An important post-9/11 objective has been to connect law enforcement agencies so they can share information that is routinely collected by police. This low-level information, gathered from sources such as traffic tickets, calls for service, incident reports and field contacts, is not widely shared but might account for as much as 97% of the data held in police records systems. U.S. policy and law assume that access to this information advances crime control and counterterrorism efforts. The scarcity of functioning systems has limited research opportunities to test this assumption or offer guidance to police leaders considering investments in information sharing. However, this study had access to FINDER, a Florida system that shares low-level data among 121 police agencies. The user-level value of FINDER was empirically examined using Goodhue's (1995) Task-Technology Fit framework. Objective system data from 1,352 users, user-reported "successes," and a survey of 402 active users helped define parameters of user-level success. Of the users surveyed, 68% reported arrests or case clearances, 71% reported improved performance, and 82% reported improved efficiency attributed to FINDER. Regression models identified system use, task-fit, and user characteristic measures that predicted changes in users' individual performance. A key finding was that FINDER affirmed the importance of sharing low-level police data, and successful outcomes were related to its ease of use and access to user-specified datasets. Also, users employed a variety of information-seeking techniques that were related to their task assignments. Improved understanding of user-defined success and system use techniques can inform the design and functionality of information sharing systems. Further, this study contributes to addressing the critical requirement for developing information sharing system metrics.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Death in custody elicits accusations and emotional outbursts by the victims' families, community, activists and the general pubic. These controversial cases have become a regular feature in the news. Using thematic analysis, I examine news reporting on the deaths of two racialized individuals with mental illness at the hands of law enforcement officers in Ontario in 2016. This study draws on the concepts of framing and narratives to examine how news media reporting of law enforcement deaths involving racialized men suffering from mental illnesses may produce conflicting narratives and frames. The news media's coverage of such incidents presents various narratives and frames in an attempt to assist the general public in making sense of the incident. Journalists' quoted sources and their messages resulted in the frames that were found in this study. These frames included opposing views on the use force, the influence of race and mental illness, injustice, and uniqueness of the event. Similarly, the narratives included comments and discourses on the event, how people make sense of what happened and why it happened the way it did, and what can be done to prevent these issues from recurring. Narratives about the identities of both victims and law enforcement agents, the nature of law enforcement work, and system change were also included. The different narratives and frames that appear in news reports of law enforcement brutality cases may create a polarized community with a section of the citizenry agreeing with and supporting these frames while the other section opposes them. The use of force, a contentious issue, is visible to the public and frequently elicits competing claims that serve to frame it as a necessary part of law enforcement work or as brutality that primarily targets the vulnerable in society. This study is significant because it investigates narratives and frames in order to fully comprehend and appreciate the contrasting discourses surrounding the use of deadly force by law enforcement against racialized men with mental health issues in Ontario.

Recent increases in opioid overdose rates have changed the role of first responders on the front lines of this national crisis. The present study used a semi-structured qualitative interview to investigate how the increase in opioids, opioid-related harm, and opioid-related death within Tennessee has affected the first responder population. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics (N = 30) from rural-serving counties in Tennessee completed a semi-structured interview. Eight themes emerged from the interviews: (1) mental health symptoms, including posttraumatic stress disorder and secondary traumatic stress symptoms; (2) coping behaviors; (3) available resources; (4) barriers to accessing resources; (5) recommendations for what is needed; (6) hardest circumstances; (7) discrepant thoughts and feelings; (8) perception of role in reducing the impact of the epidemic. This study provides novel insights into the impact of the opioid epidemic on Tennessee first responders, and can inform future efforts to reduce adverse outcomes in these care providers.

