseling Psychologist. He is a fellow in the APA (Divisions 17 and 45) and has received several national awards. He also works as an expert witness and as a legal and organizational consultant. Questions or comments about this article should be sent to Dr. Carter at [email protected].

Nancy M. Cha, PhD, received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Currently she is a clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder–Pacific Islands Division (NC-PTSD), Department of Veterans Affairs in Honolulu. Her contact e-mail is [email protected].


Police Work Stress vs. Police Life Stress as a Predictor of Domestic ViolenceVictoria Ziemski, MACJ, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of

Criminal Justice, The University of Toledo

Introduction

The police play an integral part in American society; their positions are multifaceted and often require operating calmly in situations of great stress or pressure. Work stress has been defined as the degree to which a worker feels “strain” that is directly associated to their job (Karacek & Theorell, 1990). Since 1967 and the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, research about policing and criminal justice has expanded rapidly. Law enforcement has become a well-studied profession, and it has been uncovered that law enforcement officials are usually under high amounts of stress and strain (Brown & Campbell, 1995; Horn, 1991; Kroes, 1976; Kroes & Hurrell, 1975; Raiser, 1974; Reilly & DiAngelo, 1990; Violanti & Marshall, 1983). In addition, studies have shown that officers who are consistently under such high stress commonly find themselves in poor health (Cooper & Davidson, 1987; Fletcher, 1988; Kircaldy, Cooper, & Ruffalo, 1995), and many of those officers experience burnout and dissatisfaction with their jobs. Certainly, the stress and pressure are difficult for an officer to deal with, and some police officers may turn to domestic violence to address their stress problems. According to one study, “domestic violence by law enforcers escaped detection primarily because of the officers’ strong adherence to a code of secrecy, commitment to camaraderie, and resistance to external intrusion” (Johnson, Todd, & Subramanian, 2005, p. 3).

Policing has been the subject of countless research studies and reviews, ranging from studying officer characteristics to officer attitudes to organizational structures. However, the research studies regarding officers and their direct involvement in domestic violence situations in their own lives seem few and far between. Due to the nature of their occupation, it is important to study the effects of the job on the personal lives of police officers. If an officer makes a particularly violent arrest, will he be prone to beating his wife? If officers have to deal with the tragedy of a fellow officer killed in the line of duty, do they take that burden home with them? These issues can prove difficult to study because, as stated above, domestic violence, for many, is an issue dealt with at home. Officers may keep quiet about any violent activities at home, and it can be certain that underreporting and false reporting run rampant.

The aim of this study is to uncover potential reasons for domestic violence behavior or attitudes in police officers. Life stress and work stress are both accounted for as are demographic characteristics of the police officers. It is hoped that by studying their interactions with domestic violence “red flags,” the officers and their families will benefit. Modified stress coping techniques and psychological evaluations in training may help officers deal with the pressure of the job, and it is hoped that methods can be developed to help the officer be less prone to “take work home.”


Literature Review

With the advent of the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice in the late 1960s, research on policing issues has grown exponentially. A common, reoccurring theme has been recognizing that policing is a high-stress, high-strain career (Brown & Campbell, 1995; Gershon, Barocas, Canton, Li, & Vlahov, 2009; Horn, 1991; Kroes, 1976; Kroes & Hurrell, 1975; Raiser, 1974; Reilly & DiAngelo, 1990; Violanti & Marshall, 1983). This sort of stressful profession is sure to have taxing effects on its members. Police officers have been shown to experience higher rates of physical health problems, psychological health problems, and burnout; in addition, studies have shown that police officers may manifest antisocial behavior, aggressiveness, and violence, whether on- or off-duty (Brown & Campbell, 1990; Collins & Gibbs, 2003; Franke, Cox, Shultz, & Franke, 1997; Franke, Ramsey, & Shelly, 2002; Gershon et al., 2009; Kohan & O’Connor, 2002; Paton, Violanti, & Schmuckler, 1999; Violanti, Marshall, & Howe, 1985). These findings point to the possibility that some officers may turn to violence in the home when dealing with the stressors of their professional lives.

In a study by Johnson (1991), it was reported that of over 700 officers surveyed, “more than 40% had lost control and behaved violently toward their spouse” (Johnson et al., 2005, p. 3). In a survey that followed, the same percentage of over 400 officers surveyed “reported violent behavior (ranging from pushing to using a gun) toward their spouse” (p. 3). This seems to be a rather disturbing trend, especially when police officers are very often dispatched to help others deal with domestic violence issues. There are an estimated 1.5 million domestic violence and intimate partner incidents per year, so the problem remains one that police constantly have to face (Erwin, Gershon, Tiburzi, & Lin, 2005).

Data on the prevalence of police officers as perpetrators of intimate partner violence are inadequate, and in most cases, nonexistent. However, in recent studies, some risk factors for intimate partner violence in police families has surfaced such as weekend work, shift rotation, exposure to danger and critical incidents on the job, and the presence of accessible weapons in the home (Erwin et al., 2005; Finn & Tomz, 1997; Gershon et al., 2009; Johnson et al., 2005; Wetendorf, 2000). Another risk factor even more central to policing has been “specialized training in both the physical and psychological use of force” (Erwin et al., 2005; Kirschman, 1997). In Gershon’s (1999) study of police officers in a large metropolitan force, it was found that intimate partner violence was significantly correlated with job-related stress (see also Erwin et al., 2005). Although data on this topic is not widespread, available data suggests that domestic violence in police families could be a potential problem.

There are many possible reasons a police officer could become a domestic violence offender, the most prevalent being stress associated with the position. In addition, some possible reasons could include police cultural isolationism, exposure to violence, substance abuse, and authoritarianism. However, most of these reasons still have ties with the stress and strain associated with the police officer position (Johnson et al., 2005). The police culture can possibly isolate police officers from their families as they are constantly dealing with offenders and violence. Police often develop an “us vs. them” mentality. According to Johnson et al. (2005), “those who marry a cop, marry into the police family and are expected to adhere to the values and norms of its subculture” (p. 4), which can be problematic for the wife of the officer who is abusive—when she calls the police, there may be isolation of the victim due to the abuser’s status as a police officer.


Naturally, measures must be taken to ensure that police officers have healthy outlets for the stress associated with work. Health problems should also have particular attention paid to them—these are often signs of life stressors in general that could be causing major problems for the officer. There must be a distinction between work stress and general life stress. Furthermore, what must be explored is the type of stress that is a greater predictor of domestic violence propensity.

Hypotheses

With knowledge gained from the literature of the scope of the issues regarding domestic violence and police stress in general, some hypotheses can be made. The first hypothesis is that work stress will have a significant effect on a police officer’s propensity toward domestic violence. A finding of positive significance is anticipated; after reviewing some of the literature, it can be noted that police officers deal with a significant amount of stress, and many manifest that stress through domestic violence. Another hypothesis to be tested is that of the effect of regular life stress on domestic violence propensity. It is important to distinguish between stressors related to work and general stressors that may cause violence in the home. It is anticipated that there will also be a positive, significant finding for this relationship. However, it is important to test both of these hypotheses to attain which is more significantly related toward domestic violence thoughts or behaviors.

H1: Work stress will have a significant positive impact on domestic violence.H2: Life stress will have a significant positive impact on domestic violence.

Methodology

The data from this study come from a 1997-1999 survey funded by the U.S. Department of Justice for Project SHIELDS, the Study to Help Identify, Evaluate and Limit Department Stress (Gershon et al., 2009). The survey distributed questionnaires to officers in Baltimore, Maryland, a large urban police department. The survey asked questions ranging from perceived stress in the workplace, response to critical incidents, attitudes toward women, and some questions about domestic violence attitudes and propensities. Surveys were distributed at roll call, and the response rate for the survey was 68%. There were 1,104 total cases in the original survey, but for the purposes of this study, cases with missing data were eliminated, bringing the total number of cases to 1,081.

The dependent variable in this study is domestic violence attitudes and behaviors. Many of the questions in the survey addressed different facets of interpersonal problems at home. Due to this fact, an index was created that included the following survey questions: (a) “I often get home too physically and emotionally exhausted to deal with my spouse/significant other,” (b) “I encourage my spouse/significant other to spend time with their family and friends,” (c) I catch myself treating my family the way I treat suspects,” (d) “At home, I can never shake off the feeling of being a police officer,” (e) “A person who refuses to have sex with his or her spouse/significant other is asking to be beaten,” (f) “I expect to have the final say on how things are done in my household,” (g) “It is okay for a person to get physical (e.g., shoving, grabbing, smacking) with his or her spouse/significant other if they’ve been unfaithful,” (h) “Getting physical once in a while can help maintain a marriage/relationship,” and (i) “There is no excuse for people getting physical with


their spouse/significant other” (Gershon, 2000, p. 53). These items were found to be rather highly correlated and had a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.845.

The independent variables were life stress and work stress. Work stress was measured using a modified version of Robyn Gershon’s (2000) 25-item police stressors scale. For ease of analysis and the purposes of this study, the scale was pared down to include the following items: (a) making a violent arrest, (b) shooting someone, (c) being the subject of an internal affairs investigation, (d) responding to a call related to a chemical spill, (e) responding to a bloody crime scene, (f) personally knowing the victim, (g) being involved in a hostage situation, (h) attending a police funeral, and (i) experiencing a needle-stick injury. These items were found to be rather highly correlated as well, with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.876.

In addition, this study included a life stress variable. The variable was also measured using a scale modified from the adverse outcomes measure used by Gershon et al. (2009). The scale was comprised of dichotomous variables (1 = yes, 0 = no) and included the following items: (a) migraines, (b) diabetes, (c) chronic low back pain, (d) high blood pressure, (e) liver disease, (f) foot problems, (g) heart disease, (h) reproductive problems, and (i) chronic insomnia. In the original study (Gershon, 2000), much emphasis was placed on the perceived stress of the officer. This researcher felt it was important to include real symptoms of life stress for they may have a stronger correlation to domestic violence than a perception of stress. This measure had a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.942.

Table 1. Description of Variables (N = 1,081)

Variable Minimum Maximum Mean SD

Age (in years) 19 65 35.04 9.087Officer white 0 1 0.32 0.467Officer black 0 1 0.63 0.483Officer other race 0 1 0.01 0.112Domestic Violence Index 13 81 34.15 8.143Life Stress Index 9 81 18.73 9.385Work Stress Index 9 81 25.63 7.606

As seen in Table 1, some demographic variables were also included such as age, gender, and race. The officer’s age ranged from 19 to 65 years of age, with an average of about 35 years of age. For ease of analysis, the race variable was separated into white, black, and other, and was made into a dichotomous measure. This sample was around 63% black and 32% white, with 1% of the officers being from another race. In addition, 85% of the respondents in the sample were male. The number of years with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) variable ranged from 0 to 44 years, with an average of 11.5 years. It is important to remember that some of the cases were eliminated due to missing data.

In order to analyze the variables, all scales underwent correlation procedures, including Cronbach’s alpha. The Cronbach’s alpha levels were strong and indicated scale reliability. In order to determine the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables, a linear regression analysis was performed.


Findings

As stated earlier, the hypotheses for this particular project were that life stress and work stress would both have some sort of significant impact on domestic violence thoughts and attitudes. The results of the linear regression analysis are presented in Table 2. The model has some significance, and it appears to explain 7% of the variation in domestic violence propensity. As shown in the table, officer demographics and individual characteristics have no significance in this model. It appears not to matter if an officer is old or young, black or white.

Table 2. Multivariate Analysis for Domestic Violence Propensity (N = 1,081)

Variable B SE Beta

Age 0.004 0.027 0.005 Officer white 1.343 1.345 0.079Officer black -0.921 1.316 -0.056 Officer other race -1.320 2.420 -0.019Life Stress Index 0.175 0.027 0.190***Work Stress Index 0.100 0.033 0.092**(Constant) 28.353 1.904

Model R-Square = 0.070F = 13.496***Significance level: ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001

However, the Life Stress Index and the Work Stress Index do have some significance related to domestic violence propensity. The Life Stress and Work Stress Indices are both significantly positively correlated to the domestic violence propensity index. The beta values in Table 2 reveal the strengths of these predictors. The index that had the most significant impact on the domestic violence propensity index was the Life Stress Index (β = 0.190), while the Work Stress Index had a less significant impact (β = 0.092). Therefore, it can be said that “life” stress, or stress in general, has a more significant impact on domestic violence than work stress alone. While work stress is important, it is also important to find healthy ways to deal with other stressors. Interestingly enough, the demographic factors were not significant in this model at all.

Discussion

This analysis sought to determine what stress factors are more significant in predicting a propensity toward domestic violence. The research hypotheses predicted that there would be significant positive relationships between the life stress and work stress indices and domestic violence propensity. This analysis has validated those hypotheses, and fails to accept the null hypothesis for either one. Although life stress and work stress were predictors of domestic violence propensity, it is important to note that the Life Stress Index was a stronger predictor than the Work Stress Index. This reinforced the findings of Gershon et al. (2009) that “detected a strong association between police stress and negative behavioral outcomes, such as spousal abuse, aggression, and increased use of alcohol (p. 284). This has also been replicated in numerous other studies (Beehr, Johnson, & Nieva, 1995; Burke, 1993; Johnson et al., 2005; Violanti, Marshall, & Howe, 1983; Violanti et al., 1985). This is an interesting, somewhat disturbing finding with far-reaching ramifications.


The implications of this research could be helpful for police officers. It is obvious that some officers have trouble coping with the stress of life and the added stress of being part of the profession. Research could be done on the coping strategies of officers with low burnout and perceived stress levels in hopes of developing some strategies for the officers with higher stress levels. Stress has been proven in some studies to be more of an individual factor than an organizational factor, but it is important for any police organization to offer resources to their officers to ensure mental health and stress reduction (Brooks & Piquero, 1998). There could be a definite need for a cognitive behavioral framework to help officers strengthen coping skills and stress tolerance (Erwin et al., 2005; Finn & Tomz, 1997; Gershon et al., 2005; Robinson & Murdoch, 2003).

Naturally, there are several limitations to this current study. First, the original study only surveyed one police department in particular. Therefore, it may prove difficult to generalize some of the findings to the general population. This is especially true in non-urban settings as the data came from a large urban metropolitan police department. Along the same lines, police officers in urban police departments may have different stressors, coping mechanisms, and life problems in general than officers in smaller or rural departments. However, these results may be helpful for other large metropolitan police departments. Personal response bias and underreporting could be another limitation—some officers may be uncomfortable with sharing the fact that they may be involved in an abusive situation at home. The questionnaire involved in gathering this data was also quite long; perhaps it could be revised in the future to ensure less response bias and a higher response rate.

The issue of intimate partner violence has become a hot topic in the world of criminal justice. Police officers deal with this sort of problem while performing the duties of their occupation. Police officers have also been linked with experiencing high levels of stress and strain due to the often violent nature of police work. Police officers must employ successful, healthy coping strategies in order to ensure that their stress does not evolve into a domestic violence situation in their own homes. The body of research on the topic of police officer-perpetrated domestic violence is rather small, and more research is required in order to gain a true understanding of the problem. It may be difficult to navigate around the police structure and isolation culture to gather data. It is necessary, however, to help gain an understanding, and eventually an end, to intimate partner violence in all its forms.

ReferencesBeehr, T. A., Johnson, L. B., & Nieva, R. (1995). Occupational stress: Coping of

police and their spouses. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(1), 3-25.

Brooks, L. W., & Piquero, N. L. (1998). Police stress: Does department size matter? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 21(4), 600-617.

Brown, J. M., & Campbell, E. A. (1990). Sources of occupational stress in police. Work & Stress, 4, 305-371.

Brown, J. M., & Campbell, E. A. (1995). Stress and policing: Sources and strategies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Burke, R. J. (1993). Work-family stress, conflict, coping and burnout in police officers. Stress Medicine, 9, 171-180.


Collins, P. A., & Gibbs, A. C. C. (2003). Stress in police officers: A study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress-related symptoms within a county police force. Occupational Medicine, 53, 256-264.

Cooper, C. L., & Davidson, M. (1987). Sources of stress at work and their relation to stressors in non-working environments. In R. Kalimo, M. El-Batawi, & C. Cooper (Eds.), Psychological factors at work and their relation to health (pp. 99-123). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

Erwin, M. J., Gershon, R. R. M., Tiburzi, M., & Lin, S. (2005). Reports of intimate partner violence made against police officers. Journal of Family Violence, 20(1), 13-19.

Finn, P., & Tomz, J. E. (1997). Developing a law enforcement program for officers and their families. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. 219 pp.

Fletcher, B. C. (1988). The epidemiology of occupational stress. In C. L. Cooper & R. L. Payne (Eds.), Causes, coping and consequences of stress at work (pp. 12-57). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Franke, W. D., Cox, D., Schultz, D., & Franke, W. (1997). Coronary heart disease risk factors in employees of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety compared to a cohort of the general population. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 31, 733-737.

Franke, W., Ramsey, S. L., & Shelly, M. C. (2002). Relationship between cardiovascular disease morbidity, risk factors, and stressors in a law enforcement cohort. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 44, 1182-1189.

Gershon, R. R. M. (1999). Domestic violence in police families. Baltimore: Mid-Atlantic Regional Community Policing Institute.

Gershon, R. R. M. (2000). Police stress and domestic violence in police families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999 [Computer file; ICPSR version]. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University [producer], 1999; Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000. doi:10.3886/ICPSR02976

Gershon, R. R. M., Barocas, B., Canton, A. N., Li, X., & Vlahov, D. (2009). Mental, physical, and behavioral outcomes associated with perceived work stress in police officers. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(3), 275-289.

Horn, J. (1991). Critical incidents for law enforcement officers. In J. Reese & C. Dunning (Eds.), Critical incidents in policing (pp. 143-148). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Johnson, L. B. (1991). On the front lines: Police stress and family well-being. In Hearing Before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families House of Representatives: 102 Congress First Session May 20 (pp. 32-48). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Johnson, L. B., Todd, M., & Subramanian, G. (2005). Violence in police families: Work-family spillover. Journal of Family Violence, 20(1), 3-12.


Karacek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work: Stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. New York: Basic Books.

Kirkcaldy, B., Cooper, C. L., & Ruffalo, P. (1995). Work stress and health in a sample of U.S. police. Psychological Reports, 76(2), 700-702.

Kirschman, E. (1997). I love a cop: What police families need to know. New York: Guilford Press.

Kohan, A., & O’Connor, B. P. (2002). Police officer job satisfaction in relation to mood, well-being, and alcohol consumption. Journal of Psychology, 136, 307-318.

Kroes, W. H. (1976). Society’s victim, the policeman: An analysis of job stress in policing. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Kroes, W. H., & Hurrell, J. (1975). Job stress and the police officer. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

Paton, D., Violanti, J., & Schmuckler, E. (1999). Chronic exposure to risk and trauma: Addiction and separation issues in police officers. In J. M. Violanti & D. Paton (Eds.), Police trauma: Psychological aftermath of civilian combat (pp. 78-87). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Raiser, M. (1974). Some organizational stress on policemen. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 2, 156-159.

Reilly, B. J., & DiAngelo, J. A. (1990). Communication: A cultural system of meaning and value. Human Relations, 4, 129-140.

Robinson, R., & Murdoch, P. (2003). Establishing and maintaining peer support programs in the workplace (3rd ed.). Elliot City, MD: Chevron.

Violanti, J. M., & Marshall, J. R. (1983). The police stress process. Journal of Public Science and Administration, 11, 389-394.

Violanti, J. M., Marshall, J. R., & Howe, B. H. (1983). Police occupational demands, psychological distress and the coping function of alcohol. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 25, 455-458.

Violanti, J. M., Marshall, J. R., & Howe, B. H. (1985). Stress, coping, and alcohol use: The police connection. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 13, 106-110.

Wetendorf, D. (2000). Police domestic violence: A handbook for victims. Des Plaines, IL: Life Span. 34 pp.

Victoria Ziemski, MACJ, earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. Her area of study focused on policing issues. She has experience in the correctional and private security fields.


Who Is Your Buddy? Does Your Department Prepare Its Officers for the Job They Never Knew They Were Going to Have?Fletcher Stone, Police Officer, Burbank, California Police Department

8David . . . 11-99 . . . Shots Fired . . . . When you hear radio traffic like that, the whole world turns upside, even if you are not the one transmitting it. As police officers, when one of us discharges his weapon, we all become part of the event. We go through our own emotional reactions as we respond. But when you are the one that put out the call and you are the one that pulled the trigger, you have started down a long road, and you will need a little help from your friends.

When police officers are called upon to use deadly force in the line of duty, it causes several psychological repercussions. The onset of these is almost immediate. Though most of us will put on our personal armor and try to convince those around us that we are fine, even the most hardened of us will go through some emotional/psychological stress. And that is a good thing because it should never be easy for us to take another human life, but it is part of the job. We often read about the role of the supervisor, the investigator, or the police psychologist, but rarely do we discuss the importance of the “buddy officer.”

In most cases, as soon as an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) scene has stabilized, a buddy officer is assigned to stay with the shooting officer. His job has many aspects, including, but not limited to, monitoring the shooting officer’s behavior and preserving any evidence that may be located on the shooting officer or his uniform. But the buddy officer’s role does not end there. The buddy officer must also protect the shooting officer from himself.

One thing the buddy officer must do is to stop the shooting officer from talking about the incident. This will probably be the most difficult task that the buddy officer will have, but it is one of the most important. The shooting officer will have any number of questions running through his head and will want to share many aspects of the shooting incident. The shooting officer will be looking for peer affirmation for his actions. He wants his partners to tell him that he did the right thing and that he did a good job. He will want to explain what happened and why he did what he did. The shooting officer is emotionally and psychologically vulnerable during this time. The shooting officer is running the event through his head, and the longer he sits there and thinks, the more details will come to mind.

The buddy officer must resist the temptation to speak to the shooting officer concerning the details of the OIS event. This will be more of a service to the shooting officer than allowing him to speak. When the shooting officer speaks to the buddy officer, there is no confidentiality, no legal protection. Anything the shooting officer shares with the buddy officer could be ordered disclosed, even if the buddy officer does not want to do so. The buddy officer could be ordered to not only share the


statements with Internal Affairs officers but also those conducting the criminal investigation. So the shooting officer is not thinking clearly, trying to deal with the incident that just occurred, and he may express views or feelings that are not accurate due to the psychological toll he is under. The shooting officer is trying to put all the pieces together as he waits for the OIS interview and walk-through. Because the buddy officer heard it, he may then have to disclose it.

And those statements can have dire consequences. A California DA investigator attempting to take two children into protective custody ended up shooting into a vehicle being driven by a parolee who was trying to run the investigator over. There were several witnesses from the Coachella Valley Mission, most of whom had been drug users with significant arrest records. The DA investigator, while waiting to give his “official” statement, spoke with a long-time friend and discussed the incident with her. She was later ordered to disclose their conversations to investigators. Because of the less than stellar witnesses and the fact that the shooting officer was trying to work through the incident and made statements to his friend that were not consistent with his later statements, those statements were used against him in court, and he was charged and eventually found guilty of manslaughter. He was not lying to his friend, but he was trying to process the entire incident.

That’s not to say that the buddy officer should say nothing and sit in silence with the shooting officer. The buddy officer must be supportive of the shooting officer and provide him with a shoulder to lean on without actually discussing the incident. This is a fine line for an officer to walk. And to complicate it, most agencies have no training program to give officers the tools to accomplish this important task. Since any officer arriving on scene can be assigned as the buddy officer, law enforcement agencies need to set guidelines in their OIS protocols for the assignment of buddy officers. They should at a minimum conduct briefing training to all officers who could be assigned as a buddy officer, explaining their role and the limitations they must place on themselves to protect the “shooting officer.”

I know firsthand the important role of the buddy officer. When I was in my first OIS, the officer assigned as my “buddy” was an officer who I had only met once before. Since that day, we are very close and speak often, despite my moving on to another agency. The bond between buddy and shooter is a strong one; and if you get a good one, like I did, he is the first link in the chain to moving past the shooting incident and getting back to doing what we love to do . . . police work.

Fletcher Stone is a 10-year veteran of California Law Enforcement, having worked for three different municipal agencies. He has held several specialty assignments, including Field Training Officer and Motor. He has testified as a police practices expert in civil litigation cases at both the state and federal levels.


Enhancing the Police Response to Injected Illicit DrugsRick Parent, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, School of

Criminology – Police Studies

The link between illicit drugs and crime in general is well-established in academic literature. Research has shown that not only are many crimes committed by those who are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, but crime, particularly property-related crime, is often committed to obtain money to purchase drugs. Drug offences are also typically linked to organized crime and street gang activity as well as to prostitution (Statistics Canada, 2009). It is within this setting that the justice-related costs associated with illicit drug use in Canada, including expenses for police, courts, and correctional services, have been estimated by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse at about $2 billion annually. This figure climbs even higher when other social and health-related costs, such as medical expenses, loss of productivity, and work absenteeism, are taken into account (Statistics Canada, 2009).

Efforts to address the crime associated with illegal drugs in Canada led to the creation of a National Anti-Drug Strategy in 1987. Over the past 20 years, this strategy has evolved to include a collaborative approach among multiple government departments and community stakeholder groups that encompasses law enforcement, prevention, and treatment. In 2003, a renewed strategy was undertaken that introduced a four pillars approach in dealing with illegal drugs. In addition to enforcement, prevention, and treatment, the concept of harm reduction was added in response to the real and persistent nature of illegal drug use.

The first of these pillars, enforcement, notes that drug prevention efforts can range from creating an environment that is absent of drug use to one where efforts are made to reduce drug abuse. One of the methods utilized towards this approach is supply reduction—reducing the production and availability of illicit drugs. Typically, supply reduction methods include law enforcement initiatives, interdiction teams, and legislation and laws or penalties for the use and possession of illegal substances. For the most part, this method of drug prevention has been effective as the majority of individuals comply with government legislation and have no desire to risk the possibility of arrest, charges, and possible criminal conviction. Unfortunately, supply reduction techniques are limited in achieving full compliance through legislation and enforcement efforts alone.

In recent years, the increase in the supply of drugs combined with the increase of new trafficking routes has created the potential to increase demand and new market bases for illicit drugs. This change and fluctuation in markets requires that law enforcement efforts also adapt to current trends. Limited police budgets and the worldwide scope of drug supply as well as demand issues have posed new challenges for law enforcement personnel and placed limitations upon their effectiveness.

Prevention is the second pillar in the National Anti-Drug Strategy. This strategy involves reducing the demand for illicit drugs and delaying the onset of first use of drugs. This method is typically accomplished by a variety of practices that include drug education or abstinence programs. The initial level of prevention attempts to avert the first use


of drugs by gearing programs towards younger children with minimal prior exposure to drugs. Advanced prevention strategies focus upon keeping recreational and experimental users from becoming habitual or addicted users. Education programs geared towards health and legal consequences are fundamental in this teaching process while incorporating counseling and intervention strategies (Knox, 2009).

Treatment and Harm Reduction

Treatment and harm reduction make up the third and fourth pillars of the approach to dealing with illegal drugs. While supply and demand reduction strategies have had an impact upon the use of illicit drugs, it is important to note that some individuals will continue to use illicit drugs despite the various risks and despite the various preventative programs that are in place. It becomes necessary to acknowledge that illicit drug use will occur in society, and the impact of drug prevention initiatives are limited. Communities must therefore find acceptable ways of dealing with illicit drug users, utilizing methods that include traditional medical treatment and recovery programs that facilitate rehabilitation.

It is important, however, to recognize that treatment and recovery methods will not always be an available or a desirable option for the drug user. It is within this setting that harm reduction efforts focus upon providing a safe environment for both the drug user and the community. Harm reduction has been defined as policies, programs, services and actions that work to reduce the health, social, and economic harms to the individuals, community, and society that are associated with the use of drugs (Newcombe, 1992).

Abstinence of drug usage or medical treatment is not the primary aim of this concept. Reducing the levels of use and dependence through safe consumption and lessening the impact of harm upon the individual and the community become the key focus (Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network [CHLN], 2007; Levinson, 2002). The concept of harm reduction has been successfully used in response to other social and medical concerns such as drinking and driving and in reducing the spread of AIDS.

For example, designated driver programs focus upon taking intoxicated drivers off the road while allowing individuals to consume alcohol. Communities have realized that it is unrealistic to expect that all individuals will not consume alcohol when they attend social functions. As a result, designated driver programs focus upon managing the consumption of alcohol and reducing the harm that can result from impaired driving.

Further examples of harm reduction occur with the distribution of condoms to young adults in educational institutions. Communities have realized that it is unrealistic to expect that all young adults will refrain from sexual activities. Safe sex education and the distribution of free condoms serve as contentious examples of harm reduction steps that reduce sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS.

In regards to illicit drugs, neighborhoods where injection drug use is widespread require the safe disposal of contaminated needles. Needle exchange programs and needle disposal boxes serve as examples of harm reduction practices—protecting the local community and the injected drug user (IDU).


However, one of the most controversial harm reduction strategies is the establishment of safe injection sites for IDUs. In these instances, individuals are permitted to inject illicit drugs under the supervision of healthcare professionals without fear of law enforcement intervention. The concept of this program is to provide a safe and clean atmosphere for users of injected illicit drugs while reducing or eliminating needle sharing as well as the spread of infectious diseases.

The City of Vancouver was the first area in North America to embrace this concept in 2003 by providing a supervised injection site for IDUs. Known as “Insite,” the location was established as a safe, health-focused center where individuals are permitted to inject drugs and connect to healthcare services as well as addiction counseling. In addition to being a supervised injection site, the location offers 12 detox beds for treatment as well as opportunities to obtain housing and to reintegrate into the community (Insite, 2011).

In the 1970s, several safe injection sites had previously been established in the Netherlands to provide treatment to heroin users for the purpose of improving the physical and psychological health of addicted individuals. The Dutch had noted that traditional drug prevention programs and their focus upon abstinence had demonstrated little success in dealing with IDUs (Knox, 2009).

The Swiss and Germans soon followed the Dutch example by creating safe injection sites in key locations within their countries. These safe sites typically include medical care, counseling, food, and the exchange of needles in an organized and clean setting. Individuals are permitted to safely inject their illicit drugs under the supervision of a nurse or doctor. This is in stark contrast to the traditional approach of injecting illicit drugs in back alleys and hidden rooms, often resulting in the sharing of needles, the use of nonhygienic supplies, and complications that include drug overdose.

Critics of the harm reduction approach argue that supervised injection sites simply allow the problem associated with drug usage to exist and may even encourage the use of injected illicit drug use. There are also significant costs associated with the establishment and maintenance of a safe injection site. Government funding that could be utilized elsewhere is directed to the maintenance of facilities and the paying of staff. Furthermore, there is the perception that harm reduction methods can be interpreted as an endorsement for the decriminalization or legalization of drugs.

Injected Illicit Drug Use in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

A key feature of Canada’s Drug Strategy is reducing the harm associated with alcohol and other drugs to individuals, families, and communities. A recent document prepared by the Advisory Committee on Population Health and committees on substance abuse, AIDS, and corrections and justice notes that

The misuse of injection drugs is a health and social issue that has and will continue to have significant consequences for individuals, families and communities in Canada. Failure to act now will result in escalating health, social and economic impacts. It is time for all jurisdictions and stakeholders to work together to renew their commitment to reducing the harms associated with injection drug use. In taking the next steps to address injection drug use, governments and other stakeholders should recognize the importance


of injection drug use as an urgent health and social issue requiring both short and long-term action. (Health Canada, 2007)

In this regard, the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates between 75,000 and 125,000 IDUs are addicted to drugs that include heroin, cocaine, or amphetamines. Three of the five metropolitan areas in Canada with the highest reported rates of drug offences are found in the province of British Columbia (Health Canada, 2007).

In 2009, the population of British Columbia was approximately 4.4 million. Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia with a metropolitan population of approximately 2 million people. Vancouver lies due north of Seattle, Washington. These two large urban centers are 140 miles apart. Washington’s Interstate 5 freeway links the two cities with less than a three-hour drive to the international border where the metropolitan area of Vancouver both begins and ends (Metro Vancouver, 2010).

In regards to illicit drug usage, Vancouver reported the highest rates of drug offences in Canada. Over 15,000 drug users are estimated to reside in the Greater Vancouver area; 69% have reported sharing needles.

Within the Greater Vancouver region is the Downtown Vancouver Eastside (DVE), Canada’s poorest neighbourhood and the epicentre for injection drug use. There is also a large Aboriginal population within the DVE. Noteworthy is that this area has a high rate of not only illicit drug use but also illicit drug possession and trafficking. It is estimated that nearly half of Vancouver’s IDUs (4,700 IDUs and 1,000 street youth) reside in this area covering approximately ten city blocks (Statistics Canada, 2009).

Injection drug users are also at risk of overdose; the annual BC Coroners Service (2010) for 2008 and 2009 reports 181 and 204 deaths, respectively, attributed to illicit drugs for the province of BC. Thirty-eight percent of the deaths from 2009 were from the Vancouver metro area.

The following table illustrates statistics for the City of Vancouver in regards to drug-related incidents from 2004 through 2007:

Table 1. Total Drug-Related Offenses in Vancouver, 2004-2007

Year Total Drug-Related Incidents Total Drugs – Rate per 100,000 Population

2004 12,282 575.82005 12,178 563.92006 12,063 553.02007 14,407 630.1

Source: Statistics Canada, 2009

In addition to the commission of criminal offences, injected illicit drug use is considered the main route of transmission of HIV in Canada. Rates of HIV and hepatitis C infection among habitual local IDUs in the DVE are significantly high (BC Centre, 2008). In addition, studies have indicated a higher incidence of


HIV infection among Aboriginal IDUs. This is likely due to a lack of culturally appropriate interventions that address the needs of this unique population.

In sum, the major harmful consequences of injected illicit drug use include the following:

•

•••••

Sharingof injectionequipmentwhich can lead to the transmissionofblood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitisSocialcostsofwidespreaddrugusePsychologicalandemotionalcoststhatmayresultinsuicideEconomiccostsoftreatingpeopleinfectedwithHIV/AIDSLegalcostsofprosecutingandsentencingdrugusersCriminalizationofdruguseleadingtothedenialofbasichealthcareandothersocial services

The Police Response to Injected Illicit Drugs in North America

There are significant differences between the philosophies focused upon harm reduction and injected illicit drug use and those associated with the enforcement of laws pertaining to injected illicit drug use. Within the realm of harm reduction, individuals with a dependency on illicit drugs are seen as suffering from complex health problems. In many instances, social issues that include unemployment and the lack of affordable housing exacerbate the situation for the drug-depended individual. In other instances, mental illness and social alienation add to the complexities and challenges of providing care (Insite, 2011).

Conversely, within the realm of law enforcement, IDUs are typically viewed as criminals engaging in a variety of crimes to support a habit of choice or dependency. The standard approach of contemporary policing in dealing with illicit drug use in the community is by way of law enforcement strategies that serve to reduce the supply of drugs and/or demand for users. These strategies have a limited impact on habitual IDUs who, while continuing to use and/or sell drugs, pose a danger to themselves, front-line police officers, and the community at large.

The rapid spread of HIV and hepatitis C among IDUs suggests that other strategic initiatives in the form of harm reduction should also be implemented. Harm reduction strategies that co-exist with supply and demand reduction strategies could be complementary, reducing drug-related harm and containing the spread of communicable diseases.

DeBeck et al. (2008) state that a supervised injection facility provides an opportunity to coordinate the public order objectives of policing with the efforts of public health. The authors noted that traditional street-level policing practices in urban settings can interrupt health service use by injected drug users thereby minimizing the effectiveness of health dollars spent on IDU interventions and increasing the risk of disease to the general population. In addition, an enforcement stance by police tends to increase high-risk practices among street injectors. In response to the heightened police presence, IDUs may inject with used syringes and may use contaminated street water for rigs.


Discussion

On a day-to-day basis, street-level police officers in urban settings routinely interact with individuals who are under the influence of illicit drugs, placing themselves at risk, not only of a potential violent confrontation, but also of inadvertently exposing themselves to communicable diseases. History has shown that this societal problem cannot be controlled by simply arresting individuals who traffic or who are in possession of injection drugs such as cocaine or heroin. The situation surrounding the dependency of users of injected illicit drugs is complex, with no quick fix to the issue. Comprehensive and multifaceted strategies are necessary if the police and the community are to effectively respond to the issues surrounding illicit drug use.

At present, there is minimal training provided to police recruits and inservice police officers in the area of advocating harm reduction for the community and in regards to interacting with the IDU population. In particular, police training should focus upon culturally sensitive issues when interacting with IDUs from minority groups who may be marginalized and vulnerable. Educating police personnel in the benefits associated with a coordinated approach to harm reduction programs and enforcement will assist in dealing with the problems associated with injected illicit drug use as well as contribute to individual police officer safety.

In addition to education, police agencies need to share the responsibility of addressing drug abuse with other government agencies. By working collaboratively with health agencies and social workers, police can redirect some of their resources to other priorities in the community. Public health and police agencies require a partnership that ensures the effective delivery of services, providing treatment to addiction and enforcement to criminal behaviour, thereby enhancing the overall safety of the community.

Finally, police leaders and managers need to operationalize the concept of harm reduction in the policies and procedures of the police agency. The creation of an enabling environment that supports harm reduction initiatives will further serve to enhance the lives of IDUs and allow street-level policing to be more effective in addressing the criminal issues associated with illicit drug use.

In sum, harm reduction is an evidence-based approach to dealing with drug addiction. Supply reduction, demand reduction, and harm reduction efforts all have the potential to reduce the negative consequences of drug use by incorporating a spectrum of strategies that include the safe use of drugs, the managed use of drugs, and abstinence. The police are key stakeholders in this process, and their support is necessary if any community-based harm reduction initiative is to succeed.

References

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. (2008). Homepage. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from www.cfenet.ubc.ca.

BC Coroners Service. (2010). 2009 annual report. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/publications/docs/annualreport2009.pdf.


Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (CHLN). (2007). Do not cross: Policing and HIV risk faced by people who use drugs. Toronto: CHLN.

DeBeck, K., Wood, E., Zhang, R., Tyndall, M., Montaner, J., & Kerr, T. (2008). Police and public health partnerships: Evidence from the evaluation of Vancouver’s supervised injection facility. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy, 3(11).

Health Canada. (2007). Reducing the harm associated with injection drug use in Canada. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/pubs/adp-apd/injection/summary-sommaire-eng.php.

Insite. (2011). Supervised injection site, Vancouver Coastal Health. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://supervisedinjection.vch.ca.

Knox, J. (2009). Beyond “just say no”: A review of drug prevention programming (Master’s thesis). Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

Levinson, M. H. (2002). The drug problem: A new view using the general semantics approach. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Metro Vancouver. (2010). Key facts. Burnaby, BC: Metro Vancouver. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/KeyFacts-MetroVancouverPopulationEstimates.pdf.

Newcombe, R. (1992). The reduction of drug related harm: A conceptual framework for theory, practice and research. In E. A. O’Hare, R. Newcombe, A. Matthews, E. C. Bruning, & E. Drucker (Eds.), The reduction of drug related harm (pp. 1-14). London: Routledge.

Statistics Canada. (2009). Trends in police-reported drug offences in Canada. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2009002/article/10847-eng.htm.

Dr. Rick Parent recently completed 30 years of service as a police officer in the Vancouver area. He is also a former police recruit instructor and a police crisis negotiator. His areas of research at Simon Fraser University includes police accountability, crisis negotiations, recruiting, training, international peace keeping, and police use of deadly force.

Richard B. Parent, PhD Assistant Professor Police Studies Program Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, British Columbia V4A 1S6 Canada (778) 782-8418 Fax: (778) 782-4140 [email protected] www.rickparent.ca; www.theppsc.org


Methamphetamine: The Resurgence of Manufacturing After Oklahoma House Bill 2176Rashi K. ShuklaE. Elaine BartgisUniversity of Central Oklahoma

Methamphetamine manufacturing began to flourish in Oklahoma during the 1990s. In a span of less than ten years, reported methamphetamine laboratory seizures increased from ten to over 1,200 per year (Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs [OBNDD], 2011a). This increase caused great concern for local law enforcement officials due to the significant dangers, volatility, and toxicity of clandestine laboratories. Clandestine laboratories were related to numerous problems, including explosions and fires, environmental contamination, and residual toxic waste products, posing serious risks to first responders and local communities (Scott & Dedel, 2006).

