Research and Evaluations on Arrest Reduction Topics

Research and Evaluations on Arrest Reduction Topics

Key Research Findings Related to Pre-arrest Diversion Initiatives in the US

Stepping Up: Florida’s Top Juvenile Civil Citation Efforts—Advocating the Importance of Civil Citation Programs While Recognizing Those That Do It Best

This publication summarizes developments in pre-arrest diversion in Florida over the past year, including civil citation, examining new programs, the reworking of existing agreements, new research, and legislative changes made to expand usage. This study highlights opportunities to improve existing pre-arrest diversion programs and to build new ones, and is intended to be used by decisionmakers as they re-examine memorandums of understanding governing their pre-arrest diversion programs and renegotiate the new circuit-wide agreements as required by law.

Research and Resources from the Civil Citation Network

Responding to Individuals Experiencing Mental Health Crises: Police-Involved Programs

A growing number of police and sheriff’s departments have implemented specialized responses to mental health crisis incidents, including crisis intervention teams. Research indicates departments offering specialized responses show greater officer knowledge of mental health conditions and more positive police attitudes
toward individuals with mental health conditions. This article from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) examines specialized mental health responses with an emphasis on practices in Illinois and offers implications for future research and practice.

Police-Led Referrals to Treatment for Substance Use Disorders in Rural Illinois: An Examination of the Safe Passage Initiative

Researchers from ICJIA conducted a process evaluation of Safe Passage, a police deflection model in which police departments become a referral point to treatment for individuals with substance use disorders. Through the model, individuals can walk into any participating police department and request and receive treatment without fear of arrest. In Illinois, Safe Passage has served 170 individuals in rural Lee and Whiteside counties since 2015. Researchers sought to understand how the initiative was developed and operated and gain perspectives of stakeholders, police officers, treatment providers, and clients involved in the program. While more research is needed, the initiative showed promise in its collaborative approach to connecting clients to treatment.

Fighting the Opioid Crisis through Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Study of a Police Program Model in Illinois

Seeking to more effectively help individuals suffering from opioid use disorder, police departments across the country are embracing a deflection model that offers treatment access to those in need. ICJIA researchers interviewed representatives of seven law enforcement agencies employing treatment program models in Illinois to better understand operations, leverage lessons learned, measure sustainability, and inform other agencies as they implement their own programs.

Adult Civil Citations with Intervention Services: A “Pre-Arrest” Model

The IACP, with the support of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, studied how police departments approach the use of citation in lieu of arrest, with a goal to provide the law enforcement community and other criminal justice stakeholders with a reference point for information about citation practices across America.

IACP Trifold Summary

Citation in Lieu ofArrest : Examining Law Enforcement’s Use of Citation Across the United States

Citation in Lieu of Arrest: Examining Law Enforcement’s Use of Citation Across the United States (Literature Review)

STEER Police Deflection: Stop, Triage, Engage, Educate and Rehabilitate

Leon County/Tallahassee Pre-Arrest Diversion - Adult Civil Citation Program: A Model Program with National Implications

Emerging Issues in American Policing Digest

Emerging Issues in American Policing Digest, Volume 1: Diversion Programs and Recidivism

Research in Seattle, WA demonstrates how employing diversion strategies can save departmental resources, decrease recidivism, and improve employment outcomes for people with histories of repeated minor offenses.

Emerging Issues in American Policing Digest, Volume 3: Special Edition: Alternatives to Enforcement

Recent efforts to develop and expand alternatives to enforcement highlight research-informed strategies to more effectively promote public safety and decrease police agencies’ reliance on arrests.

This special edition of Emerging Issues in American Policing focuses on the developing field of alternatives to enforcement.