Early intervention systems for police: a state-of-the-art review

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review of prior empirical studies that have examined early intervention (EI) systems or programs in policing.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>A systematic literature search of various government and academic databases (e.g. Emerald, Google Scholar, National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), Sage, Taylor &amp; Francis and Wiley) was conducted.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>This systematic review identified eight EI studies that matched the selection criteria. Of these, two are multiagency studies and six are individual agency studies. Findings across studies are generally positive but overall relatively inconsistent with regard to EI systems' effectiveness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>Police agencies benefit in identifying and addressing at-risk officers to ensure police accountability and officer safety, health and wellness. This research is invaluable for optimizing how EI systems can use agency data for such predictions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>This state-of-the-art review on EI systems in policing is the first of its kind. EI systems have been implemented by many police agencies, yet a limited number of empirical studies have been conducted. This systematic review will be useful for researchers who wish to further explore how EI systems are utilized and whether EI systems are successful/effective.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Who Is At-Risk? An Examination of the Likelihood and Time Variation in the Predictors of Repeated Police Misconduct

“…In addition, having an effective EI system to hold officers and agencies accountable will assist in addressing and preventing at-risk officer behavior, ensuring police legitimacy, and building community trust and partnerships (Gullion & King, 2020). Furthermore, because an EI system is nondisciplinary in nature, supervisors can receive alerts based on a complaint threshold to address at-risk officer behavior rather than waiting on the internal affairs process, which may or may not result in a sustained complaint.…”

“…Furthermore, handling EI interventions swiftly and appropriately with post-intervention monitoring, is vital in preventing repeated misconduct. In addition to individual officers' activities, an EI system should also compare officers' activities with their partner, unit, shift, and patrol area, in aggregate (Gullion & King, 2020;Walker & Archbold, 2013). Given research finds significance with complaint division and officer assignment and notes their link to busy and high crime areas, such comparisons would identify at-risk officers while isolating highly productive or proactive officers from less proactive officers (Walker, 2001).…”

“…The purpose of this study is to determine officers' risk of repeated misconduct after receiving an initial complaint. While not all complaints require disciplinary action, nor are they necessarily the result of officer misconduct (e.g., in cases where an alleged complaint is not sustained), how supervisors and police agencies address officers who receive initial complaints and hold them accountable, when necessary is critical (Gullion & King, 2020;Walker, 2006). 1 For example, officers receive more complaints in their first three years, and are at greater the risk for repeated complaints dependent upon the proximity of the first complaint (Harris, 2009(Harris, , 2010a(Harris, , 2014Harris & Worden, 2014;Kane & White, 2009).…”

Using criminological theory to explain police misconduct: a state-of-the-art review

“…While there is relatively little research examining EIS efficacy (for a recent meta-review, see Gullion and King, 2020), the results here clearly suggest that strain and stress play a potentially important role in police misconduct. Furthermore, given that most of the studies here are crosssectional in nature and include personnel from across the spectrum of law enforcement experience and rank, it would seem prudent to include other indicators in the EIS as well.…”

Police Uses of Force in the USA: a Wealth of Theories and a Lack of Evidence

“…An EIS uses internally-generated data on various aspects of officers’ performance—ranging from uses of force to use of sick leave—to alert supervisors to officers who are potentially problematic before they become a serious concern. While there is evidence that EIS can be effective if managed properly with moderate goals (Walker et al, 2001 ), a recent systematic review of EIS shows that there were only eight studies that matched the selection criteria for proper methods, six of which were single agency studies (Gullion & King, 2020 ). The results of the reviewed studies are encouraging, but measures of success/effectiveness are inconsistent.…”