The response to the emerging problem was multifaceted and included the passage of numerous laws aimed at curtailing the manufacturing problem (see Shukla & Bartgis, 2010). The most significant of these, Oklahoma House Bill (OK HB) 2176, placed quantity limitations and strict restrictions on access to over-the-counter cold medicines and products containing pseudoephedrine, a key precursor chemical being used to manufacture methamphetamine in the state (OK HB 2176, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c). The impact on laboratory seizures was noteworthy. The number of reported laboratory seizures dropped from over 1,200 per year in 2003, to 334 in 2005, to fewer than 200 seizures by 2006 (OBNDD, 2011a, 2011b). The legislation was credited with making a significant impact on the reduction of the clandestine manufacturing of methamphetamine (Henry, 2005; Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP], 2006a; Shukla & Bartgis, 2008, 2010). While much of the attention on the impact of OK HB 2176 focused on the observed reductions in laboratory seizures, the methamphetamine problem persisted.

The present case study describes changes in Oklahoma’s methamphetamine problem in the years after the implementation of OK HB 2176. This study contributes to what is known of the effects of legislatively implemented precursor controls at the local level by focusing on the experience of a single state and documenting the perspectives of local law enforcement. Although primarily descriptive in nature, the present study provides insight into how local illicit drug problems evolve and change in response to efforts to control them. Additionally, information on the recent resurgence of clandestine manufacturing in Oklahoma and broader shifts in the methamphetamine problem will be discussed. By providing an in-depth description of the evolution of the methamphetamine problem, this study sheds light on the limitations of supply-focused enforcement strategies and the adaptability of motivated offenders.


The Methamphetamine Problem

The methamphetamine problem is one of the most serious drug problems in Oklahoma (Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA], 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008). Concern over the methamphetamine problem is increasing both within the U.S. (Hunt, Kuck, & Truitt, 2006; Maxwell & Rutkowski, 2008; ONDCP, 2006a; Pennell, Ellett, Rienick, & Grimes, 1999; Sommers & Baskin, 2004) and internationally (Australian Parliament, 2007; Diplock, Kirkland, Malm, & Plecas, 2005; Dye, 2006; National Drug Intelligence Center [NDIC], 2005). Methamphetamine is the most widely consumed synthetic stimulant in the world (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction & Europol, 2009).

There is a growing recognition that the methamphetamine problem is unique and different from other illicit drug problems (see Hunt, 2006; Pennell et al., 1999). The significance of the methamphetamine problem as an issue that deserves individualized consideration is demonstrated by the annual publication of the National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment (NDIC, 2006, 2007, 2008). The multidimensional nature of the methamphetamine problem makes responding to the problem particularly challenging.

Methamphetamine users experience potent stimulant effects that can last for hours or days. Heavy methamphetamine users may go on binges, staying up for days on end, increasing the potential for meth psychosis. Long-term use of methamphetamine can result in serious, negative consequences, including physical deterioration, psychosis, and aggression (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2006, 2010). The demand for methamphetamine fuels the manufacturing and trafficking components of the problem.

Methamphetamine is completely synthetically manufactured (Hunt, 2006) in higher quantity-producing super-labs (Scott & Dedel, 2006), and in smaller, more regional “mom-and-pop” labs (Hunt, 2006; Scott & Dedel, 2006) or small toxic laboratories (STLs) (Hunt et al., 2006; O’Connor et al., 2007). In Oklahoma and various other states, it is the smaller mom-and-pop labs that present significant problems due to their volatility, toxicity, and dangerousness (Scott & Dedel, 2006). Increasingly, methamphetamine is being distributed through illicit drug trafficking networks operating within the U.S. and internationally. With methamphetamine, trafficking may involve the finished methamphetamine product as well as the trafficking of the regulated precursor chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC], 2008). Identifying a comprehensive response capable of addressing each component of the problem is difficult at best.

Responding to Clandestine Manufacturing

In the U.S., responding to the clandestine manufacturing of methamphetamine took priority at both the state and federal levels. This proved extremely problematic because of the availability of all of the essential ingredients, precursor chemicals, and supplies needed to manufacture the drug (Emerging Threats, 2001; Scott & Dedel, 2006). Those who were motivated to manufacture methamphetamine could learn the process from others (Jenkot, 2008; Pennell et al., 1999), via the Internet (Hunt et al., 2006; Scott & Dedel, 2006), or elsewhere (e.g., see Pennell et al., 1999; Uncle Fester, 2008, 2009). Legislative responses focused on increasing controls on precursor


chemicals and enhancing penalties for offenders. Over a period of years, numerous state and federal laws were passed to address various facets of the manufacturing problem. The fact that the majority of state precursor laws in effect in 2005 had been enacted since 2001 (O’Connor et al., 2007) demonstrates the urgency with which states responded to the manufacturing problem.

Evaluating Legislative Precursor Controls

Research on the impact of legislative controls aimed at controlling precursor chemicals for methamphetamine demonstrates mixed findings with regard to the effectives of such efforts. In a study of the impact of federal regulations of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine on hospital admissions, Cunningham and Liu (2003) found substantial reductions in methamphetamine-related hospital admissions to be associated with regulations of chemicals used by large-scale producers versus small-scale producers. The authors reiterated the need for a comprehensive response focused on both aspects of the problem: supply and demand. In another study, Dobkin and Nicosia (2009) examined the impact of the Domestic Chemical Diversion Control Law on diverse indicators of the methamphetamine problem in California. While Dobkin and Nicosia found that the methamphetamine market was disrupted, and increases in usage were interrupted following enforcement efforts resulting from the law, such disruptions were found to be temporary. In one of the most comprehensive studies on methamphetamine laboratory seizures, Weisheit and Wells (2010) documented the short-term effects of legislative precursor controls using national level data, finding that while laboratory seizures declined following the passage of legislative precursor controls, even strict controls did not eliminate the production problem.

In one of the few studies to examine methamphetamine users and producers’ reactions to legislative controls on pseudoephedrine-containing products, Sexton, Carlson, Leukefeld, and Booth (2008) also found mixed results in terms of perceptions about the effectiveness of precursor controls. While pseudoephedrine became less available and local manufacturing declined after the precursor laws went into effect, the laws did not eliminate the supply of methamphetamine or pseudoephedrine. Rather, the controls led to an increased black market for pseudoephedrine, adaptations in how ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were obtained, and an increase in imported methamphetamine (Sexton et al., 2008). While the findings from this study are limited due to the small sample size that is geographically restricted to two rural states (i.e., Arkansas and Kentucky), they provide additional evidence of how the problem changed in response to the implemented controls.

In an evaluation of precursor laws and STL seizures, McBride, Terry-McElrath, Chriqui, O’Connor, and VanderWaal (2008) sought to separately examine the effects of state and federal laws on STL seizures. Their findings indicated that no simple approach to the domestic production of methamphetamine exists. Further, the research found that while some types of provisions are more successful at reducing STLs than others, a comprehensive policy approach is warranted. In a related study, VanderWaal et al. (2008) examined perceptions about precursor policies related to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Data were collected through interviews with key informants and focus groups in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Oregon. The researchers concluded that there was consistent agreement across key informants and focus groups in all states that implemented


precursor laws that legislation had greatly reduced the harm caused by STLs in their states. While the evaluations appear positive toward the reduction of harm caused by STLs, historical evidence indicates a possible trend toward resurgence of laboratories as manufacturers find ways around restrictions.

Oklahoma’s Experience

Oklahoma’s experience with the regulation of ephedrine has been cited as an example of how states serve “as laboratories for drug policy” (Weisheit & White, 2009, p. 127). Oklahoma was among the first states in the nation to pass strict precursor controls limiting over-the-counter access to products containing pseudoephedrine (OK HB 2176, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c; ONDCP, 2006b). According to the ONDCP (2006b), OK HB 2176 “was the first of its kind in the nation” (p. 40); the controls were modeled federally as part of the reauthorization of the U.S.A. Patriot Act in 2006. Additionally, Oklahoma was among the first states to implement a real-time, electronic monitoring and tracking system in place for enforcing the precursor controls set in place by OK HB 2176 (see ONDCP, 2006b; Shukla & Bartgis, 2010).

Oklahoma’s responses to methamphetamine proved influential. In the two-year period following the enactment of OK HB 2176, 41 other states had legislated similar restrictions on ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (Weisheit & White, 2009). While the legislative precursor controls that were implemented vary from one another (O’Connor et al., 2007; ONDCP, 2006a), such variations reflected local and regional differences in the problem and diverse views on appropriate responses (see O’Connor et al., 2007). In hearings before Congress in 2005 and 2006, Oklahoma’s efforts to control manufacturing through precursor controls and the need for an evaluation of these efforts were discussed (see Fighting Meth, 2005; International Methamphetamine, 2006). The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 was modeled in part after OK HB 2176, placing controls and limitations on access to products containing pseudoephedrine. More recently, the Methamphetamine Production Prevention Act of 2008, which seeks to facilitate the creation of electronic logbook systems to monitor and track the sales of methamphetamine precursors (Policy and Legislation, n.d.), models the electronic logbook requirements enacted through OK HB 1507 in 2005 and implemented statewide by OBNDD in 2006 (OBNDD, 2006; Shukla & Bartgis, 2010).

While the research on precursor controls provides useful information on the effects and limitations of such controls, there is a need for understanding how such policies impact the methamphetamine problem at the local level. The present study attempts to assess changes in the methamphetamine problem by capturing the perspective of law enforcement officials in a single state (i.e., Oklahoma) and describing changes in Oklahoma’s methamphetamine problem in the years following the enactment of precursor controls. Specifically, this research seeks to answer the following questions: “What impact did OK HB 2176 have on the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma according to local law enforcement in the state?” and “How has the methamphetamine problem changed in recent years?” This information is essential for developing a grounded understanding of how drug problems evolve and change at the local level.


Methods

The data presented here were collected as part of a multi-year study on the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma.1 Both primary and secondary data sources were utilized. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for this project was obtained from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in 2007, with continuing approval annually through 2011. This research was supported by funding from the UCO Office of Research and Grants and from the College of Liberal Arts.

Primary data were obtained through the Oklahoma Methamphetamine Survey. The survey instrument, which was designed specifically for this study, consisted of over 40 questions aimed at measuring law enforcement perspectives on a range of topics, including the current state of the methamphetamine problem, changes in the methamphetamine problem (i.e., use, trafficking, and manufacturing) in recent years, and perceptions of the impact of Oklahoma House Bill 2176. Closed-ended, matrix, contingency, and open-ended questions were utilized in the questionnaire.

Surveys were mailed to each law enforcement agency in Oklahoma. The sample mailing list was developed using compiled lists of all Oklahoma law enforcement agencies obtained from the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) and the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police. The sample included local police departments, county sheriff’s departments, tribal police departments, drug task forces, and Oklahoma Highway Patrol offices.

The mail surveys were initially sent to each of the 483 agencies in the fall of 2007.2 One survey packet was mailed to each agency. Each survey packet included the following: a short letter of support from Oklahoma Attorney General W. A. Drew Edmondson; a one-page letter of support encouraging departments to participate from the state drug enforcement agency, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD); a copy of the mail survey; and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Each survey packet was addressed to the chief or administrator of the agency. A follow-up postcard and a second mailing were sent out to all nonrespondents in the spring of 2008. The data were analyzed using Excel, SPSS, and AskSam. The law enforcement data presented here are limited. A single survey was sent to each law enforcement agency. The data presented here represent the views of those who completed the survey. In some cases, the views of the survey respondent may differ from others within a specific agency. Further, the findings are based on the 40% of law enforcement agencies that responded to the survey.

Information on recent changes in the clandestine manufacturing problem was obtained from both primary and secondary data sources. The main author communicated with the public information officer (i.e., Mr. Mark Woodward) of the OBNDD through e-mails and an in-person interview. Information from numerous secondary sources, including media, academic, and governmental reports, was also reviewed. Data on the numbers of clandestine methamphetamine laboratory seizures in Oklahoma were compiled from OBNDD (2011a, 2011b) reports and from the DEA’s (n.d.) National Clandestine Laboratory Database. The number of laboratory seizures from these two sources vary from one another and are subject to change over time (i.e., as data is updated), making it difficult to obtain reliable estimates of the number of clandestine laboratories.


Findings

Oklahoma Methamphetamine Survey: Results

Forty percent of departments (N = 195)3 responded to the survey. As demonstrated by Figure 1,4 responses were received from agencies in 72 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma. The majority of responses came from police departments (n = 136; 69.7%) and sheriff’s offices (n = 41; 21%). Responses were also received from Oklahoma Highway Patrol troops (n = 9; 4.6%), tribal police departments (n = 6; 3%), and drug task forces (n = 3; 1.5%). While survey respondents included individuals from several types of positions within the police department (e.g., Assistant Chiefs, Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Detectives, Special Agents, and Narcotics Officers), the majority of respondents (41%) were Police Chiefs.

The law enforcement data provides insight into the types of changes that followed the implementation of Oklahoma House Bill (OK HB) 2176 in 2004. With regard to the local drug problem in general, the majority of respondents (67.2%) indicated that the drug problem in their jurisdictions changed from 2004 to 2007. For the methamphetamine problem specifically, an overwhelming majority of agencies (76.9%) reported that the local methamphetamine problem in their jurisdiction changed after the passage of OK HB 2176.

Respondents provided information on their perceptions about the changes in the methamphetamine problem in their jurisdictions (see Figure 1). While it is not surprising that the survey data supports the observed decline in laboratory seizures (see Table 1), the responses from law enforcement capture differences that may exist at the local level. According to the survey results, the majority of respondents (66.1%) indicated that methamphetamine manufacturing was declining, small, or not a problem. While this is noteworthy, it is important to point out that 22.1% of agencies (n = 42) reported that manufacturing continued to be a sizable or major problem in their jurisdictions.

The survey responses highlight the limitations of precursor controls on the larger methamphetamine problem. While local manufacturing declined, the data support the persistence of the larger methamphetamine use problem in the years after OK HB 2176 was enacted. Of responding agencies, 78.4% reported that methamphetamine use is sizable to major and is a growing problem in their jurisdiction. Not surprisingly, the ongoing demand did not go unfulfilled. As the data indicate, the decline in local manufacturing seemed to correspond with an increase in the trafficking of methamphetamine. A majority (63.6%) of agencies report that the trafficking of methamphetamine is sizable to major and is a growing problem within their jurisdiction. Only 26.1% of agencies report methamphetamine trafficking to be a small problem.

The majority of respondents (n = 193) provided some qualitative responses to the open-ended questions contained in the survey. While most of these responses were relatively brief (i.e., a few words or sentences), the qualitative data provided additional information necessary for understanding changes in the problem occurring at the local level. When asked whether offenders were finding new ways to obtain precursor chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine since the passage of OK HB 2176, 62.6% (n = 122) of respondents answered yes. The majority of these respondents (n = 117) provided additional, albeit brief, qualitative information on the ways offenders were


circumventing the precursor controls enacted in 2004. According to the respondents, offenders were now obtaining precursors through various methods, including obtaining pseudoephedrine from other states, through mail order or Internet purchases, having multiple persons purchase pseudoephedrine, going to multiple locations or using fake IDs to purchase pseudoephedrine, trading methamphetamine for pseudoephedrine, burglarizing pharmacies, and by obtaining it on the black market.

Figure 1. Survey Responses on Availability of Methamphetamine Drug Trafficking (N = 195)

Note: Based on 195 survey respondents

A majority of respondents (84.6%) expressed that they did not have enough resources to handle the local drug problem they faced in their jurisdictions. The focus on the observed reduction in clandestine laboratory seizures masks the frustration experienced by local law enforcement who work on the front lines of this drug war, witnessing crime and drug problems firsthand. With regard to methamphetamine specifically, 82.1% indicated that they did not have enough resources to deal with the problem in their jurisdiction. Some of the most telling information on lack of resources and resulting frustration was provided by respondents from the qualitative comments written in to the survey by respondents. As the Chief of a rural police department wrote,

The smaller law enforcement agencies have a hard time trying to conduct undercover narcotic investigations. Our resources are limited and the known traffickers know the members of the department. Outside assistance from state and federal law enforcement would be greatly appreciated. We would be willing to share any and all information with an outside agency in an effort to reduce illegal drug activity.


Tab

le 1

. Ch

arac

teri

zati

on

: Met

ham

ph

etam

ine

Man

ufa

ctu

rin

g, T

raff

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ng

, an

d U

se Is

a P

rob

lem

Man

ufa

ctu

rin

g

Val

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affi

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g

Val

idU

se

Val

idFr

equ

ency

Per

cen

tP

erce

nt

Freq

uen

cyP

erce

nt

Per

cen

tFr

equ

ency

Per

cen

tP

erce

nt

Not

a p

robl

em a

t all

168.

28.

45

2.6

2.6

00.

00.

0A

dec

linin

g pr

oble

m55

28.2

28.9

94.

64.

85

2.6

2.6

A s

mal

l pro

blem

5829

.730

.532

16.4

16.9

2211

.311

.3A

sm

all b

ut g

row

ing

prob

lem

199.

710

.019

9.7

10.1

126.

26.

2A

siz

able

pro

blem

2713

.814

.248

24.6

25.4

4824

.624

.6A

siz

able

and

gro

win

g pr

oble

m8

4.1

4.2

3015

.415

.927

13.8

13.8

A m

ajor

pro

blem

52.

62.

626

13.3

13.8

4221

.521

.5A

maj

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nd g

row

ing

prob

lem

21.

01.

120

10.3

10.6

3618

.518

.5To

tal

190

97.3

189

96.9

192

Mis

sing

52.

66

3.1

31.

51.

5

Tot

al p

erce

nt10

0.0

100.

099

.910

0.0

100.

010

0.1

100.

010

0.0

100.

0

Tot

al N

195

195

195

Not

e: O

klah

oma

Met

ham

phet

amin

e Su

rvey

res

pons

es (N

= 1

95);

tota

ls m

ay n

ot a

dd

up

to 1

00%

due

to r

ound

ing.


An Assistant Chief of a rural police department shed light on the specific challenges faced by smaller departments, noting, “We are a small department with budget problems. We currently have no officer trained to handle drug labs.” Rural police departments face additional challenges; manufacturing can be more easily hidden or located to evade detection in more rural areas in the state. Another rural Chief explained, “the major problem in this community is that the meth is manufactured in the county or surrounding counties and then transported into this area.” One of the most descriptive and insightful responses came from a rural Police Chief who returned the survey uncompleted with a single-page letter describing his frustration with the drug problem and his reasoning for not wanting to participate in the survey.4 He emphasized the seriousness of the drug problem in his jurisdiction and the frustrations of rural policing:

While your research may be of benefit to someone, the time it would take for me to complete the survey would be time completely wasted. I have filled out surveys in the past, participated in State surveys, but nothing changes. I have a very serious drug problem in my rural area, but I can get no real help. All the monies marked for fighting drugs goes to either large agencies or to sheriff’s departments. None comes to the average police department. The drug investigators with the [names county] DA’s task force have not made contact with my agency in the [specified number] years I have been here. The [names county] sheriff’s department drug investigators have not been in contact with my agency in the [specified number] years I have been here. The statement was made that there are no drugs in [names county]. . . . I have never seen a penny from any grants earmarked to combat the drug problem. Because of a very limited budget, when I lost an officer, I have not been able to fill that position. I am working with one full-time officer, me, and a couple of part-time officers. I am forced to fight this battle alone, with no additional resources or help from anyone. So to me, your survey is not worth the effort.

This single, qualitative response provided the most extensive detail about the challenges of responding to the methamphetamine problem at the local level, helping to put the quantitative data provided into context. On the basis of the data provided, Oklahoma law enforcement were aware that the methamphetamine problem continued despite the observed reductions in local manufacturing, providing insight into the types of changes that were occurring.

The Resurgence of Manufacturing

While methamphetamine manufacturing declined in the years after the implementation of OK HB 2176, clandestine laboratories were never completely eliminated. Even with the strict restrictions on precursor chemicals, there were offenders who continued to make methamphetamine based on the laboratory seizures reported to OBNDD. The observed reduction in numbers of seizures, however, was significant and important in terms of the potential impact on local communities and costs of responding to laboratories. In recent years, however, reported laboratory seizures are increasing in number and local manufacturing is changing. Seven years after the implementation of OK HB 2176, methamphetamine manufacturing is resurging (see Figure 2) in parts of the state according to both state (i.e., OBNDD) and federal (i.e., DEA) level laboratory counts (see Table 2). It is important to note that while these numbers differ from one another and are


subject to change over time, they follow a similar trend overall. According to the most recent state-level data on reported laboratory seizures in Oklahoma, in 2008, a total of 213 methamphetamine laboratories were seized in the state. This number increased to 743 in 2009 and 818 in 2010 (OBNDD, 2011a). OBNDD reports that the increase in methamphetamine laboratories that began in 2008 resulted primarily from the “one pot” or “shake-n-bake” methods of manufacturing that required smaller quantities of pseudoephedrine (OBNDD, 2011b).

Figure 2. Oklahoma Methamphetamine Legislation and Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures, 1999 to 20105

Note: This figure is reprinted from Shukla and Bartgis (2010); it has been revised to include the most recent data on laboratory seizure numbers. The figure includes specific pieces of legislation related to methamphetamine passed between 1999 and 2005 (see Oklahoma House Bill [OK HB] 1723, 1999; OK HB 2316, 2002; OK HB 1326, 2003; OK HB 2176, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c; OK HB 1507, 2005; Oklahoma Senate Bill [OK SB] 660, 1999; OK SB 878, 2000).

Adapted from Oklahoma Statutes (OK HB 1723, 1999; OK SB 660, 1999; OK SB 878, 2000; OK HB 2316, 2002; OK HB 1326, 2003; OK HB 2176, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c; OK HB 1507, 2005).

Reports about the new, revised one pot or shake-n-bake methods of manufacturing methamphetamine began emerging after controls on pseudoephedrine and ephedrine were enacted. With this new, revised manufacturing process, small amounts of methamphetamine can be produced in a 20-ounce or two-liter bottle with only a few key ingredients, including pseudoephedrine, lithium strips (i.e., from lithium batteries), and anhydrous ammonia (i.e., from cold packs). This manufacturing process involves a variation of the lithium ammonia method of production. With this process, methamphetamine can be produced in approximately 30 minutes by shaking or mixing ingredients in a plastic bottle (NDIC, 2008). While this method results in very small quantities of methamphetamine, the process is volatile and potentially explosive, and discarded bottles may hold flammable and


toxic chemical residue (NDIC, 2008). Media reports about this new manufacturing process began to emerge in 2009 (The Associated Press, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c; Johnson, 2009). This trend, however, was evident to some of the officers who responded to the Oklahoma survey. As a sheriff of a small town noted in his survey response back in 2007, “the new law [OK HB 2176] was instrumental in eliminating drug labs . . . the ones that we discover now are so small in nature that they can only produce individual use.” Given the evolution of methamphetamine manufacturing processes over time (see Weisheit, 2008), the shift in manufacturing processes after the recent controls on pseudoephedrine should not be unexpected. It is not surprising that motivated offenders would adapt to the tighter controls on pseudoephedrine and find other ways to make methamphetamine.

Federal drug assessments shed light on broader shifts in the methamphetamine problem that followed precursor controls in the U.S. In the years following the enactment of precursor controls, methamphetamine was increasingly being transported into the United States from Mexico (DEA, 2006, 2007, 2008; NDIC, 2006, 2007). The U.S. methamphetamine market experienced a significant disruption in 2007 (ONDCP, 2007), and methamphetamine availability decreased in some regions of the country in 2007 and 2008 (NDIC, 2008). This disruption resulted from increased restrictions on pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in Mexico and reductions in clandestine manufacturing in the U.S. (NDIC, 2008; ONDCP, 2007). There is growing evidence, however, that these trends are changing. According to the 2009 National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment, the availability of methamphetamine “stabilized and possibly increased” (NDIC, 2008, p. 1) in 2008 because of increases in the domestic production of methamphetamine. Precursor control circumvention and diversion of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from licit sources are contributing to this trend (NDIC, 2008). Similarly, according to the 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment, domestic manufacturing in the U.S. is once again on the rise, with lab incidents increasing at a significant rate in the South and Midwest as of 2009 (NDIC, 2010). The re-emergence of domestic production and higher production rates in Mexico are resulting in an increase in the availability of methamphetamine in the U.S. This trend appears to be part of a larger shift in the availability of illicit drugs in the U.S. (see NDIC, 2010).

There is also evidence of changes in the methamphetamine market on a global scale and potential links between local supplies via manufacturing and broader illicit trafficking. In their 2008 World Drug Report, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) summarized the interrelationship between changes in local production and illicit trafficking:

The contraction in US domestic manufacture, for example, is being offset by manufacture from Mexico and to some degree Canada. This type of development probably implies that larger and more organized international groups are becoming involved in the trade in some areas. Distribution networks are thought to be replacing independent dealers in some market areas. (p. 123)

The report further provided evidence that the global illicit manufacturing problem primarily involves methamphetamine, finding that nearly every amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) laboratory being detected worldwide was involved with the production of methamphetamine.


Table 2. Number of Oklahoma Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures Reported by Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, 1994-2009, and Number of Reported Seizures Reported by DEA, 1999-2008

Year OBNDD DEA

1994 10 --1995 34 --1996 125 --1997 241 --1998 287 --1999 781a 404b, c

2000 946 3992001 1,193 8062002 1,254 8832003 1,233 1,0682004 812 679d

2005 334 2372006 194 1942007 148 932008 213 1342009 743 6142010 818 485

aOklahoma law requiring reporting of laboratory seizures was passed. bDEA Clandestine Laboratory Database established. cData on lab seizure numbers from 1999 through 2003 were retrieved on June 15, 2010. dRevised numbers for Oklahoma lab seizures for years 2004 through 2011 were retrieved on June 30, 2011

Note: This table is reprinted from Shukla and Bartgis (2010); it has been revised to include the most recent numbers of laboratory seizures. Values represent number of laboratory seizures as reported by each agency. The data in column one are from OBNDD (2011a), and the data in column two were adapted from DEA (n.d.).

.

Discussion

Oklahoma House Bill 2176 had a significant impact on reducing the number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratory seizures in the state. By design, the law focused on making the manufacturing of methamphetamine more difficult; it did not address the use or trafficking components of the methamphetamine problem. The observed reduction in clandestine laboratories that followed demonstrated the value of the opportunity reduction approach enacted through the strict precursor controls. However, the broader methamphetamine problem that plagued the state remained. As the law enforcement survey results in this study demonstrate, in the three-year period after the passage of OK HB 2176, methamphetamine continued to be a serious problem. In essence, the problem simply changed. While the numbers of clandestine laboratories declined, this reduction was to some degree offset by increases in trafficking. Further, the controls failed to address the primary underlying demand for methamphetamine that had fueled the clandestine manufacturing problem. According to local law enforcement, the use component of the methamphetamine problem persisted. The findings from the Oklahoma Methamphetamine Survey captured the changes occurring in the methamphetamine problem within three years after the legislation was implemented. In essence, the methamphetamine problem persisted and was changing in response to legislative precursor controls.


The recent increase in clandestine laboratory seizures utilizing the revised one pot or shake-n-bake manufacturing process is demonstrative of offender adaptation (Clarke & Eck, 2005). Those who were motivated to continue their manufacturing activities adapted their cooking methods to circumvent the quantity restrictions imposed by OK HB 2176. With this new manufacturing process, offenders were able to manufacture methamphetamine using much lower quantities of pseudoephedrine. These smaller laboratories produced much smaller quantities of methamphetamine than the former types of small labs did (i.e., mom-and-pop laboratories or STLs). While these labs are still very dangerous, volatile, and toxic, given the lower quantities of methamphetamine being produced, there is less potential for distribution into the methamphetamine market.

While there is clearly a recent rise in the number of laboratory seizures, one must interpret these numbers with caution. It is likely that numbers of reported seizures underrepresent the actual level of activity taking place as many manufacturers may be evading detection, and underreporting concerns remain as well. Further, the smaller size and structure of these labs may make them more difficult to detect.

As this case study of Oklahoma’s methamphetamine problem and responses to the problem demonstrates, crime control efforts focused on supply reduction are destined to be ineffective for solving multidimensional crime and illicit drug problems. In the face of an ongoing demand for methamphetamine, illicit drug traffickers were more than willing to provide a supply of methamphetamine to meet the continued demand for the drug. The fact that the majority of survey respondents found that methamphetamine trafficking had become a sizable and growing problem at the local level provides strong evidence of the dynamic nature of illicit drug markets. Local manufacturers who could no longer access sufficient quantities of necessary precursor chemicals stopped manufacturing or went underground and remained undetected. In response, Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) stepped in to maintain the supply and fulfill the continued demand for the drug. These shifts and the continuing methamphetamine problem that plagues local communities are evident in the frustration expressed by Oklahoma law enforcement through their survey responses.

The findings from the present study lend further support to national assessments of precursor controls and ongoing changes in the U.S. methamphetamine problem. There is growing evidence that precursor controls resulted in reductions in STLs in various parts of the country (McBride et al., 2008; ONDCP, 2006b; VanderWaal et al., 2008), demonstrating the positive impact of state and federal precursor laws aimed at stopping clandestine manufacturing, at least on a short-term basis. The more recent increase in laboratories and shifts in manufacturing are demonstrative of the evolving and ever-changing nature of illicit drug problems, and of the limitations of precursor control efforts.

This analysis demonstrates the challenges involved in effectively responding to crime problems that are multidimensional in nature, such as the methamphetamine problem, and provides further evidence in support of the adaptability of drug markets at different levels. The illicit drug market involves an interrelationship between supply and demand. The demand for illicit drugs drives efforts to supply drugs. However, the supply can also impact demand in terms of an ongoing supply, providing opportunities for new users to develop a demand. Manufacturing and trafficking represent the two primary means through which methamphetamine


is supplied in Oklahoma. Each of these components may be viewed in terms of both larger-scale national and international, and smaller-scale local perspectives. The supply of methamphetamine in Oklahoma is maintained by both large-scale DTOs and lower-level manufacturers. Different levels of distribution and manufacturing exist. The interconnection and interrelationship between these diverse facets of production and supply need to be taken into consideration and better understood.

The methamphetamine problem serves as an example of the challenges that are inherent in effectively responding to multidimensional crime problems. In Oklahoma specifically, the domestic production of methamphetamine decreased for a period of time only to resume more recently. As demonstrated by the data from Oklahoma law enforcement, the supply and demand for methamphetamine never really went away. Similar trends are now appearing on the national level. With the most recent drug threat assessments indicating that methamphetamine availability is increasing as a result of a growth in both domestic production and Mexican production, and that individuals and criminal groups are increasingly diverting licit chemicals for manufacturing from production countries such as South America, it is time to reconsider methamphetamine control strategies.

The U.S. methamphetamine problem is demonstrative of the limitations of crime control strategies that are focused on a single aspect of a larger, multidimensional crime problem. The global methamphetamine problem serves as an example of the dynamic and ever-changing nature of illicit drug markets. It has been said that “drug markets evolve and change over time” (Curtis & Wendel, 2000, p. 139) becoming “more or less complex as they metamorphose” (p. 139). With the case of methamphetamine, it appears as though the problems related to methamphetamine use and the illicit drug markets that produce and supply methamphetamine are becoming increasingly complex. Methamphetamine manufacturing has changed numerous times over the past several years, often in response to increased controls in precursor chemicals and other ingredients. The supply of methamphetamine is maintained by an ever-changing market made up of local manufacturers and illicit drug traffickers. The complexity of the larger drug market has increased as licit chemicals are increasingly being diverted for production purposes. The methamphetamine example illustrates the dynamic nature of the diverse components of the drug market and the potential adaptability of offenders in response to control efforts.

Throughout the years when methamphetamine laboratory seizures were declining, methamphetamine was continuing to be referred to as a “principal drug of concern” (DEA, 2006, p. 1) and one of the primary drugs of choice in Oklahoma (DEA, 2007, 2008) by federal law enforcement officials. As the survey data presented here demonstrate, Oklahoma law enforcement were very aware of the ongoing changes in the methamphetamine problem and understood early on that despite an observed reduction in laboratories, the problem continued to be a serious one. The shifts in manufacturing processes that have occurred demonstrate the adaptability of motivated offenders. Some manufacturers adapted their activities in the face of strict controls on pseudoephedrine. There is growing evidence that traffickers similarly adapted, becoming increasingly involved in maintaining the supply of methamphetamine once local manufacturing became more difficult and risky. The recent rise in local manufacturing should not come as a surprise since the underlying


methamphetamine use problem had never comprehensively been addressed. The story of the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma is one of a changing and continuing problem. Understanding illicit drug problems and how they change over time is essential for informing responses and developing effective strategies.

Endnotes1 Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 13th Environmental Criminology and

Crime Analysis symposium in Brasilia, Brazil, and at the American Society of Criminology conference in 2009.

2 Copies of the survey were also sent to OBNDD and the Marshall’s office. These agencies were not counted as part of the sample size.

3 Some survey responses were incomplete. One survey respondent sent back a blank survey with a response letter attached.

4 Specific details from this letter were removed to protect the confidentiality of the respondent.

5 Legislation passed prior to 1999 are not included Figure 2.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funds from the University of Central Oklahoma Office of Research and Grants and College of Liberal Arts. The authors would like to thank the law enforcement professionals who shared their experiences. Many thanks are also given to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, specifically Director R. Darrell Weaver, Mr. Mark Woodward, Dr. John Duncan, the late Mr. Lonnie Wright, Mr. Jim Cox, and former Attorney General W. A. Drew Edmondson. Special thanks to Cora Bradley, Lacey Elmange, and Michael Willis for their assistance with the project.

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Dr. Rashi K. Shukla is an associate professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Oklahoma. Dr. Shukla completed her PhD in Criminal Justice in 2003 from the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Shukla’s research interests include examining drug use and decisionmaking, drug policy, and white collar crime. Since 2005, she has served as Principal Investigator of a multimethod study of the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma. Her research has been published in the following journals: Substance Use and Misuse, Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, and Security Journal.

Dr. E. Elaine Bartgis worked as a police officer for about 14 years, first as a municipal officer and then as a state investigator for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. After completing her PhD at the University of Oklahoma, she moved to West Virginia to teach criminal justice at Fairmont State University. She now teaches at the University of Central Oklahoma. She is currently the Assistant Director for the School of Criminal Justice and Assistant Dean for the College of Liberal Arts.


The Role of Suspect and Victim Information in Investigation Outcomes: Revisiting Eck’s Triage TheoryWilliam V. Pelfrey, Jr., PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Criminal

Justice, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityChaswell André Hanna, MCJ, Sergeant, Royal Bahamas Police Force,

Nassau, NP, The Bahamas

Introduction

One of the most important tasks requested of police is the investigation and solving of crimes. Investigation has traditionally been regarded as one of the most widely recognized and prestigious jobs of law enforcement (Kuykendall, 1982). Despite the importance of the investigative capacity, comparatively little research has been conducted on criminal investigations (Brandl, 1993). This is particularly interesting as the public, and the police’s, perception of detective work is dramatically different than the reality (Bloch & Weidman, 1975; Westley, 1970). Wildly inaccurate myths about detective work include the following: detectives will investigate most crimes committed; forensic evidence is commonly used in investigations; and, thorough investigations are the norm (Walker & Katz, 2002). The reality is that most detectives spend the majority of their time completing routine paperwork and other activities not directly related to working on a criminal case (Greenwood & Petersilia, 1975).

The most significant research addressing detective work was sponsored by the RAND Corporation and conducted by Greenwood, Chaiken, and Petersilia (1977). Their conclusions disputed the publicly held perceptions of detectives possessing “unique skills” which facilitated case clearance. Following their landmark research, other authors further considered the topic of investigator efficiency (Brandl & Frank, 1994; Eck, 1983). These studies considered those factors which promote case resolution (such as information collected at the scene and subsequent detective work). Based on his research, Eck (1983) developed the Triage Theory, which suggests that strength of evidence defines the likelihood of arrest. Although it is less of a theory in the traditional sense than a conceptual framework, it provides guidance for consideration of the variables that influence investigation outcome. Eck collected data from burglary and robbery incidents and produced findings supportive of the theory. A subsequent test of the Triage Theory offered conflicting results concerning information quality and case outcome (Brandl & Frank, 1994).

The current research considers the importance of victim type and quality of information on the suspect as predictors of case outcome. These findings expand the literature on investigator efficiency and suggest several areas of future research.


Literature Review

While the basic process of criminal investigations is widely understood, there are many factors, both obvious and subtle, that dramatically influence the outcome of investigations (Brandl, 1993). The research on criminal investigators and the investigation process can be traced back to Isaacs’ (1967) work with the Los Angeles Police Department. Based on his analysis of an array of crimes and the work conducted by detectives, Isaacs concluded that the key factor in predicting case outcome was “whether the suspect was named in the crime report by the victim” (p. 96). Through an analysis of burglary, grand larceny, and robbery data collected in New York City, Greenwood (1970) found that more than 90% of cases require investigator intervention to achieve closure. Of these cases, when victims could name a suspect (approximately 2% of total cases) about half resulted in an arrest. When victims could only provide a physical description (67% of total cases), the likelihood of arrest was dramatically reduced (about 2% of these cases produced arrest). Conklin (1972) and Conklin and Bittner (1973) studied burglary and robbery cases to determine the extent to which police investigations resulted in case clearance. They found that criminal investigations of robberies produced clearances in only one out of 50 cases. The authors concluded that cases are solved either at the time the offense takes place, shortly thereafter, or not at all. Their assertion that long-term case investigations yield few successes is inconsistent with public expectations and goes to one of the myths associated with detective work.

The RAND study (Greenwood et al., 1977) had four principal objectives: (1) Describe current investigative practices, (2) Assess the utility of new technology, (3) Consider investigative effectiveness related to organizational influences, and (4) Define the role of police investigation in outcome determination. Several landmark findings emerged from their work. The authors suggested that approximately 93% of an investigator’s time is spent on administrative duties, services to the public, and other activities not immediately directed to assigned cases (Greenwood & Petersilia, 1975). One of the most unsettling findings concerned the effectiveness of detectives; RAND researchers held that the single most important determinant of case clearance is the information supplied by the victim to the responding patrol officer, and the work or skills of the detective had little to do with the probability of arrest.

Eck (1983) tested the conclusions presented by the RAND study through an analysis of detective work in three cities, focusing on burglary and robbery cases. Consistent with previous research, Eck found that the single most important factor predicting case outcome was the nature of the information provided by the victim to the responding patrol officer. Eck disputed some of the RAND findings, however, and argued that certain types of investigator activities, such as criminal record checks, could influence investigations.

Based on these findings, Eck (1983) proposed a Triage Theory, suggesting that cases can be classified into one of three categories as defined by the nature and quality of evidence. First, cases with limited evidence or victim information will rarely produce an arrest, regardless of investigative effort. Second, when moderate evidence exists, arrest is possible but only through substantial effort by investigators. Third, those cases with significant information from the victim and/or strong evidence will often produce an arrest, irrespective of investigator effort. This hypothesis, therefore, links case outcome to evidence, most notably the


information provided by the victim. While investigator effort may be a factor, it is only relevant in those cases with moderate evidence quality and when substantial effort is made.

Brandl and Frank (1994) tested Eck’s (1983) hypothesis with burglary and robbery data collected over the course of 12 months in a medium-sized Midwestern city. They observed significant relationships concerning quality of information on the suspect and the likelihood of arrest. While some of their findings disputed Greenwood and Petersilia’s (1975) claims concerning detective time expenditure (finding that investigator time expenditure does have some influence on case outcome), Brandl and Frank’s findings were generally consistent with previous research and supported Eck’s Triage Theory.