This study investigated law enforcement officers' personal beliefs and attitudes toward Muslims and Islam in Greece. Primary survey data collected directly from forty-eight active police officers in Greece, from different gender, age group and management level. An online questionnaire with twenty-five questions was developed, in order to assess the knowledge of and attitudes toward Muslims and Islam among the sample of the Greek police officers. The survey examined four broad areas. First, it aims to look at the respondents' general understanding of many of Islam's basic tenets. Following that, it examines some of the respondents' attitudes toward Muslims and Islam. Third, the survey aims to explore respondents' views on how Muslims and Islam are portrayed in the media. Finally, the level of officers’ contact with Muslims is investigated and to what extent police officers were eager to learn more about Muslim culture and Islam.  The results of data analyses demonstrate that the majority of police officers do not consistently base their knowledge of Muslims and Islam on stereotypes. Furthermore, their views on Muslims and Islam were not uniformly negative.

Drug trafficking and smuggling is an ongoing challenge for law enforcement agencies. Cocaine smuggling is a high-value pursuit for smugglers and has been attempted using a variety of concealment methods including the use of bottled liquids, canned milk, wax and suspensions in cans of beer. In particular, traffickers have used clothing impregnated with cocaine for smuggling. Handling, transportation or re-packaging of drugs of abuse and explosives will inevitably leave residual material on the clothing and other possessions of the involved persons. The nails and skin of the person may also be contaminated through the handling of these substances. This research study describes the development of Raman spectroscopic techniques for the detection of drugs of abuse and explosives on biomaterials of forensic relevance including undyed natural and synthetic fibres and dyed textile specimens, nail and skin. Confocal Raman microscopy has been developed and evaluated for the detection and identification of particulates of several drugs of abuse and explosives on different substrates. The results show that excellent spectroscopic discrimination can be achieved between single particles and substrate materials, giving a ubiquitous non-destructive approach to the analysis of pico-gram quantities of the drugs and explosives in-situ. Isolating the particle in this way corresponds with an analytical sensitivity comparable with the most sensitive analytical techniques currently available e.g. the highly sensitive, yet destructive ionization desorption mass spectrometry. With the confocal Raman approach, this work demonstrates that definitive molecular-specific information can be achieved within seconds without significant interference from the substrate. The potential for the application of this technique as a rapid preliminary, forensic screening procedure is obvious and attractive to non-specialist operators as it does not involve prior chemical pretreatment ii or detachment of the analyte from the substrate. As a result, evidential materials can be analysed without compromising their integrity for future investigation. Also, the applications of benchtop and portable Raman spectroscopy for the in-situ detection of drugs of abuse in clothing impregnated with the drugs have been demonstrated. Raman spectra were obtained from a set of undyed natural and synthetic fibres and dyed textiles impregnated with these drugs. The spectra were collected using three Raman spectrometers; one benchtop dispersive spectrometer coupled to a fibre-optic probe and two portable spectrometers. High quality spectra of the drugs could be acquired in-situ within seconds and without any sample preparation or alteration of the evidential material. A field-portable Raman spectrometer is a reliable instrument that can be used by emergency response teams to rapidly identify unknown samples. This method lends itself well to further development for the in-situ examination by law enforcement officers of items associated with users, handlers and suppliers of drugs of abuse in the forensics arena. In the last section of this study, a portable prototype Raman spectrometer ( DeltaNu Advantage 1064) equipped with 1064 nm laser excitation has been evaluated for the analysis of drugs of abuse and explosives. The feasibility of the instrument for the analysis of the samples both as neat materials and whilst contained in plastic and glass containers has been investigated. The advantages, disadvantages and the analytical potential in the forensics arena of this instrument have been discussed. / Egyptian Government and Sohag University

