Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Alpert
In the wake of the Rodney King incident, considers how police can be trained to use force in order to maintain civic control while ensuring that this authority is not used…
Abstract
In the wake of the Rodney King incident, considers how police can be trained to use force in order to maintain civic control while ensuring that this authority is not used inappropriately. Outlines significant methods to control police force: more selective recruitment; establishment of policies and procedures consonant with civic values; police socialization and training; supervision and accountability. Reports on a drug enforcement program, in Metro‐Dade Police Department, which achieved great success with minimal use of force, due to stringent selection, a problem‐solving approach, strategic and tactical training and deployment of officers to give a show of force.
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Bruce Taylor, Geoffrey Alpert, Bruce Kubu, Daniel Woods and Roger G. Dunham
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to…
Abstract
Purpose
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to officers and suspects, both over time (especially recently) and with a national probability‐based sample. This study aims to address these gaps by developing longitudinal estimates to examine these use‐of‐force issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Two surveys of LEAs were conducted (n=518 and n=357 LEAs), covering 2003 to 2008, and statistical weights were used to align the data to be representative of all state and local LEAs in the USA, including adjustments for survey non‐response.
Findings
Conducted energy devices (CED) deployment has risen significantly (to about 70 percent of LEAs). However, standard baton use is down to 25 percent in 2008 and when available to the officer, batons are more likely to be left in their vehicles compared to CEDs. Baton use and empty‐hand tactics are becoming less commonly used by officers, but CED use was ranked among the most used tactics from 2005 to 2008. Excessive force complaints against LEAs, internally generated, have more than doubled from 2003 to 2008. Officer injuries varied little from 2003 to 2008, but they are still only about half as common as suspect injuries. Also, only 20 percent of LEAs collect injury data in a database, complicating future research.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to track, nationally, the types of non‐lethal weapons in use by LEAs, and force level used, providing aid to LEA executives and policymakers who need to follow new trends in non‐lethal weapons.
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Richard A. Wright and J. Mitchell Miller
Although numerous studies recently have appeared that identify the most‐cited scholars and works in the general criminology and criminal justice literature and in several…
Abstract
Although numerous studies recently have appeared that identify the most‐cited scholars and works in the general criminology and criminal justice literature and in several specialty areas, no previous citation study has specifically examined the police studies literature. Through an analysis of 370 articles and research notes appearing from 1991 to 1995 in the areas of police studies, published in Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and four academic periodicals devoted to police studies, we list the 50 most‐cited scholars and the 36 most‐cited works. The lists of the most‐cited scholars and works in the specialty area of police studies are compared to general lists taken from leading criminology and criminal justice journals and introductory textbooks. We conclude with some thoughts about the relevance of citation analysis to specialists in police studies.
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Charlotte Smithson, Jennifer Rowley and Roger Fullwood
The purpose of this paper is to offer insights into the processes associated with promoting volunteer engagement adopted by a large UK heritage attraction during a period of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer insights into the processes associated with promoting volunteer engagement adopted by a large UK heritage attraction during a period of significant change. Engaged volunteers were regarded as essential to sustain, and where appropriate, to enhance the customer experience.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach was adopted. This involved review of relevant documentation and interviews and focus groups between researchers, managers and volunteers.
Findings
Working from the philosophical stance that information and involvement are strong predecessors to “buy-in”, the managers of the attraction used a series of initiatives that kept volunteers both informed and involved. These initiatives include a values-based induction programme, information and communication, training and development, and creating new narratives.
Originality/value
Volunteer engagement influences volunteer commitment to the organisation. This case study offers some insights into initiatives adopted in one heritage organisation to promote volunteer engagement, and thereby provides a basis for other organisations to reflect on their practices in this area.
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Anthropology was a late‐comer to the Caribbean and only after World War II did the study of Caribbean culture and societies become less exceptional. Early in this century when…
Abstract
Anthropology was a late‐comer to the Caribbean and only after World War II did the study of Caribbean culture and societies become less exceptional. Early in this century when anthropology was first making itself over as an ethnographic science, anthropologists concentrated on tribal peoples. For most of the post‐Columbian era, the Caribbean region, with a few minor exceptions, was without indigenous tribal societies. Even after anthropology turned its attention to the study of peasantries, Caribbean peasantries were ignored in favor of more stable and tradition‐oriented peasant societies in other parts of Latin America. When anthropologists began to study Caribbean peoples in a more serious and systematic fashion, they found that they had to develop new concepts to explain the variation, flexibility, and heterogeneity that characterized regional culture. These concepts have had a significant impact on social and cultural theory and on the broader contemporary dialogue about cultural diversity and multiculturalism.
In a full blaze of comings and goings, it is unnecessary to remind ourselves that the holiday season is upon us; mass travel to faraway places. The media have for months, all…
Abstract
In a full blaze of comings and goings, it is unnecessary to remind ourselves that the holiday season is upon us; mass travel to faraway places. The media have for months, all through the winter, been extolling a surfeit of romantic areas of the world, exspecially on television; of colourful scenes, exotic beauties, brilliant sunshine everywhere; travel mostly by air as so‐called package tours — holidays for the masses! The most popular areas are countries of the Mediterranean littoral, from Israel to Spain, North Africa, the Adriatic, but of recent years, much farhter afield, India, South‐east Asia and increasingly to the USA.
Lonn Lanza‐Kaduce, Roger Dunham, Ronald L. Akers and Paul Cromwell
Taking advantage of the breakdown of formal social control directly following Hurricane Andrew in Miami, Florida this paper conducts a naturally occurring breaching experiment to…
Abstract
Taking advantage of the breakdown of formal social control directly following Hurricane Andrew in Miami, Florida this paper conducts a naturally occurring breaching experiment to examine the deeper structure of values about policing and police practices. Both citizens of the damaged neighborhoods and the attending police were interviewed to determine the degree of consensus/dissensus concerning ideal and actual priorities of policing during the crisis period. The findings reveal a remarkable degree of consensus among citizens and the police. The implications for a consensus versus a conflict view of policing are discussed.
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Titus Oshagbemi and Roger Gill
Several studies have examined the leadership styles and behaviour of managers across hierarchical levels to see whether or not the styles and behaviour are similar. The present…
Abstract
Several studies have examined the leadership styles and behaviour of managers across hierarchical levels to see whether or not the styles and behaviour are similar. The present study collected data from over 400 managers in the UK to research the topic. It found that generally there are significant differences in the leadership styles between senior and first‐level managers, but not between senior and middle‐level managers or between middle and first‐level managers. The study suggests that differences in the leadership styles practised by managers may be blurred in organisations with short chains of command, while it will tend to be pronounced in organisations with long chains of command, other things being equal. Overall, while there was a weak but statistically significant difference between the leadership styles of senior and first‐level managers, the differences in their leadership behaviour was statistically strong. The implications of these results are explored.