Research Questions

Several studies have been conducted assessing the efficiency of criminal investigators. These studies have generally found that the nature and quality of information collected from the victim defines the likelihood of case clearance (Brandl, 1994; Conklin & Bittner, 1973; Eck, 1983; Greenwood, 1970; Greenwood & Petersilia, 1975; Isaacs, 1967). Based on these findings, Eck (1983) developed a Triage Theory which predicts case outcome based on information quality. While Brandl and Frank’s (1994) work considered this theory, they primarily studied detective time expenditure. Thus, a test of the Triage Theory would further the literature on criminal investigation efficiency. The research on criminal investigations has generally focused on either information quality or detective time expenditure and has neglected an important factor: nature of the victim. Property crimes are committed against private citizens and business establishments. Research has not considered whether victim type influences case outcome.

Based on the extant literature, two research questions are evident. First, consistent with Eck’s (1983) Triage Theory, does the nature and quality of information collected from the victim by the investigating officer predict case outcome? Second, does victim type influence case outcome? The following data and methods address these two research questions.

Research Methods

Data and Variables

Data were collected from one of the four regional investigative units of the Columbia Police Department (CPD) in Columbia, South Carolina. The CPD has approximately 326 sworn officers and serves a population of approximately 110,000. Approximately half of the population is described as Caucasian, 40% as African-American, 8% Hispanic, and 2% other. Incident and case reports over a six-month time period were examined. Total (N) number of incident reports was 218. Key data collected from the reports were information regarding suspect identity, victim type, and case outcome.

The primary independent variable was Suspect Identification and was comprised of five categories based on the type of suspect identification noted on the incident report. The first category was No Suspect Identification and included instances in


which nothing about the perpetrator’s identity or appearance was reported. The second category was Physical Identification and included cases in which only a physical description of the suspect such as height, weight, or race was described. The third category was Name Only and included instances in which a suspect’s first name, last name, or a nickname was noted at the crime scene. The fourth category was Name and Physical Identification and included instances in which a suspect’s name as well as a physical description was obtained at the scene. The final category was Full Identification and involved cases in which a suspect’s name, physical description, and an address were noted at the scene.

A second independent variable was obtained from the data and was described as Type of Victim. The first category was titled Business and included cases in which the victim was a business establishment that had been victimized (e.g., the burglary of a grocery store). The second category was described as Personal and included cases in which an individual was victimized. The third category was Officer and included cases in which a police officer observed the commission of a crime in the course of his duties and thus became the complainant or “victim.”

The dependent variable was titled Crime Clearance. This variable was also divided into several categories. The first was Crimes Cleared by Arrest and included cases where the case was disposed by the arrest of a suspect. The second category was described as Cleared for Reasons Other than Arrest and involved cases in which the victim refused to press charges, restitution was made to the victim, or the cases lacked sufficient probable cause for arrest. The third category was described as Administratively Closed and included cases for which all leads had been exhausted and no new leads had developed. In these cases, an administrative detective elected to close the case from further active investigation. The categories were scored as Cleared by Arrest = 3, Cleared for Reasons Other than Arrest = 2, and Administratively Closed = 1.

Analysis

Correlation analysis was conducted to identify whether a significant relationship existed between initial suspect identification at the crime scene and clearance of the crime. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical test was employed to define the nature of any significant relationships identified through correlation tests. Finally, multinomial logistic regression was conducted to determine the degree of variance in the dependent variable explained by the independent variables. Ordinary least squares regression was not selected because logistic regression is preferred when one is attempting to estimate the occurrence of a specific event (in this analysis, crime clearance). The analysis is multinomial since there are three possible outcomes to the dependent variable, whereas traditional logistic regression is used when there is a binomial dependent variable.

Results

The two independent variables (Suspect Identification and Victim Type) and the dependent variable (Case Clearance) were significantly correlated with each other as displayed in Table 1. Based on these strong levels of significance, ANOVA was conducted. ANOVA findings are displayed in Table 2.


Table 1. Correlations Between Variables

Variable Suspect Identification Victim Information Case Clearance

Suspect IdentificationVictim InformationCase Clearance

1.0000.334*0.602*

0.334*1.000 0.295*

0.602*0.295*1.000

* Indicates correlation is significant at 0.001 level (2-tailed test)

Table 2. ANOVA Findings for Case Clearance

Sum of Mean Squares df Square F Significance

Suspect Between Groups 48.728 4 12.182 31.956 0.000Identification Within Groups 81.198 213 0.981

Total 129.926 217Victim Between Groups 11.410 2 5.705 10.350 0.000Information Within Groups 118.516 215 0.551

Total 129.926 217

ANOVA findings suggest that group means are significantly different within case clearance for each of the two independent variables. A review of group means indicates that, for the suspect identification variable, name and physical description cases and full identification cases are most likely to result in arrest; however, physical descriptions only are more likely to produce arrest than name only cases. Group means for the victim information variable indicate that incidents involving businesses are more likely to result in arrest than those incidents involving private citizens. This is an unexpected finding and will be revisited later.

Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that the dependent variable was significantly predicted by the two independent variables. That is, the degree of suspect information at the time of investigation and the type of victim significantly predict case outcome. The final model (including both independent variables and the dependent variable) was highly significant1 and is summarized in Table 3. The likelihood ratio tests, presented in Table 4, indicate that each independent variable was separately significant, with suspect identification significant at the 0.001 level and victim identification significant at the 0.05 level.

Table 3. Regression Summary Findings for Case Clearance

Model -2 Log Likelihood Chi-Square df Significance

Intercept OnlyFinal Model

176.447 60.315

--116.13

-- 12

--0.000

Table 4. Likelihood Ratio Tests

-2 Log Likelihood of Effect Reduced Model Chi-Square df Significance

Intercept 60.315 0.000 0 --Suspect ID 155.166 94.852 8 0.000Victim 69.897 9.582 4 0.048


A review of the logistic coefficients indicates that higher degrees of suspect identification significantly predict the likelihood of clearance by arrest. Victim type also significantly predicts arrest—crimes against businesses were more likely to produce arrests than crimes against persons.

Conclusions

While there have been relatively few empirical studies conducted on criminal investigation, the studies available in the literature generally echo a similar theme: The likelihood of arrest is significantly influenced by the quality of information collected from the victim. When victims provide information such as name or a physical description of the offender, the likelihood of arrest is high (Brandl, 1994; Conklin, 1972; Conklin & Bittner, 1973; Eck, 1983; Greenwood, 1970; Greenwood & Petersilia, 1975; Isaacs, 1967). Conversely, as the quality of the information decreases, the likelihood of arrest concomitantly declines. This premise serves as the basis of Eck’s (1983) Triage Theory, which has seen support in the literature (Brandl & Frank, 1994). To test this idea, burglary data were collected from one of the four investigative regions in Columbia, South Carolina, over a six-month period. For each case, data collected included victim type (personal or business), offender information (full description, name and physical description, or some combination), and case outcome (arrest, cleared by means other than arrest, or administratively closed).

Based on the analysis of data, several important findings emerged. As the amount of information concerning the identity of the suspect at the scene of the crime increased, case clearance also increased. As expected, full identification produced the most arrests, while name and physical description closely followed. Surprisingly, providing a physical description only produced a greater likelihood of arrest than name of suspect only. This indicates that a physical description was more valuable to the clearance of a crime than the name of the suspect. This could be related to the common use of aliases or the veracity of offender name databases available to law enforcement officers.

The widely known RAND study of detectives noted that police investigators rarely use “unique skills” to apprehend felons. This work supports that assertion, particularly the finding that of the 62 cases where no information concerning suspect identity was known at the crime scene, only 7% were cleared by arrest.

An unexpected finding occurred concerning victim identification. In those cases in which the victim was categorized as a business, the police were provided more information concerning the identity of the suspects, and these cases tended to be cleared more than victims described as persons. Only 17% percent of the cases in which the victims were classified as a business resulted in the cases being administratively closed. This means that for business victims, 83% of their cases were cleared by arrest or by other means.

Discussion

Much of the policing research either directly or indirectly addresses a question of efficiency. That is, are the basic practices and procedures of law enforcement efficient in generating expected outcomes? This question served as the impetus for


a wave of research in the late 1960s and 1970s. One of these foundational studies of law enforcement, the RAND detective study (Greenwood et al., 1977) shook the foundation of criminal investigations by suggesting that investigator efficiency is a fallacy. More recent studies (Brandl & Frank, 1994; Eck, 1983) have expanded our knowledge of investigator efficiency; for example, property crimes are essentially solved at the scene by the responding officer (as a function of information collected from the victim) or they go unsolved. Where information quality is high, little detective effort is required. Where information quality is poor, detective effort is essentially irrelevant. Where information quality is mediocre, detective effort may mitigate outcomes but only if that effort is substantial. Thus investigator efficiency is actually a question of processing information collected by patrol officers rather than information acquisition and crime investigation.

Results from the extant study were generally consistent with the literature on criminal investigations (Brandl, 1994; Conklin & Bittner, 1973; Eck, 1983; Greenwood, 1970; Greenwood & Petersilia, 1975; Isaacs, 1967). As proposed by Eck’s (1983) Triage Theory, the nature and quality of suspect information defines the likely outcome of a burglary investigation.

This finding and the foundational literature go to a question of citizen involvement. One of the recommendations made by the RAND researchers (Greenwood et al., 1977) was to initiate programs designed to impress on the citizenry the crucial role they contribute to the solution of crimes (an infrequently actualized recommendation). In addition to information concerning suspect identity, citizens may also be able to provide reasons why a particular individual became a victim. Such citizens might disclose other community crime issues, including problem areas and facilities. Therefore, to reduce the possibility of missing such vital law enforcement information, programs designed to improve citizen involvement should not be limited to crime victims.

Concomitantly, the information collection process is the jurisdiction of the responding officer. Training programs which emphasize the importance of victim interviewing, the nature of information to be acquired, and effective interviewing procedures will clearly influence clearance rates. All police academies incorporate an interviewing element. However, hypothetical situations and scenario-based training is generally the best way to demonstrate effective techniques. Police administrators should consider incorporation of these approaches in both basic training and continuing education courses for veteran officers.

In addition to findings on the importance of suspect information, this research provided an interesting and unexpected finding concerning victim type. Criminal investigation research has failed to consider victim type as a variable. This research noted that burglaries against persons are solved at a significantly lower rate than burglaries against businesses. This is likely a function of the improved quality of information supplied to the police by business employees.

Despite the fact that the present study did not attempt to analyze the dynamics of interrogation, it would be reasonable to say that such a duty requires not only specialized training but also practical experience. Human relations skills, interpersonal skills, and tact are qualities that a successful detective should possess. The fact that police investigators infrequently solve crimes does not render their


efforts redundant or unessential. Therefore, it would be more than sound to hold that such routine duties are not merely mechanical but demand specialized skills that can only be realized and nurtured through training and experience.

Future research to expand the finding concerning victim identity should be conducted. Although interesting, it was unclear why businesses provided better suspect information and higher arrest rates. Qualitative research which recorded the interaction between the responding officer and the victim could elicit answers to this question. Although burglary represents one of the most common crimes, it is also a relatively minor crime. It would be interesting to examine whether Eck’s (1983) Triage Theory holds true for more serious crime, particularly violent crime. In these cases, it is possible that greater investigative effort would generate information to compensate for poor or moderate evidence scenarios.

Endnote1 There are several analogs to the R² of OLS regression available for multinomial logistic

regression, although there is no consensus as to which of these is most accurate. These analogs are known as the Pseudo R² scores. For this analysis, the Cox and Snell score was 0.413, the Nagelkerke score was 0.466, and the McFadden score was 0.245. This suggests that a sizable portion of the variance associated with crime clearance is explained by the two independent variables.

References

Bloch, P., & Weidman, L. (1975). Managing criminal investigation. St. Paul: West Publishing.

Brandl, S. G. (1993). The impact of case characteristics on detectives’ decision making. Justice Quarterly, 10, 395-416.

Brandl, S. G., & Frank, J. (1994). The relationship between evidence, detective effort, and the dispositions of burglary and robbery investigations. American Journal of Police, 13, 149-168.

Conklin, J. (1972). Robbery and the criminal justice system. Philadelphia: Lippincott.

Conklin, J., & Bittner, E. (1973). Burglary in a suburb. Criminology, 11, 206-232.

Eck, J. (1983). Solving crimes: The investigation of burglary and robbery. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.

Greenwood, P. (1970). An analysis of the apprehension activities of the New York City Police Department. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Greenwood, P., Chaiken, J., & Petersilia, J. (1977). The criminal investigation process. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

Greenwood, P., & Petersilia, J. (1975). The criminal investigation process. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.


Isaacs, H. (1967). Police operations: The apprehension process. In President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (Ed.), Task force report: Science and technology (Chapter 2). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Kuykendall, J. (1982). The criminal investigative process: Toward a conceptual framework. Journal of Criminal Justice, 10, 131-145.

Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2002). The police in America. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Westley, W. (1970). Violence and the public. New York: Sage Publications.

Professor William V. Pelfrey, Jr. is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his PhD in Criminal Justice from Temple University and his MS in Clinical Psychology from Radford University. His primary research areas are homeland security, police use of force, and the psychology of the offender. His publications have appeared in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, and other venues.

Chaswell André Hanna is a sergeant with the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Mr. Hanna completed his Master of Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina. In addition to his law enforcement work, Mr. Hanna is an adjunct at the College of the Bahamas and teaches at the Royal Bahamas Police Academy.


Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and the Criminal Justice System: What Do They Do?Shani P. WilfredMelvin C. BlackCriminal Justice Program, Valdosta State University

Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) have been providing services to the public for decades. It is estimated that each year they provide approximately $20 billion of social service provisions to more than 70 million Americans (Johnson, Tompkins, & Webb, 2002). The use of FBOs in community crime control strategies has been increasing, especially in light of President Bush’s intense endorsement of the charitable choice initiative (Monsma, 2004).

Most studies that examine FBOs look extensively at the ability of FBOs to obtain, manage, and utilize federal funds to assist in the provision of social services (e.g., food, clothing, and housing). Few studies provide a multifaceted examination of FBOs in an attempt to understand every aspect of the organizations, including criminal justice program provision. For example, research that does examine FBOs’ criminal justice programming usually focuses on one program that is provided by one or several FBOs, and those programs are usually provided within prisons or are solely targeted at paroled inmates (Johnson et al., 2002).

Because of the seemingly intensive involvement of FBOs in their communities, and their potential for working with criminal justice agencies in the provision of criminal justice programming, there must be a commitment by social science researchers to look more deeply into the current level of FBO involvement in community crime control efforts as well as the plausibility of sustaining or increasing current levels of involvement. This study begins to address this gap in the literature, provides another lens through which FBOs and their program provision can be viewed and analyzed, and lays the foundation for looking at FBOs beyond their prison ministries and offender reentry programs to the ways that FBOs participate in every aspect of the system.

Literature Review

Criminal Justice Programming

In addition to providing basic needs social service programming, FBOs also provide criminal justice programming. In the area of criminal justice programming, FBOs can provide meaningful services to community members such as crime prevention programs, definition of political interests and concerns, improvement of the community’s economic structure, and assistance in the development of a positive relationship with community–police (McGarrell, Brinker, & Etindi, 1999; Smith & Sosin, 2001). There are three major types of criminal justice programming


that FBOs can provide to their communities: (1) prevention, (2) intervention, and (3) correction.

Prevention

Prevention programs are focused (1) on individuals who exhibit high-risk behaviors and have not received any official criminal sanctions (e.g., arrest and booking) for their behavior or (2) on high-risk neighborhoods. These programs may not necessarily include active criminal offenders (McGarrell et al., 1999, p. 10). FBOs are involved in crime prevention efforts, which usually are offered in the form of drug treatment programs (Dillulio, 1998). Some FBOs offer prevention programs that are designed to address drug problems and other correlated social ills (e.g., poverty and illiteracy) (McGarrell et al., 1999).

Intervention

Intervention programs are focused on individuals who have committed criminal acts and have received some official criminal sanction: “The intervention may be offered as a diversion from the courts or it may be court-ordered as a condition of probation” (McGarrell et al., 1999, p. 12). FBOs are also involved in the provision of intervention programs such as mediation programs, mentor and education programs, job placement services for juvenile offenders, teen drug education programs, and legal services (Bicknese, 1999; Koss, 2001; Loconte, 1998; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 1998).

Correction

Correction programs are focused on working “with offenders who have been convicted of an offense and are either currently carrying out their sentence via imprisonment or have been released from prison and are returning to the community” (McGarrell et al., 1999, p. 13). FBOs are also involved in providing correction programming to members of the community. FBOs offer services to inmates and their families during the inmates’ incarceration, counseling and religious services to inmates while incarcerated, and after-care and follow-up programs for inmates once they are released (Johnson, 2004; Johnson, Larson, & Pitts, 1997; Johnson et al., 2002; McGarrell et al., 1999).

Extent of Criminal Justice Program Provision

The extent of FBOs’ criminal justice program provision, beyond prison-related programming (e.g., Prison Fellowship Ministries and offender reentry programs), is relatively unknown as there have been no studies conducted that take an in-depth look at FBOs’ criminal justice program provisions in the same manner in which several studies (e.g., National Congregation study; see Chaves as cited in Wuthnow, 2004) have assessed FBOs’ social service provision (Johnson et al., 2002; Wuthnow, 2004).

Research Gap: Assessment of the Extent of FBO Criminal Justice Programming

The previous discussion regarding the variety of services provided by FBOs demonstrates that we know the types of and the extent to which FBOs provide


various social service programs (e.g., medical services) to communities. However, while we know the types of criminal justice programs FBOs provide, we do not know as much about the extent to which FBOs provide such programming. This study looks beyond the types of social service program provisions that FBOs are traditionally known for and takes an in-depth look at the crime-related programs provided by FBOs. In addition, FBO provision of nontraditional criminal justice programming (e.g., restitution monitoring, probation supervision, and house arrest monitoring) is also explored. This is a necessary step because although the use of FBOs in community crime control strategies has been increasing, researchers still are not sure whether FBO criminal justice program provision is widespread enough to provide the criminal justice system with alternative methods of dealing with at-risk persons, offenders, and ex-offenders (Johnson et al., 2002; Jones, 1997).

Methodology

Sampling

The sample for this study was derived from the Indiana Nonprofits Database, which was developed as part of the Indiana Nonprofit Sector Project (INSP) (Grønbjerg, 2001). Even with the limitations associated with using the Indiana Nonprofits Database (e.g., geographic bias, organization overlap, and organization mortality), this database was the most comprehensive listing of Indiana nonprofits available at the time of this study, and attempts to develop a new list would have involved the same, if not greater, limitations.

The sampling frame consisted of information for 7,648 religious organizations from seven Indiana communities: (1) Evansville: Gibson, Vanderburgh, Posey, and Warrick Counties; (2) Fort Wayne: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Wells, and Whitley Counties; (3) Indianapolis: Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby Counties; (4) Muncie: Delaware County; (5) Nonmetro: Bartholomew, Cass, Dubois, Miami, and Scott Counties; (6) Northwest Indiana: Lake, LaPorte, and Porter Counties; and (7) South Bend: St. Joseph County. Fifteen hundred organizations were randomly selected from the database using SPSS’s random sample case selection function.

Measurement and Analysis

Survey Instrument

The survey instrument used in this study contained questions about whether FBOs provided criminal justice programming and the types of criminal justice programming provided. Sample survey questions designed to assess these factors are delineated below.

Criminal Justice Program Provision

The questions included in the survey that were designed to address whether criminal justice programming was provided by the FBO were as follows: (1) Does your organization provide anti-crime programming? (Yes, No), and (2) Which crime preventive role best describes the activities of your organization in the


community? ([a] to be a model of positive values in the community, [b] to act as a social support for residents who are victims of crime, [c] to mobilize the community against crime, [d] to assist law enforcement agencies in reducing crime, and [e] to provide a buffer for the influence of crime on children in the community).

Criminal Justice Programming Type

Survey questions that were designed to address the types of criminal justice programming FBOs provide were presented in a matrix format. FBO administrators were asked to select the response that best described how frequently (0 = never to 6 = always) their organization provided the specified services. Examples of the matrix questions include (1) provide programs that assist ex-inmates reintegration into the community, (2) provide programs for at-risk youth (e.g., mentoring, recreation), and (3) promote programs that deal with violent juvenile offenders.

Survey Administration/Collection

Each organization was contacted with an introductory postcard that was followed by a survey packet (i.e., letter, survey, postage-paid envelope) three weeks later. For nonresponding organizations, two follow-up contacts (phone or mail) were conducted in the 5th and 13th weeks after the survey packet mailing.

Response Rate and Nonresponse Bias

After eliminating organizations, without replacement, for which current contactinformation could not be found, 1,110 of the 1,500 sampled organizations remained.Of the 1,110 remaining organizations, the total number of survey respondentswas 128, which yields a response rate of 11.5%. Although the response rate forthis study is low, it is to be expected in light of several factors associated withconducting mail surveys of nonprofits (Berry, Arons, Bass, Carter, & Portney, 2003;Hager, Wilson, Pollak, & Rooney, 2003).

First, surveying nonprofit organizations returns lower response rates thansurveying individuals. In some organizational settings, 15% response rates areacceptable; and in some instances, response rates as low as 10.2% have also beenaccepted (Olson, 2000). The response rate for this study falls within the acceptablerange (10 to 15%).

Second, mail surveys, while the least expensive, yield the lowest response rates.Using mail surveys was a necessity for this study because of cost constraints andconcerns about the selection bias that would result from unintentionally excludingFBOs from the study that did not have Internet access to complete an onlinestudy.

Third, lower response rates are usually received when surveying randomlyselected nonprofits without any specific identifying body (e.g., surveying all theSalvation Armies in a state). For this study, even though the majority of the FBOsthat returned the surveys were Christian, they had no identifying body as they allcame from various denominations.


Fourth, larger studies usually have lower response rates because they are not as conducive to conducting extensive and personal follow-ups. For this study, it was necessary to pick a larger sample to ensure collection of a sufficient number of surveys to be representative and in order to conduct statistical analysis.

Fortunately, for this study, when arguments can be made that respondents and nonrespondents are similar on a variety of measures, then nonresponse bias is less of a concern. Smith (1997) concluded that for organization surveys, nonresponse bias that relates to low return rates is less of a concern than for individual surveys. Descriptive statistics for FBO respondents in this study and FBO nonrespondents are similar: the larger and smaller communities and counties are still identified as such per the percentages they comprise in each group (respondents and nonrespondents). In addition, t-tests, correlations, and Kendall’s Tau found no significant differences between groups. These findings offer more credence to the argument that, in spite of the low response rate, nonresponse bias may actually be a minor issue for this study. Table 1 provides a summary of the aforementioned findings.

Table 1. Nonresponse Bias Tests

Test County ID Community ID

Statistic p Statistic pIndependent-Samples t-test -0.558 0.578 0.976 0.331Correlation 0.020 0.523 -0.033 0.288Kendall’s Tau 0.013 0.640 -0.043 0.121

Results

The findings appear to indicate low to moderate FBO involvement in the provision of in-depth criminal justice programming across all three program types. Seventy-seven percent of FBOs offered some type of criminal justice programming in the area of prevention programming at least monthly. Seventy percent of FBOs hold weekly neighborhood religious meetings, 48% hold monthly neighborhood events, and 44% provide programs for at-risk youth. Only 15% provide anti-crime education programs to their clients. In the area of intervention programming, 44% of FBOs clean up neighborhood property and buildings at least monthly, and 27% assisted police with community relations; however, only 11% provided programming for violent juvenile delinquents and only 5.5% provided programming for violent offenders. In the area of corrections programming, at least 61% of FBOs reported visiting inmates in prison on a monthly basis, but only 17% provided programs that assist ex-inmates in reintegrating into their communities.

Discussion

Methodological Contributions

Research has demonstrated that this study’s low response rate is acceptable; however, the ability to generalize this study’s findings to the FBO population are extremely limited (Berry et al., 2003; Hager et al., 2003). While there are limitations to this study, those limitations also make this study valuable inasmuch as it


contributes to methodological improvements for the evaluation of FBOs and their community crime control initiatives. This present study utilized an improved methodology for evaluating the role of FBOs in criminal justice program provision by going beyond case studies and descriptions of FBOs and their programming. This was accomplished through the use of a rigorous survey instrument, qualitative methods (i.e., participant observation and intensive interviewing), and advanced quantitative analyses (i.e., HLM, GIS, and SEM). In addition, conducting original data collection allowed potential pitfalls associated with surveying FBOs about their community involvement and crime control initiatives to be noted. Knowing such information is critical to the development of future studies in this area and will be discussed in greater detail below. Therefore, this study cannot be generalized to the FBO population, but it is invaluable in teaching researchers how to best study FBOs and their involvement in the criminal justice system.

Lessons Learned from Original Data Collection

Original data collection elicits a tremendous amount of financial resources, time, and energy. While at times it may be a stressful process, there are many valuable lessons that can be learned from collecting original data. Surveying nonprofits brings a host of problems associated with it, especially in the area of mailing logistics and response rates (Berry et al., 2003; Hager et al., 2003). Surveying nonprofit FBOs about their criminal justice programming brings a host of additional problems associated with their religiosity and their community and political ties. Most research on FBOs has looked at the administrative challenges associated with their pursuit of charitable choice funding, and has focused little on the methodological issues associated with studying such organizations (Kennedy, 2003; Kennedy & Bielefeld, 2002; Monsma, 2004; Wuthnow, 2004). The purpose of this section is to bring these issues to the forefront and better equip researchers to further examine the crime control role of FBOs. We will discuss six methodological issues related to this study: (1) Definitional Issues, (2) Community (Resource) Collaborations, (3) Program Classification, (4) FBOs’ Schedule and Structure, (5) Sample Size and Response Rate, and (6) FBOs and Politics.

Definitional Issues

During data entry, it was extremely perplexing to discover that many of the FBOs in this study responded that they did not provide anti-crime programming but yet reported participation in programs that were classified as anti-crime (e.g., visiting offenders) on a monthly basis. Thus, during site observations, pastors were asked what anti-crime programs meant to them to see if any plausible explanations could be identified for such discrepancies. The administrator at one FBO offered the best explanation. He stated that “neighborhood watch and anti-violence programs” represented what anti-crime programming meant to him. In addition, he asserted that a positive correlation exists between the amount of perceived violence in an area and the amount of help local organizations (e.g., churches) offer to deal with the problem. He said that his church and churches like his would not be interested in providing anti-crime programming because they did not perceive crime as being a problem in their area. He also stated that if church members do not perceive crime as a problem in their community, they are less likely to get involved in funding and participating in anti-crime service provision.


These comments reveal two key issues related to how FBOs define anti-crime programming: (1) their definition of anti-crime programming is limited to prevention type of programs; and (2) their identification of anti-crime program provision has everything to do with perceptions of crime in the community, the likelihood of church members agreeing that a crime problem exists, and the willingness of church members to become involved in anti-crime service provision. However, this understanding was only obtainable through qualitative data analysis, a fact which is of utmost importance here. As researchers, we should be willing to use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to understand how key concepts associated with a study are being defined by study participants, and how their definitions affect their responses. Knowing such information is integral to the accurate interpretation of data, to making valid generalizations, and to developing future research studies.

Community (Resource) Collaborations

During the site visits conducted for this study, pastors at three of the four sites reported providing services through their congregation’s assistance in the operation of a food pantry, a thrift store, or a housing shelter, or all three. These services were usually provided in conjunction with the county trustees. The pastor at one site reported receiving calls at the church requesting help, which he passed through the township trustees to verify their legitimacy before offering assistance. Two other pastors also reported donating church funds, volunteers, and food to the county pantry, which was run in conjunction with the town trustees. All three FBOs identified these services as services provided by their church. Thus, criminal justice researchers must understand that FBOs could potentially be working directly with other local organizations in the provision of services. If criminal justice researchers are seeking to understand what FBOs do and how they provide services to the community, then these researchers will also need to interact, perhaps directly, with the secondary organization to understand how they provide services. As suggested previously in the collaboration discussion, this is important when studying FBOs so that the nature of these interactions in relation to the FBOs’ anti-crime programming can be identified, and so that it can be determined whether the FBOs actually provide criminal justice programming.

Program Classification

The “Definitional Issues” section discussed the discrepancy that exists between FBOs who said they provide criminal justice programming and those that were reclassified as providing criminal justice programming. One explanation for this discrepancy can be found in the way the FBO administrators defined service provision. For example, during one site visit, the FBO administrator reported that its jail ministry was in the same state (“fading out”) that it had been in three months earlier when the survey was filled out. Nevertheless, the FBO administrator had reported that the FBO did provide a prisoner visitation program. Similar observations were made during site visits to two other FBOs. It may be that the FBO administrators reported that they did provide anti-crime programming because they concluded that their contact with low-income people placed them in a situation of potential exposure to offenders, but then in a subsequent section of the survey, they reported that they did not provide anti-crime programming because they were not actively targeting that group of individuals. In both cases,


church members were either visiting inmates in prison, working with at-risk youth, or both; but they were doing so on their own initiative, rather than as part of a formally structured church program. Finally, the situation at one observation site also offers an additional plausible explanation. If a program was being phased out when they filled out the survey and they knew that there was not much enthusiasm from the church members, or if a program had already ended but was still in their records, then that too could explain why the FBOs initially responded that they did not provide anti-crime programming but then later responded that they were involved in some anti-crime programming in the programming section of the survey.

These scenarios exemplify the importance of understanding the context from which survey participants are answering the questions. It also should serve as a caution to researchers when trying to reclassify participants’ responses so that they “make sense.” Perhaps the responses are indicating a lack of understanding on the part of the researcher and a need to conduct qualitative analysis to obtain the needed understanding. As previously asserted, these scenarios also suggest a need to continue to research FBOs to find out more about their criminal justice service provision. In addition, it also offers support to the suggestion that will be made in this section for local in-depth studies of FBOs that are a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods.

The Schedule and Structure of FBOs

The FBOs participating in this study had high leadership turnover. During the course of this study, many of the organizations had interim pastors and some went through several pastors. Thus, in many cases, no true administrator was in place. When I called the organizations, oftentimes the pastor or administrator in place would have no recollection of this study because he or she had never received the mailing. Secretaries at many of these organizations were volunteers or employed on a temporary basis, and pastors would often find the mailing at the bottom of a pile on his or her desk, or find out that the secretary had thrown it away because he or she was not sure to whom the survey should go. In some instances, the administration simply lost the survey or threw it away because the initial deadline had passed before they got around to filling it out. This, again, is why multiple mailings and contacts with FBOs are so important to achieve a good response rate. It also suggests that it might be fruitful to study larger FBOs with more stable leadership.

Many FBO administrators use the summer for taking vacations; because of this, staffing during those months is limited. The researcher should keep this in mind when planning a survey. The months in which a study begins and ends also could have a tremendous impact on the response rate. In addition, FBO programming fluctuates throughout the year, so the researcher’s ability to induce the appropriate staff to fill out the survey may vary during the year as well. Generally, most FBOs in this study provided programming to youth, and their service provision revolved around those services. Therefore, the months of September to early December and mid-January to May appeared to be the best months for surveying such organizations. While a few organizations offered summer programs, there did not seem to be enough FBOs offering such programs to suggest that those months would be good for surveying FBOs.


Sample Size and Response Rate

When surveying FBOs, it is a good idea to deliberately select a large sample which increases the likelihood of getting a representative sample in spite of the inevitable removal from the sample. This is especially important because nonprofit organizations generally come and go as frequently as the seasons change. Additionally, when dealing with a large sample size of nonprofit organizations that lack some larger unifying body (e.g., all churches are from one denomination), the response rate decreases significantly (Hager et al., 2003). It became clear in this study that three things must happen in order to increase response rates: (1) the researcher must build a rapport with the organizations, (2) the researcher must spend some type of one-on-one time with the individuals who are filling out the survey, and (3) the researcher must ensure that the organizations understand the research topic and the survey questions.

It is not physically possible for one person, especially with limited resources, to go to each organization in a large sample and talk to them about filling out a survey. Yet, in this study, when follow-up phone calls were made, the FBO administrators spoken to directly, as opposed to those who were left a message on the answering machine or with a secretary, were more likely to return their surveys. In terms of conducting studies with large sample sizes, the researcher might establish rapport through the way the study is presented and described in the initial contact and the follow-up letters. One-on-one time with the individuals filling out the survey may occur during telephone follow-ups, e-mails, mail correspondence, or all three. Taking the time to make these connections then allows the researcher to verify that the organization does in fact understand the research topic and survey questions.

During the site observations in this study, it became apparent that the best way to achieve the three steps outlined above would be to work with a small number of FBOs located in close proximity. This allows the researcher to closely monitor the organizations in the study and to be accessible to them in terms of helping them complete the surveys. It also expands the possibility of using in-depth qualitative methodologies. This strategy would not give the researcher an opportunity for comparison across groups (e.g., counties), such as larger studies would, but quantitative and qualitative data and analyses would be richer, response rates would very likely be higher, and the overall cost would be lower when conducting a smaller study (Berry et al., 2003; Hager et al., 2003). Campbell (2002) suggests,

If researchers want to do a better job of understanding the potential and limits of faith-based social service initiatives, we might fruitfully pay closer attention to the learning and change that occurs within local service delivery networks and the outcomes that follow for clients and communities. (p. 226)

Ultimately, the researcher must weigh the pros and cons of each technique, assess his or her resources, and then select the technique that best suits his or her purposes. Being aware of study limitations can assist the researcher greatly in developing the appropriate methodology.


FBOs and Politics

One of the greatest surprises in this study was the number of FBOs that refused to participate in the study because they were afraid of political backlash. While none of the questions asked about charitable choice, the fact that the FBOs were being asked to report on their service provision caused them initially to associate the survey with charitable choice. Because of the charitable choice initiative’s revitalization in the late 1990s by President George W. Bush, there will always be a political association (i.e., a threat to internal validity: history affect) involved when surveying religious nonprofit organizations. This is an important issue when working with FBOs as it may affect the response rate and the overall validity of a study. Even though FBOs are religious organizations, they are not precluded from feeling compelled to provide socially desirable responses, even if untrue. As a result, researchers need to take precautions to ensure that the wording of each question does not seem to be “Bushish” in nature. This may even necessitate that the researchers acknowledge how his or her study is or is not associated with the charitable choice initiative in the cover letter.

During this study, several FBO administrators phoned and asked for verbal reassurances that this was not a study being conducted for President Bush and that their identities and responses would remain confidential. On several occasions, FBO administrators phoned and requested verbal assurances that the information presented in the study’s cover letter about confidentially and recordkeeping was true. During the follow-up process, a few FBOs refused to fill out the survey because they were not confident that their identity would be kept confidential, and they did not want to lose their government funding as a result of their survey responses. In addition, a few FBOs also refused to participate in the study because they too thought this study was being conducted for President Bush, and although they did not want any charitable choice funds, they did not want to be told what to do or who to serve, and they felt the study was designed to tell them such things.

Conclusion

All in all, surveying FBOs is an interesting and challenging endeavor. It is a process that must be increased among criminal justice researchers. FBOs and criminal justice agencies have been collaborating for years, especially in providing youth intervention and prison programs (Bicknese, 1999; Eisenberg & Trusty, 2003; Johnson, 2003, 2004). Researchers need to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs and begin to empirically shape policies in the area of FBO and criminal justice agency collaboration. It is to be hoped that these methodological suggestions will offer a starting point for researchers to begin digging deeper into the area of FBO crime control initiatives.

References

Berry, J. M., Arons, D. F., Bass, G. D., Carter, M. F., & Portney, K. E. (2003). Surveying nonprofits: A methods handbook. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.

Bicknese, A. T. (1999). The teen challenge drug treatment programs in comparative perspective (Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, 1999). Dissertation Abstracts, AAT 9932136.


Campbell, D. (2002). Beyond charitable choice: The diverse service delivery approaches of local faith-related organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31(2), 207-230.

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Shani P. Wilfred is an associate professor of Criminal Justice in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice Department at Valdosta State University. Her research interests include Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and their involvement with offenders and the criminal justice system, juvenile justice issues, mentally ill offenders, and community corrections.

Melvin C. Black is a graduate student of Public Administration at Valdosta State University. His research interests include information technology and organizational theory behavior within public administration.

Contact Information Shani P. Wilfred Criminal Justice Program Valdosta State University 1500 N. Patterson Street Valdosta, GA 31698-0060 [email protected]


Anwar al Awlaki: The Man, His Ideology, and His Impact on Transnational JihadUri Rosset, Lecturer, Sapir College, Sderot, IsraelDean C. Alexander, Associate Professor, School of Law Enforcement and

Justice Administration, Western Illinois University

Introduction

Prior to his death in September 2011, Anwar al Awlaki, a New Mexican-born radical Muslim cleric of Yemeni descent (a dual U.S.-Yemini national), had already shifted from being primarily an ideologue and a propagandist of the transnational jihadist movement to also serving as an active recruiter and senior member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This article discusses al Awlaki’s background, his record as an ideologue and propagandist, and his impact on transnational jihad. Al Awlaki’s increased connections with inspiring convicted and would-be terrorists globally, particularly in English-speaking countries, plus his own relation with AQAP plots targeting the West, made him an important figure to study. While the U.S. drone strike in Yemen marked his demise, it does not completely eliminate al Awlaki’s effect on transnational jihad as his writings, recordings, and video will continue to be available worldwide.

Background of al Awlaki

Anwar al Awlaki was born in the United States in 1971 to Yemini parents. His father, Nasser, who earned a doctorate in the United States, subsequently held prestigious posts in Yemen, including the presidency of Sana University. After living in the United States for several years, Anwar returned to Yemen before taking undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States (MacEoin, 2010; The NEFA Foundation, 2009; Zimmerman, 2010). In 1994, he married his cousin and served as an imam in Denver, Colorado (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010).

Between 1996 and 2000, he worked at a Muslim charity, the Charitable Society for Social Welfare, in San Diego, California, believed to be a front organization for al-Qaeda. In San Diego, he also served as an imam at the Rabat mosque (MacEoin, 2010; The NEFA Foundation, 2009; Zimmerman, 2010). In 2000, al Awlaki recorded CDs dealing with various Islamic themes. The tone and issues addressed therein were largely nonviolent in nature, although he failed to condemn suicidal violence. He moved from San Diego to Virginia in August 2001 (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010).

In 2001, he pursued (without completing) a doctorate degree through George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC. Simultaneously, he served as an imam at Dar al Hiraj Islamic Center in Virginia and at GWU. In both California and Virginia, al Awlaki is believed to have lectured to several of the 9/11 hijackers. While in San Diego, he met with an associate of the inspirational leader of the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, Sheikh Abdel Rahman (MacEoin, 2010; The NEFA Foundation, 2009; Zimmerman, 2010).


In 2002, al Awlaki left the United States for the United Kingdom. There, he gave anti-Western themed speeches at the al-Tawhid and East London mosques as well as at several British organizations with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Sensing the British government’s growing dissatisfaction with his Islamist precepts, al Awlaki left for Yemen in 2004. Between 2004 and 2006, al Awlaki lectured at Iman University in Yemen, an institution established by Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, an individual designated as a terrorist by the U.S. government. In August 2006, at the behest of American authorities, Yemeni police arrested and interrogated al Awlaki. During his incarceration, al Awlaki was also interviewed by U.S. authorities, before being released in December 2007 (MacEoin, 2010; The NEFA Foundation, 2009; Zimmerman, 2010).

Due to his prolonged detention in Yemen, his messages and perspectives became very extreme (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010). Since his release from the Yemini prison, al Awlaki had been very active in generating various Islamist, anti-West, and other related messages. His content was often disseminated through various methodologies, including CDs, YouTube.com clips, audio releases, social networking sites, and writings (The NEFA Foundation, 2009). At one point, al Awlaki had nearly 2,000 videos on YouTube.com (Johnston, 2010), although many were removed once YouTube.com increased its monitoring of clips at the request of U.S. and UK authorities. In December 2009, al Awlaki was believed to have met with the leaders of AQAP. The Yemini and/or U.S. forces targeted the area where they met, although al Awlaki survived the attack (Zimmerman, 2010).

