Police Quarterly

This study investigates career-ending police misconduct that occurs with little or no prior warning. Using administrative data from a large policing agency in the United Kingdom, we examine the predictive value of unsubstantiated complaints and related career characteristics for career ending misconduct. While unsubstantiated complaints were correlated with minor complaint types and overall complaint volume, they showed no clear relationship with career ending misconduct. Among officers with unsubstantiated complaints, however, significant predictors included duty type, frequency of transfers, and, most notably, the presence of secondary employment. A separate analysis of officers who committed “spontaneous” career ending misconduct—without any history of prior complaints—revealed no consistent demographic or career predictors. These findings challenge the utility of traditional early warning indicators among officers without complaint histories. We conclude that early intervention approaches must be refined to reflect multiple misconduct trajectories.

Depolicing refers to a perceived decline in police engagement, particularly in proactive enforcement. Although widely invoked in political and media debates, the concept remains theoretically and empirically contested. Existing research suggests that overall police activity remains relatively stable and that only a minority of officers report reducing their own interventions, raising questions about the origins of disengagement narratives. Drawing on an organizational justice framework, this study analyzes 59 in-depth interviews with Quebec police officers to examine how officers construct accounts of disengagement through lived experiences of oversight. We identify three interrelated dynamics associated with radical disengagement: employer-initiated internal investigations that constrain blame externalization and disrupt occupational solidarity; precautionary administrative measures that produce stigmatization and isolation; and disciplinary responses to morally framed proactive practices, often interpreted as noble cause corruption. We argue that radical depolicing is rooted less in external scrutiny than in perceived organizational injustice.

American police are often described as experiencing a public confidence crisis that affects police-civilian relationships and community safety. Erosion is sometimes ascribed to a de-policing effect, wherein negative public scrutiny limits police proactivity. However, if the public exhibits a negative attitude toward police, the public may also avoid contact with law enforcement. This paper examines this possibility by analyzing longitudinal data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to see if periods of negative scrutiny affect the public’s willingness to call police. Findings from an interrupted time series analysis shows crime reporting rates stayed constant over the last 30 years. But, starting in the mid-2000s, people are twice as likely to cite the police as the most important reason for not reporting a crime, predating prominent negative scrutiny events. Additional analyses show substantive changes across other demographics. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Police vehicle pursuits emphasize a central tension between law enforcement imperatives and public safety. While modern policies emphasize balancing apprehension needs against risks of continuation, little is known about whether public intuitions mirror this framework. We address this gap using a nationally representative conjoint experiment (N = 3,334) that varied eleven contextual factors across randomized pursuit scenarios. Respondents rated perceived risk, indicated whether pursuits should be terminated, and made forced-choice tradeoffs. Across all outcomes, high-risk situational factors (e.g., high speeds, adverse weather, heavy traffic, urban settings, etc.) increased perceived danger and termination support, while more serious underlying offenses, particularly violent felonies, reduced it. These patterns align with the proportional balancing logic embedded in contemporary policy and training. Findings suggest restrictive, risk-sensitive pursuit policies are broadly consistent with public expectations, though tolerance for risk in violent felony cases may limit support for outright prohibitions.

When a police officer commits a criminal offense, they not only violate the very laws they are legally entrusted to uphold, but in doing so, they also violate the public’s trust. In Canada, the importance of public trust is recognized through the criminal offense of “breach of trust by a public officer,” and as an aggravating factor in sentencing. As there is a significant dearth of research on police criminality and on the sentencing of police officers in Canada, we present an empirically grounded examination of 93 sentencing decisions between 1990 and 2024, involving over 100 police officers convicted for breaches of trust. The study sheds light on the nature of police-perpetrated breaches of trust, and on the ways in which courts sentence police-offenders in Canada. Our study underscores that although sentencing is an important element of police accountability, it does little to address the systemic aspects of police criminality.

Recent Supreme Court doctrine rejects a narrow “moment of threat” lens in favor of evaluating police use-of-force under the totality of the circumstances. Whether expanding the temporal frame changes how reasonableness and culpability are assigned remains unclear. We test this question using a nationally stratified experiment fielded the day Barnes v. Felix was decided (N = 2,401). Participants were randomly assigned to view one of three temporally distinct dashcam clips from the Barnes incident: a four-second final frame, a thirteen-second partial-context clip, or an approximately two-minute totality-of-circumstances clip. Respondents then evaluated officer reasonableness, responsibility, criminal liability, and internal discipline. Expansion beyond the final frame reduced perceived reasonableness and increased punitiveness. However, effects were non-linear: limited additional context produced the strongest condemnation, while full context tempered reactions. Temporal framing shapes public evaluations of police use-of-force, with the direction and magnitude of effects dependent on what the selected temporal frame reveals.