The police and the community have been long engaged in an ever-evolving dichotomous relationship. This relationship has been strained over the recent decade by police brutality, media coverage of police misconduct, and the increased call for police transparency. Both parties in this disparaging dynamic see the need for improved engagement and communication efforts. This research studied the underlying perceptions, assumptions, and expectations of the police and police training within four demographically diverse neighborhoods in upstate New York. This interpretive phenomenological study focused on the importance of lived experience and experiential learning in creating expectations and assumptions. Twenty-four participants total were sampled in this research. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups of twelve police officers and twelve community members, three research questions were explored. First, what was the perceived role of the police in society? Secondly, what lived experiences brough the respondents to these expected roles of the police? Lastly, what type of changes can be made in police training and community learning to improve the police/community relationship? Using thematic networking and vignette sampling, multiple findings were identified, and four analytic categories were synthesized. The analysis showed that policing expectations and assumptions are based on lived experiences, childhood presumptions, and cultural norms. Secondly, the lived phenomenon of policing varies based on the socio-economic, cultural, and community settings. Thirdly, transformational critical incidents play a significant role in the creation of assumptions and expectations. Finally, the study showed a dichotomous relationship between the police and the community on ways to improve police training and the policing culture. In conclusion, this study offered various recommendations for both the police population and the community population in steps to improve the community/police dynamic. These recommendations included the creation of a measurable instrument for gauging public perception/approval, increased educational requirements for police officers prior to employment, consideration of an over-reliance on evidence-based tactics, emphasis in police training on the importance of experiential and transformational learning, and the adoption of a more holistic moniker for the policing culture. Community recommendations included the creation of co-learning environments, embracing police engagement over interaction, and emphasis on leveraging the power of lived experience and community-based learning.

The shooting death of Michael Brown in June of 2014 by police in Ferguson, Missouri triggered massive public protests across the United States, calling attention to a wave of similar incidents thereafter, where unarmed black men have been killed at the hands of officers in a wide range of locales. The recent coverage has revealed the extent and dispersion of aggressive and, in many cases, fatal interactions between law enforcement and the public, particularly minorities. Actions by the Department of Justice and other state and local agencies have consistently focused on individual agencies and/or agents, as the cause of the problem. This research looks at the history of crime control policy and the law enforcement mandate, from the 1960s onward, examining disparities in crime policy and incidence. The findings show that the shift from locale-based to centralized crime control and the manipulation of crime as a political construct has led to a change in law enforcement identity, away from public service. Consequently, the governing politics and organizational culture of law enforcement has institutionalized some of the most reprehensible aspects, systematizing misconduct. The findings suggest that resolving the problem of misconduct in law enforcement requires an identity shift, focusing on structural rather than individual concerns and implementing more robust and comprehensive training parameters.

The intent of this thesis is to create a new heuristic for processes of identification. Currently, Burke's identification theory only accounts for his definition of successful identification. This thesis explores how Burke's initial identification theory interacts with other theories that contribute to identity formation. Specifically, Fernheimer's identification half-steps, Reynold's ethos as location theory, and Kerschbaum's commodification of difference will be used to build on Burke's theory and develop a new heuristic. The new heuristic will be applied to the San Quentin State Prison's inmate-run newspaper, the San Quentin News, to explore how inmates are utilizing rhetorical identification strategies to change the dominant conversations surrounding their identity.

Suicidal ideation and associated behaviors are up to four times more common among jail inmates than the general community (Jenkins et al., 2005; Hayes, 1986). Research finds a variety of social, biological, and psychological factors interact to influence suicidal thoughts of incarcerated individuals (Bonner, 1992; Borrill et al., 2005). Particularly, psychological distress such as, depression and feelings of hopelessness, along with loss of social support and decreased feelings of connectedness have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors (Moscicki, 1997; Hawton & van Heeringen, 2009). Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) has emphasized the importance of connectedness for suicide prevention. Feelings of loneliness and isolation are of particular concern among jail inmates. These factors have been linked to disproportionate rates of suicidal ideation or participation in suicidal behavior among inmates relative to community populations (Biggam & Power, 1997, Chapman et al., 2005, Ivanoff & Jang, 1991, Jenkins et al., 2005, Palmer & Connelly, 2005; Larney et al., 2012; Liebling, 1992, Marzano et al., 2011; Suto & Arnaut, 2010). Using longitudinal data collected from newly incarcerated jail inmates, the current study examines the impact family, social support, and connectedness have on suicide risk and ideation amongst jail inmates. Study findings have potential implications for policy and practice to better identify and manage suicide risk within jail settings.