In April 2010, the U.S. government was believed to have designated al Awlaki as a “High Value Individual,” who they sought to capture or kill (“U.S. Puts Muslim Cleric,” 2010). In July 2010, the U.S. government designated al Awlaki as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“U.S. Puts Muslim Cleric,” 2010).

In August 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the Obama Administration on behalf of al Awlaki’s father, who objected to the government (allegedly) putting his son on a list of targets for assassination without any sort of trial or judicial proceeding. In November 2010, Yemen put al Awlaki on trial in absentia in relation to plots to kill foreigners and for being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemini judge sentenced al Awlaki in absentia for 10 years on charges of incitement for murder and being a member of a terror group (Worth, 2011). In December 2010, U.S. district court Judge John Bates ruled that al Awlaki’s father did not have grounds to challenge the U.S. government’s targeted killing program in relation to his son (Serwer, 2010).

For many months, al Awlaki’s whereabouts were unknown, although he was believed to be in Yemen, possibly in the Shabwa and Marib regions, where his tribe, the Awlakis, are based (MacEoin, 2010; The NEFA Foundation, 2009; “Profile,” 2010; Zimmerman, 2010). In September 2011, al Awlaki was killed during a U.S. drone strike in Khasef, Yemen, about 90 miles east of the capital (“Islamist Cleric Killed,” 2011). Others killed along with al Awlaki include Samir Khan, an American and editor of AQAP’s Inspire magazine, as well as several others (Al Qaeda’s Anwar al Awlaki, 2011).

In October 2011, AQAP acknowledged that al Awlaki and his collaborators were killed during the U.S. drone attack during the previous month. In doing so, AQAP


promised to avenge those deaths: “The blood of the sheikh (al Awlaki) and his brothers will not go in vain; there are heroes behind him who do not sleep under oppression, and they will retaliate soon” (Lucas, 2011).

Al Awlaki as Ideologue

Al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups—AQAP, al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb—have many ideologues and preachers. They all share some basic concepts: the centrality of the jihad, the need to create the caliphate (the one Pan-Islamic state), and the hostility toward the West, particularly the U.S. and Israel. But, as a result of the decentralized nature of transnational jihad, we can find among them different types and styles and also disagreements on certain issues.

One of the unique main features of Anwar al Awlaki was the wide range of areas with which he dealt: religious, judicial, historical, political, and military issues, in addition to issues related to daily life and human psychology. Living in the West for so many years enabled him to acquire a secular education like many Islamists. He chose first the field of engineering (Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University). Education in engineering and other fields of science and technology is common among many radical Islamists. One possible explanation that was offered is that engineers are characterized by a greater intolerance toward uncertainty (Sivan, 2010). Another explanation is that many Islamists tend to choose the technological fields because in those areas of study they do not have to face the “problematic” Western values that are more common in the humanities.

But unlike the others, al Awlaki also turned later to the humanities. He earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University. He also attended George Washington University for a PhD in Human Resource Development on a scholarship provided by the Ministry of Education in Yemen. In that sense, he resembles Sayyid Qutb, the famous Egyptian Islamist theorist. Qutb’s familiarity with Western culture (during the years he spent in the U.S. on a scholarship from the Egyptian Ministry of Education) only accelerated his turn to radicalism. It also allowed him to use his Western humanist education to create more sophisticated Islamist ideology.

Al Awlaki’s radicalization is typical for most Islamists. Most of them were first the “Muslim Brotherhood type” (even if they were not members of the movement), which means that they were “soft Islamists,” dealing mainly with Islamic education and charity. Only later did they become more radical, losing their sabr (patience) and starting to call or engage in jihad. Abdallah Azzam, the co-founder of al-Qaeda, had a similar metamorphosis.

In fact, many of al Awlaki’s videos available on the Internet are characterized by a moderate tone and deal mainly with historical, religious, and moral issues. The videos present Islam as a religion of mercy and justice. His more recent videos represent his radicalization. But, unlike many others in al-Qaeda, in al Awlaki’s ideology, we can still find some traces of his more “moderate period.” For example, al Awlaki (2010a) still supported all types of jihad: “jihad of the tongue” (propaganda for the right cause), “jihad of the money” (giving money for the right cause), and “jihad of the hand” (armed struggle). Usually, al-Qaeda glorifies


only armed struggle and even criticizes the Muslim Brotherhood’s methods and ideology of giving importance to nonbelligerent ways of jihad.

Another unique perspective in al Awlaki’s ideology was his viewpoints on tribalism. He attributed great importance to tribalism. Al Awlaki came from an important tribe in south Yemen, the Awlaki tribe. Unlike Osama bin Laden, who used to carry a gun with him, al Awlaki was known to carry a sword, typical of Yemenite tribesmen.

Al Awlaki emphasized his Yemeni tribalism quite frequently. He stated that currently the tribes are the leading elements in the struggle against the Americans and the infidel rulers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen (al Awlaki, 2010a). This perspective was problematic as it created an inherent tension between tribalism and the idea of one Islamic nation, which is one of the main ideas which al-Qaeda endorsed: the creation of the caliphate.

His position on one of the most important issues that is dividing the Islamists—the attitude towards Shiites—represented the second generation of al-Qaeda leaders and speakers. The older al-Qaeda generation—Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri—expressed more moderate and conciliatory views concerning Shiites, partly because of practical-operational considerations. The older al-Qaeda generation even expressed reservations about attacking Shiites as articulated in a letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi in July 2005 (Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2005).

In contrast, al Awlaki came out strongly against Iran and Shiites, calling them Rafidun—the refusers—a degrading name that Sunnis use to designate Shiites. More particularly, al Awlaki viewed Shiites as a preferred target for the jihadist fighter operations. Al Awlaki perceived the threat from Shiite Iran, including the danger of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, as no less severe than that of the United States and Israel. He was especially concerned about the Shiite threat in the Gulf States and Yemen. In both areas, the Shiite population is engaged in revolts against the regimes. Al Awlaki characterized Sunni struggles against Iran, on the one hand, and the United States and Israel, on the other hand, as critical to maintaining Sunni dominance globally. Al Awlaki believed that Sunni clerics must confront Iranian and Shiite attempts to spread their doctrine and influence in the regimes (al Awlaki, 2010b).

In some remarks, al Awlaki condemned almost everybody: the rulers in the Muslim world and the clerics who support them, Shiites, America, Israel, Iran, the West, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and all the other religions. Al Awlaki also denounced democracy, which he described as another type of religion that the West wants to impose on the Muslims. Other examples of his hyperbolic statements included his stance that the Yemeni government is “more Jewish than the Jews and more Crusader than the Crusaders” (al Awlaki, 2010b).

According to al Awlaki’s worldview, only the mujahideen can combat evil and defend the Muslim nation. The mujahideen are the true followers of Jesus Christ, who came out against the cruel Romans, along with Ahl al-Haq, the righteous young men who joined him (al Awlaki, 2010b). The comparison between Jesus Christ and his followers and al-Qaeda fighters was rare in the Jihadist rhetoric. Al Awlaki’s


reference to this could be due to his personal experience as a Muslim living in a largely Christian United States.

In 2002, al Awlaki condemned U.S. law enforcement arrests of some Muslim leaders in the United States, stating, “So this is not now a war on terror, we need to all be clear about this, this is a war on Muslims. Not only is it happening worldwide, but it’s happening right here in America that is claiming to be fighting this war for the sake of freedom” (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010). Also, while in the UK, al Awlaki declared, “The important lesson to learn is never, ever trust a kuffar [non-Muslim]. Do not trust them. . . . They’re plotting day and night” (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010).

The West’s war with Iraq in 2003 only exacerbated his negative perspectives on those countries, particularly the United States: “The ummah [global Muslim community] is watching while Iraq is being devoured. It is not going to stop there, because it’s going to spill into Syria and God knows where. . . . Allah will revenge for himself, but the thing is, we cannot allow such things to happen and just watch” (“The Evolution,” 2010). According to some reports, al Awlaki’s perspectives in relation to supporting jihad were entrenched for over a decade. His growing anti-Western fervor had been largely masked as it allowed him to contribute to the jihad without risking arrest or further investigation (“The Making,” 2010).

Additional elaboration of al Awlaki’s perspectives was illustrated in several of his writings and enunciations. In 2008, al Awlaki complimented Somali terror group al Shaabab for its work on making Somalia more peaceful than beforehand (The NEFA Foundation, 2009). In 2009, al Awlaki referred to the conflict between the Yemini government and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a key facet of jihad.

In January 2009, al Awlaki released on his website (www.anwar-alAwlaki.com; no longer operational) a document entitled 44 Ways to Support Jihad. Initially, al Awlaki wrote, “Jihad is the greatest deed in Islam and the salvation of the ummah is in practicing it. In times like these, when Muslim lands are occupied by the kuffar, when the jails of tyrants are full of Muslim POWs, when the rule of the law of Allah is absent from this world and when Islam is being attacked in order to uproot it, Jihad becomes obligatory on every Muslim” (The NEFA Foundation, 2009).

As set out in the Appendix, al Awlaki’s 44 Ways to Support Jihad (The NEFA Foundation, 2009) expanded the roles of those who could potentially assist jihadists by providing all types of assistance. In doing so, he created a force multiplier and buttresses the potency of jihadist activity globally as—according to him—every Muslim, even children, can contribute to the cause. According to al Awlaki, a true Muslim cannot simply stay neutral and refrain his brethren at home and abroad. This powerful message was very effective in continuing to fuel global jihadist activities.

Al Awlaki as Propagandist

A particular strength of al Awlaki as a propagandist was his ability to speak native-speaker English, a rare quality among jihadist preachers. Al Awlaki’s capacity to target English-speakers was evident as can be observed in the tens of thousands of


YouTube.com views of his video sermons in English, while only several thousand views of his sermons in Arabic. Another feature of al Awlaki’s propaganda was that the bulk of his activities were oral: lectures, sermons, and interviews. Al Awlaki produced a relatively small amount of written material. The recent creation of the Inspire magazine—an English language online magazine published by the AQAP organization—provided al Awlaki with another venue for branding, publishing, disseminating content, and recruiting jihadists. The future of Inspire is questionable at this time given Samir Khan’s death.

Al Awlaki’s speaking style was soft, even when words were tough. In that context, al Awlaki resembled bin Laden, who used a docile style. Among al-Qaeda speakers, there were also more fiery styles. For example, Abu Yahya al-Libi’s remarks are quite harsh in tone and presentation. Al Awlaki sometimes injected his speeches—particularly non-jihadist subjects—with humor and jokes as in the case of him addressing obesity and overeating in Islam (Al-Awlaqi, n.d.b). This occasional jocular approach was rather novel among al-Qaeda propagandists.

Al Awlaki had a strong ego. He often addressed “the whole Muslim nation.” In one of his videos, al Awlaki remarked, “During this period, the Ulamaa (the most important Muslim clerics) should make their voices heard” (al Awlaki, 2010b). By ulamaa, al Awlaki referred to himself. This reference was odd as he does not have a formal religious training from any important Islamic institute to portray himself as such. At a certain time, al Awlaki tried to create a kind of distance between him and al-Qaeda, portraying himself as a separate religious authority. For example, he addressed an interviewer on al-Malahem media (the al-Qaeda media body) as “you in al-Qaeda . . .” (al Awlaki, 2010a). However, in 2011, al Awlaki contributed articles to Inspire magazine and asked readers to send questions to religious authority “Sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki.”

Al Awlaki’s lack of formal religious training (as with Osama bin Laden) was not been a real barrier to his popularity among al-Qaeda supporters. After all, many al-Qaeda preachers and ideologists do not have formal training but acquire their “religious” status by their capabilities as preachers and warriors. Al Awlaki’s alleged involvement in inspiring others to commit terrorist activities strengthened his religious credentials. In any case, the fact that al Awlaki was referred to as Sheikh and even Imam in al-Qaeda publications pointed to him being perceived as a religious leader.

Al Awlaki’s potency as a propagandist was his familiarity with Western culture, Western media, and even the Western academic world. Al Awlaki had the ability, rare among al-Qaeda members, to challenge Western analysis using analytical arguments—and not only ideological ones, which were so common among other al-Qaeda propagandists. For example, in March 2011, al Awlaki confronted in a coherent and intelligent way Peter Bergen’s (CNN’s national security analyst) claims that the wave of revolutions in the Arab world was a serious blow to al-Qaeda. Al Awlaki argued that the Arab Spring and the potential of the revolutions created a situation that will enable al-Qaeda to operate more freely, especially in North Africa and the Gulf States, including in Yemen (al Awlaki, 2011a).

Al Awlaki also utilized some unusual criticisms of the West and the United States when one takes into consideration that he was very familiar with U.S.


culture, politics, and the U.S.’s position as a superpower. This was particularly so as al Awlaki was a dual U.S.-Yemini citizen (al Awlaki, 2010a). For example, in some lectures, al Awlaki (2010a) described the United States as a fragile entity, “weaker than spider webs.” Likewise, al Awlaki was using against the U.S. the same metaphor that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hizballah movement in Lebanon, utilizes against Israel when he characterizes Israel as “weaker than spider webs” in that they also are fragile. In our evaluation, in both cases, those expressions appear to represent more rhetorical tactics than their sincere beliefs.

As with bin Laden, al Awlaki also said that it is permissible to kill American citizens at any time because the Americans chose the current U.S. government in the elections and “they had other options” (al Awlaki, 2010a). Al Awlaki surely knew that the “other option” to President Obama, the Republican candidate John McCain, would not have embraced al-Qaeda either. Al Awlaki knew that, as a propagandist, you do not have to use accuracy when approaching al-Qaeda supporters.

In conclusion, al Awlaki’s ability to deliver his jihadist message in several languages (Arabic and English), via different methods, and through varying rhetorical styles made him a potent tool among al-Qaeda ideologues and preachers. His death eliminates his capacity to generate new content, although his previous writings, recordings, and videos will continue to embolden others in various countries.

Al Awlaki’s Impact on Transnational Jihad

Al Awlaki was not just a jihadist ideologue and propagandist, he was increasingly viewed as a terrorist recruiter and planner. Al Awlaki was believed to be the Head of Foreign Operations for AQAP. The Foreign Operations Department has approximately ten individuals based in Yemen. They are believed to be based in a different location than senior AQAP leadership (Hegghammer, 2010). Al Awlaki was viewed as being behind the planning of the October 2010 parcel bomb plots against cargo planes originating in the Middle East and destined for the U.S. Other members of AQAP’s Foreign Operations Department include bomb-maker Ibrahim al Asiri, a Syrian, and U.S. citizen Samir Khan, who is believed to be behind the jihadi English-language magazine Inspire (Hegghammer, 2010). As noted before, Khan was killed with al Awlaki. There are conflicting reports as to whether al-Asiri was also killed with al Awlaki and Khan.

In 2009, al Awlaki spoke very highly of Dr. Nidal Hassan, the perpetrator of the Fort Hood killings, remarking, “The heroic act of brother Nidal shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation” (“The Evolution,” 2010). The following year, al Awlaki had an interview in which he stated, “[W]ith the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims, I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim. . . . I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself, just as it is binding on every other able Muslim” (“The Evolution,” 2010).

In February 2010, al Awlaki stated that Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab was his student in Yemen and that he strongly supported the Nidal Hassan attack


(Interview, 2010). Al Awlaki remarked that while American military targets are preferable, civilian targets are justified as “The American people are the ones who voted twice for Bush the criminal and elected Obama who is not different from Bush. . . . The American people take part in all its government crimes” (Interview, 2010). Al Awlaki added that “U.S. missiles have killed [in Yemen] 17 women and 23 children, so do not ask me if al-Qaeda has killed or blown up a U.S. civil jet after all this” (Interview, 2010).

In March 2010, al Awlaki claimed that, “Jihad is becoming as American as apple pie and British as afternoon tea” (Shane & Mekhennet, 2010). Moreover, al Awlaki stated that the West would be defeated while the jihad movement would succeed: “America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there’s no rolling back. . . . On the eve of 9-11 it was Afghanistan alone. Today it is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the list is growing” (The NEFA Foundation, 2009).

In November 2010, a Yemini court charged al Awlaki in absentia with another individual in relation to the killing of a Frenchman in Yemen that September. Simultaneously, a warrant was issued for al Awlaki’s arrest (Worth, 2010). In January 2011, al Awlaki was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 10 years for belonging to a terrorist group (AQAP) and incitement of murder (Worth, 2011). Yemen’s State Security Court found that al Awlaki encouraged Yemini citizen Hissam Muhammed Assem to kill foreigners, which Muhammed did in killing Frenchman Jacques Spagnolo (Worth, 2011).

Al Awlaki had interacted directly with various U.S. individuals who later were charged or convicted of terrorist activities, including Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, Carlos Eduardo Almonte, Carlos Bledsoe, Barry Bujol, Zachary Chesser, Ahmed Farooque, Mohamoud Hassan, Nidal Hassan, Colleen LaRose (“Jihad Jane”), Antonio Martinez, Shaker Masri, Sharif Mobley, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, Paul Rockwood, Faisal Shahzad, and several of the Fort Dix plotters (Alexander, 2011; Hegghammer, 2010; Johnston, 2010; Profile, 2009). Additionally, al Awlaki was in contact with non-U.S. based individuals, who ultimately undertook terrorist attacks, including Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Dr. Nidal Hassan (Hegghammer, 2010; Johnston, 2010). It is believed that Abdulmutallab met with al Awlaki while the former was in Yemen (al-Shishani, 2010). Al Awlaki was also in direct communications with some members of the Toronto 18 group in Canada (Johnston, 2010).

Roshonara Choudhry, a 20-year-old former university student in the UK, was also influenced by al Awlaki’s jihadist-infused online sermons. In November 2010, she was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of British Member of Parliament and former government minister Stephen Timms, who she stabbed in May 2010 “to get revenge for the people of Iraq” (Seamark, 2010). Timms had voted in support of the UK’s role in the 2003 war with Iraq (Seamark, 2010; “Woman Jailed for Life,” 2010).

In 2008, UK-based Aabid Hussain Khan, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for possessing terrorist-related materials, ran a jihadist website, At Tibyan (Gardham, 2008; Thomas, 2010). Khan was also influenced by al Awlaki’s writings and sermons (Profile, 2009).


To some degree, despite his death, al Awlaki’s message will continue to resonate and succeed in recruiting and influencing prospective jihadists worldwide. This is particularly true if al Awlaki’s predictions hold true: “Muslims in Europe and America are watching what is happening to Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and they will take revenge for all Muslims across the globe” (Interview, 2010).

Conclusion

This article examined the status and importance of Anwar al Awlaki from three main angles: (1) the ideology of al Awlaki, (2) his capabilities as a propagandist, and (3) on the operative level (involvement in terrorism).

In al Awlaki’s ideology, we found some unique features like the broad areas that he dealt with, including religious, judicial, historical, political, and military issues. In addition, he used to address topics related to daily life activities and human psychology. Another unique perspective was al Awlaki’s viewpoints on tribalism, to which he attributed great importance, a fairly uncommon theme among al-Qaeda ideologues. But, as al-Qaeda has many ideologues and preachers, al Awlaki did not have a substantial body of writings that would make him a highly important ideologue.

In contrast, al Awlaki had proven to be a very successful propagandist, mainly because of his ability as a native English-speaker to target English speakers, a rare quality among jihadist preachers. Another feature of al Awlaki’s propaganda was that the bulk of his activities were oral: lectures, sermons, and interviews. Al Awlaki’s speaking style was soft, even when his words were biting. Occasionally, he injected humor and jokes in his speeches, particularly on non-jihadist subjects. This jocular tone may have contributed to his popularity.

Al Awlaki’s potency as a propagandist also was grounded in his understanding of Western culture, media, and academia. He had the ability to challenge Western analysis using analytical and ideological arguments, again fairly uncommon among al-Qaeda propagandists.

After his death, there are still some other al-Qaeda English-speaking propagandists, the most famous among them is Adam Yehye Ghadan (known also as “Azzam al-Amriki”). Ghadan, an American who converted to Islam at 17, moved to Pakistan three years later. Ghadan’s videos deal mainly with political subjects. His religious education seems to be shallow. Unlike al Awlaki, Ghadan is not called “Sheikh.” Also, Ghadan lacks al Awlaki’s sophistication (Michael, n.d.; Most Wanted, 2011; Schou, 2011). Another American, Omar Hammami, a spokesman and military commander of al Shabaab in Somalia, has been very active on YouTube and other venues, recruiting and radicalizing others to join the jihad (Elliott, 2010; Ryan, 2011). In that sense, the death of al Awlaki is a real blow to AQAP and al-Qaeda, although other individuals—be they Ghadan, Hammami, or others—are somewhat adept at getting more followers for transnational jihad.

Additionally, al Awlaki was widely viewed as a terrorist recruiter and planner. He had interacted directly with individuals who later were charged or convicted of terrorist activities in the U.S. and Yemen. Others based in the U.S., UK, and


Canada were influenced by al Awlaki’s jihadist-infused online sermons, including videos.

In recent years, after moving to Yemen, al Awlaki had become an important figure of AQAP, rising to lead its foreign operations. His death was a blow to AQAP, but the continuous chaotic situation in Yemen, including a weak central government with active insurgents and separatists across broad ideological strains, should enable AQAP to continue its activities in that region and beyond.

Appendix

Al Awlaki’s list of the 44 ways in which men and women alike can assist with jihad are as follows:

1. Having the right intention 2. Praying to Allah to award you with martyrdom 3. Jihad with your wealth 4. Fundraising for the mujahideen 5. Financing the mujahid 6. Taking care of the family of the mujahid 7. Sponsoring the family of a shaheed 8. Sponsoring the families of the prisoners of war 9. Paying your zakah (charity) to the mujahideen 10. Contributing to the needs of the mujahideen 11. Providing moral support and encouragement for the mujahideen 12. Defending the mujahideen and standing up for them 13. Fighting the lies of the western media 14. Exposing the hypocrites 15. Encouraging others to fight jihad 16. Protecting the mujahideen and preserving their secrets 17. Praying for the mujahideen 18. Following the news of jihad and spreading it 19. Spreading the writings of the mujahideen and their scholars 20. The issuance of fatwas supporting the mujahideen 21. Providing the scholars and imams with information and news about the

mujahideen 22. Physical fitness 23. Arms training 24. First aid training 25. Learning the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) of jihad 26. Protecting the mujahideen and supporting them 27. Developing the Aqeedah of Walaa’ and Baraa’ (love of Allah and total hatred

and disassociation with infidel) 28. Fulfilling our responsibilities towards the Muslim POW (prisoner of war) 29. WWW Jihad (using the Internet) 30. Raising our children on the love of Jihad and the mujahideen 31. Avoiding the life of luxury 32. Learning skills that would benefit the mujahideen 33. Joining groups that work for Jihad 34. Spiritual preparation 35. Guiding others to the scholars of truth


36. Preparing for Hirjah (Prophet Muhammed’s migration from Mecca to Medina) 37. Giving naseehah (advice/counsel) to the mujahideen 38. Studying the hadiths of fitan 39. Exposing Pharaoh (secular Muslim leaders) and his magicians 40. Nasheeds (Islamic vocal music) 41. Boycotting the economy of the enemy 42. Learning Arabic 43. Translating jihad literature into other languages 44. Teaching others about the characteristics of al Ta’ifah al Mansoorah (The NEFA

Foundation, 2009)

References

Al Awlaki, A. (n.d.a). How Islam treats Jews and Christians. Retrieved July 5, 2011, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq2eQI5urNQ.

Al Awlaki, A. (n.d.b). Obesity and overeating in Islam [English]. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ8Mr5Wz6aw.

Al Awlaki, A. (2010a, May 22). Interview in al-Malahem [Arabic]. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmHOfmNjMZA.

Al Awlaki, A. (2010b, November 8). On the rulers of the Umma [Arabic]. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNtNv6oAvCc.

Al Awlaki, A. (2011, March). The tsunami of change. Inspire. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://chekdamize.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/the-tsunami-of-change-by-sheikh-anwar-al-Awlaki.

Al Qaeda’s Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen. (2011, September 30). CBS News. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/30/501364/main20113732.shtml.

Alexander, D. C. (2011). Case studies of al Qaeda-inspired terrorism on U.S. soil and its implications. Law Enforcement Executive Forum, 11(2), 153-174.

Al-Shishani, M. B. (2010, January 14). The radical source for non-Arabic speaking Muslims: Anwar al-Awlaki. Terrorism Monitor, 8(2). Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35908.

Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi [Letter]. (2005). Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2005/zawahiri-zarqawi-letter_9jul2005.htm.

Elliott, A. (2010, January 27). The jihadist next door. Sunday New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31Jihadist-t.html?pagewanted=all.

The evolution of a radical cleric: Quotes from Anwar al-Awlaki. (2010, May 8). The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09quotes.html.


Gardham, D. (2008, August 19). Terrorist mentor Aabid Hussain Khan jailed fo12 years. The Telegraph. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from www.telegraph.co.uknews/uknews/2584920/Terrorist-mentor-Aabid-Hussain-Khan-jailed-for-12years.html.

Hegghammer, T. (2010, November 24). The case for chasing Al-Awlaki. The MiddlEast Channel. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from http://mideast.foreignpoliccom/posts/2010/11/24/the_case_for_chasing_al_awlaki.

Interview: Anwar al-Awlaki. (2010, February 7). AlJaneera.net. Retrieved November 2011, from http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/02/2010271074776870.html.

Islamist cleric killed: Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen. (2011, September 30). BBNews. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middleeast-15121879.

Johnston, P. (2010, September 17). Anwar al Awlaki: The new Osama bin LadenThe Telegraph. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from www.telegraph.co.uk/newsuknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8009819/Anwar-al-Awlaki-the-new-Osama-binLaden.html.

Lucas, R. (2011, October 10). Al-Qaida confirms killing of US-born cleric. AP websitRetrieved November 2, 2011, from http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-confirmskilling-us-born-cleric-145903759.html.

MacEoin, D. (2010, Spring). Anwar al-Awlaki: I pray that Allah destroys AmericMiddle East Quarterly, 13-19.

The making of an American terrorist. (2010, May 10). National Review. RetrieveNovember 2, 2011, from www.nationalreview.com/articles/228617/makingamerican-terrorist/alex-alexiev#.

Michael, G. (n.d.). Adam Ghadan and al Qaeda’s internet strategy. Middle East PolicCouncil. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.mepc.org/journal/middleeast-policy-archives/adam-gadahn-and-al-qaedas-internet-strategy.

Most wanted terrorists: Adam Yahiye Ghadan. (n.d.). Federal Bureau of Investigatiowebsite. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.fbi.gov/wanted/wantedterrorists/adam-yahiye-gadahn.

The NEFA Foundation. (2009, February 5). Anwar al Awlaki: 44 ways to supporjihad [Translation]. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from www.nefafoundation.orgmiscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefaawlaki44wayssupportjihad.pdf.

Profile: Anwar al-Awlaki. (2009, November 24). Anti-Defamation League of B’naBrith. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/anwaral-Awlaki.htm.

Profile: Anwar al-Awlaki. (2010, November 3). BBC News. Retrieved November 2011, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11658920.

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Ryan, J. (2011, April 12). Alabama-born Al Qaeda spokesman, reported dead, releases more hip hop tracks. ABC News. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/omar-hammami-releases-al-qaeda-rap-songs/story?id=13358038.

Savage, C. (2010, December 7). Suit over targeted killings is thrown out. The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/middleeast/08killing.html.

Schou, A. (2011, September 9). Adam Ghadan, American Al-Qaeda spokesman, still at large. Orange County Weekly. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/09/adam_gadahn_american_al-qaeda.php.

Seamark, M. (2010, November 5). Curse the judge, shout fanatics as the Muslim girl who knifed the MP smiles as she gets life. The Daily Mail. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326208/Roshonara-Choudhry-knifed-MP-Stephen-Timms-smiles-gets-life.html.

Serwer, A. (2010, December 7). Al Awlaki suit dismissed. The American Prospect. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/adam_serwer_archive?month=12&year=2010&base_name=alAwlaki_suit_dismissed.

Shane, S., & Mekhennet, S. (2010, May 8). Imam’s path from condemning terror to preaching Jihad. The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html?pagewanted=all.

Sivan, E. (2010, December 2). Why are so many would-be terrorists engineers? Haaretz. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/why-are-so-many-would-be-terrorists-engineers-1.263214.

Thomas, L. (2010, February 15). Generation Jihad: Young people “brainwashed with al Qaeda propaganda on the internet.” The Daily Mail. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1251287/Generation-Jihad-Young-people-brainwashed-Al-Qaeda-propaganda-internet.html.

U.S. puts Muslim cleric on terror blacklist. (2010, July 16). BBC News. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10669422.

Woman jailed for life for attack on MP Stephen Timms. (2010, November 4). BBC News. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11682732.

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Worth, R. F. (2011, January 18). Yemen sentences American-born cleric in absentia. The New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/world/middleeast/19awlaki.html.


Zimmerman, K. (2010, March 12). Militant Islam’s global preacher: The radicalizing effect of Sheikh Anwar al Awlaki. Critical Threats website. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/militant-islams-global-preacher-radicalizing-effect-sheikh-anwar-al-awlaki.

Contact InformationDr. Uri Rosset Lecturer Sapir College Kibbutz Magen, Israel 85465 972 8 9983052 [email protected] Dean C. Alexander, JD, LL.M.Director, Homeland Security Research Program &

Associate Professor, Homeland SecuritySchool of Law Enforcement and Justice AdministrationWestern Illinois UniversityStipes Hall 403Macomb, IL 61455(309) [email protected]


The Influence of Professional Associations on County Sheriffs’ Participation in a Mail Survey: An ExperimentT. Casey LaFrance, Assistant ProfessorJonathan Day, Assistant ProfessorChad Ewing, MA CandidateDepartment of Political Science, Western Illinois UniversityDavid Rohall, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and

Anthropology, Western Illinois University

Public administration as a scholarly discipline and legitimate government enterprise has been attuned to professionalization since Progressive Era reformers introduced merit as a superior alternative to patronage and nepotism in selecting employees in the public sector (Kahn, 1997; Wilson, 1887). Much of the discipline’s history is a narrative of professionalizing public management and ensuring uniform standards and ethics (Kettl, 2008; White, 1926). Professional associations have long been conduits for these purposes, providing a forum for practicing managers to exchange ideas, concerns, experiences, and better practices with one another and with the academic community. Given that these professional associations are considered by many to be important for guiding public managers’ decisions (Abernethy & Stoelwinder, 1995; Frankel, 1989; Greenwood, Suddaby, & Hinings, 2002; Merton, 1958; Swan & Newell, 1995), it would be expected that these associations would be able to demonstrate a significant level of influence on managers’ choices. This paper presents an experiment to test this claim.

From Guilds to Professional Associations

Professional associations can be traced to medieval guilds whose members set standards for goods and services and credentialed practitioners. Guilds ensured the perpetuation of specific crafts via apprenticeship (Epstein, 2008): “sustained interregional specialized labor markets [that] contributed to technological invention by stimulating technical diffusion through migrant labor and by providing inventors with temporary monopoly rents” (p. 684). Through specialization and structure, guilds paved the way for modern formal organizations (Kieser, 1989). In both the private and public sectors, guilds have since evolved into professional associations which serve the economic, political, legal, and labor interests of practitioners of a given profession (Akers, 1968; Merton, 1958). In the public sector, however, modern professional associations serve an additional function: the provision of legitimacy to various categories of government work (Mosher, 1968). Thus, the history of public administration in the past century or so is the story of public workers struggling to have their work “elevated to the ranks of a recognized profession” (White, 1926, p. 203). This is understandable given that the scholarly study of public administration originated in the Progressive Era when idealists worked to reform public personnel administration and rescue it from some of the most egregious abuses of the patronage system (Kahn, 1997). The


modern professional association is also formed to influence the rules, regulations, laws, and licensure pertaining to the particular profession (Mosher, 1968). In order to prevent others from making the rules, associations form to decide the rules of their own game and, perhaps more importantly, to police their own profession in order to maintain control of the profession (Greenwood et al., 2002).

Professionalizing Law Enforcement Agencies

Policing has experienced a similar trajectory over the course of its institutionalization in the United States (LaFrance & Lee, 2010; LaFrance & Placide, 2010). Kelling and Moore (1988) divide the evolution of policing in America into three sub-eras: (1) the political era (circa 1840s-1890s) in which local political concerns drove police decisionmaking, (2) the reform era (circa 1900s-1970s) in which professionalism became the dominant focus, and (3) the era of community policing (1970s to present). Of central concern to the professionalization of police is the reform era, during which Kelling and Moore contend

police leaders redefined the nature of a proper relationship between police officers and citizens by demanding an impartial law enforcer who related to citizens in professionally neutral and distant terms; and the principal programs and tactics were preventative patrol by automobile and rapid response to calls for service, abandoning foot patrol. (p. 4)

The reform era was influential on policing for several reasons. Foremost, professional expertise, or what French and Raven (1959) call “expert power” (p. 159), took the place of politics as the source of police authority. The logic at play was very similar to the distinction that early scholars of public administration wanted to make between politics and administration (Goodnow, 1900; Wilson, 1887). Other notable facets of this era include the narrowing of police functions to focus almost exclusively on controlling crime and catching criminals and the introduction of contemporary iterations of Taylor’s (1911) scientific management. It is no coincidence that two major professional associations—the International Association of Chiefs of Police (created in 1893) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (2011) (created in 1940)—were founded during this era.

State Sheriffs’ Associations

In addition to national and international professional associations, U.S. sheriffs arewelcome to join their respective state’s sheriffs’ association. The National Sheriffs’Association website lists 47 state sheriffs’ associations (www.sheriffs.org). In thethree states under study, sheriffs are invited to join and must pay a membershipfee. Despite the fee hurdle, almost all (95.3% or 102/107) sheriffs in these statesare members of their respective state sheriffs’ association. Membership in theseassociations typically grants a sheriff access to bulletins, newsletters, magazines,and other print materials that might help the sheriff to keep abreast of changes intechnology, case law, and best practices. Additionally, the association provides aprofessional credential, which could lend the sort of legitimacy prized during thereform era of policing.


Hypothesis

Given our examination of the literature, we expect that professional association cues will weigh heavily on the sheriffs’ decisionmaking processes, and these cues will influence sheriffs’ behavior. More specifically, we expect that sheriffs will be more likely to respond to a mail survey if the survey has been endorsed by the state sheriffs’ association.

Research Design I: Asking for Professional Association Endorsement

As part of a larger research project, this study utilizes post hoc analysis of an accidental experiment that evinced itself in the course of collecting survey responses from sheriffs in two states. We initiated the research project by contacting state sheriffs’ associations in two states to ask for an endorsement of a 30-item mail survey we intended to send to sheriffs in these states. One state sheriffs’ association provided an endorsement, allowing us to mention that the association approved of the content and purposes of the survey instrument. Another state sheriffs’ association failed to endorse our instrument, saying “After looking at your survey, I don’t think the [state] sheriffs’ association would be interested in endorsing your survey.” We responded to this second association, offering to alter the survey in such a fashion as to obtain their endorsement. Our query was not answered. Thus, while our initial goal of obtaining an endorsement from each association was thwarted, we realized that this state of affairs provided an opportunity for a quasi-experimental design aimed at testing the level of influence a state sheriffs’ association endorsement would carry.

Research Design II: Invitation to Participate and Three Mailings

We continued the project by mailing materials to State A, whose endorsement we had received, and State B, whose endorsement we failed to secure. Given our hypothesis that professional associations influence member behavior, we expected a significantly higher response rate from sheriffs in State A than their State B counterparts. We began soliciting participation from sheriffs in each state by sending an introductory letter. This letter was identical with the exception of a line that the treatment group’s sheriffs received: “Your state sheriffs’ association has endorsed this project.” After the introductory letter, we mailed surveys to all sheriffs in both states three times over a two-month period. As we mention below, in order to investigate potential regional effects, we included a third state from the southern United States in a subsequent series of mailings. It is important to note that almost all other potential influences on survey responses were held constant between the control, treatment, and extraregional cases. For instance, all mailings were sent in university envelopes, and all materials (e.g., cover letter, consent form, etc.), with the exception of the survey instrument itself, were sent on university letterhead. Thus, each sheriff received identical mailings with the exception of the single phrase mentioned above. According to the literature on survey research, we took a variety of steps to enhance response rates among all populations (multiple mailings, return envelopes, paid postage, reminder letters, etc.). The only tactic we did not use was monetary incentive for participation (Yammarino, Skinner, & Childers, 1991). We avoided this tactic primarily due to lack of resources, but also because providing public employees with funding for research participation could be unethical.


The only possible influence on response rate that we failed to control for was proximity of the research institution to the survey respondent (since one state is geographically closer than the other). We will explain why this factor should not cause alarm after we present our findings.

Findings

Contrary to our experimental expectations, we received a larger proportion of completed surveys from sheriffs in State B (37/93, or 39.78%, of sheriffs participated), for which there was no endorsement, than from State A (41/114, or 35.96%, of sheriffs participated), for which we had secured the endorsement of our instrument. The p-value for the t-test between States A and B was marginally statistically significant (p = 0.09), but in the wrong direction (t-value = -1.669, using the standard deviation of a generic binomial, “coin toss,” distribution). To test for regional effects, we included a third state in the southern United States. Here, we received the endorsement of the President of the state’s sheriffs’ association but not the association itself. In this state, we received the lowest response rate (25%) of all sheriffs contacted.

Thus, there was no discernible effect resulting from the endorsement of our survey instrument by a state sheriffs’ association. This finding forces us to conclude that sheriffs’ associations do not wield the level of influence we might expect, at least when it comes to research participation. In the following section, we will offer some potential explanations for our findings and discuss the need for future research. Before offering these explanations, however, we must highlight the context in which the county sheriff’s agency has developed.

Location as an Alternative Explanation

Some scholars (Morris, Cantrill, & Weiss, 2001) argue that the respective locations of the research institution and the survey respondent affect response rates. Universities that are more geographically proximate to survey respondents might be likely to receive higher response rates. This does not appear to be the case with our experiment as State A, which is closer to our university, had a disproportionately lower response rate relative to State B, which is more distant. Of course, this might explain the results with State C, which was in an entirely different subnational region (the southern United States) and had the lowest response rate of all. However, given our findings, location alone cannot explain the results we have obtained. Instead, we argue, our findings provide evidence that sheriffs’ associations do not carry much sway with their members, at least when it comes to research participation. If this is the case, we are obliged to explore alternative explanations for the results.

The Sheriff in Context

To gain an appreciation for the explanation we proffer, the reader needs to consider the historical roots of the sheriff’s office. Falcone and Wells (1995) demonstrate that the modern sheriff’s office has evolved from community-based militias. This leads the sheriff’s office, they claim, to be more of an open system and less of a closed, paramilitary organization than the municipal police agency, whose roots are in the Armed Forces. Moreover, the sheriff might be likely to concern himself with local


affairs since his electoral constituency consists of county resident voters (LaFrance & Lee, 2010). Though membership in a professional association might be used as a credential, or a professional association might serve as a helpful resource at the sheriff’s disposal, the association is not likely to have much influence over the sheriff’s daily decisions. Very simply, the sheriff might ascribe a more immediate priority level to local constituents and others compared to his or her perception of the importance of professional association cues. To do this, we will look at survey data gathered from 103 sheriffs in the same three states mentioned above. These sheriffs were asked to respond to the following item:

As a manager, please prioritize the following influences when it comes to making decisions: political pressures, informal organizational values, personal values, peer managers’ opinions/behaviors, professional associations, accreditation bodies, standard operating procedures, legal liability, or something else/other.

This question is rooted in previous studies of the “target model” of discretion, wherein discretionary influences are separated from one another and ranked individually. Very simply, discretion occupies the space within the bull’s eye of a blank, 12 ring target. According to the rank ascribed to the various influences listed in the question, each influence is placed in position relative to the bull’s eye. Thus, more important priorities are closer to the bull’s eye and less important ones are placed in more distant rings.