Considering the increased responsibility placed on law enforcement for handling crisis encounters, many departments have implemented crisis intervention training to reduce use of force through de-escalation and increase diversion/referral to community services. Despite the wellintentioned nature of such programming, evidence to date has been both elusive and inconclusive. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effectiveness of the Seattle Police Department’s crisis intervention program in meeting these intended goals. Utilizing a covariate matching approach, the research questions compare confirmed crisis event responses with and without a crisis-certified officer to assess potential differences in crisis event response profiles, police use of force during crisis encounters, and dispositional outcomes resulting from crisis encounters. The results highlight differences in crisis response likelihood, use of force, and dispositional outcomes between CIT-certified and noncertified officers. Implications for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Research shows variation in police officers’ views of the police role; some are mainly crime control oriented, while others hold a broader role extending to order maintenance and service. Though the origins and nature of role orientations are not well understood, training and socialization are presumed to play key roles. Some conjecture holds that officers subscribe to a “warrior” mindset, and training fosters this orientation. A shift to a “guardian” mentality, prizing community partnership, is prescribed. We analyze two waves of panel survey data from four classes of New York State Police recruits to examine the content and structure of recruits’ role orientations and the direction and degree of change during basic training. We find that recruits enter training as both warriors and guardians, these “mindsets” are not incompatible with one another, and that academy training amplifies and strengthens attitudinal coherence for both sets of outlooks.

This study evaluates the short- and long-term effects of a novel, immersive training programme designed to increase police officers’ willingness and ability to prevent ethnic profiling. The programme combines virtual reality (VR) simulations with group-based dialogue, grounded in constructive controversy methodology. Using a longitudinal design, 519 Dutch police officers participated in one of three conditions: no training, one-time training, or repetitive (three-times) training. To assess effects, participants completed questionnaires measuring individual-level variables (ethnic reform attitude, knowledge, self-efficacy) and team-level variables (group efficacy, psychological safety, intragroup conflict). These measures were collected at five time points: baseline (a month before training), directly after each training session, and 6 months after the final session. Results from linear mixed models indicate that training significantly affected both individual and team-level outcomes. One-time training was primarily effective in increasing knowledge and improving psychological safety. Repetitive training led to a temporary decline in self-efficacy and group efficacy immediately after training, but only through repetition were sustained long-term improvements observed in attitudes, self-efficacy, and group efficacy. Psychological safety improved following one-time training and remained stable over time, with no additional benefits from repeated sessions. These findings suggest that while single-session training may produce short-term gains in knowledge and safety perceptions, repeated training is essential to achieve lasting changes in attitudes, efficacy beliefs, and team dynamics. For police organisations aiming to reduce ethnic profiling, training must go beyond one-off interventions and instead focus on sustained, repeated efforts to embed change at both individual and organisational levels.

This study investigates officer-involved shootings (OIS) in Australia between 1970 and 2020, focusing on the effects of routine firearm carriage policies introduced in New South Wales (1991) and Victoria (1993). Owing to the lack of uniform national reporting of non-fatal shootings, a two-phase data collection strategy was adopted: initial identification through online media archives, followed by validation using gray literature and official reports. This process resulted in a dataset of 581 OIS incidents, including fatal and non-fatal cases. Using this dataset, we employed Bayesian structural time series modeling, and a segmented regression analysis within an Interrupted Time Series analysis to assess the impact of routine carriage policies. Both methods consistently showed that routine carriage policies did not increase OIS rates. These findings provide empirical evidence countering assumptions that increased firearm availability among police necessarily leads to higher OIS rates. The results suggest that under certain conditions, routine firearm carriage can be introduced without exacerbating OIS rates. While identifying the mechanism was outside the scope of this paper, the pattern is consistent with the view that organizational, tactical, and cultural settings, and not firearm availability alone, shape OIS outcomes. Jurisdictions considering the routine arming of police officers should treat it as a multi-component policy change, and pair any changes to firearm policy with context-specific tactical training, professionalization initiatives, and de-escalation protocols. Careful attention to these factors may mitigate risks associated with routine carriage and promote safer outcomes for both officers and the public.