Aggregate Priority Levels

While the readily available explanation for sheriffs’ decisionmaking patterns might seem to be inherent in their electoral selection, these concerns (represented as “community norms” and “political pressures”) are relatively distant considerations. Aggregate priorities for sheriffs in this study are legal liability (1.86 rings away from the bull’s eye), standard operating procedures (2.58 rings away), personal values (3.1 rings away), community norms (4.29 rings away), informal organizational values (5.86 rings away), peer sheriffs (6.08 rings away), professional associations (6.56 rings away), accreditation bodies (7.58), political pressures (7.65), and something else (8.7 rings away).

These data provide evidence that professional associations have little sway on the discretionary decisions of county sheriffs. While professional associations are prioritized behind five other sources of influence, we highlight the fact that community norms (i.e., what is expected or typical behavior of sheriffs in a given community) wield a considerably greater degree of influence than professional associations. This serves to substantiate the notion that sheriffs are apt to consider the opinions and attitudes of community members (who collectively form their respective electoral constituencies) as more important than the edicts or cues that professional associations promulgate. In short, this provides support for sheriffs’ anecdotal assertions that they were “doing community policing before there was a term for it” (LaFrance & Placide, 2010).

The Predominance of Legal Liability Concerns

Beyond these considerations, we wish to highlight the predominance of legal liability concerns in the discretionary priorities of sheriffs. This finding is


understandable when one considers the variety of functions sheriffs serve (e.g., staffing courts with bailiffs/security, patrol, serving warrants and civil papers, and running a jail), especially when one considers the vast liability potential inherent in running jail operations. Jails present opportunities for physical health concerns (e.g., properly administering medicines and addressing illness), mental health concerns (e.g., providing requisite medication and counseling services), inmate vs. inmate conflict, inmate vs. staff conflict, suicide, building code regulation compliance, and other potential legal liability concerns. Overall, a simple Google search with the terms “County Sheriff” and “Lawsuit” returns over five million results. A Google news search with the same terms brings up 849 results, not including archived stories. Very simply, based on the responses we received, it seems that the sheriff is more concerned with avoiding legal liability than he or she is with local politics or, for that matter, professional associations.

Conclusion and Future Research

Despite the proliferation of professional associations and the ubiquity of membership in these professional associations, this study offers preliminary evidence that these associations are minimally prioritized by, and have scant influence on, county sheriffs in two U.S. states. While we are unable to offer generalizations about sheriffs in other states (and regions), we have provided a roadmap for future empirical investigation of professional association influence on sheriffs’ decisionmaking processes. Additionally, we offer an initial sketch of how sheriffs prioritize a variety of potential influences on their decisions. However, our explanation for these priorities is limited. Future research is needed to deeply probe, theorize, and explain these priorities to see if, in fact, these priorities are universal or merely descriptive of the three states under investigation.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Western Survey Research Center and its student workers for helping to design, deliver, and collect the instrument used in this paper. The authors would also like to thank WIU’s Office of Sponsored Projects for providing a grant to fund the larger project of which this paper is a part. All responsibility, of course, rests with us.

References

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Akers, L. (1968). The professional associations and the legal regulation of practice. Law & Society Review, 11(3), 463-482.

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Falcone, D. N., & Wells, L. E. (1995). The county sheriff as a distinctive policing modality. American Journal of Police, 14(3), 123-149.


Frankel, M. S. (1989). Professional codes: Why, how, and with what impact? Journal of Business Ethics, 8(2), 109-115.

French, J. R. P., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in social power (pp. 150-167). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Goodnow, F. (1900). Politics and administration. New York: Russell & Russell.

Greenwood, R., Suddaby, R., & Hinings, C. R. (2002). Theorizing change: The role of professional associations in the transformation of institutionalized fields. The Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 58-80.

Kahn, J. (1997). Budgeting democracy: State building and citizenship in America, 1890-1928. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Kelling, G. L., & Moore, M. H. (1988). The evolving strategy of policing (Perspectives on Policing series). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.

Kettl, D. (2008). The next government of the United States: Why our institutions fail us and how to fix them. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

Kieser, A. (1989). Organizational, institutional, and societal evolution: Medieval craft guilds and the genesis of formal organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34(4), 540-564.

LaFrance, T. C., & Lee, S. (2010). Sheriffs’ and police chiefs’ differential perceptions of the residents they serve: An exploration and preliminary rationale. Law Enforcement Executive Forum, 10(4), 127-136.

LaFrance, T. C., & Placide, M. (2010). Sheriffs’ and police chiefs’ leadership and management decisions in the local law enforcement budgetary process: An exploration. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 12(2), 238-255.

Merton, R. K. (1958). The functions of the professional association. The American Journal of Nursing, 58(1), 50-54.

Morris, C. J., Cantrill, J. A., & Weiss, M. C. (2001). GP survey response rate: A miscellany of influencing factors. Family Practice, 18(4), 454-456.

Mosher, F. C. (1968). Democracy and the public service. New York: Oxford University Press.

National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). (2011). About NSA. Retrieved November 3, 2011, from www.sheriffs.org.

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Taylor, F. W. (1911). The principles of scientific management. New York: Harper & Brothers.

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T. Casey LaFrance is an assistant professor of Political Science at Western Illinois University and a former deputy sheriff. His work has appeared in Law Enforcement Executive Forum, Judicature, American Politics Research, Politics & Policy, the Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs, and the International Journal of Police Science & Management. His current research focuses on county sheriffs’ decisionmaking processes and organization development in local law enforcement agencies.

Jonathan Day is an assistant professor of Political Science at Western Illinois University. His areas of interest are American politics, game theory, formal modeling, and quantitative methods.

Chad Ewing is a graduate student in the Political Science department at Western Illinois University. He studies public management.

David Rohall is an associate professor of Sociology and Director of the Western Survey Research Center at Western Illinois University. He studies Social Psychology, Social Attitudes, and Military Sociology, and he has published his work in several journals and edited volumes.

Contact Information Department of Political Science 424 Morgan Hall Western Illinois University 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455 (309) 298-1465 [email protected]


The Effectiveness of the New Independent School District Police Department ModelMagdalena Denham, Professional Development Program Manager,

Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University

Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, PhD, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, College of Education, Sam Houston State University

Introduction

The dramatic increase in school violence in the 1990s and mounting concerns about school safety have propelled many schools to form partnerships with law enforcement in order to deter delinquent student behavior and to provide for the overall safety of schools in the United States (Fowler, Lightsey, Monger, & Aseltine, 2010). However, models and the scope of such partnerships vary greatly from state to state. In Texas, those school districts that desire policing services contract them from municipalities and counties, or rely on calls for service from regular law enforcement operating within the school districts’ boundaries (Denham & Combs, 2009; Fowler et al., 2010).

Because Independent School Districts (ISDs) in Texas do not typically follow their counties’ jurisdictional boundaries as might be the case in other states, such as Georgia, and their jurisdictions follow more of a jigsaw-puzzle pattern cutting across congruent cities (Fischler, 2010), contractual policing services can be very costly. For example, an ISD in central Texas made up of 22,000 students on 27 different campuses located within two cities and over unincorporated county areas expended more than $770,000 on contractual school-policing services for the 2006-2007 school year. Moreover, contractual services can be unpredictable, and standards of service can vary greatly (Fowler et al., 2010). Therefore, in recent years, the model of employing School Resource Officers through the implementation of Independent School District Police Departments (ISD PDs) has gained huge momentum (Denham, 2010; Denham & Combs, 2009; Fowler et al., 2010).

The recent trend to form ISD PDs notwithstanding, the implementation of a police department as a permanent structure under the umbrella of an ISD is a daunting task, and it can be very costly as well. Therefore, policymakers and stakeholders need to understand the concept of school-based policing, the functions of SROs operating under different policing structures, the challenges related to the presence of law enforcement in schools, and the value of services provided under different models. To this end, the present study examined the implementation of the new structure of school-based policing by an ISD in central Texas. It was believed that the new model would offer insight for those school districts that are considering reevaluating or improving their existing school policing arrangements.


Review of the Literature

Models of School Policing

Historically, three different types of school and law enforcement partnerships have emerged. The oldest model uses municipal or county law enforcement officers employed by their respective agencies to act as liaisons, officially known as School Resource Officers (SROs), within their jurisdiction; the model has existed in various forms since the early 1950s in states like California and Michigan (Brown, 2006; Burke, 2001; Denham, 2010; Girouard, 2001; Lambert & McGinty, 2001). In the 1970s, the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Standards and Goals triggered the impetus for increased law enforcement presence on school campuses (Denham, 2010; Lambert & McGinty, 2001). The Commission set forth guidelines for law enforcement agencies urging those with more than 400 employees to assign one full-time peace officer to every middle school and every high school residing in the agency’s jurisdictional boundary. Clearly, by the 1990s, the numbers of school districts who employed SROs through mutual aid agreements with independent law enforcement entities escalated (National School Safety and Security Services [NSSSS], 2002); and by 1998, nearly 10% of middle schools and 19% of high schools reported having SROs working on their premises (Denham, 2010; Lambert & McGinty, 2001). Additionally, the events of September 11, 2001, resulted in the expansion of federally funded SRO programs (Girouard, 2001)—the second model of school policing. In September 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), dedicated $68 million in grants to form 599 SROs in 289 communities nationwide. Even though COPS-funded programs no longer exist due to exhausted federal funding, many schools continue to benefit from educational programs such as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program and Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) that the COPS model spearheaded by contracting them from counties and municipalities.

The third model of school policing, namely the ISD PD structure, is a model in which the ISD creates and operates its own police department, and the Chief of Police reports to the Superintendent and the school board (Denham, 2010; Fowler et al., 2010). The first ISD in Texas was established as part of the Klein ISD in 1982. Other districts, such as the Conroe ISD, followed in the 1980s. Even though some ISD PDs have been operating in Texas since the 1980s, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of ISDs adopting the model in recent years (Denham, 2010; Denham & Combs, 2009; Fowler et al., 2010). In Texas, in 2008, there were 141 school district police departments as compared to 820 municipal police departments and 254 sheriff’s departments (Webb, 2008). By 2011, the number of ISD PDs increased to 169 (Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education [TCLEOSE], 2011). In fact, ISD PDs ranked as the fifth largest law enforcement agency in Texas after municipal, county, constable, and fire marshal, respectively (TCLEOSE, 2011). ISD PDs in Texas function in 10% of school districts that comprise more than 48% of the entire student population in the state (Fowler et al., 2010), and some of the largest include Houston ISD PD, Dallas ISD PD, San Antonio ISD PD, Northside ISD PD, Austin ISD PD, Conroe ISD PD, and Aldine ISD PD. Unfortunately, there have been scant empirical data obtained regarding the efficacy of this model of policing in Texas (Denham, 2010).


Brown and Benedict (2005) discussed perceptions of students regarding SROs under ISD PD in Brownsville, Texas. These authors suggested that SROs had a positive influence on school campuses and were perceived more positively by minority Hispanic students who had not been acculturated. However, the authors did not address in depth the structure of the ISD model nor the function of the SROs in Brownsville ISD PD.

Function of SROS

Johnson’s (1999) study represented the first attempt to define the function and duties of an SRO. The author suggested that SROs (a) provided security services such as checking students’ identification cards and ensuring exterior school doors were locked; (b) reacted in potential violent situations such as fights, drug possession, or gang identification; and (c) involved themselves with establishing trust relations to gain sources of information about possible crime activities on campuses. Even though daily security functions were the biggest responsibility of SROs, Johnson underscored that the officers used time spent on security tasks as opportunities to interact with students, encourage them, congratulate them, and form relationships, and the students placed value on those relationships.

Under the COPS initiative, Girouard (2001) discussed the role of SROs as law enforcement officers, counselors, teachers, and liaisons among law enforcement, schools, families, and the communities. Those responsibilities were exemplified under the triad model depicting law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related education teacher functions. However, the triad model did not address whether the functions were of equal value. Finn, Shively, McDevitt, Lassiter, and Rich (2005), who evaluated 19 SRO programs in the United States, discovered that the triad model was applied inconsistently among SRO programs under study. Moreover, NSSSS (2002) reported that school officials conceptualized the role of SROs as a traditional, reactive law enforcement function.

Similarly, studies on the effectiveness of school policing models nationwide demonstrated divergent findings with respect to the operationalization of SROs in school settings, and they highlighted different expectations related to the responsibilities of the SRO within the school environment (Lambert & McGinty, 2001). In particular, Lambert and McGinty discovered significant discrepancies between SROs’ perceptions of their roles and school administrators’ perceptions of SROs’ roles. Specifically, principals expected SROs to perform discipline-related functions and focus on reactive law enforcement aspects, whereas SROs placed higher value on the counseling component.

In Texas, Denham and Combs (2009) discussed the differences between SROs from municipal and county agencies who enforced criminal code on school campuses as compared with ISD PD officers who enforced both the penal code as well as the educational code. Significantly, the authors noted that many school administrators were not clear on the differences of enforcement functions of SROs working under different models. Additionally, they noted that administrators rarely had input into the selection of SROs on their campuses. As a result, successful coordination and communication were often difficult. Similarly, May, Fessel, and Means (2004) revealed significant communication and coordination gaps existing between school administrators and supervisors of SRO programs in Kentucky. In fact, almost 50%


of administrators of schools participating in SRO programs in the state admitted that communication protocols did not exist.

Walker (2003) assessed post-academy training needs of officers from 37 selected ISD PDs in Texas to include the most established ones (e.g., Conroe ISD PD, Houston ISD PD, Katy ISD PD, Spring ISD PD). Even though the author focused on training priorities and funds allocated by districts to SROs’ professional development, the ancillary findings of Walker’s study revealed that ISD PDs’ police chiefs believed that nearly one fifth (i.e., 18%) of the ISDs’ head administrators did not understand the purpose and responsibility of SROs serving their campuses. The author suggested that the police department administrators were as equally to blame as were the district administrators because they did not assume a leadership role in educating school officials about the purpose and scope of school-based law enforcement functioning under the ISD PD model.

Neeley (2003) conducted a study among selected public school districts in Texas to measure school administrators’ and law enforcement officers’ views on levels of school violence, prevention practices, and the impact of violence. The data collected indicated that when county or city police authorities worked with local schools, the communication of working procedures between school authorities and police agency authorities was not clearly defined. The author concluded that with communication among authorities absent, other aspects of a partnership necessary to provide for school safety also could be in jeopardy. The researcher underscored the importance of strong police and school partnerships and called for more studies outlining the level and components of Texas school-police partnerships.

Purpose of the Study

The conflicting results concerning the function, and the effectiveness of SRO programs in previous studies might be related to the lack of uniformity of SRO programs existing under city, county, or federal contracts. Most of the existing research on school-based policing has focused on contractual SROs assigned to schools from a city or a county, or on SROs funded under the COPS initiatives (Finn et al., 2005; Jackson, 2002; Johnson, 1999; Lambert & McGinty, 2001; May et al., 2004; Patterson, 2007). Significantly, the ISD PDs have been established in more than one tenth of Texas school districts, and only a few empirical studies have been conducted to date on SROs working under the ISD PD model (Brown & Benedict, 2005; Walker, 2003). Moreover, little comparative research has been undertaken to gauge differences between traditional school-policing models and the emergent policing models.

The implementation of a new ISD PD in central Texas represents a new, emergent partnership model in school-based policing in the state. The ISD in our study had contracted its policing services from two different agencies prior to establishing the new initiative of policing for its campuses. Therefore, the assessment of the model could provide valuable comparative insights for those school districts in the state that might consider the reassessment of their existent arrangements for policing services. With this in mind, the following three central research questions provided a foundation for our study: (a) What are the elements of the new model of school-police partnership instituted by the ISD?, (b) What are the perceptions of ISD administrators, ISD PD administrators, and ISD school administrators on the


benefits of the new PISD PD model as compared with prior policing services?, and (c) What are the perceptions of ISD administrators, ISD PD administrators, and ISD school administrators on the functions and quality of SROs under the PISD PD model? (The “P” preceding ISD, ISD PD, and PD in this manuscript refers to the name of the school district and the city where our study was anchored.)

Conceptual Framework

When advocating for the Quality Schools-Safe Schools model, Verdugo and Schneider (1999) underscored there was a paucity of educational theoretical development in the field of school safety. Indeed, the authors attributed most theoretical linkages in school safety as stemming from other disciplines such as criminology, psychology, and public health. The Quality Schools-Safe Schools model proposed that the greater the school quality, the fewer school crimes and violent incidents occur. However, a comprehensive theoretical framework on school safety is still lacking in education. The theoretical orientation of this study was based upon resource mobilization theory (McCarthy & Zald, 1977). Specifically, McCarthy and Zald (1977) evaluated the dynamics of social movements and related the success of such movements to the ability to mobilize and to control expert resources. They stressed the relationship of social movement to the media, to the authorities, or to other parties. McCarthy and Zald suggested that social movements depended upon external support for success and that “accounting for the movement[‘s] successes and failures . . . is an explicit recognition of the crucial importance of involvement on the part of individuals and organizations from outside the collectivity which a social movement represents” (p. 1216). According to McEvoy (1999), the safe schools movement is consistent with social movement depicted by McCarthy and Zald (1977), and the resource mobilization theory applies because paid professionals speak for the aggrieved in the movement.

Because the underlying cause of the social movement as construed by McCarthy and Zald (1977) is victimization, the school safety movement falls within the category of social movement in which teachers, students, administrators, and the community all become victims (the aggrieved) of threatened school safety. Thus, they need to rally professionals such as counselors, social workers, or police to speak for them. As noted by McEvoy (1999), “rape crisis workers, school counselors, school psychologists, police or school resource officers, school nurses, [and] prevention program specialists . . . create and implement programs on behalf of students” (p. 278). Moreover, one of the most significant aspects of the resource mobilization theory is that the resources be managed in an organized and central fashion. Within the school safety movement, the higher the cohesiveness in terms of violence prevention and intervention efforts, the better the resource mobilization. Granted, when movements are new, their organization tends to be decentralized (McEvoy, 1999) as was seen in the safe school movement in the 1990s. The fragmentation of SROs’ programs and initiatives in the last decade provides a good example of fragmented resource mobilization effort. However, incorporating ISD PDs into school district structures in Texas underscores the potential success of the school safety movement in terms of resource mobilization and centralization.

From the point of view of the Social Movement Organization (SMO [e.g., the school district in school safety movement]), SROs are constituents of the school safety movement. Consequently, because the principle of the SMO dictates


that isolated constituents are minimally involved in the affairs of the SMO, the transformation from the constituent to the adherent (i.e., the believer) significantly increases overall social movement success and leads to centralization. Thus, the ISD PD type model in which expert resources were mobilized under shared organizational structures would streamline the adherence of such resources to the cause. The resource mobilization theory is equally appealing in light of findings that interdisciplinary collaboration is essential when addressing school violence (Schamess, Miller, & Martin, 2001). Conversely, different funding or operating under different organizational structures result in the lack of understanding of each other’s roles and authority, power, and control issues (Patterson, 2007).

Method

Because of the nature of central research questions revolving around individual perceptions regarding the phenomenon under study, a qualitative research design was most appropriate (Creswell, 2007). Specifically, the single case study design was utilized because the issue existed within a bounded system (i.e., the ISD PD). The case involved the ISD PD model (i.e., the single case) as the main unit and a selected group (i.e., SROs working under the new ISD PD model) as the embedded units of analyses (Yin, 2009). Another factor warranting the adoption of the case study design was the relation of the issue to the present, and the current context of the issue (Yin, 2009). The PISD PD model represented an unusual and unique situation (i.e., the only model of this type to date in Texas). Hence, the overall qualitative case study design was consistent with the intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995).

Participant Selection

The best choice of sampling scheme in case study designs is purposeful sampling because it allows researchers to collect information from cases that are information rich (Patton, 1990). Based on criteria by Miles and Huberman (1994), the sampling strategy used was maximum variation sampling. Such sampling is appropriate when the researcher seeks great variation and heterogeneity to capture optimally shared dimensions of the setting. With respect to the ISD PD, we aimed to study various groups of individuals with experience in education and in policing, who were involved to varying degrees in the creation of the new school-police partnership. Thus, the sample included informants who were the principal architects of the new school-based policing model for the ISD. Specifically, the Superintendent, the School District Safety Liaison, the Director of Services and Support, the Chief of the ISD PD, and the Chief of the municipal PD were the data sources. The Superintendent, an African-American male, had previously worked as an Associate Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer for a school district that had an ISD PD. The administrator, a White American female, the ISD’s School Safety Liaison, had worked previously for the Texas Department of Public Safety and for a School Safety Consortium in a large county in Texas. The Director of Services and Support, a White American male, had significant input into the financial design of the new model. The ISD Police Chief, a White American male, was a 14-year veteran in the rank of Lieutenant of a municipal PD. The Chief of the municipal PD, a White American male, had 30 years of law enforcement experience. Additional data sources were one ISD high school principal, one middle school principal, and one elementary school assistant principal. The


high school principal, an African-American male, was head of the high school that contracted county services prior to the implementation of the new model. The middle school principal, a White American female, received contractual city police services prior to the implementation of the new model. The elementary school assistant principal worked in the school that received county or another city’s municipal police services for police response prior to the implementation of the new model.

Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007) advocated that consideration be given in qualitative research as to the sample size. Specifically, the authors contended that prolonged engagement increased the ratio of words to the voice (p. 107). Few specific guidelines exist in qualitative research as to the point of saturation of data. However, Creswell (2007) suggested three to five cases in a case study. Further, according to Johnson and Christensen (2010), “when greater resources are available, collective case studies of around 10 cases are common” (p. 397). Thus, our sample size of eight interviewees was consistent with Johnson and Christensen’s (2010) assertion. Also, Guest, Bunce, and Johnson (2006) demonstrated that six interviews may be “sufficient to enable the development of meaningful themes and useful interpretations” (p. 78), suggesting that the sample size was adequate. Because we conducted interviews with eight individuals, it was expected that sufficient saturation of the issue would be accomplished and the Verstehen (i.e., meaningful understanding [Husserl, 1931]) would be attained.

Context

The ISD is located in central Texas and covers 96 square miles. ISD school campuses are located (a) in a city of approximately 50,000 residents, (b) on the outskirts of a bordering neighbor city with significant urban population, and (c) in unincorporated areas of the county. The district operates 27 schools of which 18 are elementary schools, three are high schools, five are middle schools, and one functions as the opportunity center (K-12). Among the 22,000 students, 29.6% are White, 22.2% are African American, 38.8% are Hispanic, 9.1% are Asian or Pacific Islander, and less than 1% are American Indian or Native American. Approximately 45% of the students in the district receive free or reduced lunch. Prior to the implementation of the ISD PD, the district contracted with the main city municipal PD and with the County Sheriff’s Office for unincorporated areas and the bordering city’s areas to provide SROs to its campuses. Middle and high school campuses had one officer assigned to each.

Data Collection

Instrumentation

The semistructured interview schedule was developed to elicit information during the interviews. The instrument development was based on the review of extant literature on school-based policing. It consisted of 30 open-ended questions and comprised the following areas of focus: (a) the reasons to create the new ISD PD structure; (b) reporting mechanisms among SROs, the municipal PD, and the ISD PD; (c) communications and relationships; (d) perceptions on what constituted school safety; (e) the role and function of SROs; and (f) observed or perceived differences among different types of policing. The rationale for the


semistructured interview schedule was that it was an appropriate instrument for case study research (Yin, 2009) and allowed participants to take discussions in the direction that was unique to them and that might not have been anticipated by the researchers. In order to maximize the credibility of the findings, the interview schedule was pilot tested (Yin, 2009) on an SRO from Klein ISD PD. Because the SRO had eight years of experience in school-based policing in Texas and worked for the oldest ISD PD in the state, her expertise and comments added credence to the instrument.

Procedures

Our Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the study. Permission to conduct the case study was granted by the Chief of Police. One of the researchers conducted the first group interview with the Chief of the ISD PD, the Chief of the municipal PD, and the ISD School Safety Liaison at the conference room of the municipal PD in one session. The interview lasted 3 hours and was audiotaped with permission from the participants. Moreover, the interviewees prepared additional sources of data for evaluation. Specifically, we collected proposals for the creation of the ISD PD, an inter-local cooperation agreement between the main city and the ISD, a copy of the resolution of the Board of Trustees of the ISD, the results of the satisfaction survey questionnaire administered to all campuses 6 months after implementation of the model (i.e., February 2009), the ISD PD’s hiring and recruitment protocol used to assess new recruits during the initial hiring process, the letter of appreciation written to the ISD PD Chief from an SRO, newspaper articles, and videotapes with media releases. Thus, we started developing the case study database recommended by Yin (2009).

One of the researchers made additional visits to interview the Superintendent, the Director of Services and Support, and ISD school administrators. All sources were interviewed individually either in their offices located in their respective schools or at the district’s buildings. Interviews varied in length, ranging from 20 to 45 minutes. None of the participants terminated the interview. All interviews were audiotaped with each participant’s permission. All written transcripts and all audio files as well as supporting documentation were incorporated into the case study database.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using constant comparison analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) because we aimed to utilize the entire corpus of transcribed interviews to identify underlying themes (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). The analytical software package, Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Miner, Version 3.2.4 (Provalis Research, 2009), was applied for data coding. First, all interview transcripts (i.e., cases) were imported to the QDA Miner. The transcript document used for the analysis contained eight cases. Next, all interviewer text was removed in order to allow analysis of text from participants only. The constant comparison analysis in the study started as an inductive process. Specifically, transcripts were first read at least twice. Subsequently, we started identifying chunks of context-rich information and made initial codes. Then, through a deductive process, we developed key words related to the issue under inquiry. Those key words or codes (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007) were compiled in a form of a QDA Miner 3.2.4 codebook. Subsequently, because


qualitative inquiry requires constant reevaluation, readjustment of parameters, and refocusing (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007), we reread the text corpus and matched relevant segments with codes comprised within the codebook, deleting redundant or irrelevant codes. The emerging themes were assessed by the criminal justice expert to ensure objectivity. Further, the themes were subjected to a correspondence analysis, a technique recommended by Onwuegbuzie, Dickinson, Leech, and Zoran (2010) for seeing how participants compare to one another with respect to selected emergent themes. A correspondence analysis represents an exploratory multivariate technique involving factoring categorical (i.e., nominal level) variables and mapping them in a property space that displays their associations in two or more dimensions (Michailidis, 2007). The QDA Miner 3.2.4 was employed to conduct the correspondence analysis. Finally, supplemental materials such as contracts, evaluations, newspaper articles, and electronic communications were used for triangulation.

Trustworthiness

Patton (1999) evaluated the credibility issue in qualitative inquiry based on three interrelated elements: (a) rigorous techniques and methods for gathering high-quality data that are carefully analyzed, with attention to issues such as legitimation and triangulation; (b) the credibility of the researcher; and (c) a philosophical belief in the value of qualitative inquiry (p. 1190). Because of the belief in naturalistic inquiry and holistic thinking (Patton, 1999), we included techniques enhancing the credibility of the findings throughout the study process.

Study Design Phase

In the study design phase, the case study protocol was developed to ensure the rigor of the case study process (Yin, 2009). It helped to orient the researchers and to center the issue on the research questions set for the naturalistic inquiry continually. In addition, the interview protocol was established. Moreover, decisions were made to incorporate the triangulation process (Denzin, 1978). As a result, three methods—(a) group interviews, (b) individual interviews, and (c) documents—constituted the design. The logic behind triangulation is that no single method would reveal identical aspects of empirical reality (Patton, 1999, p. 1192). Consequently, using one method renders it more difficult to assess saturation. Another technique employed to increase legitimation of the findings was the test piloting of the questionnaire used in the semistructured interviews and the group interview.

Collection Phase

Several techniques were used to achieve better trustworthiness in the collection stage. First, one of the researchers had previous experience in law enforcement and an interest in school-based policing; therefore, she was able to build trust and convey genuine interest and engagement during the interview process and elicit context-rich data. Yin (2009) commented on the role of the interviewer and compared it to the role of a skilled detective. Because one of the researchers had experience in law enforcement investigations, she was able to seize opportunities to ask for elaboration, clarification, and contextualization during the interview. Furthermore, the additional documents received in the collection phase expanded


the array of sources for analysis and improved the triangulation. Because of the robust corpus of data, the case study database also was established, thereby improving the credibility of the findings. Most importantly, during this stage, the audit trail that increased both the representation and legitimation of the findings was initiated to track the chain of evidence.

Analysis Phase

The holistic philosophical perspective of the qualitative researcher adds credibility to the findings (Patton, 1999); however, because the analysis process is a creative one, the analysis phase needs to be rigorous with respect to providing insight into the creative process. Therefore, the audit trail and step-by-step, methodical reporting of the data evaluation process during the analysis stage decreased threats to the internal credibility of the findings. Moreover, during the course of the analysis, rival explanations were evaluated to ensure that there was no supporting evidence for alternative explanations. The triangulation through multiple analysts suggested by Patton (1999, p. 1195) was introduced to enhance the interpretation of results and to assess inter-coder agreement. This was introduced mainly because, by this stage of the study, the researchers had a big investment, distancing was more difficult, and there was a higher chance for bias. Additionally, the co-analyst had been a sounding board during the study, so he had some knowledge and perspective without any bias to the issue under inquiry.

Interpretation Phase

The most significant technique in the interpretation phase was the peer debriefing. Peer debriefings were conducted over the phone with the mentor and online with doctoral candidates who had knowledge in qualitative analysis but were otherwise neutral to the inquiry. They exchanged their perspectives and insights with the investigators regarding the analysis of data. An additional technique involved using theory to mitigate external threats to the legitimation of the results.

Results

With respect to Research Question 1 (i.e., What are the elements of the new model ofschool-police partnership instituted by the ISD?), data collected from participantswere categorized into three themes: (a) process, (b) organization, and (c) logistics.Because school administrators had limited knowledge with respect to the originsof the model and its complex reporting mechanisms, we relied mainly on dataprovided by school district and police administrators.

With respect to Research Question 2 (i.e., What are the perceptions of PISDadministrators, police administrators, and school administrators on the benefitsof the new PISD PD model as compared with prior policing services?), theanalysis of data yielded six dominant themes: (a) collaboration and negotiation,(b) coordination and control, (c) consistency, (d) deterrence, (e) cost saving, and(f) comprehensive training and benefits to SROs.

Subsequently, with respect to Research Question 3 (i.e., What are the perceptionsof the ISD administrators, police administrators, and school administrators onthe functions and qualities of SROs under the ISD PD model?), the interview


data revealed the following common themes: (a) preventive policing; (b) law enforcement through counseling and mentorship; (c) patience, care, and understanding of youth; and (d) relationship-building skills. Figure 1 represents a case-ordered descriptive meta-matrix (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In the following section, we will discuss the themes identified in the study.

Figure 1. Case-Ordered Descriptive Meta-Matrix Illustrating Themes Across Cases

Themes Chi

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Research Question 1Process --Organization -- --Logistics -- --

Research Question 2Collaboration and Negotiation

Coordination and Control

Consistency

Deterrence

Cost Saving -- --

Comprehensive Training and Benefits to SROs -- -- --

Research Question 3SRO Preventive Policing Role

SRO Role Counseling and Mentorship Role

SRO Patience, Care, and Understanding --SRO Relationship Building Skills --

Research Question 1

Process

In 2006, the new Superintendent of the ISD identified the need for a more school-based model of campus policing than the one in place at that time. Decentralized policing services were costly to the district; the coverage was not comprehensive, especially with respect to high schools; and because of complex jurisdictional boundaries, services provided varied greatly depending on the contractor as reported by the school district administrator:

We were basically getting rid of cops. It had reached the point to where most of our high schools wanted to increase the number of officers from one to two, which in effect was doubling our constable high schools. And as we were looking across the board, [county name] was actually fixing to go up


on their prices. . . . The thing I did not like about using SROs, at the police department is that we really had no control over which officer we got.

However, the creation of an independent police department under the umbrella of the district would be a challenge both organizationally as well as logistically as expressed by the police administrator: “When you’re talking about creating a police department, that is like I told the Superintendent, it would be like me trying to go to school district and create a curriculum for the students.” Therefore, a concept of partnership was suggested by the administration of the municipal police, which at that time was one of the ISD policing services contractors, as well as the newly hired School Safety Liaison. The original intent was to create an interim arrangement under which the municipal agency would initiate comprehensive school-based coverage for the entire district to include provision of trained officers and to help set up the infrastructure needed by the district to launch its own policing operations as stated by the police administrator:

When this program started, it was originally designed to be completed in three years to phase it in, to allow the district to basically have a three-year time period to do whatever they wanted to do in reference to building a police department; they needed to have a facility to work out of, and then you have a property room, and they needed to get a lot of logistics in place before they were ready to create, you know, to have their own police department, so basically we, we designed it to start with my personnel, and then add additional personnel [who] would work for the district. . . . [A]nd as we did that incrementally over the three years, they would replace those with staffing that they continued to keep on as ISD employees.

Thus, the initiative would start as a hybrid between PPD providing contractual services and ISD creating its own independent PD embedded in the PPD as a division. The new division would have the status of the ISD PD legally and would be financed from the district’s budget, but it would have law enforcement operational dependence on the municipal police. In order for SROs operating under the new hybrid model to have jurisdiction over all school campuses, yet retain the ability to revert to municipal police upon the completion of the contract, the dual peace officer commission concept was forged. According to the school district administrator, the dual commission allowed all municipal PD SROs to have jurisdiction in all the ISD schools and to perform duties as ISD employees as well as to share data and records:

So, unlike having a contractual relationship with the ISD, the police department contracting an officer in, there is certain information that the agency cannot share back with the school district . . . on a contractual basis with another agency; they [ISD] are not a law enforcement entity and there are certain juvenile records and things of that nature that cannot be shared. . . . You know there may be some ways that MOUs and different mutual aid agreements . . . may work as well, but right now they don’t exist that way at all. I don’t think they have been tested in laws.

The ISD PD hybrid was created in August of 2008 as a temporary and transitional model, but in January of 2010, the Board of Trustees for the district opted to renew the agreement indefinitely instead of separating from the municipal PD


completely. The partnership among the agencies was the first of this type in Texas and constituted a true partnership between contractual services and the ISD PD designs. “I see it as a permanent hybrid” confirmed one of the district administrators. Additionally, the dual commission of ISD PD officers was the first one to date in the state.

Organization

The most significant aspect of the new ISD PD perceived to influence the effectiveness of the model was its organizational design as a co-ownership between the ISD and the municipal PD. The two agencies signed an inter-local agreement to create the police department that would be specifically accredited by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education (TCEOSE) as a separate law enforcement entity providing law enforcement services to the district. As such, the entity would be managed by a Chief of Police of the ISD PD who would report to the Superintendent of the ISD (i.e., district oversight). Concurrently, the ISD PD would become a separate division within the municipal PD and the Chief of the ISD PD would report to the Chief of the municipal PD (i.e., municipal policing agency oversight) as confirmed by the school district executive:

Chief [of the ISD PD] reports directly to me. I mean he is day to day coordinating activities with [School Safety Liaison], but his accountability is to me because ultimately he has got to know he has to wait for the superintendent to be behind the decisions he makes. . . . You could get through problems where the superintendent has exposure, or getting to start being involved in decisions she or he does not need to be involved in. I don’t ever fear that risk because I know [the Chief] knows policing backward and forward. . . . Chief [PD] is very much a Police Chief, and there is not a lot of grey in their work . . ., so whatever the issue is they have to deal with, they deal with it by the book.

All executive decisions regarding problematic issues related to law enforcement operations would be made jointly by the Chief of the municipal PD and the Superintendent of the ISD. This type of shared executive strategic command is frequently used by federal entities under the name of Unified Command. Moreover, the concept of Unified Command has been a recommended form of command and control in emergency management after the events of September 11, 2001, because it improves communication and coordination and it eliminates redundancy of efforts (Kean et al., 2004). Figure 2 depicts the organizational structure of the hybrid model of school-police partnership developed by the ISD and the municipal PD.

The ISD PD Chief as well as SROs would be employed by the city; however, the district would retain ownership of all investments related to the build-up of the new ISD PD should they decide to separate the ISD PD from the municipal PD. As the police administrator commented, “With the local inter-agreement that we have, there is a renew clause in it, and there is a two-year separation.” The ISD PD officers would have uniform patches and patrol vehicles differentiating them from other municipal officers, and they would be considered district employees. New SROs hired under the new model would be performing law enforcement functions under the ISD PD only, without an option to transfer out of the ISD PD to the municipal PD laterally, as emphasized by one of the police administrators:


The city and the school district . . . are separate departments and if one of our guys wants to leave and go to [municipal PD], they apply like everybody else; there is no lateral and, vice-versa, if somebody from the patrol PD wants to work for the ISD, there has to be an opening, and they have to apply with everybody else.

School-based officers, in addition to enforcing the Texas Penal Code, enforce the Texas Education Code (TEC). However, there are many aspects of policing in schools that have been poorly regulated in the TEC as confirmed by the school police administrator:

Chapter 37 of the education code truly defines the penal code violations that occur in the school district, but then you have the code of conduct which threw in the kitchen sink of behaviors that are not limited to penal code violations, but could be removable violations, so when every district in the state of Texas created their own code of conduct that does not specifically deal with the penal code or code violations, that’s where a lot of the confusion comes in. You see a code of conduct that’s 88 pages and you’ve got first graders that are supposed to know what all these pages are, and that they are not supposed to violate, and that same code in most cases [applies] for seniors. And you can see that, you know, first and second and third graders are not going to read an 88 page code of conduct, even have knowledge of what the behaviors are. It’s an ongoing issue and TEA does not have a clear handle on how to get that information out so that is it.

Consequently, whereas contractual officers in Texas tend to focus on enforcing the penal aspect of the TEC, ISDs, especially school administrators, face enormous challenges with respect to the interpretation of the code of conduct. Specifically, they are not always clear when school officers need to be involved and have difficulties interpreting and differentiating between discipline and criminal violation as exemplified by the School Safety Liaison:

You know there [are] no programs in place that teach teachers and administrators those things, so when they come in a campus, that’s when they learn school safety, that’s when they learn school security, and they have to begin understanding what those laws are, the, you know, the discipline sides of things, so a lot of these teachers are coming out into an environment where they are well trained to do what they are supposed to do, but there is this whole other world of managing these students. Understanding the laws and the discipline issues and things like that. And there is a great shortfall in our educators and our administrators in understanding that. . . . It is one of our biggest challenges.

In policing models with contractual SROs, this issue leads to conflict (i.e., SROs will not enforce discipline parts of the code of conduct); the architects of this model believed the co-ownership reduced such struggles. In addition, it would allow law enforcement to remain in charge of law enforcement issues and the district to remain in charge of disciplinary issues. Meanwhile, problematic areas would be mediated by the School Safety Liaison. Under the ISD PD model, SROs would have daily communications with their supervisors, and SRO supervisors


and administrators would communicate either daily or on an as needed basis, depending on the campus.

The new ISD PD operates with 14 SROs. There are two Sergeant supervisors of SROs, one Investigative SRO reporting to the Chief, one K-9 SRO reporting to a Sergeant, and the Chief of the ISD PD. Each high school in the district has two SROs, three middle schools have two SROs each, and two middle schools have one SRO each. The K-9 and the Investigative SRO provide coverage to any school when needed. The opportunity center does not have an SRO assigned permanently; however, SROs work shifts throughout the day to provide constant coverage. There are no SROs in elementary schools. Nonetheless, both Sergeants need to visit at least two elementary schools twice a week. Moreover, the K-9 SRO provides services to elementary schools as requested.

Figure 2. Organizational Chart of the New ISD PD Partnership Model

Independent School District

Superintendent

Director of Services and Support

School Safety Liaison

School Principals and APs

Teachers

Independent School District Police Department

Chief of ISD PD/ Lt. PD

Sergeants ISD PD

O cers ISD PD

Unied Command

* PD o cers have Dual Peace O cer Commission

Police Department

Chief of Police

Lt

Sergeants

O cers

Lt

Sergeants

O cers

Figure 2. Organizational chart of the new ISD PD partnership model. The ISD police department is an independent law

enforcement agency sanctioned by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE).

It is also a division under the municipal police department.

Note: The Independent School District Police Department (ISD PD) is an independent law enforcement agency sanctioned by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE). It is also a division under the municipal police department.

Logistics

According to police administrators, the cost of the set up of a new police department would be exorbitant if the department were to function as a complete law enforcement agency with communications, evidence and property rooms, Criminal Investigation Division (CID), K-9 support, police vehicles, and firearms. Moreover, setting up such a department takes time as noted by a police administrator:

It gave them a chance to create infrastructure; it takes a while to build a building. If you wanted to create your own facility that needed to have communications in it, needed your property room, your property control,


plus offices your department [works] out of, that takes time, that gave the district three years to put that plan in place to . . . actually, to have their own police department literally and physically, uhm, because you have to have these things, you have to have communications, you have to have property [control,] . . . you know you gonna investigate evidence and crime.

The co-ownership between the two agencies eliminated the unnecessary additional cost to the new ISD PD related to a set up of the new department, concurrently allowing the ISD to invest and to own all items purchased to arm and to equip its SROs. Under the new partnership model, the ISD PD officers would rely on their own CID division, their own K-9 unit, and interoperable communications indispensable to maintain situational awareness of what was happening in the entire ISD community. In return, the municipal PD acquired the console enabling the expansion of the city’s dispatch capacity to accommodate separate district’s dispatching for all campus-related calls for service.

There was a consensus that the quality of SROs on ISD PD campuses would be ensured by the joint hiring process between the ISD and the municipal PD. Because the format and the style of the interview process reflected both the needs of the district as well as law enforcing qualities of officers, the recruits selected for SRO positions would possess skills desired by both the law enforcement and the educational stakeholders in the process. Moreover, the hiring panel made up of representatives from both partnering agencies would ensure an equal voice in the recruitment. Even after the hire, there would be a continuous effort to match the styles, personalities, and demographical characteristics of SROs with specific campuses. This would enhance the selection of SROs who were considered the best fit for each respective campus. In contrast, previous arrangements did not allow the school district any opportunities to measure the skills or characteristics of officers patrolling their campuses.

There was a shared belief that salaries of ISD PD SROs had to match salaries of other officers at the municipal PD: “We can start them from $36,8K through around $42K,” commented one police administrator who further evinced that appropriate salaries would allow for the rigorous selection and prevent the turnover of the most qualified SROs: “Even if you hire the good quality, because of the opportunity being present at the right time and the right place, you are not gonna keep that quality because they are gonna find a greater pasture.” Interviewees believed that in many other ISD policing arrangements, SROs have been poorly compensated as exemplified by the law enforcement administrator:

That’s the number two issue . . . from the Chiefs when they discuss [SROs] is the low pay; you can’t attract the kind of people you really want to put in your schools if you don’t have the salaries in place and . . . it simply becomes [a] stopping location in a lot of the police departments and . . . that is why there are so many new Chiefs at our conferences from school districts [big turnover].

At the time of our study, the ISD PD did not record any personnel attrition and only one reassignment to a different campus. Under the new model, officers would also be covered under the municipal retirement benefits as opposed to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS). Moreover, even though the two budgets would remain separate, they


would be married, thereby allowing PISD PD officers to work on a 12-month calendar and to benefit from extensive training sessions during the summer months.

Research Question 2

Collaboration and Negotiation

Results of our study revealed that the biggest benefit of the new partnership was the enhanced collaboration and negotiation at all levels of the new system. Specifically, the partnership allowed the district and the police executives to understand and to work out challenges related to law enforcement in an educational setting. According to the police administrator,

We are all getting a heck of an education, I am getting an education in school, school district, school politics, after hours events, you know sporting events . . . and on the other side they are learning what we do and why we do it and it is really difficult for those folks to understand the role of the police in the society.

Concomitantly, school administrators, with the help of the School Safety Liaison, are better able to interpret the discipline codes and criminal violations, and to understand why the officers enforce what they are obligated to enforce under the law. Moreover, they had better support in relating it to the parents, as indicated by one of the principals: “We do have discussions . . . . When there is a fight, parents get that information about what their rights are, . . . you know if it’s an assault type of thing, and I think that discussion does help them.”

In addition, the school administrators expressed that communications with supervisory-level personnel improved significantly, and that they were negotiating the scope of the authority of officers, their roles, and could reach better consensus with respect to their expectations. In addition, SROs worked together with school administrators to resolve school problems:

Sergeant [name] comes here often . . . and he talks to the APs; they have more interactions, but I have to say, before, before we never had the first-line supervision. I had a phone number of the person to call, but I never saw them, or rarely talked to them. I am not sure if my principals talked to them.

Coordination and Control

According to the participants in the study, the new model of partnership eliminated issues related to lack of coordination and control of policing services that existed prior to the implementation of the new structures. Lack of coordination resulted from complex jurisdictional boundaries, and there was confusion as to what agency should be responding. In addition, communication protocols and frequencies did not overlap. As stated by a school administrator,

Like if you called 9-1-1, there was always the breakdown of who would be responding . . . but you know [city name] wouldn’t want to respond because they would say that is [district name] ISD. [District name] ISD is like we’re


not on that side. And then, the Sheriff’s department is, [county name] County, is the SRO on campus, and yet you know they are further away and so there was a confusion there when that kind of thing occurred.

Indeed, the inability to coordinate was especially troublesome when resources were available in close proximity, but jurisdiction issues prevented them from responding. Consequently, valuable time was being lost that could be disastrous in a crisis as exemplified by the School Safety Liaison: “I was thinking on the (high school) thing where before we had to call 911 and hope and wait for the Sheriff’s office to arrive even though the [X]PD was right there.” Moreover, the participants commented that coordination also was difficult with respect to supervisory police personnel responsible for contracted officers. In fact, lines of communication with first-level supervisors were inadequate. In contrast, the participants agreed that they had excellent coordination with the Sergeants responsible for the SROs under the new model because they knew exactly who they were and knew how to reach them as confirmed by a school administrator: “I know now when I need something I call the [district name] ISD police department number and I get immediate feedback, what there is.” The coordination and control became possible under one, shared jurisdiction, underscored the Superintendent: “The biggest, the best feature is that we have one jurisdiction, one dispatch, and one police department that is working very smoothly with this because they are dedicated to being a good partner.”

In addition, the respondents commented that the new position of the School Safety Liaison eliminated many issues related to coordination because that position became a conduit whenever coordination issues arose. This was especially significant when the interviewees commented that many administrators considered themselves direct supervisors of new SROs and often attempted to exert authority and influence in cases when they needed to coordinate with law enforcement supervisory personnel instead. Under previous contractual services, communications would often break because SROs would not take direction from school administrators who were not per se their bosses. Under the new model, the lines of coordination were clear as exemplified by the School Safety Liaison: “A lot of time when a campus administrator will call me, the first thing I will say is have you talked to Sergeant so and so? Have you talked to their Sergeant?”

The improved coordination led to the ability to exercise a greater degree of control with respect to the selection of the SROs assigned to the campuses. Interviewees agreed that contract officers were frequently assigned to provide coverage to schools at random and, in some instances, such assignment was a punitive measure undertaken by the parent agency. They expressed that SROs not only needed to be recruited based on their aptitude to be an SRO, but also to be matched for best fit to a specific campus as best illustrated by the district executive:

We are involved in that process. We also have input on who goes where. We do identify their subschools and some of the officers [who] are really good matches, and you can take them and put them in another campus and they are not going to be as good of a match. . . . [W]e have got one officer . . . and he has a very calming effect over there. I mean, he just fits. . . . [W]e are able to say we want him there, and we want this person over there.


Under contractual agreements, the district and the school administrators had very little influence on who would be patrolling their schools. Concomitantly, other problems related to random assignments stemmed from different levels of training that officers from various agencies possessed; different levels of knowledge about the functioning of the educational system or lack thereof; and different levels of understanding of diversities, special populations, and the school environment as a whole. Hence, the perceptions of the participants in this study underscored the value of a recruitment process partnership that resulted in better control, SRO assessment, and, as such, better quality of school officer as reflected by one of the school administrators: “This was our police force, and we could get them support and training on what we needed versus them being contracted from somebody outside that maybe didn’t have as much say or influence on what it is that they needed.”

Deterrence

The evaluation of outcomes of the implementation of the ISD PD model pointed to the theme of deterrence—both physical and psychological. The physical deterrence was related to the visibility of officers on campus, as expressed by the school administrators: ”to outsiders it is also important: they see the uniform; they know, they have to follow the process,” as well as the ability to anticipate or to counteract potential problems:

If they [students] are acting different today than they were yesterday, maybe they did not take their pills, and they can immediately talk to them, and visit with them, and they know before anything happens, that, hey, Johnny is acting strange. Maybe you need to call his parents; maybe he did not take his medicine today.

The psychological deterrence was expressed by the feelings of safety and the overall well-being of campuses. Specifically, the visible presence of SROs contributed to the comfort level experienced by teachers, administrators, students, and parents as discussed by one of the principals:

Some feel they have the officer there with their kids . . . so it is not like the first time they see the officer is when something goes wrong, or they get upset because they see the police coming to campus. They are used to it, and that makes them feel safe. They know, they understand their child, when they go to school that day, they will be safe.

In contrast, the same principal commented that during contractual services, in 98% of the cases, the SROs would come to his campus as a response to criminal activity. As a result of the prolonged and constant presence of SROs on school campuses, the interviewees believed that delinquent behaviors (i.e., bringing guns to schools, bringing drugs onto school campuses, engaging in gang behavior and acts of violence, or noncompliance with visitor procedures) significantly decreased, pointing to physical deterrence (i.e., target hardening) as a main benefit associated with the new model. As surmised by the school district administrator,

They add a measure of security that we don’t have if they are not there. From the standpoint of being able to take a student that is really acting out and get them out of the classroom and get them to a place where they can be handled


. . . having that officer there immediately is a positive thing. We have had some situations last year where our SROs got wind in one of our high schools that there was going to be, I hate to call it a gang war . . ., and they were able to get the information in time. They were able to lock the schools down . . . and it did not happen, and it was almost a given that it was going to happen.

The psychological deterrence was reflected in the assurance that their SROs were there, were willing to listen, could be depended on, and could be trusted. Even the elementary campuses that did not have SROs assigned to them permanently expressed strong interest in them as pointed out by the school district administrator: “The elementary campuses actually want more officers on campus and that is quite a change. They really like to see the officers; they want them to come by.” The significance of emotional stability further pointed to the advantage of permanent, engaged, and stable assignment of police services in the ISD schools as compared with ever changing, detached, and fragmented services pervasive in previous PISD contracts.

Consistency

One of the main differences between the new model and structures existing before was that often in contractual assignments of officers to schools, the assignments were temporary and thus did not lend themselves to stability and the opportunity to evolve: “There was not a continuity of an officer” reported the Director of Services and Support. Moreover, some officers in other SRO programs were selected ad hoc or even as punitive measures. Significantly, most officers assigned to schools from the municipality or county still operated based on priority needs of their agencies. Therefore, they were still responsible for attending to general patrol calls for service and for working on cases at their agencies. Under the new model, consistency was noted with respect to SROs being recognizable because of their standardized uniforms, patches, and patrol vehicles: “Well, there were some problems in the school and 14 officers show up. They can see that they are all wearing the same uniform,” revealed one school administrator. Others highlighted the familiarity with the officers: “Even if they move the officers around, they know that it’s coming within the school-based, school-trained cadre of officers. I would say most of our principals know every single one of our officers now.” Similarly, communication protocols, data sharing procedures, training, and roles became streamlined. For example, the information dissemination became consistent as illustrated by the school district administrator:

We have had the most communication between our PIOs [Public Information Officers] since we have done this. Really, we are getting the same message out now. In the past whenever I’ve got my PIO, they had theirs and usually it was difficult to get cohesion there between these two groups and now . . . we are very good at presenting the information and being consistent.

Cost Saving

Overall, the ISD PD’s budget of $1,700,000 exceeded the expenses that the ISD expended on previous contractual services. However, the district owned new vehicles, all SROs were properly equipped, and the equipment belonged to the district: “Everything that is bought by and paid for by the district, they keep. They have that ownership and they get their residual value for the lifetime of that equipment . . . which is unlike


the places that use [contract] services” stressed one of the police administrators. Moreover, the shared use of dispatch prevented the ISD from incurring exorbitant costs related to acquiring new radio frequencies, and the coverage of high schools increased. Under contracts, the district used to spend an excess of $20,000 a year for bomb and drug dog services that were scant and unreliable. In addition, because the cost of contractual services was going to increase, according to the Director of Services and Support, “It is probably close to a breakeven . . . or possibly even a little bit less.” Importantly, the cost savings could also be measured as savings to tax payers in the community not paying for the same policing services twice as concluded by the district chief executive: “[It’s a] tax savings for tax payers . . . . We have one organization now that covers all of the cost in all our buildings.”

Comprehensive Training and Benefits to SROs

The additional benefits of the new model were expressed in the comprehensive training new SROs received that prepared them better to function in a school-based environment. Specifically, diversity training, special education training, and school crisis-response trainings (i.e., active shooter) were developed to equip SROs with better campus policing skills. The ISD police administrator indicated that “We identified some training needs when it came to communication and interpersonal skills that we put the entire department through.” Officers also were able to participate in dispute resolution training “applicable in a school setting because a lot of times when you are dealing with adolescents, you are getting into the bickering back and forth, things that are not necessarily criminal but needing to kind of diffuse.” Because the ISD PD SROs worked on a 12-month calendar, during the summer months they received all the professional development necessary for the school environment while training with municipal officers in other areas of law enforcement and the general required courses of peace officers concurrently. Every summer, they attended the School-Based Law Enforcement Conference.

Because of the design of the new model, according to the police administrator, ISD PD SROs were “one of the best paid SROs in the state” and they enjoyed a retirement system much better than did the TRS as expressed by the School Safety Liaison: “[The] teacher retirement system is horrendous. . . . I wouldn’t be working for a school district if I had the teacher retirement system.” Ultimately, our study revealed that due to organizational structures and reporting mechanisms, as well as the mediating role of the School Safety Liaison, the SROs maintained the ability to retain their law enforcement authority and discretion with respect to criminal violations when necessary. Conversely, before the implementation of the new model, school administrators often interfered with decisions of officers on campus and questioned their authority.

Research Question 3

Preventive Policing

The analysis of our data elucidated that the main function associated with PISD PD officers was that of preventive policing as compared with traditional reactive policing. This theme corresponded strongly with the theme of deterrence identified as the benefit of the new model. Interviewees commented that SROs operated from a place of compassion and familiarity with the children, effective communication,


and de-escalation in attempts to resolve the problems. Only when the situation worsened would they build up their presence and authority. In contrast, police officers on the street functioned in compressed timeframes, with unknown individuals, with time pressures to get to the next call, and with concerns for their safety. Therefore, their contacts often started with high authority in order to gain immediate compliance and assume control.

Law Enforcement Through Mentorship and Counseling

The results of the study pointed to the overarching function of the SROs under the ISD PD model as counselors and mentors. In fact, even though their positions were defined as prioritized on enforcing law, what they actually did most of the time was counseling, said the Director of Services and Support:

We were doing a walk through one of our middle schools. . . . This little boy comes walking by. . . . She [SRO] says what happened to that red shirt, and he said he didn’t wear it. She said I noticed that, that’s good. She said he has been showing colors, that she’s been working with him not [to], and it’s just something like that, it’s just simply recognizing that he wasn’t wearing gang color and she recognized it and commented on it. They do it all the time—not just her.

Perceptibly, under the new ISD PD model, the function of the SRO did not fall under the triad concept as much as it progressed on the continuum from counseling and mentorship to preventive policing. The stronger the counseling aspect developed, the weaker the need for the law enforcing aspect as illustrated by the school district administrator:

Our successful and experienced SROs do a good job of counseling students by explaining to them the consequences of their actions, and we are not going to give you a ticket this time, and here is what you need to do differently, and kind of giving them advice on how to stay out of trouble and that’s what I see.

Some interviewees commented that those functions were intertwined as pointed out by one school principal:

He talks about, you know, different things about the law and different things about why rules are the way they are. At the same time, that’s almost counselor like. He does make connections to the kids that he sees, you know, he kind of keeps an eye out for who he feels might be, if they are not caught early they stray onto the wrong side of the fence kind of thing, and he tries to make those connections and he does witness to counseling students who have gotten in trouble and are on the verge of some serious things happening to them and, you know, kind of being that counselor but at the same time it’s almost educator like . . . . I think we have a real mix in our SRO.

Patience, Care, and Understanding of Youth

An important quality of new SROs was their ability to display empathy, patience, and understanding, which is much needed when interacting with children in the process of development. SROs employed by the ISD PD had special qualities


looked for during the selection process that differentiated them from those responding to schools under contractual services as captured by one of the police administrators:

I tell them (SROs) every time I meet with them—YOU do a job I could not do; I am not geared that way. I have grown up on the streets and my career has been rising thru the ranks to this position, and I know how to be a police officer on the street. It’s different than being in the school; it takes patience [emphasis] more than anything else. . . . You have to be very patient, understanding, and . . . they do things I couldn’t do. I go thru these halls, and I hear all the cursing and things like that, and I’m geared [a] different way.

Relationship-Building Skills

Another dominant theme with respect to the quality of new SROs was their ability to forge relationships with students, staff, and parents. Interviewees commented on excellent strategies that their SROs used to engage, to educate, and to guide the students. The notion of relationship building was inextricably connected to the overarching function of SROs as counselors or mentors. One of the school district administrators added that the strong relationship-building skills of ISD PD SROs helped them when interacting with various populations on campuses that differed in demographics or socioeconomic status: “The gamut from the mature student to the students who are problem students, the gang kids, . . . [the kids] from underprivileged or challenging environments, the administrators, very highly educated folks, a lot of whom are very self-important in that role.”

Correspondence of Themes

All the dominant themes identified in our study are displayed in the correspondence plot that emerged via the use of QDM Miner 3.2.4 (Figure 3). Perceptibly, school district administrators as well as the municipal police administrator valued the aspects of the new model because of the improved coordination and control, collaboration and negotiation, cost savings, and the overall organization structures. School administrators also focused on the qualities of SROs that fell under the more emotive dimension of care, patience, and understanding. In addition, these qualities were valued by the elementary and middle school administrators. The latter group focused on the counseling and mentoring role of SROs, whereas the high school administrator paid closer attention to preventive policing and consistency. In addition, the high school principal relied more on SROs’ relationship-building skills. All school administrators appreciated the elements of deterrence resulting from the new model of policing.

The ISD PD Chief focused strongly on the logistics of the model and comprehensive training as well as benefits relating to SROs’ pay, retirement, and authority in performing law enforcement functions. Those dimensions were not the focus of school administrators. Clearly, with three separate stakeholder groups in the model, we expected their perspectives would differ. Importantly, however, all our interviewees confirmed that the ISD PD partnership was a win-win for all involved.


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Discussion

Limitations

This case study was designed as a naturalistic inquiry into perceptions of specific individuals working in their own specific environments. Therefore, there was no intent to generalize beyond the sample to the population (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007). The results of our study have to be judged in the frame of the new ISD PD environment, along with the district’s goals and objectives. Moreover, geographical characteristics and jurisdictional boundaries of the ISD necessitate the consideration of adopting an appropriate lens when interpreting the results.

Implications

Our findings suggest that the school-based policing arrangements at the district under study require time, constancy, and stability in order for SROs to acquire patience, understanding of youth, and the ability to build relationships. It may, therefore, be very difficult to implement effective policing on school campuses without long-term agreements with policing agencies and without input into the selection criteria of officers who would be assigned to monitor school safety. Similarly, the role and function of the SROs should not be viewed predominantly as law enforcing. Unfortunately, many studies confirmed that school administrators focused on that function the most (Jackson, 2002; Johnson, 1999; Lambert & McGinty, 2001; NSSSS, 2002). That the conceptualization of the SRO role is based on the widely accepted triad model—that of law enforcement officer, counselor in law-related matters, and educator in law enforcement matters (Finn et al., 2005; Girouard, 2001)—may also need to be revised to determine whether operationalization of different functions of SROs could be campus-oriented. It is plausible that campuses with younger populations might benefit from SROs who focus more on counseling and mentorship roles, and high schools might benefit from SROs who focus more on the preventive policing function. In addition, it might be appropriate to examine the function of the SRO on a continuum from counseling and mentorship to preventive policing with respect to populations of students and their ages.

Concomitantly, our results suggest that schools with contractual services might expect officers to perform a more traditional and reactive function if they are not immersed in school climate and structures. School districts need to be aware that those officers might be unlikely to assist with the negotiation of the educational code and refuse to collaborate on interpreting grey areas of disciplinary issues. From the theoretical viewpoint of resource mobilization theory (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), contractual officers are constituents of the school safety movement. On the other hand, SROs in those departments who are embedded as a permanent structure within the ISDs may be selected based on their primary desires, mindsets, and motivation to be the counseling and mentoring force on campuses. As such, they would evolve into adherents and contribute significantly to the social movement process of school safety. Additionally, districts, policymakers, and school administrators need to be cognizant that it would be difficult to have expectations of pure, reactive law enforcing from SROs in their schools under such arrangements.

That the overarching counseling and mentoring aspect of officers on campuses is ignored by school administrators (Johnson, 1999; Lambert & McGinty, 2001;


NSSS, 2002) is of extreme significance. Undoubtedly, SROs are frequently the first line of diagnosis for potential problems in behavior, mental health disorders, and complicated social issues that students might be experiencing. For example, they could be a tremendous asset in diagnosing and preventing bullying if properly educated. They are also in a unique position of trust and authority that other professionals might not have with respect to the students. From the perspective of resource mobilization theory and social movement organizations (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), school safety might need to become an interdisciplinary collaboration like the one exemplified by the ISD PD model in our study. Markedly, SROs represent a huge asset to the human capital on campuses in Texas and nationwide (Fowler et al., 2010). Our study documented that a successful partnership between the educators and the lawmen is possible when properly designed, administered, and interconnected. The significance of the psychological aspect of deterrence we recorded points to the fact that physical crime deterrence and target hardening are just one component of school safety. Clearly, some components of deterrence can be achieved by SROs who are assigned to schools on contracts. However, the psychological deterrence and the behavioral impact might point to the fact that law enforcing and school safety might need to be measured quite differently than by crime statistics and arrest rates. Additionally, whereas many grants for school safety target security technologies as tools to prevent crime on campuses, the psychological component of the visible, permanent law enforcement presence, growing with the school community and part of the school community could be of equal value. That is where school law enforcing becomes true policing as viewed from the community policing standpoint (Oliver, 1998).

Many school districts in Texas that overlap jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., Goose Creek ISD, Harlingen ISD, or Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD) contract their policing services through multiple law enforcement agencies. The ISD PD, a model based on co-ownership, could be considered a potential solution for better investment and coordination. Our study documented that issues often attributed to other SRO programs such as lack of proper communication protocols (May et al., 2004; Neeley, 2003) and lack of understanding about the scope of SROs’ authority and role (Denham & Combs, 2009; Lambert & McGinty, 2001; NSSSS, 2002) could potentially be addressed by a hybrid model such as the one implemented by the PISD. Further research should focus on ways school districts assess their policing needs and how they determine the appropriate model for their respective school campuses. Moreover, other studies should expand the knowledge available on ISD PD effectiveness in Texas. Our study did not include the SROs themselves. Their perceptions on the ISD PD model of policing and their roles under the model would be extremely valuable.

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Magdalena Denham is the Program Manager of the Professional Development Programs at the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. Her areas of research include school-based policing, law enforcement leadership and professional development, decisionmaking, critical incident management, and gender issues in policing. A former federal law enforcement officer, Magdalena is a certified Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TECLOSE) instructor. She has prepared and implemented programs for Texas law enforcement and international police agencies from over 20 countries. She is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University.

Dr. Anthony Onwuegbuzie is a professor in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University. He teaches doctoral-level courses in qualitative research, quantitative research, and mixed research. His research areas include disadvantaged and underserved populations such as minorities, juvenile delinquents, and children living in war zones. Additionally, he writes extensively on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodological topics. Alongside more than 500 conference/keynote presentations, he has published more than 300 works, including over 260 journal articles, 50 book chapters, and two books. His current h-index is 41. He serves as co-editor of Research in the Schools.


The Sensibility of Turning Community-Oriented Policing into a Force of Civility and DemocracySam S. Souryal, PhD, Professor, College of Criminal Justice,

Sam Houston State University

We want to revive the idea of community policing but for a modern world.

–Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister, UK

Overview

Much has been written about the role of Community-Oriented Policing and its impact on the development of communities, cities, nations, and the police departments themselves (Innes, 2005b; Kelling, 1987; Klinger, 1997; Moore & Trojanowicz, 1988; Weitzer, 2000). No wonder the 1980s and 1990s were labeled the age of Community-Oriented Policing. The original philosophy of Community-Oriented Policing was considered by foreign countries as the latest in American police thinking. As such, many developing countries have copied this novel model and used it under different titles, including Neighborhood-Oriented Policing, Intelligent-Led Policing, Reassurance Policing (Fielding & Innes, 2006) as well as “Third Party Policing” (Mazerolle & Ransley, 2005), “Fixing Broken Windows,” and “Zero Tolerance Theory.” (Fielding & Innes, 2006). Yet, we disagree with Fielding and Innes’s view that “there is not an agreed upon definition of Community-Oriented Policing” (p. 1). Their commentary seemed incoherent in light of the doctrine “If you cannot define it, you cannot understand it,” let alone teach it. It should be easy, I presume, that grouping the words “Community” and “Oriented,” when added to the word “Policing” can be sensible enough to craft a fairly coherent definition of the term.

Moreover, attempts to mask the mission of Community-Oriented Policing under labels as those mentioned earlier may not be helpful to understanding the intended mission of community policing in addition to being redundant or divergent. Take for instance the title “Zero Tolerance.” Despite its journalistic use, it is almost impossible to implement because it denies the capacity of discretion which is arguably the core characteristic of Community-Oriented Policing theory. In a sense, if discretion were to be debunked, Community-Oriented Policing would have insignificant distinctions from the duties of regular patrol officers. Also, Zero Based policing is a hyperbolic term since, in the human course of events, the principle of congeniality would most likely prevent one from giving a traffic ticket for a minor violation to one’s own colleague, let alone one’s boss. On the other hand, Fielding and Innes (2006) should be applauded for identifying Community-Oriented Policing as a “surrogate trust mechanism in an era when trust in police institutions is declining” (p. 291). Having said that, the proposed “Scene of Thought” should be carefully examined from two aspects: (1) the strategic and (2) the practical. The confluence of these two variables can naturally cause a shift in the practice of Community-Oriented Policing. As to the skeptics who fear such


a shift, they may be better served if they observed O’Toole’s (1995) subtitle to his book: “Overcoming the Ideology of Comfort and the Tyranny of Custom.”

This “Scene of Thought” suggests that establishing or promoting civility in the neighborhood can better serve that neighborhood with a more enlightened populace and a more attractive environment, all while crime rates would progressively drop. In this context, COP officers should, in addition to accomplishing their statutory functions, be tasked with promoting civility and enhancing democracy. Kelling (1987) states, “it is always necessary to nudge the evolutionary process of any system as long as there are higher peaks to be reached” (p. 194). As such, we further predict that Community-Oriented Policing, in the near future, can peak to the level of acting as an “environmental police force”—a noncoercive assignment that can further monitor climate control and global warming, thus protecting communities from a possibly dooming hazard. The approach here proposed may well be fairly affordable since all that it really needs is cross-training current COP officers in the new tasks they may be called upon to execute.

To put it succinctly, Community-Oriented Policing is far too valuable to be left so negligently and aimlessly when the nation is buzzing with calls for civility without which true democracies can neither survive or prosper. It is also imperative that this proposition is not an agenda to put people to work or take them from work. It is a progressive means to couple human and national interests with human and national abilities. The only danger inherent in this proposition is making it a political matter, treating it indifferently, or denigrating it before it is carefully examined. If such a case were to occur, the only alternative should be reassigning COP officers to their old Peelian beat model with all its bureaucratic missteps.

From Aristotle’s Polis to Goldstein’s Policing

Goldstein’s (1979, 1990) breakthrough introducing Community-Oriented Policing was not new in the history of humankind. Aristotle (384-322 bce) had previously advocated the concept of polis (the ideal district) 2,500 years before and urged Athenians to sustain the integrity of their polis. In Aristotle’s Politics, the polis (the ideal community) was far from being territorial; it was also cultural, cooperative, ascetical and politically pure (Aristotle, 1979, p. 255). Indeed, if Aristotle was in charge of a COP unit today, he most likely would have required officers to live in their districts; supervise municipal elections every year; ensure that the roads are open, clean, and unobstructed; as well as promoted training young boys in daily gymnastics, among other rituals. In this context, it might be interesting to mention that Singaporean COP officers today prohibit anyone from chewing gum on the streets or in public places for fear of soiling the image of their sparkling city with wrappers and human spit (personal observations, June 2009). What is even more intriguing is that Singaporean residents had gotten used to warning their visitors before they embarrass themselves by committing such transgressions.

In 1979, Goldstein published his vision of preserving the modern polis by redesigning the traditional Peelian role along functional lines: territorial, cooperative, and enlightened. Soon after, many police authors were enthralled by Goldstein’s concept of “Problem-Oriented Policing” and its humanitarian advantages. The high crime rates in the 1980s might have driven the young academics (Cordner, 1995; Laycock, 2002; Taylor, Fritsch, & Caeti, 1998; Wilson, 1983) to interpret Goldstein’s


vision in their own images. While the Goldsteinian model was Aristotelian in origin, it could not free the officers from the grip of the structural trap. Police officers found themselves still required to fill out time sheets, prepare flow charts, write lengthy incident reports, and attend court rather than treating the roots of criminal behavior. COP officers used education, role modeling, and mentoring to others (including the would-be criminals) to avoid crime and act civilly. Nevertheless, the bureaucratic tradition continued untouched. The organizational culture of patrol officers may have dimmed the luster of Community-Oriented Policing by distorting the lines of communication between patrol officers and COP forces, thus, perhaps, diminishing the value of both.

It might also be necessary to point out that COP forces in the U.S. normally receive no more training than that required for regular police officers—a situation that, in a sense, tarnished the original philosophy of Community-Oriented Policing which was more humanitarian and through which COP officers were trained as problem solvers. Yet, critics among COP officers resented playing second fiddles to “beat officers” whom they thought of as traditionalists who misunderstood the new role of “soft policing.” COP officers, nevertheless, continued to use reasoning, justice, problem solving, and compassion as new means to sustain the integrity of their polis.

The Civility of Nations

Aristotle defined civility as “a partnership for a better living” (Souryal, 2007, p 141). He advocated that “if citizens are to survive, they must live in close cooperative association with each other, and toward this end, the polis (ideal city) should be actively involved in promoting civility” (Souryal, 2011, p. 455). Shils (1997) defined civility as “a virtue expressed in action on behalf of the good of all society” (p. 4). Rouner (2000) defined civility as “sacrificing to help others to achieve the common good; to be seriously concerned for order, beauty, and good housekeeping” (p. 25). McCllelen (2000) defined civility as “a recognition of the full humanness of both oneself and the others; an awareness of one’s interdependence with others; and a desire to make common cause with one another” (p. 78). In a more practical sense, Souryal (2011) defined civility as “a stage in human development which is characterized by reasoning, justice, equality, and compassion” (p. 466).

Civility is a virtuous human condition that can exist even in some of the most cruel conditions (i.e., the Holocaust was no exception). For instance, in the highly civilized monarchy of Bhutan in the Himalayas, acts of incivility are extremely rare (as witnessed by the author during a visit in 1994). Also, consider the Islamic North African oasis of Siwa (a community of 17,000), where acts of incivility (let alone criminal acts) were almost nonexistent. Siwans, who had lived in the oasis since 2500 bc, had no police, no courts, no judges, no jails, and no prisons, yet no acts of incivility were ever apparent. The long habit of civility in Siwa was begun due to the role of tribal elders who maintained justice, harmony, pride, and mutual respect. For example, residents pleasantly sweep the portion of the road in front of their dwellings, irrigate their land acreage on time, keep the markets quiet, respect the elderly (especially the women), and raise their children as well-deserving Siwans (Souryal, 2011).


On the other hand, any act that violates the principles of civility can constitute an act of incivility. While such acts may be more common, Rouner (2000) defined them “as acting dishonorably, using unnecessary force, abusing authority and, not infrequently, shipping off democracy” (p. 34). Therefore, for those who want to see a pictorial image of uncivil acts, it would be wise for them to compare the daily course of events in Norway, Sweden, or Austria with those in Nigeria, Zambia, or Rwanda.

The Natural Connection Between Police, Civility, and Democracy

Political scientists argue that true democracy cannot emerge or survive without political systems and parliamentary rules (Carter, 1998; Moyers, 2004). Criminologists argue that the same cannot emerge and survive without national stability and collective responsibility. Yet, measuring the level of civility among nations can be exhaustingly hard; it is not impossible because such a quantitative process inevitably encompasses numerous variables that can change in response to ever-changing conditions such as crime, accidents, diseases, education, national crises, financial recourses, among other variables (Nationmaster.com, 2005; Transparency International reports, 1993-2005). Therefore, to ascertain the civility of a community or nation, it may be done intuitively by comparing the civility of one set of countries to another. Such a comparison can be based on a series of variables, including national stability, standards of living, and the quality of life in such countries (e.g., NationMaster.com, 2005).

Yet, one factor that may be the most detrimental to promoting civility is the behavior of police, especially at the municipal level, in terms of their level of professionalism, integrity, education, organizational culture, self-discipline, and their compliance with human rights prescriptions. While incivility, as a practice, is naturally disturbing, nowhere can it be more abusive than when innocent citizens are mishandled by police. In a recent U.S. study by the U.S. Department of Justice (1996), findings showed that trust in police recorded the largest drop between the years 1980 and 1995 and that the rank order of policing in the U.S. has dropped from the 5th to the 10th place on a scale of 12 occupations. Equally disturbing, it appears, is the fact that although there are no significant differences between men and women respondents, a significant difference existed between African-American and White respondents. It should be safe, then, to assume that the operational model of policing in any country or district can over time infuriate enough citizens, causing them to give up hope on promoting civility and strengthening democracy as goals worth pursuing. No wonder, then, that Souryal (2011) proposes that “the civility of nations is measured by the civility of their police” (p. 130). Hence, it also seems logical, especially in the U.S., to consider recasting COP officers in the role of promoters of civility and defenders of democracy (USA Today, 2009).

A critical question may yet be “Why, despite the latest improvements in police recruitment, training, technology, and deployment, does American policing continue to receive low civility ratings?” In response, there are three reasons. First, in a free society, the public is assumed to be free to behave as they wish as long as they do not harm others or violate any rules. This puts the onus on the police to act professionally and with intended restraint. The rationale for this is that, unlike the rest of public servants, police officers are supposed to be well-selected, well-trained, well-supervised, well-led, and possibly well-paid. Subsequently, in a civil society, the police must be more restrained and demonstrate to the public that they


are fully committed to acting democratically. Second, the public may rightfully be fed up with police promises that have not been met. By so doing, the public might rightfully conclude that the police are really disinterested in “respecting the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality, and justice,” or seriously acting as “exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of their department” (The Police Code of Ethics, 2009). While it may be erroneous to suggest that all police fall into this category, a minority may act with disrespect, and/or indifference. That is more reason, perhaps, to reeducate COP officers in topics of liberal arts and simple logic. Third, expecting Community-Oriented Policing to fight crime as well as promote civility is a win-win proposition. The veracity of this assertion is clear: civil policing provides citizens with more satisfaction, which, in turn, dissuades the public from acting illegitimately as long as access to legal means is available, open, and unobstructed. The considerably lower crime rates in Scandinavian countries may be a clear case in point (see Kleinig, 1996; NationMaster.com, 2005) as well as Article 2 of The United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, 1971).

Why Community-Oriented Policing?

Ideally, all police officers should be trained as community-oriented agents since their designation is serving the community. Furthermore, the concept of Community-Oriented Policing is a philosophy rather than a procedure (Moore & Trojanowicz, 1988). However, to escape the tall and complex bureaucratic structure, and to ensure that all aspects of government are adequately secure, police agencies opted to devote special squads to focus directly on the needs and aspirations of identified communities. That was basically the reason why Community-Oriented Policing was created. Nevertheless, two overriding stipulations in the process were the agency’s suitability to produce measurable results as well as its freedom to innovate new methods to achieve the “common good” even if such methods were not consistent with the agency’s statutory missions.

As to the reasons why Community-Oriented Policing is deemed the most suitable group to meet the new challenges, there are eight arguments: (1) COP officers are already ubiquitous and cover the entire community without the need for any additional human or financial resources; (2) by virtue of their humanistic mission, COP officers provide the best fit to undertake the new tasks. They would be more susceptible to accommodate the needs and aspirations of community members and, at the same time, most protective of the community interests against any attempts to exploit the community by unscrupulous elements (i.e., law breakers); (3) by virtue of the relative youth of COP officers, they may be more capable of cross-training, which can help them to learn new techniques that prepare them to handle more complex situations more humanely; (4) by virtue of COP officers’ closeness to the community, they are better able to mentor the citizens in innovative techniques to solve their problems (i.e., no other institution can be so effective: no home, no family, no church, no army, no school, and obviously no laws); (5) because COP officers are generally better educated, they might be more motivated to use modern technologies such as communication systems, computer systems, GPS systems, among other new techniques; (6) because of COP officers’ disassociation with their former departments, they may be better insulated from old police cultures and beliefs; (7) because COP officers will be assigned to more patriotic and honorable


missions, their motivation would, most likely, be considerably higher than regular street COP officers; and (8) the cost of cross-training new COP officers is much more affordable than most other police training programs.

Having stated that, the potential success of COP officers in completing their new tasks may be one of the most rewarding police projects. If Kelling and Coles (1996) are correct, the expected dividends these COP officers can receive may have already occurred. The two authors state that “many cities across America are now adopting the Broken Windows Prescription subsequently, as a result, the number of murders, robberies, and other felonies has plummeted” (p. 1). Also, data posted on the NationMaster.com website, under the Map & Graph section, published as Countries by Crime: Total Crimes (posted September 14, 2005) seemed to strongly reinforce Kelling and Coles’ findings.

The rationale behind these potential successes are fairly clear, if not self-evident: First, when civility becomes a culture, the would-be law breakers will have little incentive (if any) to act illegitimately and, therefore, may change their criminal plans (Souryal, 2011). Second, forming partnerships between citizens and COP officers allows the latter to claim real ownership of their districts while, at the same time, embolden COP officers to intervene in broader and more complex communal projects (i.e., natural crises, patriotic celebrations, athletic events, caring for the aged, teaching in schools, and role-modeling to community citizens. For instance, if a COP officer showed friendliness during a scheduled visit to a household, the entire community would more likely know and applaud their civil engagement. Third, as COP officers socialize more and more with citizens, they would open more channels of communication with all concerned, be better able to advise them to keep up their homes, instill security alarms, and turn the lights on at night. In time, citizens in the district may be motivated to do the same. Fourth, due to partnerships with community elders, the COP officers’ morale would be enhanced as they find themselves leading tourist groups, and accompanying dignitaries and influential politicians. Fifth, as COP officers cement their partnerships with citizens, they can be emboldened to negotiate with City Hall, school districts, religious centers, and large enterprises (e.g., Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, etc.). In summary, COP officers will be experts in two specific areas: (1) procedural justice and (2) aesthetic justice. The former can reduce crime rates, minimize acts of racial profiling, end gang activities, and settle differences between schools and parents of schoolchildren. The latter underscores community aesthetic activities, including keeping the streets clean, removing debris and abandoned vehicles, as well as organizing cabs in neat columns for patrons to call upon as well as reducing loud noises around hospitals, schools, and churches and assisting elderly individuals in procuring their medical or basic needs.