Few studies focus on stress, support and psychological health of police leaders. Data was collected from mid-level police leaders (n = 538) and frontline police (n = 1,003) employed in a large Australian state police agency. While mid-level leaders experience similar levels of psychological distress as the frontline, the frontline is more burned out. Organizational and operational stress significantly predicted burnout and psychological distress. Supervisor and peer support were both associated with less burnout and supervisor support was associated with less distress. Greater perceptions of psychological safety climate (PSC) were a protective factor for psychological distress. Job resources and PSC can be useful in attenuating psychological distress of police leaders. If we expect mid-level police leaders to build healthy workplaces, we must take the necessary actions to mitigate organizational and operational factors that contribute to stress among police leadership cohorts. More attention must be given to safeguarding the wellbeing of those leading the frontline.

The consequences of poor mental health are far reaching for police officers, organizations, and the community. The occupational culture in place to collectively buffer the strains of the job can also serve as a barrier to seeking mental health help. The precise manner in which this operates is currently unknown. Utilizing survey data from a large urban police department, the current study examines the impact of several internal and external features of the cultural work environment on officers’ perceptions of mental health seeking help. Results from multivariate analyses illuminate the importance of top management support, expansive role orientations, and job satisfaction in seeking mental health assistance. Conversely, higher perceptions of danger and stress were negatively associated with willingness to seek help for mental health issues. A second analysis, based on grouping of open-ended survey responses, reports a number of occupational fears in coming forward with mental health concerns.

Research indicating the impact of police academy training on officer safety outcomes post-graduation is limited, creating a significant gap in policing literature. To address this, this study combines data from police academies across the United States using the 2018 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA) (n = 761) along with agency-level injury data (n = 25,345) from the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) and Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) databases from 2018 to 2022. Data cleaning and linking techniques successfully matched 322 academies to officer injury data in their corresponding agencies and jurisdictions. Preliminary analyses revealed significant differences in safety outcomes and force-based teaching emphasis based on institutions (e.g., traditional, college, other) overseeing police academies. Negative binomial regression models were used to assess the relationships between academy structures and instruction to officer incident and injury outcomes. The results indicated that academy structures—college-affiliated academies associating with lower injury rates, and those using scenario-based training showing higher incident counts—are significant correlates of officer safety. As for elements of academy instruction, higher numbers of sworn instructors were associated with better safety outcomes. These findings highlight the complex, context-dependent influence academy characteristics have on officer safety and provide valuable insights for evidence-based academy reform. Nevertheless, limitations such as the use of fuzzy matching, the cross-sectional nature of the data, and the exclusion of unmatched academies must be considered. Future research should expand on these findings to better understand the relationship between police academy training and safety outcomes after graduation.

As the representation of women in law enforcement increases, researchers are more frequently examining whether male and female officers respond differently to policing situations. This study uses the “sameness versus difference” framework to explore gendered behavior, with officer sex (male vs. female) as the measurable indicator in arrest decisions during responses to family assault calls. Using five years of data from a large Southern U.S. sheriff’s office and accounting for officer- and incident-level variation with multilevel modeling, the analysis finds no significant difference between male and female officers in the likelihood of making an arrest. Instead, situational factors like victim injury and time of day, along with individual characteristics of officers, victims, and offenders, play a more influential role in arrest decisions. Neighborhood characteristics have minimal impact. These findings support the perspective of sameness and emphasize the importance of proper statistical modeling to prevent misleading conclusions.

Given the recent attention focusing on “bad apples” in police departments across the country, police behaviors have been the subject of considerable controversy and protest. Still, research indicates that rates of officially reported police crime are relatively low. In addition, crimes committed by female officers are largely understudied in this male-dominated workplace. Therefore, the current study explores the attributes associated with police crime committed by female officers using national arrest data. Results obtained from a multilevel model demonstrate the influences of individual- and agency-level variables in explaining female officers’ criminality. Findings reveal that while on-duty female officers are more likely to commit economically motivated and drug-related crimes, off-duty officers are more likely to engage in violent and alcohol-related crimes. Moreover, contextual factors such as types of agency and numbers of sworn officers predicted female officers’ criminality. Current findings highlight the importance of policies that would directly address female criminality in law enforcement.