An Illustration from the UK

The author of this article recently visited the UK and had several interviews with members of the British Police-Community Support Officers (PCSO). They are police officers and have the authority to make an arrest (as a matter of last resort). From a structural perspective, they closely resemble Community-Oriented Policing in the United States except for being unarmed, always on foot, dressed in light blue uniforms, wearing blue soft hats, and hooked to their dispatchers through a small microphone fastened to their shirts’ epaulets. PCSOs do not


replace the Bobbies. They only enforce the law in two basic ways: (1) by handling “minor” law violations such as jay walking, turning car horns high, and running a red light, thus affording the Bobbies more opportunity to handle more serious cases; and (2) by providing the Bobbies with in-real-time suspected behaviors before any such behavior becomes rough enough to require intervention by the Bobbies. PCSOs modestly walk the old neighborhoods and blighted areas, display their presence in narrow lanes, conduct house-to-house enquiries, issue fixed fines to disorderly citizens, and assist the public in whatever they might legitimately need (The Home Office Circular, 2007).

There are two main differences between the British PCSOs and the American COP officers: (1) specific training and (2) a mild and comforting demeanor. For the first of these, PCSOs go through a short, yet intensive, training period for about three months depending on the financial resources of their own departments. The essence of this training is a culmination of what this article is about. Although they do not exactly use the word civility, they use other similar words such as public order, discipline, or propriety. On the second issue, PCSOs fight crime by displaying a more comforting and unthreatening demeanor which, in fact, exhibits democratic values and, in the absence of a British written constitution, it is not too different from democratic values as known in any true democracy. In talking with PCSOs, they stressed that the more civilly the police treat the citizens, the more the citizens obey their local police and get accustomed to living in a free, peaceful, and responsible culture. Because the PCSOs display laxity, yet confidence, the public normally responds with respect and gratitude. This, in turn, motivates the PCSOs to practice civic engagement with a great sense of responsibility.

In the U.S., COP officers normally do not receive any more training than regular patrol officers. Thus, while they may receive a longer term of training, their training is far from being consistent with their mission as COP officers. From a behavioral perspective, while COP officers in the U.S. are trained as police generalists, PCSOs are, perhaps, trained more as “modest gentle persons.” Another symbolic, yet significant, difference between the behavior of these two groups of professionals is that while the COP officers would rather be left alone unless called upon to act, PCSOs seem to be actively awaiting involvement with citizens. They also seem more familiar with understanding human behavior, social communication, as well as having an academic knowledge of moral philosophy. Also, by showing off their level of gregariousness, they seem to be more willing to serve. To quote a female PCSO, “Our unspoken weapon is treating the public with dignity, patience, and a sense of humor” (personal conversation, March 9, 2010). The PCSO’s goal is not necessarily fighting crime (this is left for the Bobbies), but, rather, it is convincing the public to portray themselves as fine “ladies and gentlemen,” which is consistent with acting civilly (Wilson, 1993). This type of behavior, PCSOs argued, can accomplish four specific goals: normalcy, without which abnormalities could be more easily spotted and addressed; justification, without which police decisions would be either random or arbitrary; discretion, without which innocent citizens would be protected; and logic, without which none of the before-mentioned goals would make any sense. One lesson to be gleaned from this discussion, perhaps, is that it might be necessary for COP officers to consider adopting a similar approach—not by copying the British model but by adapting their own attitude while, perhaps, displaying a more comforting and truthful willingness to serve and protect.


Hard and Soft Policing

Innes (2005a) of Britain marks a significant division between the Bobbies whom he calls “hard policing,” a force that is founded on “direct implementation of coercive power, hierarchal forms of organizations and subscribing closely to crime control theory,” and PCSOs whom he calls “soft policing” (Hopkins Burke, 2004). These two groups of police officers have been so characterized because their Original Condition (Hume’s term) is basically different. The former group acts formally and authoritatively, while the second acts sociologically human. In the U.S., there seems to be no radical difference between “hard or soft” policing since both corps are enacted concurrently—a condition that suggests that law and order cannot be wholly based upon hard policing, nor is it wholly based on soft policing. Innes (2005b), nevertheless, regrets the curvilinear distance between “street cops” (namely the Bobbies) and PCSOs who are the counterparts of American COP officers. Subsequently, Innes observed that Bobbies tend to treat PCSOs with disdain (Reiner, 2000), a behavior which is not too different from the case in the U.S. wherein COP officers are often perceived as a reserve police force (Fielding & Innes, 2006).

Innes (2005b) adds rather regretfully that “street cops,” almost all over the world, seem unable or unwilling to change their old Peelian (after Sir Robert Peel) mode of policing since it has been the only model they grew up with and totally relied upon (O’Toole, 1995). This state of dissonance might have caused consternation among American COP officers who subtly resent playing “second fiddle” to the “real cops.” Critics among them may also believe that they, COP officers, have been so organized for no other reason than appeasing the politicians who wanted to boast about increasing the number of police officers on the street or making their administrators look good (Souryal, 2007). Nevertheless, with the advent of new technologies (e.g., street cameras, fast computers, electronic communication, GPS technology, among other tools), the practical value of COP officers seemed to be rapidly slipping away.

Having said all that, it may be intriguing to note that numerous foreign countries (both developed and developing) continue to copy the American model unbeknownst to them that their native (village style) methods of crime control might be more effective in maintaining law and order and keeping crime rates low (e.g., Botswana, Kuwait, Bahrain, New Zealand, Baton, and to some extent, Israel). Moreover, in some developing countries, the American model of Community-Oriented Policing may have been adopted as a matter of propaganda, simply to demonstrate modernity and equivalence with more advanced countries. For instance, in a recent visit to two African countries, both of their Police Commissioners proudly stated, “As in your country, we also use Community-Oriented Policing.” After some friendly discussions, they mildly admitted that they really believed that their “village type” of policing is indeed more effective, as well as much more affordable (Quinn, 1999). It may also be surprising to know that after 9/11 events, no American police theorists or practitioners recommended that COP officers be assigned to guard and assist in the huge disaster that ensued in a manner akin to the “Special Police Force” activated during the London Blitz in 1941-1942. However, it should be noted that a few COP officers participated in mentoring Muslim citizens to avoid extremism and helped victims of violence to relocate after those disastrous events.


Cultivating True Democracies

The basic assumptions in this article are clear, if not self-evident. They are (1) with the exception of Cuba, North Korea, and China, the vast majority of countries claim to be democratic while, in reality, they are not. Defective democracies, if left unaddressed, can be dangerous to societies because they can be misleading or self-deceptive. Skeptics should only remember that Hitler (not unlike many other dictators) named his regime a social democracy and Qaddhafi of Libya called his regime Ghamaheria, which literally meant a super democracy; (2) while true democracies are fairly rare, they basically survive on the backs of enlightened institutions and individuals who are devoted to keeping them alive and prospering. It may also be worth remembering that after adjourning the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, when Benjamin Franklin was asked by citizens which type of government should they expect, he replied, “a Democracy, if you can keep it”; (3) for true democracies to survive, nations might have to fight wars in order to achieve peace (e.g., Iraq and Afghanistan). Skeptics who may doubt this comment should consider travelling in Central Africa, Central America, or Arab countries to see the disastrous consequences of incivility and phony democracies; (4) it would be contradictory (and rather deceptive) if a country were to claim its government as democratic yet that its police were not. Any such claim can demolish the integrity of the country in question; and (5) nowhere is the sentiment of civility as necessary as in the procedures of the criminal justice system wherein a small forgery or even a lie can condemn an innocent person to death. Sadly, it might be true that “the civility of nations is measured by the civility of their police” (Souryal, 2007, p. 130).

To underscore these assumptions, it might be more assuring to learn what Ian Johnston, President of the Police Superintendents’ Association in England in 2005 stated when he described the hidden side of the British police system:

[We] must learn to provide better service. . . . [O]ver half of the complaints against the police were about rudeness and incivility . . . [a] problem that has been exacerbated by officers having to spend all their time pursuing people for trivial offences in order to meet Home Office targets.” (Allen, 2008)

Johnston further added,

We [the police] cannot get away from the fact that national poll after national poll says that despite our record on crime levels, confidence is decreasing. So somewhere we are going wrong. (The Telegraph, 2002)

Ten Words of Caution

This article examines how communities can smartly reduce crime rates while, at the same time, maximize civility and reinforce democracy. These are two overriding goals that have threatened developed and developing societies for generations. One may envision four expectations that can make this goal a reality. First, in light of the huge financial investment in Community-Oriented Policing in the U.S. (and other countries), it seems imperative that governments take the first step in trying to change the way police theorists and practitioners think. Second, to achieve the reality, COP officers should become masters of reasoning, so they can capture the truth of the matter before taking any action based on opinion,


beliefs, sentiments, or hearsay. Third, to help develop true democracies as those in Scandinavian countries (or even Hong Kong or Singapore), countries should revisit the role of their COP officers and establish a small number of identifiable, honorable, and worthy missions. For such missions to truly succeed, they must pass the test of legal and moral legitimacy and be seriously taught to the officers in charge. If the missions are truly legitimate and necessary, COP leadership should consider innovative methods for accomplishing these few missions. Everyone at this planning stage should acknowledge and remember that “while all nations have crime, only civil nations can offer justice” (Souryal, 2011, p. 443). Fourth, COP leaders should take the issue of justice seriously since it is a key factor in the sociological equation. At this point, it should be acknowledged that a crime includes an act of injustice; therefore, the more justice is offered and preserved, the less crimes are contemplated or committed. Fifth, for true democracies to prosper and endure, there must already be a robust foundation of civility otherwise democracies will be stillborn. The reader should also realize that a bad democracy may be a worse option than no democracy at all. Sixth, civil police can create civil societies, which, in turn, enhance the emergence of civil democracies. Seventh, highlighting justice reinforces the chances for developing civil cultures, while, at the same time, lower crime rates accordingly. Eighth, if Community-Oriented Policing is to be so recasted, it would likely be one of the smartest plans to effectively utilize the police since Robert Peel passed “A Bill for Improving the Police In and Near the Metropolis” in 1829 (Souryal, 1977). Ninth, nothing other than that has worked in the past, or is likely to work in the future.

Structural-Functional Concerns

The structure and mission of Community-Oriented Policing in the U.S. have for a long time been treated rather randomly, if not haphazardly. By way of analogy, officers were made to believe that if they accomplished three specific functions, a miracle prophecy will automatically follow. These three functions were (1) exercising formal or informal (depending on the situation) control measures without inciting riots or stirring up violence, (2) ensuring people’s safety in their homes and for their effects without invading anyone’s privacy, and (3) creating a “civic trust” relationship between the police and the public whereas each side can count on the other. As for the miracle prophecy, it seems to have been lost.

Yet, while the structure of Community-Oriented Policing in the U.S. is theoretically laudatory, its application seemed hypothetical. To paraphrase a famous quote from an old movie, “if these objectives are attained, the miracle will occur.” As in most social transformations (e.g., democracy in Iraq, peace with Israel, non-nuclear Iran), there is no assurance that any miracles (in our case) will follow, let alone automatically. For one reason or another, the structural-functional aspects of Community-Oriented Policing seem hindered by complacency and lack of imagination (Taylor et al., 1998). It should be added that since its inception, Community-Oriented Policing came under scrutiny not from police chiefs or city administrators (who stood to gain both professionally and personally), but from seasoned patrol officers and supervisors, those who walk the beat so to speak. While, on the one hand, officers and supervisors kept awaiting the miracle prophecy to materialize, the prophecy seemed blunted because of the absence of clarity in their mission.


In Innes’ (2005b) article, “Why Soft Policing Is Hard,” he called attention to the inexplicable oscillation between “hard policing” by patrol officers and “soft policing” by COP officers. While Innes argues that while Community-Oriented Policing may under some circumstances succeed, in reality, that would be the exception rather than the rule (Oliver, 2008). Foremost among those who shared Innes’s doubts are not the high-ranking officers but the lower-level, “seasoned supervisors” (Oliver, 2008). Disappointed, yet not wanting to risk their careers, these officers have little hope that Community-Oriented Policing can ever be productive. Second, due to their long experiences in policing, seasoned COP officers accuse their departments of being hypocritical: While their departments claim to encourage discretion and transparency, they, on the other hand, become alarmed when the officers make a bold discretionary choice. Such a contradictory state seems more consistent with Goldstein’s (1979) comment, “purely structural arrangements for achieving accountability do not, on their own, reach the problems citizens most want to reach” (p. 301). And, if this is accurate, it would be necessary to change the entire structural-functional body of Community-Oriented Policing. And, if this is plausible, it would be necessary to reform the structural-functional combination of Community-Oriented Policing both conceptually and practically if the entire system is to survive. The most adequate solution to this quandary might perhaps be learning from the PCSOs. Only when COP officers are sufficiently re-educated both conceptually and temperamentally will there be enough hope that they can succeed, and only then can Aristotle’s (1979) four attributes of the polis be met (Preface). In sum, Community-Oriented Policing should consider moving from the traditional prescriptive model to the logical model.

The Traditional Perspective: Police Is Primary

Writers on the Community-Oriented Policing model have been partially oblivious to the need for an ethical dimension to support a humanity-based style of policing. Although many seasoned officers continue to argue that “policing is policing is policing,” there are four arguments against that view. First, this view portrays COP officers as mere messengers rather than role models, mediators, and protectors of the peace. Continuing this trend can further embolden would-be criminals to commit more criminal acts without risking being caught. Second, requiring more education for COP officers can suggest they are a preferred group of officers who, once educated, will deserve and demand higher pay. Third, some regular police departments may harbor the wrong assumption that once they declare themselves members of the Community-Oriented Policing Club and perhaps accredited, they deserve a prima facie higher status than officers in noncertified police agencies. This belief—despite the best intentions of its supporters—can create a serious illusion not much different from when the FBI claimed it had totally “prevented all” terroristic attacks in the United States, which was untrue. Fourth, police departments that practice Community-Oriented Policing are understaffed to such a point that it makes little impact in the broader equation. This can make the more efficient COP officers “lose heart,” abstain from making partnerships with citizens in their districts, or doubt the ability of their supervisors, and, as a result, take their jobs less seriously than is required. If this occurs, Community-Oriented Policing may be ineffectual and lose its claim to legitimacy and give credence to the bureaucracy they were accustomed to for years.


The Original Perspective: Community Is First

Since the times of Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. followed Aristotle’s views on the supremacy of the idea of the independent polis (i.e., community) which, in Aristotle’s view, was far superior to any other institution in his time. Yet, in previous policing experiments (i.e., team policing, problem-oriented policing, Zero Tolerance policing, Fixing Windows Policing, among other theories), the significance of the independent community was central to designing local administration. Indeed, the original design of police had little to do with crime and more to do with promoting civil and harmonious communities (Aristotle, 1979). Moreover, the polis idea was more about the state’s ability to promote an independent civil Community that can resolve its own conflicts, pass its own constitutions, and try its own law violators. In a sense, this idea minimized the impact of crime, prevented violence, and promoted civility. Although harmonious communities could function under a repressive police style (i.e., Jewish ghettos in Poland and the Inquisition System), no amount of advanced policing could function independently from the sovereignty of community interests and community welfare. As suggested before, when civility rises, there would be a far better chance for democracy to emerge, at least in the image of human rights.

Without civility, and regardless of the best intentions of COP agencies, true democracy will have no chance to “hatch” (Taylor et al., 1998). Hegel called this phenomenon of hatching “organicism” (Lavine, 1984, p. 264). He considered it essential to the gradual evolution of the civil state since it allows a natural interdependence among all the parts essential to sustaining the whole (Lavine, 1984). On the other hand, implementing Community-Oriented Policing in third-world countries where civility is low will, under no circumstances, foster a true democracy. (Arab countries have been trying that for a long time but failed.) Indeed, we reason that without treating the community with justice; dignity; honesty; and the interconnectedness between professional policing, civil communities, and constitutional restraints, true democracy would have no chance to emerge anywhere (Taylor et al., 1998).

Toward Recasting Community-Oriented Policing

Transparency International records (1993-2003) show that the more civil the community, the more democratic it is. The same source also shows that the ten most democratic countries in the world (N = 192) have considerably lower crime rates than any rich—but less civil—countries. The more likely conclusion, then, is that unless the public is community-schooled in the arts of civility and complies with such arts, principle countries can hardly achieve democracy.

The logistics of recasting Community-Oriented Policing requires internal and external intervention combined with a standard knowledge in human sanctions. External intervention is initially learned under the tutelage of parents, teachers, preachers, and role models. Examples include principles such as “first come, first served,” “no littering in the streets,” “accepting and respecting justice,” “treating all people equally,” and “expressing compassion to the poor and the needy.” These sanctions are usually learned at home and then reinforced in lower schools, high schools, as well as colleges. In time, such principles become one’s “second skin” and are internalized in the deepest cells of one’s brain. Consider, for instance, the


cultural habit of Muslim households to slaughter a sheep inside the house or on the street to celebrate a religious event. In most cases, patrol officers ignore such practices as a weird cultural habit endorsed by many clerics. This is certainly a morbid example, yet the practice could be aborted with the intervention of a brave police-community officer who could convince family members of the incivility involved in this practice. In time, the entire neighborhood would hear about the incident and abstain from practicing the old way and accept the contribution of the concerned COP officer. Yet, for this to work, COP officers should be humble enough and eloquent enough to analytically convince community members instead of offering personal opinions, bias, or whims. Further, four subsequent ideas are presented here to articulate what a reformed COP agency can do to cement the relationship between the police and the community, and, in turn, democracy:

1. Community-Oriented Policing is a culturally based philosophy. Regardless of how it operates, its main advantage is being flexible by making the community civil enough and ready to appreciate democracy. Obviously, the factors behind this equation include the community’s level of literacy, sophistication, available funds, and docility. In other words, while COP programs should be guided by certain rules and regulations, such rules and regulations should be allowed to vary from one community to another, and one situation to another. As mentioned earlier, it is hoped that, in the future, community members would be swayed to get involved in attractive projects such as respecting the trees, lowering global warning, encouraging musical festivals, or displaying murals in central locations. As an example of flexibility, during the First World War, the French soldiers and the German soldiers were fighting a trench war against each other (1914-1918), yet both armies decided to stop fighting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because they considered fighting during Christmas a seriously uncivil act in practicing Christianity.

2. Community-Oriented Policing should not pander for the purpose of looking good. For example, many public agencies are used to pandering to endear the police to the community. Examples include standing almost still at athletics stadiums or in front of synagogues and churches on Saturday or Sunday, basically to impress the community members. Alternatively, humble acts of civility can more effectively capture the “hearts and minds” of communities by motivating their constituents to honor nobility, including police nobility (Wilson, 1983).

3. Police Chiefs Should Make House Calls. This idea might reflect one of the most civil practices in community affairs—police chiefs and COP supervisors adopting a habit of making random house calls (obviously at the invitation of the household). This idea, if adopted, can certainly have a great impact on the community when neighbors next day realize how far the police are personally reaching out to their community.

4. For Community-Oriented Policing to succeed, they should be serious. COP agencies should be keen to select intelligent officers (preferably with 30 credit hours of college education) who are personally and intelligently dedicated to serving the “public good.” Such qualifications are essential. Yet, while such candidates may be rare, there are likely a number of individuals who are willing to volunteer and, at the same time, fit the profile. What makes recruitment of such officers rather difficult might be the old skepticism of police officers regarding their


leaders’ desire to hire who they want rather than who would be best for the common good (Denhardt, 1987; Herzberg, 1976; Hummel, 1994; Kleinig, 1996; Souryal, 2007). Whatever the case might be, it seems safe to suggest that many police departments can find “good individuals” to hire.

Can It Work?

Cordner (1995) discusses four dimensions of Community-Oriented Policing: (1) philosophical, (2) strategic, (3) tactical, and (4) organizational. While his discussion is informative, it stops short of answering a number of important questions. For instance, what evidence supports the view that these four dimensions are the only qualifying dimensions applicable to COP agencies? Might there not be smaller departments, rural departments, and more or less affluent departments where Cordner’s views may not fit? Also, what good are these four dimensions if the officers (the agents themselves) are misinformed or mistreated, therefore, unwilling to comply? Also, how much cooperation should exist between Community-Oriented Policing and the mother police department as well as the regional institution? Summarily, the question to Cordner should be “Is that all we can offer?”

By contrast, Morris (1997), in addressing business and bureaucratic institutions, presents another set of four dimensions that naturally encompass the soul of Community-Oriented Policing: (1) the intellectual dimension that seeks the truth, (2) the moral dimension that seeks goodness, (3) the spiritual dimension that seeks unity, and (4) the aesthetic dimension that seeks temperance. While a comparison between Cordner’s work and Morris’s may be irrelevant in this article, the integration of both works can be empirically useful to both models. Furthermore, COP officers should naturally be interested in serving individuals as well as communities. Such officers should be more than willing to act as partners in the social connection between the governors and the governed. Furthermore, in a democracy, sovereignty should unquestionably be in the people’s domain and not in the hands of the police. Moreover, officers must be of the opinion that if communities are worth serving, they should be served well. Finally, communities would sincerely appreciate it if the police succeeded in resolving their problems rather than the problems being ignored, forgotten, or left for the communities to resolve.

Most importantly, COP officers should be analytically alert and not accept cheap managerial slogans such as “the ends justify the means,” which is only true if the means are legitimate. Any other interpretation would be foolish. Finally, for Community-Oriented Policing to be honorable and noble, the officers themselves must act as democratic role models who are duty bound to serve the “common good” and only in “good faith.” This might give credence to the statement, “Good faith is the only virtue that can make all other virtues possible” (Souryal, 2007, p. 274).

The Enlightenment Challenge

Consistent with the previous reservations and the imperative to instill a moral dimension in Community-Oriented Policing, the following are global propositions that can be grouped under the rubric of instilling civility. They constitute a single body of virtue for all concerned. The following four concepts should be applied


together; if one is missing, then the whole template is flawed: (1) reasoning, (2) justice, (3) good faith, and (4) discretion.

Reasoning

Reasoning is a fundamental human capacity that separates human beings from all other creatures. Other creatures may instinctively think in short flashes, but they are unable to reason. Reasoning can be defined as a “pure method of thinking by which proper conclusions are reached through abstract thought processes” (Souryal, 2007, p. 12). Among Plato’s famous four levels of knowledge—opinion, belief, science, and reasoning—reasoning is the paramount talent. It basically commands one’s brain to dialectically debate (within itself) all aspects of the subject being questioned, examining all points of view, and selecting the best option without bias, favoritism, or personal gain. By the same token, the out-product of reasoning is logic, the art of proof by confronting one’s agonist with self-evident facts that cannot be denied.

In Community-Oriented Policing, it is essential that officers understand how to reason and how to use logic rather than acting upon opinion or belief. Without the reasoning process, COP officers will be compelled to make decisions based on their personal opinions, experiences, religious faiths, family traditions, or fable stereotypes. On the other hand, the absence of reasoning can ruin the integrity of an arrest, lead to contrived evidence, or make a mockery of the virtue of justice.

Justice Above All

COP officers should understand that, consistent with the rule of antonyms, crime is an act of injustice. Hence, the logical lesson is to train community officers to think, first and foremost, of the primacy of justice. Stated differently, if there is no standard of justice, there cannot be a standard of crime. As such, COP officers should more actively function as agents of justice if they want to effectively reduce crime. St. Augustine stated “when there is no justice, then what is the role of the state but a band of robbers expanded?” (Souryal, 2007, p. 151).

While justice has been defined differently by many philosophers (see Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, Locke, Rawls, and Nozick), they all, in essence, identify the practice of giving each what he or she deserves (Solomon & Murphy, 2000). Hence, the critical task of Community-Oriented Policing is to honestly and accurately determine “Who deserves what and why?” Responding to this question can be critical to COP officers as long as the question remains unexplained. According to Aristotle (1979), justice is the middle ground between two extremes—one is excessiveness and the other is insufficiency. The ideal practice of justice therefore—short of scientific standards—is selecting the middle ground between the two extremes, provided the officer is acting in good faith without bias or malice.

Injustice, on the other hand, is not necessarily the opposite of justice since, according to the rule of contrarians, the opposite of justice is not injustice but the absence of justice, and the opposite of injustice is not justice but the absence of injustice. This distinction is critical to COP officers since (unless there are other incriminating factors) the officers must treat citizens with equal standards.


Good Faith Action

Acting in good faith is another condition required of all police, especially COP officers. Accordingly, unless justified (as in keeping classified information), COP officers should not voluntarily lie, cheat, or steal. Acting in good faith literally means acting justly to all; telling the truth; or making decisions based only on the merits of the situation while upholding the moral standards of honesty, fidelity, and obligation. Given the different culture in Britain, the PCSOs like to advocate that if they treated the public in good faith, the public would almost certainly, reciprocate, a belief which obviously cannot be interpreted universally. Regardless of differences in culture, however, the British belief may be thought of as a natural law. Even if the constituents do not reciprocate, PCSOs argue, it would be more likely that community members would look up to the PCSOs and appreciate their role as “ladies and gentlemen.”

Justified Discretion

Discretion is the practice of focusing one’s attention on the most sensible option available at the time, among a variety of other options. It can be defined as the officers’ ability to use their independent judgement in blurred situations when there is no readily available advice from a supervisor or a partner at the time. Discretion is necessary for all public or private servants, yet it may be most essential to police officers, and even more so to COP officers since they normally work alone without close supervision. As such, making accurate discretionary decisions requires much more profound reasoning, higher moral justification, and responsible judgment. It requires the application of new professional skills to particular problems or incidents. A guiding formula for police discretion is presented in Souryal’s (2011) work. The formula is E=PJ2 in which E (the ethical decision) equals P (the ethical principle involved) times J (the degree of justification observed), and the square power of 2 refers to possible exegesis for the officer to determine how justifiable is the discretion selected earlier. For instance, violating the speed limit to take a dying child to the hospital is by far more important than speeding to catch a plane, to attend a class, or to eat lunch. Ethical discretion represents the epitome of the justification process since the power of P is constant, while the power of J can be a changing variable. An application of this formula has been recently adopted by the New Haven Police Department (1996). The policy explains police discretion via this more mathematical approach.

Summarily, the global lessons to be learned from the concept of justified discretion are preventing crime, reducing citizen fear, facilitating public discourse, creating an atmosphere of civility, and improving the quality of life in the neighborhood. As such, COP officers should be most keen to intervene at the following three levels: (1) educating the offenders by teaching them the rules of civility and the consequences of incivility; (2) informing the offenders of the consequences of incivility; and (3) if the reply is negative, then arresting the offender without an apology. The New Haven policy also presented six possible levels of justification: (1) the gravity of the crime, (2) the time of the crime, (3) the location of the crime, (4) the condition of the offender(s), (5) the condition of the victim(s), and (6) the number of suspects involved. According to this policy, officers can more accurately evaluate the justification of their discretion in a specific situation and calculate whether it warrants either accentuating or mitigating factors that can modify the charges to be pressed.


Summary and Recommendations

Since the 1990s and the early 2000s, the effectiveness of Community-Oriented Policing in the United States has been progressively weaker, and its reputation (as well as its performance) has been diminished. Especially after the 9/11 events, it became almost obsolete. It seemed to suffer from the absence of a sound set of missions or a clear declaration of what the officers’ assignments were. In essence, there seemed to be a structure that was unable to support what the required functions needed.

This article is not designed to criticize Community-Oriented Policing but to applaud what they have been doing as well as what they can do in the future. The discussions herein examined the ways and means available to revitalize the system in the U.S. as well as in countries that use different models of community policing. The purpose of this article is to help transform the institution of Community-Oriented Policing into a robust yet humanistic modern model, one that is supported by new organizational missions, a better educated line of officers, and a more diversified leadership style. The purpose of this transformation is to turn the institution into a modern factory designed for promoting civility as the foundation for reinforcing democracy. The model appears like a win-win scheme since any increase in civility would translate to a drop in crime rates. The proposed transformation should be based on humanity, justice, and dignity for the community residents. This, in itself, can raise the morale of COP officers coupled with far more effective propositions to upgrade the welfare of the communities involved and maximize the COP officers’ motivation to create a new and improved structural-functional relationship—all while lowering the motivation of would-be criminals to commit crime since the paths of justice and dignity would be available, open, and unthreatening.

This article recommends redesigning Community-Oriented Policing nationwide by forging a scientific balance between police demands for law and order and the human rights’ demands for an honest and open system of government. For these reforms to occur, however, officers should be re-educated; missions must be redesigned; and communities need to be partners that can share decisionmaking, management techniques, and a united motivation to establish a worthy, yet effectual, system of higher levels of civility and organization with highly advanced technologies that can serve state and national needs. Subsequently, a new democratic system will likely emerge, one that can exercise social control both formally as well as informally without inciting violence; ensure people’s safety without violating their privacy; and enhance the civic trust between the police and the community to the extent that each side would be eagerly willing to aid the other. These developments will emerge and survive at a most affordable cost. As is the case in the UK and in other advanced countries, the new Community-Oriented Policing system will require an intensive educational program in soft philosophy, elementary justice, ethics and decency, and dignity and etiquette—all mixed with a display of pleasantness, compassion, and humility. Furthermore, like members of the Peace Corps, COP officers should be selected wisely on the basis of merit, education, and a lot of passion to serve their communities faithfully yet efficiently.


References

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Kleinig, J. (1996). The ethics of policing. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Sam S. Souryal is professor of Criminal Justice and Ethics in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the American University in Cairo, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. A former police officer and a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Indonesia, Dr. Souryal has also taught public administration, organization theory, and police management at the University of Wisconsin and at Sam Houston State University. He later turned to teaching moral philosophy, justice, ethics, and civility. He has published Police Administration and Management (West Publishers, 1977), Police Management and Organization (Anderson, 1992), Ethics in Criminal Justice: In Search of the Truth (Anderson, 2003, 2007, 2011), and Islam, Islamic Law, and the Turn to Violence (OJCJ, 2004).


A Higher Education Programme Designed to Encourage Informed Career Decisions and Career Retention of Police OfficersRuth McGrath, Senior Lecturer in PolicingIan K. Pepper, Principal Lecturer in Policing Law, Policing, and InvestigationTeesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

Authors’ Note: The research for this study was longitudinal in nature, with only one programme being held per year. We originally published a paper based on early course participants (this research is referred to in the article). We subsequently continued the research, gathering additional data, with this article incorporating some of that additional data. Our interpretation has been influenced by more recent changes to the national policing agenda, reflecting our interest in exploring how these findings impact on a different audience.

Introduction

This paper will explore one aspect of Teesside University’s (UK) policing provision, focusing upon one short awareness programme, the Potential Police Officer and Community Support Officers Course, designed and delivered to assist individuals to make a career choice when considering working within the policing arena (in any role, whether voluntary or paid). Outcomes will be supported by research data. It will suggest that the programme may have long-term benefits in terms of individuals entering the application process and being retained in post, such benefits impacting upon both individuals and police forces. Elements of the programme will be considered in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, summarising its position in the current austere economic climate.

The Context

The police service of the United Kingdom (UK) consists of 43 police forces across England and Wales (referred to as Home Office forces), eight police forces in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland, and a number of other law enforcement agencies with specific roles such as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). This work will refer in the main to the Home Office forces, and in particular to one force based in the northeast of England.

Initial training in policing skills in the UK has historically been delivered on commencement of employment and has been delivered primarily by police officer trainers at one of a number of regional training centres used solely by the police for such training. In 2002 a report summarising the outcomes of a thematic inspection of police training, Training Matters, led to the introduction of some radical changes to training (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary [HMIC], 2002).


One major change was the closure of police training centres. This change aimed to increase the effectiveness of police training by allowing individual forces the opportunity to deliver their training locally, shaping their curriculum to encompass flexibility in responding to local needs rather than being dictated by the content of a regional or nationally determined curriculum. This change was designed to make initial police training “fit for purpose,” preparing new officers for their operational role within their local communities.

The Introduction of the Foundation Degree

Teesside University had an extensive portfolio of specialist police-related programmes which were already being offered to police officers across the country. The University was approached by a local police force and entered into negotiations to support an initial police learning and development programme. This led to the development and introduction of one of the first Foundation Degree programmes for police officers in the UK; and in 2004, newly appointed officers began attending the University to receive their initial police training. The delivery is partially classroom-based, the content being balanced between academic and practical work, and partially within the workplace, with assessments comprising a mixture of both academic and practical tasks. The Foundation Degree runs over a period of two years (in line with the police officer probationary period) and is similar to an Associate’s degree in the United States.

Since the introduction of the Foundation Degree, policing provision within Teesside University has expanded to offer educational programmes for a range of other roles, including special constables (volunteer police officers) and police community support officers (PCSOs), with further links being forged and strengthened with a number of other UK police forces across a range of disciplines. Many university policing programmes are delivered collaboratively with their police partner, which is considered to be a strength due to its assistance in maintaining currency and a practical basis.

The Police Recruitment Process

It is important to note that in the majority of Home Office police forces, applicants for the roles of special constables, PCSOs, and police officers have to undergo a lengthy recruitment process, one element of which comprises the nationally adopted Assessment Centre process known as “Police SEARCH” (Structured Entrance Assessment for Recruiting Constables Holistically) (National Policing Improving Agency [NPIA], 2009). While there are slight differences between the assessment centres, based on role requirements, the exercises incorporated are generally similar, including interviews, and written and interactive exercises. These are designed to assess individuals against relevant competencies and to aid in the selection of candidates most appropriate for the role. It is only after successful completion of all elements that an individual will be considered for a post. This is of course a process which incurs indirect costs to the police force in terms of the time to process applications and staff the assessment centres along with the time and effort the applicant commits to being successful, or otherwise, throughout the process.


Police Officer Retention Issues

One human resourcing issue which all UK forces closely monitor is that of retention of police officers. While considered to be a relatively stable employment body, police officers do leave the police service for a number of reasons. Police officers are costly to employ, and they attend training prior to completing their probation and becoming fully fledged operational officers. For example, the Metropolitan Police (2011) estimate that in 2010 the total cost of training a police officer over 110 days during their two-year probationary period was £16,694; this figure does not take into account the amount of time an officer spends with an experienced colleague during on the job training or the costs of initial recruitment. It is therefore important to explore to what extent officers leave within their probationary period and the reasons for this. Once appointed, police forces must take steps to ensure retention of new recruits (NPIA, 2010).

Cooper and Ingram (2004) conducted a study which incorporated ten police forces in the UK, analysing responses from 302 police officers who had left by way of resignation or transfer. Within their study, they discovered that a large percentage, almost half of those police officers leaving the police service, were probationary officers, with half of those having resigned within six months of joining the service.

A more recent study establishes that reasons for leaving the police service, which may be generally applied to officers with less than two years of service, include resignation, dismissal, and, less frequently, transfer (Disney, 2011). Reasons for resignation are many and varied. A study of U.S. police officers reported a range of reasons why they resigned, including the feeling of not fitting in (Fischer, Sergevnin, & Zadorskaya, 2001). Thus, it is suggested that the feelings of U.S. police officers differ little from those of the UK police officers.

The Potential Police and Community Support Officers Course

In 2006, an opportunity arose for the university to develop a short programme in partnership with the police to be delivered as a four-day summer school. This free course, the Potential Police and Community Support Officers Course, was advertised regionally via the university website, a summer school brochure, and the partner police force’s recruiting department. The programme was restricted to 30 student places, which were always fully subscribed prior to its commencement.

This short programme was designed specifically to offer an insight into the varied roles within the police service, aimed at any members of the community interested in finding out more information before making a career decision. It was anticipated that having had the benefit of the opportunity to understand more about the policing function, the participants would be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not they wished to pursue this career path at a far earlier stage.

One of the early drivers for the development of this programme arose from anecdotal evidence of Foundation Degree students being surprised to discover the reality of the workplace—for example, the requirement for all new officers to work unsocial hours (such as nights) once they had left their initial training and taken up an operational role. It was felt that by addressing seemingly basic issues such as these from the outset, prior to commencement of the formal recruitment


process, time and money would be saved for all of the parties involved; it also ensured that the uncertain candidates could make an informed decision.

The local police force participated in the planning and delivery of the programme. The curriculum was designed in such a way as to offer insight into the police service, including a series of taster lectures on topics which would be studied as a newly recruited probationary police officer (such as criminal law and forensic awareness), together with practical sessions discussing the recruitment process and recruitment exercises to enable the participants to judge their own levels of English language and maths against the national recruitment requirements.

The programme was delivered within the university; this enabled access to the library, the classroom, and its facilities. The opportunity was given for each student to undertake and experience the national recruitment fitness test, led by a police fitness trainer and using relevant equipment loaned by the police force. Academic assessment attached to the sessions led to the achievement of higher education credits at Level 4 (Level 4 is equivalent to the standard of the first year of UK undergraduate study and that which would be expected of a new police officer studying for a Foundation Degree). This in itself assisted in dispelling individual myths about capabilities and gave students’ goals to enable their development of personal skills prior to submitting their formal application for recruitment and employment.

Expert speakers provided honest insights into the police service, clarifying basic points, offering information, and answering questions on topics such as the time taken for recruitment and opportunities for career development. The course was given further credibility through the participation of uniformed officers ranging from a Chief Officer to a uniformed patrol officer. In years following the initial course, the credibility of the programme was enhanced by speakers who had previously attended this programme and had been successful in their applications and were now employed as special constables, PCSOs, and police officers (Pepper & McGrath, 2010).

The programme was delivered once. When invited to deliver it a second time, it was considered worthwhile to conduct research to enable some measurement of the value of the programme. Accordingly, students were requested to participate in research consisting of a questionnaire at the beginning of the programme and on completion to ascertain if the programme had affected their career aspirations and their desire to join the police service.

The figures shown in the two tables below are based upon 53 respondents from three cohorts in three programmes run over a period of 18 months.

In the initial questionnaire, respondents were asked to record their career aspirations against a series of options. Four identified they had not decided on a specific aspect of policing. One member of the group selected two areas; otherwise, most respondents identified one specific area of interest—that of a police officer.


Table 1. Initial Questionnaire – At Commencement

Age Group

Male Female

36-5018-24 25-35 36-50 18-24 25-35

TotalsPCSO 2 1 0 1 0 1 5Special Police Constable 4 1 0 0 0 0 5Police Officer 8 4 3 12 5 5 37Police Support Staff 1 0 0 2 0 0 3Don’t Know/ 4 0 0 0 2 0 6Not ApplicableTotal 56

The second questionnaire again asked respondents to record their aspirations. The same options were offered, together with an additional area of “No longer interested.”

Table 2. Second Questionnaire – At Completion

Age Group

Male Female

36-5018-24 25-35 36-50 18-24 25-35

TotalsPCSO 5 2 2 4 4 2 19Special Police Constable 8 3 3 12 4 4 34Police Constable 13 3 2 12 5 6 41Police Support Staff 1 0 1 1 2 0 5Don’t Know/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Not ApplicableNo Longer Interested 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Total 102

Source: Pepper & McGrath (2010)

Three respondents selected the option of “No longer interested.” This surely has led to savings in time and costs for all parties involved. A large percentage of respondents had now indicated two or more areas of interest, which suggests that having received background information during the four days, they were now in a position to understand the varied roles within policing and make an informed decision about their career choices and direction.

It is important not to overlook the changing financial position of the police service. Police recruitment levels are difficult to project and vary in accordance with Home Office objectives. At the time the programme was introduced in 2006, police recruitment was at a peak, with forces struggling to maintain their establishment numbers. Shortly after the study commenced, recruitment began steadily decreasing; and in 2010, several forces froze recruitment, thus reducing opportunities for employment as a police officer. In 2011, financial uncertainties and measures of austerity led the police service as a whole to temporarily halt recruitment of all staff in an attempt to reduce their numbers in the face of budgetary cutbacks.


The Future

The police service as a whole has started to recognise the potential value of such awareness and pre-join courses along with the benefits that volunteer roles, such as special constables, can offer for police recruitment in terms of financial savings, experiences, and transferrable skills. The Metropolitan Police Service has publicly acknowledged that future regular police officers will be recruited from the volunteer special constabulary, PCSOs, and those with appropriate qualifications (BBC, 2010), and other police forces are no doubt set to follow. This positive step forward is acknowledged by Neyroud (2011) who is supportive of initiatives such as those of the Metropolitan Police Service as a way to encourage potential police officer recruits to experience policing and become qualified before joining the service.

So the future of police recruitment in the UK seems to be changing its focus from education and training after recruitment to an expectation of individuals going some way towards educating and training themselves through educational study and volunteer police roles prior to employment, which substantially reduces costs for the employing agency but does transfer some costs to the aspiring police officer.

Conclusion

The Potential Police Officer and Community Support Officers Course was an innovative development which met a gap in the marketplace and was successful in informing potential police service applicants. Findings from the research suggest the benefits of the programme of allowing individuals to select the most interesting career path to apply for within policing and providing them with the expectations within these roles. It also allowed students to de-select in terms of deciding not to pursue a policing career. All told, these outcomes must have financial and time saving benefits for both police forces and individual applicants.

However, policing is a dynamic discipline which must be supported by current and effective education and training. With the police service as a whole seeking financial savings and the forthcoming changes to police recruitment, the Potential Police Officer and Community Support Officers Course will evolve into a full pre-join educational programme linked with work-based practice to meet the recruitment and operational needs of 21st-century policing.

References

BBC. (2010, September 30). New Met police officers “recruited from volunteers.” BBC News: London. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11446894.

Cooper, C., & Ingram, I. (2004). Retention of police officers: A study of resignations and transfers in ten forces (RDS Occasional Paper No. 86). London: Home Office.

Disney, R. (2011). The remuneration of the police in the United Kingdom. In T. P. Winsor (Ed.), Independent review of police officer and staff remuneration and conditions – Part 1 report (Appendix 4). London: The Stationery Office.


Fischer, R. J., Sergevnin, V. A., & Zadorskaya, D. A. (2001). A new paradigm for police officer retention: Intellectual capital v. the law enforcement officer. Law Enforcement Executive Forum, 1(3), 21-29.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). (2002). Training matters. London: Home Office.

Metropolitan Police. (2011). Freedom of information request no: How much does it cost to train a police officer in your force? How long does the training take? Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/disclosure_2011/may/2011040001974.pdf.

National Policing Improving Agency (NPIA). (2009). Information for candidates. Harrogate, UK: NPIA.

NPIA. (2010). Special constabulary recruitment marketing and retention surveys: Report of findings. Harrogate, UK: NPIA.

Neyroud, P. (2011). Review of police leadership and training: Volume one. London: Home Office.

Pepper, I. K., & McGrath, R. (2010). Pre-employment course: A partnership for success? Education and Training, 52(3), 245-254.

Ruth McGrath is a Senior Lecturer in Policing at Teesside University, responsible for delivery within a number of policing programmes with partner organisations. She is a former Police Sergeant with experience across a range of policing specialist areas, including Road Policing, Criminal Investigation, and Custodial Duties. Additionally, she had responsibility for training staff at all levels of the organisation, including law training; management training; training of new police recruits, special constables, and police community support officers; and of new trainers, both within the police service and partner agencies. As a SEARCH Assessor, she has been involved in recruitment of police officers and PCSOs. She has presented papers at conferences in the UK and has contributed to a course textbook, Working in Policing, which was published in the summer of 2011.

Ian K. Pepper is the principal lecturer in Policing at the University of Teesside, UK. Ian manages and teaches on a range of specialist education and training programmes in partnership with law enforcement and criminal justice organisations. He is a former senior lecturer in Crime Scene and Forensic Science, police crime scene investigator (CSI), and fingerprint officer. He has been an instructor and team leader at the National Training Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation and has designed and delivered training to crime scene investigators and police officers in the Far East, Middle East, Africa, and across the UK. Ian has also presented papers at conferences in the UK, the United States, and Canada and has a number of publications, including the book Crime Scene Investigation: Methods and Procedures (2nd ed.) (2010). Ian is a member of the International Association for Identification and the Fingerprint Society.


Socialization Process to Improving Treatment to Meet the Social Developmental Needs of Delinquent YouthBarry S. McCrary, EdD

Importance of the Discussion

The importance of this discussion is to explore the various explanations that contribute to delinquent behavior and provide treatment based on the various contributing factors. There are many factors that influence delinquent acts such as environmental influences and individual choices. The purpose of this project is to formulate a treatment method that will best address the environmental factors and personal choice of inner-city male youth to better meet their social development needs.

Literature Review

Summary

This article also includes a review of literature pertinent to the topic to improve treatment to meet the social development needs of delinquent youth. This article also serves to place the project topic within the framework of explanations of delinquent behavior from the context of socialization.

Socialization

Socialization refers to the preparation of newcomers to become members of an existing group, and to think, feel, and act in ways the group considers appropriate (Persell, 1987). Socialization is also an interactive process through which individuals negotiate their definition of the situation with others. Socialization is a combination of social structure and process that influence individual’s free will and human autonomy. There are three distinct aspects of socialization: (1) the context in which it occurs, (2) the actual content and processes people use to socialize others, and (3) the result arising from those contexts and processes (Persell, 1987).

Context of Socialization

Context is the stage in which socialization occurs. Social context includes culture, language, and social structure such as the class, ethnic, and gender hierarchies of a society (Persell, 1987). Expanding cultural understanding of young men will enable the workers to gain a greater awareness of the “why” behind behavioral characteristics and how certain behaviors are interwoven within the culture (Wynn, 1992). Cultural consciousness is important in treatment to meet the social developmental needs of delinquent youth. Most cities are diverse, and communities have people of different genders, age, religions, race, class, sexual orientation,


and physical abilities. A treatment approach that neglects cultural consciousness runs the risk of not meeting the needs not only of the youth offender but also of the community in which the offender lives. Valuing cultural diversity begins to address the issue of respecting the rights of others. Culture is the central starting point which influences a person’s individual character, personal make up, family structure, society, and the total environment.

Content and Processes of Socialization

The content and processes of socialization is like the play, the lines, and the actor (Persell, 1987). This is the process of learning what is passed from member to novice. The processes are those interactions that convey how to act, behave, and speak. If behavior can be learned, then delinquent behavior can also be learned.

According to the various theories, the correlations between delinquency and the family relationship are considerable. According to Glueck and Glueck (1950), future delinquency in young boys can be predicted from knowledge of five family factors:

1. Discipline by father2. Supervision by mother3. Affection of the father for son4. Affection of mother for son5. Cohesiveness of family

If these factors can predict the likelihood to become delinquent, then treatment approaches should consider these factors in developing a treatment plan. Also, children of parents with drug and alcohol problems are the result of many complex and related elements—some biological, some psychological, and some learned.

According to Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay (1942), theories suggest delinquency was conceptualized as a group behavior of lower-class juveniles who lack easy access to legitimate means of reaching important goals.

According to Lundman (1984), delinquent gangs form as a result of a lack of access to legitimate means and represent “an alternative means of acquiring, or attempting to acquire, social and economic goals idealized by the social system which are acquired by other people through conventional means” (p. 162).

The theory behind community-based treatment is that, for treatment purposes, the members of delinquent groups would be exposed to law-abiding juvenile justice workers which would make them ambivalent about their own involvement in delinquency. The reason that treatment needs to be continued in the community is because it is in the community that juveniles make their delinquent decisions. Also, treatment in the community should be centered on group treatment sessions because it was the reward structure of delinquent groups in most cases that caused juveniles to mask ambivalence in favor of an appearance of delinquent commitment.

To successfully treat youth, treatment needs to provide realistic alternative rewards for expressing ambivalence and for exploring the possibility of abandoning


delinquent behavior. Another theory that recognized the environment as an attributing factor for juvenile delinquency was Robert Merton’s Theory of Anomie (Shoemaker, 1984). Merton was reacting against biological theories and implying that social structures exert pressure on some persons to behave in nonconforming ways rather than conforming ways. This approach is therefore sociological with an emphasis on the social structure. Merton explains two elements of social and cultural structures: (1) goals—the aspirations of all individuals in society and (2) means—socially approved methods that involve the elements of norms which are culturally defined.

Merton designed a typology to describe the methods or modes of adaptation that were available to those who react to society’s goals and means. He identified five modes: (1) conformity, (2) innovation, (3) ritualism, (4) retreatism, and (5) rebellion. Conformity describes the acceptance of a society’s goals and also its means; Innovation represents acceptance of the goals but rejection of the means for obtaining them; Ritualism is rejection of the goals but acceptance of the means; and Retreatism is rejection of the goals and means of society and the attempt to establish a new social order (Shoemaker, 1984).

This theory does not explain all juvenile delinquency, which also appears to be engaged in for fun and not to meet society’s specific goals. This is why in treating the juvenile offender, we must not assume that the offender’s idea of conformity is a rational choice. To suggest conformity to someone who does not have access to legitimate means is considered a risk factor for delinquency. Risk factors are characteristics that occur statistically more often for those who are less fortunate. Risk factors that influence juvenile delinquency from the ecological environment are living in an economically depressed area; high unemployment, inadequate housing, poor schooling, inadequate health, and lack of social services; high prevalence of crime; high prevalence of illegal drug use; and racial discrimination, just to name a few.

This brings us to another theory called Control Theory. The Control Theory is based on the idea that juveniles commit delinquent acts because some controlling force is absent or defective, and this theory has been generally supported for some time (Shoemaker, 1984). An assumption of the Control Theory is that delinquency is a deficiency in something which is the absence of a working control mechanism. There are two general controlling systems: (1) personal and (2) social. Personal control systems involve individualistic factors. Social control variables involve attachment to basic social institutions such as family, schools, and religious practices. So the Social Control Theory would suggest the importance of Family Theory.

The Result of Socialization

The result of socialization is the outcome of the influences that are learned from the context and content of socialization. Throughout the context and process of socialization, there are various stages of cognitive development. The outcome of socialization will depend on the influence which surrounds the individual. In the case of delinquent youth, socialization has resulted in inappropriate, irresponsible behavior. In this instance, resocialization is required.


Resocialization

Resocialization refers to the process of socializing people away from a group or activity in which they are involved. Resocialization is the goal of programs in place for alcoholics, drug addicts, delinquents, and/or criminals. Resocialization has been the biggest challenge for intervention and treatment programs. The goal of treatment may not be desired or chosen by the offender, and the process may be unpleasant or unbearable physically, psychologically, or socially. The connection between the process and any desired end result may be completely unclear to the participant. Therefore, through the resocialization approach, Dr. Yochelson and Dr. Samenow (1997), in their treatment approach, created what they refer to as the criminal thinking error approach to treating offenders. This is a cognitive approach based on their three-volume work, The Criminal Personality, which is a seminal work in the field of criminology regarded by some thinkers as revolutionary in terms of understanding any form or manifestation of criminal behavior. The theory is that people become criminals and offend not in response to forces beyond their control but by choice. If there is a direct cause of criminal behavior or patterns of offending, it is in their thinking patterns.

Yochelson and Samenow (1997) have demonstrated that no set of factors—sociological, psychological, or biological—can explain why a person offends against others.

However, through the process of socialization, a person can make decisions based on his or her frame of reference. Through the thinking errors approach, the offender’s view of the world and his or her frame of reference can be understood, and errors in thinking can be identified.

Furthermore, through socialization research, a treatment team can correlate a needs assessment in the areas of socialization context, socialization content and process, and socialization results. This needs assessment survey approach has the potential to improve treatment to meet the social developmental needs of juvenile offenders.

References

Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. T. (1950). Unraveling juvenile delinquency. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Lundman, R. J. (1984). Prevention and control of juvenile delinquency. New York: Oxford University Press.

Persell, C. H. (1987). Understanding society. New York: Harper & Row.

Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Shoemaker, D. J. (1984). Theories of delinquency. New York: Oxford University Press.


Wynn, M. (1992). Empowering African American males to succeed. South Pasadena, CA: Rising Sun Publishing.

Yochelson, S., & Samenow, S. (1997). The criminal personality. Northvale, NJ, and London: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Dr. Barry S. McCrary is currently an assistant professor at Western Illinois University teaching in the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration. Prior to his current position, he worked for the Allegheny County Juvenile Court’s Community Intensive Supervision Program for 18 years as a program supervisor, where he was responsible for counseling, designing, implementing, and monitoring a progressive treatment program. Other responsibilities included supervision of the probation officers, probation counselors, and drug and alcohol counselors. His responsibilities also included parent training, life skill training, and research in the area of criminal behavior. As a program supervisor, Dr. McCrary collaborated with schools, churches, and community organizations to enable the juvenile court to provide a holistic approach to improving the social developmental needs of delinquent youth.

Dr. McCrary received his Bachelor of Science degree from Geneva College in Human Resource Management, a Master of Science degree in Administration of Justice from Shippensburg University, and a Doctor of Education degree from Duquesne University.

Dr. McCrary is the founder of Maleness to Manhood Inc., a nonprofit, faith-based organization. The purpose of this organization is to improve the educational and social developmental needs of inner-city youth by promoting the importance of an education and designing, implementing, and developing progressive programming for urban youth, particularly African-American males.

Dr. McCrary was also an adjunct professor for Carlow University in Pittsburgh where he taught Introduction to Criminology. He continues to be active in many professional and community organizations.


Due Process, Termination Procedures, and Last Chance AgreementsMuna Busailah, Esq., Partner, Stone Busailah, LLPJ.C. Allen, Esq., Associate, Stone Busailah, LLP

This article examines the public employee’s right to pre-termination and post-termination due process in a situation wherein the employee signed a Last Chance Agreement. The dispositive issue in Walls v. Central Contra Coast Transit Authority (2011) was whether Walls, in signing a Last Chance Agreement, waived his right to a pre-termination hearing.

Walls, a former bus driver for the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (CCCTA), appealed the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of CCCTA. Walls was terminated January 27, 2006.

Pursuant to a Last Chance Agreement executed during the course of the grievance process, Walls was reinstated on March 2, 2006. The agreement was executed by Walls, his union representative, and CCCTA. As part of the Last Chance Agreement, Walls agreed to meet certain attendance requirements, with an unexcused absence in violation of this agreement resulting in termination.

On March 3, 2006, Walls suffered an unexcused absence and, pursuant to the Last Chance Agreement, was terminated again on March 6, 2006. After grieving his March 6, 2006, termination, Walls brought suit against CCCTA claiming his discharge violated the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and his due process right to a pre-termination hearing under the United States and California Constitutions.

The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of CCCTA on both claims reasoning that Walls was not an employee eligible for FMLA benefits when he requested leave and that he had waived his due process rights (in signing the Last Chance Agreement). The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part.

Walls’ FMLA Claim

The FMLA entitles an “eligible employee” to 12 work weeks of leave for certain family and health-related situations (29 U.S.C. §2612). To be considered an “eligible employee,” the employee “must have been employed at least 12 months by the employer with respect to whom leave is requested” (Sullivan v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., 2010).

“In order to establish an FMLA violation, the employee must demonstrate that the employer received sufficient notice of an employee’s intent to take FMLA leave” (see Sanders v. City of Newport, 2011).

On March 1, 2006, during a meeting with his union representative and CCCTA, Walls made a verbal request for FMLA leave until April 10. Walls claimed this verbal request provided CCCTA with sufficient notice and that he was entitled to


protected leave. However, Walls was not officially reinstated to his position until March 2, 2006, when he signed and executed the Last Chance Agreement.

The court ruled that Walls was not an employee when he made his request for leave and could not invoke the protections of FMLA. Moreover, when Walls made the “informed decision to sign the Last Chance Agreement, [he] signaled to CCCTA that he was ready to start work under the terms of the Agreement, thereby retracting his request for leave. Thus, upon Walls’ reinstatement, “CCCTA had no notice that Walls needed or intended to take medical leave” (Walls v. Central Contra Costa at 11682).

Walls’ Due Process Claim

In analyzing Walls’ claim that CCCTA violated his due process rights to a pre-termination hearing, the court stated it was first necessary to determine whether Walls had a protected property interest in his continued employment and, secondly, whether Walls received all the process that was due (Clements v. Airport Authority of Washoe County, 1995).

“Public employees who may be dismissed only for cause possess a property interest in their continued employment” (Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 1985). CCCTA argued that the Last Chance Agreement effectively rendered Walls an at-will employee who was no longer entitled to due process protections: “In California, at-will employees are those who can be fired with or without cause, subject only to limits imposed by public policy” (Foley v. Interactive Data Corp., 1998). The appellate court stated that “nowhere in the Last Chance Agreement was it expressly stated that Walls was regulated to at-will employment status, nor did the agreement allow CCCTA to terminate Walls without any cause. Therefore, Walls remained a public employee, who could only be fired for cause, which is an employee with a property interest in his continued employment” (Walls v. Central Contra Costa at 11682, citing Loudermill, supra, at 538-539).

As such, Walls was entitled to have the opportunity to be heard before he was deprived of his property interest.

Waiver and the Last Chance Agreement

“A public employee may waive his right to due process” (Walls v. Central Contra Costa at 11682, citing Ostlund v. Bobb, 1987, and Flippin v. L.A. City Board of Civil Service Commissioners, 2007). However, “federal courts ‘indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver of fundamental constitutional rights’ and ‘do not presume acquiescence in the loss of fundamental rights’” (Id. at 11683, quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 1938).

Such a waiver should not be implied and should not be lightly found (see Ostlund at 1373): “Waiver of a constitutional right must be knowing and voluntary” (Id.).

In this case, the Last Chance Agreement did not contain an express waiver of the right to due process pursuant to a termination decision. The District Court ruled that Walls had waived his right to a post-termination hearing because the Last Chance Agreement stated that “non-compliance with the stipulations [of the


Last Chance Agreement] will result in your immediate and final termination.” The appellate court, however, ruled that the text was insufficient to overcome the presumption against waiver of constitutional rights. Further, that the term “immediate” was ambiguous as used in the context of the employment agreement and its use did not necessarily signal a termination would take place without a hearing or process of any kind (Walls v. Central Contra Costa at 11683).

More importantly, “it is certainly not clear that Walls knew and understood when he signed the agreement that he was waiving his right to a pre-termination hearing” (Id.). As Walls was provided a pre-termination hearing before he was discharged on January 27, 2006, and the Last Chance Agreement did not clearly or expressly state that he would not be provided the same pre-termination procedures if terminated for noncompliance under the terms of the Last Chance Agreement, the court stated it was logical for Walls to believe that, absent such a waiver, he would be afforded pre-termination safeguards. This belief would only be reinforced by the provision requiring Walls to waive the post-termination grievance process with no analogous waiver regarding pre-termination procedures.

Therefore, the court held that Walls did not waive his right to due process protections and because he received no pre-termination hearing, Walls was denied due process under the U.S. and California Constitutions.

In light of this case and the reasoning advanced therein, employees and their representatives should carefully scrutinize any Last Chance Agreements to ensure that (1) the employee is not waiving any due process rights unless the waiver is knowingly and voluntarily made by the employee and (2) if a waiver is present in the agreement, the waiver specifically addresses which procedural safeguard is being waived: pre-termination, post-termination, or both. In particular, waiver of POBRA rights (Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act, Government Code § 3300, et. seq.) are generally invalid—for example, the right to administrative appeal under § 3304(b). Carefully scrutinize any waiver of language that appears to waive POBRA rights.

Cases Cited

Clements v. Airport Authority of Washoe County, 69 F. 3d 321, 331 (9th Cir. 1995).Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 538-539 (1985).Flippin v. L.A. City Board of Civil Service Commissioners, 148 Cal. App. 4th 272, 281

(Cal. Ct. App. 2007).Foley v. Interactive Data Corp., 47 Cal. 3d. 654, 665 (Cal. 1998).Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938).Ostlund v. Bobb, 825 F. 2d 1371, 1373-1374 (9th Cir. 1987).Sanders v. City of Newport, ____F. 3d____, 2011 WL 905998 at *5 (9th Cir. March 17,

2011).Sullivan v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., 623 F. 3d 770, 780 (9th Cir. 2010).Walls v. Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, 2011 DJDAR 11681 (August 3, 2011).


Muna Busailah, Esq., has been a partner in Stone Busailah, LLP, since 1995 and also specializes in police law and litigation.

J.C. Allen, Esq., is an associate with Stone Busailah, LLP, and is a graduate of Chapman Law School in Fullerton, California.


Navigating the First Amendment Minefield: An Analysis of Developments in Public Employee Speech and Points to RememberMichael P. Stone, Esq., Founding Partner, Stone Busailah, LLPMelanie C. Smith, Esq., Associate, Stone Busailah, LLP

This article examines the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ most recent application of the law concerning public employees’ rights of expression under the First Amendment.

It is well settled that a state cannot condition public employment upon a total relinquishment of constitutional rights such as freedom of expression. At the same time, public employees do not enjoy absolute freedom when it comes to their employment.

First Amendment Rights

The seminal case on the issue of public employees’ First Amendment rights is Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District (1968). Pickering held that a public employee’s speech or expression is constitutionally protected if it deals with a matter of public concern, and the public employer may be liable for taking adverse action against the employee in retaliation for the employee’s constitutionally protected expression. Pickering created a balancing test, which requires courts to strike “a balance between the interests of the [employee], as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees” (Pickering at 568).

Nearly 40 years later, the present Supreme Court gutted public employees’ rights established by Pickering and its progeny. Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006), dealt a severe blow to public employees’ First Amendment rights by holding that a public employee’s speech is not protected if it is made pursuant to the employee’s official duties. Using the “as a citizen” language from Pickering, Garcetti drew a line between cases where the speech is made outside an employee’s duties, in his capacity as a private citizen (such as the plaintiff in Pickering, a teacher who wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing his disagreement with the school board), and cases where the employee’s speech is made through the performance of his official duties or job description (such as the plaintiff in Garcetti, a prosecutor who voiced concerns to his supervisor about whether to prosecute a case).

Our previous articles have examined recent Ninth Circuit decisions that have applied the Garcetti holding in cases where employees’ speech or expression was made pursuant to official duties. The most recent Ninth Circuit decision on this issue, Nichols v. Dancer (2011), concerns a public employee’s expression not made in the performance of her official duties and thus still constitutionally protected.


The specific issue in Nichols is the evidence of workplace disruption required in order to tip the Pickering balancing test in favor of the employer.

Kathleen Nichols was employed by the Washoe County School District as an administrative assistant to the District’s General Counsel, Larry Blanck. Nichols and Blanck were friends and sometimes socialized outside the office. Blanck was suspended after a dispute with the District Superintendent, and Nichols was temporarily transferred to the Human Resources department, pending the decision on Blanck’s employment. Slip op. at 17587-17588.

Nichols attended a public Board of Trustees meeting where a variety of matters were scheduled for discussion, including the issue of Blanck’s employment. Prior to the meeting, head of Human Resources Laura Dancer had told Nichols she would be returned to her position in the General Counsel’s office regardless of whether Blanck was fired. At the Board of Trustees meeting, Nichols sat next to Blanck but did not speak to him. Blanck’s termination was announced at the meeting. Slip op. at 17588.

The next day, Dancer informed Nichols that she would not be returned to the General Counsel’s office because there were concerns about her loyalty to the District as a result of her attendance at the Board meeting and her choice to sit next to Blanck. Nichols was told she could remain in Human Resources, where her salary would be frozen, or she could take early retirement. Nichols chose early retirement and filed a lawsuit in federal court against the District for demoting her in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights. Slip op. at 17588-17589.

At the trial level, the District moved for summary judgment, arguing that Nichols’ conduct was not constitutionally protected because it was not related to a matter of public concern and because Nichols’ First Amendment interests were outweighed by the District’s interests in an efficient workplace. The trial court held that the conduct did touch on a matter of public concern but agreed with the District that the Pickering balancing test tipped in favor of the District. The trial court granted summary judgment for the District, and Nichols appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Slip op. at 17589.

The question for the Ninth Circuit was whether, under the Pickering balancing test, the District’s interests in an efficient workplace outweighed Nichols’ interest in freedom of expression as a matter of law. Citing a number of cases that further explained the factors involved in the balancing test, the Court pointed out that in order for the District’s interests to outweigh Nichols’ First Amendment interests, the District must be able to show evidence of actual disruption of workplace operations or “reasonable predictions of disruption.” Slip op. at 17589-17591.

The Court stated, “Although we accord significant weight to an employer’s reasonable judgments about the workplace, an employer cannot prevail under Pickering based on mere speculation that an employee’s conduct will cause disruption. . . . [A] disruption claim must be supported by some evidence, not rank speculation or bald allegation.” Slip op. at 17591.

In this case, the Court held that the District provided no evidence to support the claim that Nichols’ conduct disrupted workplace operations, interfered with Nichols’ job performance, or negatively affected her relationships with


other employees. The District’s predictions of workplace disruption were pure speculation. The District further argued that Nichols’ association with Blanck created a conflict with her position in the General Counsel’s office because she would have had access to information about Blanck’s wrongful termination suit, but the Court rejected this argument, stating there was no evidence of disloyalty on the part of Nichols. Slip op. at 17592-17594.

Speech or expression by public employees made in their capacity as private individuals and not pursuant to their official duties is still constitutionally protected, subject to a balancing test. Nichols v. Dancer (2011) offers support for public employees’ First Amendment rights by clarifying that a public employer may not prevail on the Pickering balancing test through mere speculation. Actual disruption of workplace operations or reasonable predictions of disruption must be shown before the employer will be allowed to restrict the employee’s First Amendment rights.

What Does This Mean for You?

We have discussed previously that law enforcement officers must be wary when it comes to speech made pursuant to their official duties, which is not constitutionally protected, particularly because it is a peace officer’s duty to be truthful and to report violations of law or department rules, so a great deal of a peace officer’s speech may be considered “pursuant to official duties” under Garcetti and the cases following that decision. When it comes to speech made outside of your official duties, however, Nichols v. Dancer is a step toward solidifying your constitutional protections. An employer cannot restrict speech made outside of your official duties on the basis that it simply “might” lead to a disruption in the workplace or any of the other usual employer assertions about potential harm that might result from an employee’s protected expression such as “loss of public confidence” and “loss of esprit d’corps” or employee morale.

Here are some other tips to keep in mind when contemplating the exercise of free expression:

1. Be sure the content of your speech is really a matter of public interest or concern. Remember that public employee speech is “protected” only if it is important for the citizenry to hear or know.

2. Remember that personal gripes, complaints, and grievances have no First Amendment protection.

3. Be mindful of the “time and place factors.” Speech made on-duty and/or on the premises of the employer is entitled to less protection.

4. Be careful about the manner and nature of the speech; that is, vulgar, profane, threatening, or unduly harsh or argumentative and insulting speech may not be protected. Be respectful and professional. Avoid disrespectful commentary that adds no value to the content of the speech.

5. If you have an opportunity to discuss your proposed speech with a lawyer who is familiar with the law of public employee expression, do so, and follow the advice you get.


6. Before you talk, be able to articulate why the content of your speech affects the public interest. Force yourself to do this. If you can’t articulate why the public might care, consider abandoning the idea.

7. In your speech, be sure to include some explanation of why you think this is important for the public to hear or read. Here again, if you can’t do this easily, it is a good bet that your speech won’t be protected.

8. Make sure you have some record of exactly what you say. You’d be surprised to know how often “speech misconduct” cases turn on differing recollections of exactly what was said. Expect that your employer will credit its own interpretation of what you said rather than what you “meant to say.”

9. Speech about facts are different from speeches about opinion. Public speeches that contain misrepresentations of fact might be misconduct standing alone. It is usually no defense to respond, “Gee, I thought what I said was true or factual. I made a mistake.” Recognize that even protected speech which is offensive or harmful to your agency or its officials will cause your employer to scrutinize every word. Employers will seize upon even slight misrepresentations to allege that “false statements” were made.

10. On the other hand, statements of opinion may be very valuable to the public—especially if the speaker is someone who, as result of his or her employment, has special knowledge not available to the public. Statements of honestly held beliefs are much “safer” than unequivocal statements of fact.

11. Be sure to “qualify” your speech. You are speaking “as a citizen,” not as an official or public employee. You are not authorized to speak for the agency, and you are not doing so. Be very clear about this. Caution your audience that your remarks represent your understanding of the facts, and that they are your opinions based on your understanding of the facts. Be willing to say, if asked, that your opinions might well change if your understanding of the facts turns out to be incorrect.

12. Be very circumspect about the decision to wear your uniform or otherwise appear to be connected with the agency. It’s best to leave the uniform in your locker.

Cases Cited

Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).Nichols v. Dancer, No. 10-15359, --- F. 3d ----, 2011 WL 4090676 (9th Cir. 2011).Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District, 391 U.S. 563 (1968).

Michael P. Stone is Stone Busailah, LLP’s founding partner and principal shareholder. He has practiced almost exclusively in police law and litigation for 30 years, following 13 years as a police officer, supervisor, and police attorney.

Melanie C. Smith is an associate with Stone Busailah, LLP, and is a graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.


Retirement with a Disciplinary Appeal Pending May Render the Appeal Moot: A Survey of Recent Cases Reveals Tension Between Courts of AppealMelanie C. Smith, Esq., Associate, Stone Busailah, LLP

A recent Ninth Circuit decision, Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs v. County of Los Angeles (2011), held that two deputies who were summarily suspended when felony charges were filed against them and later terminated, and who retired while their Civil Service Commission hearings were pending, were still entitled to post-suspension hearings.

To put the ALADS case in context and fully understand the extent of its holding, it is necessary to look first at Zuniga v. Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission (2006), which held that the Civil Service Commission lacked jurisdiction to hear Civil Service disciplinary appeals by a County employee who retired while his hearing was still pending. Zuniga reasoned that the Civil Service Commission had a limited jurisdiction, which did not include hearing what now amounted to a claim for backpay by a former civil servant. Zuniga, who was in the process of challenging a suspension when he retired, voluntarily ended his employment and could no longer contest the disciplinary action.

A later case, County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services v. Civil Service Commission of the County of Los Angeles (2009), reached the same conclusion and stated that “Zuniga stands for the bright-line proposition that, where an employee retires during the pendency of a civil service appeal, her future status as an employee is no longer at issue. . . . [A] person who retires is no longer a member of the civil service” (County of Los Angeles at 401).

Zuniga and County of Los Angeles were decided in the Second Appellate District for the California Court of Appeal. Interestingly, a recent case out of the Fifth Appellate District, Hall-Villareal v. Fresno (2011), which dealt with a terminated employee who retired pending her Civil Service hearing, distinguished Zuniga and County of Los Angeles and appears to have created a split in the districts on this issue.

The Hall-Villareal Court distinguished Zuniga on the basis that Zuniga involved an employee who was still employed when he appealed his disciplinary action to the Commission, and it was his act of voluntarily resigning that ended his employment and divested the Commission of jurisdiction. But in a situation in which, as in Hall-Villareal’s situation, “a former employee has been terminated, seeking retirement benefits would not result in a voluntary resignation from employment—the former employee has already been separated from employment” (Hall-Villareal at 33).

The Hall-Villareal Court then reasoned that the holding in County of Los Angeles did not apply either because the language in the Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) and City Charter did not require the same result: “[T]he FMC contemplates that a person


may leave City of Fresno employment, receive retirement benefits, and later return to work with the City,” and it also “provides a procedure for ‘re-employment of retired persons’” (Hall-Villareal at 33). The Court noted the record indicated that Hall-Villareal, who was 60 years old when she was fired, applied for retirement benefits so she could have a source of income, and that she intended to apply for reinstatement from retirement if her administrative appeal was successful.

Hall-Villareal, therefore, distinguished County of Los Angeles on the basis that “there may be some basis in the specific language of the Los Angeles County civil service rules for the holding in County of Los Angeles, but the City has not demonstrated that the Fresno City Charter or municipal rules require the same result” (Hall-Villareal at 33). However, County of Los Angeles did not base its holding on any particular language in the Civil Service rules that supports this distinction; it was based on the proposition, from Zuniga, that a Civil Service agency has no authority to hear a disciplinary appeal after the employee decides to voluntarily remove himself from the Civil Service agency. As a result, Hall-Villareal created a tension between the Second and Fifth Appellate Districts on this point.

The recent Ninth Circuit decision in the ALADS case has further distinguished Zuniga. In ALADS, four deputy sheriffs were suspended without pay when felony charges were filed against them. When the charges were dropped, the deputies were reinstated and returned to paid status, but they continued to demand hearings before the Civil Service Commission to contest the suspensions. While those hearings were still pending, the deputies were discharged, at least partially based on allegations underlying the criminal charges. The deputies all requested hearings on their discharges.

While the hearings on their suspensions and discharges were pending, two of the deputies were granted disability retirement, effectively converting them from discharged employees to retired employees. The Commission issued final decisions stating that it no longer had jurisdiction over their Civil Service appeals.

The ALADS case dealt with a number of other issues, including those dealing with the two deputies who did not retire, but here we only address that part of the holding dealing with the deputies who retired pending their Civil Service hearings. All four deputies sued in federal district court, alleging violations of their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. The district court granted summary judgment against the deputies, and the deputies appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

The Ninth Circuit’s holding as to the deputies who retired is based on the fact that the deputies were summarily suspended as a result of the filing of felony charges, and that they received only limited pre-suspension procedures. Citing Gilbert v. Homar (1997) and FDIC v. Mallen (1988), the Court acknowledged that peace officers may be temporarily suspended without any pre-suspension due process if felony charges are filed against them due to the fact that they “occupy positions of great public trust and high public visibility.” However, whereas here the employee is deprived of pre-suspension due process out of necessity or impracticability, due process can only be satisfied by the availability of meaningful post-suspension procedures or else the suspensions are unconstitutional.

In this case, the deputies were not denied pre-suspension hearings altogether as was the case in Gilbert and Mallen, but the Court determined that the level of pre-suspension due


process was not substantial because the inquiry only consisted of a confirmation that felony charges had indeed been filed and did not extend to the actual merits of those charges. The Court, therefore, found that the deputies in this case were in the same position as the employees in Gilbert and Mallen, who received no pre-suspension procedures at all.

The Court concluded that because these deputies were denied substantial pre-suspension procedures, they must be granted post-suspension hearings, despite the fact that they retired while their hearings were pending. Without post-suspension due process, the suspensions are not constitutional. Noting that Zuniga held that the Civil Service Commission is divested of jurisdiction to hear Civil Service appeals in this situation, the ALADS case did not actually dispute the idea that the Commission was divested of jurisdiction; rather, it held that while the Civil Service Commission was precluded from hearing the appeals, the County still had a constitutional obligation to provide some form of post-suspension hearing. The Court did not specify how or by whom those hearings must be conducted.

Zuniga and County of Los Angeles are still good law, but time will tell how far the ALADS holding may be extended and what effect it will have on Zuniga. Arguably, the ALADS holding could be extended to any employee who retires while his or her administrative disciplinary appeal is still pending—due process concerns still exist even in situations in which an employee has been granted pre-disciplinary procedures. The Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act specifically provides for an administrative appeal of disciplinary action. It also remains to be seen how the apparent conflict between Zuniga and Hall-Villareal will be resolved. We hope that, in light of the recent Hall-Villareal and ALADS cases, the state Supreme Court will have to step in eventually and clarify what, if any, post-disciplinary procedures are demanded by due process even in situations wherein a public employee has resigned or retired while his or her administrative appeal is still pending.

The ALADS deputies were represented by Elizabeth Gibbons of the law offices of Green & Shinee of Encino, California. The case is of interest, especially in the larger departments like the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department where the same issues arise more frequently than elsewhere. The lesson is this: A retirement occurring at a point in time during the pendency of an appeal of disciplinary action may mean that the administrative body, commission, or tribunal no longer has jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the retiree is no longer an employee.

Cases Cited

Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs [ALADS] v. County of Los Angeles, No. 08-56283 (August 12, 2011).

County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services v. Civil Service Commission of the County of Los Angeles, 180 Cal. App. 4th 391 (2009).

FDIC v. Mallen, 486 U.S. 230 (1988).Gilbert v. Homar, 520 U.S. 924 (1997).Hall-Villareal v. Fresno, 196 Cal. App. 4th 24 (2011).Zuniga v. Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission, 137 Cal. App. 4th 1255 (2006).

Melanie C. Smith is an associate with Stone Busailah, LLP, and is a graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.


Guidelines for Preparing Manuscripts

There are virtually no restrictions on subject matter as long as the material pertains, in the opinion of the editor, to law enforcement-related areas. Manuscripts should be word processed and double-spaced. A résumé or vita from the author(s) must accompany submissions. Book reviews and research notes will be considered for publication. No submission will be published until recommended by referees, who will review blind copies.

Final manuscripts must be submitted on CD readable on Macintosh or IBM (and true compatible) computers. Please specify word processing program used when submitting the CD (e.g., Word 2007, WordPerfect 12, and so on). Also, an RTF (Rich Text Format) version would be most helpful. Disks will not be returned. Figures and line drawings must be submitted in camera-ready form.

Send three hard-copy manuscripts, vitae(s), and a CD to . . .

Vladimir A. Sergevnin, PhD, Editor ILETSBEI Law Enforcement Executive Forum Editorial Office 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455-1390 (309) 298-2276; cell (217) 801-2810; fax (309) 298-2642

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (most recent edition). Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (3rd ed.) (2002) is the standard reference for spelling. Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright owners if they use an illustration, table, or lengthy quote that has been published elsewhere. Contributors should write to both the publisher and author of such material requesting nonexclusive world rights in all languages for use in the article and in all future editions of it.


Monographs Available Through the Illinois Law Enforcement

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In macro-style, this book examines crime, criminal activity, and police response in the City of Chicago, which has a long history of and association with crime. This book will give the reader an inside view of the Chicago Police Department so that a better understanding might be gained of police operations not only in Chicago but in other major city police agencies.

Critical Issues in Police Discipline

Authors: Lewis G. Bender, Thomas J. Jurkanin, Vladimir A. Sergevnin, and Jerry L. Dowling

This book examines the problem of police discipline from the collective perspective of professional law enforcement leaders. It offers the reader practical, not theoretical, solutions in dealing with problem employees and misconduct incidents. It reflects the experience and dedication of a highly experienced group of Illinois police chiefs and sheriffs.

To order, call (309) 298-2646 or visit our website at www.ILETSBEI.com.

Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute

Law Enforcement Executive ForumBack Issues Available ($15.00 each includes shipping) No. OrderedRacial Profiling: Special Edition – July 2001 Recruitment – August 2001 Retentio n – December 2001 Terrorism – March 2002 Police Ethics – July 2002 The Impact of Emerging Science and Technology on Law Enforcement Agencies – August 2002 Police Training – November 2002 Police Management and Leadership – February 2003 Use of Force – May 2003 Police-Medical Collaborations: Dealing with Mental Health – July 2003 Law Enforcement Response to Methamphetamine – September 2003 Legal Self-Defense for Law Enforcement Administrators – November 2003 Police Pursuits – January 2004 Personnel Administration: Psychological Landmines – March 2004 Training the Police Trainer – May 2004 Community Policing – July 2004 Patrol Resource Allocation – September 2004 Special Edition – October 2004 Internal Affairs Investigations – November 2004 Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation – January 2005 Law Enforcement Unions – March 2005 Generational Conflict and Diversity – May 2005 Undercover Policing – July 2005 Public Relations, Media and Political Affairs – September 2005 Homeland Security – November 2005 Racial Profiling: Special Edition – January 2006 Best Practices in Recruitment and Retention – February 2006 Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Prevention – March 2006 Mental Health – May 2006 Integrity-Based Policing – July 2006 Police Resource Management: Patrol, Investigation, Scheduling – September 2006 Interagency Cooperation – November 2006 Critical Issues in Police Civil Liability – January 2007 Special Edition – February 2007 Police Officer Safety – March 2007 Police Administration – May 2007 Financial Management and Police Administration – July 2007 Police Training: Investigations – September 2007 Community Policing: Immigration – November 2007 FBI: 100 Years of Cooperation: Special Edition – January 2008 The Challenges of Assisting Special Populations – March 2008 New Wave of Crime and Police Response – May 2008 Less Lethal Use of Force – July 2008 School and Workplace Violence – September 2008 Juvenile Justice – December 2008 Leadership – March 2009 Organized Crime – June 2009 Police Best Practices – October 2009 Financial Crisis and Law Enforcement – December 2009 Police Training Technologies – March 2010 Critical Legal Issues in Law Enforcement – May 2010 Police Management – September 2010 Anti-Terrorism Enforcement and Leadership – December 2010 Managing Diverse Population – March 2011 Police Administration – May 2011 Implementing Fitness Standards for Police Recruits: A Case Study – September 2011 Total Ordered

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For more Information, please visit our website at www.ILETSBEI.com.

Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute

Law Enforcement Executive ForumOrdering Information

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Cyber Bullying - Law Enforcement Executive Forum

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