Do Department of Justice Intervention and Citizen Oversight Improve Police Accountability?, United States, 1995-2019 (ICPSR 38413)
Version Date: Jul 27, 2023 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Terri M. Adams, Howard University;
Rodney D. Green, Howard University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38413.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The data in this study assess police misconduct by considering civilian review boards (CRBs) and federal intervention by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The latter involves civil rights investigations of alleged pattern-or-practice violations that resulted in consent decrees or memoranda of agreement under 42 USC 14141 (re-codified in 2017 as 34 USC 12601) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (1994 Crime Bill); technical assistance letters based on the outcome of DOJ investigations, which lead to voluntary reforms; and requests for assistance from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Police jurisdictions
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic examination of the outcomes of the two principal structural approaches to accountability for police misconduct - civilian review boards and federal intervention by the United States Department of Justice.
Study Design View help for Study Design
In this project, statistical modeling was used to evaluate the extent to which two structural responses to police misconduct (civilian review boards (CRBs) and federal intervention by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)) have an impact on accountability in policing. Such modeling was conducted within the framework of a diverse array of CRBs, DOJ interventions, and their interactions. The target sample consisted of 30 jurisdictions with a CRB, 20 of which also experienced a DOJ or DOJ-related intervention, considered over a 20-year period yielding a panel of 498 year/jurisdiction combinations. Regressions were conducted on (1) complaints received by CRBs, (2) allegations closed (with findings or dismissed or otherwise completed), (3) serious allegations closed (with findings or dismissed or otherwise completed) and (4) force allegations closed (with findings or dismissed or otherwise completed).
Sample View help for Sample
Data were gathered from civilian review boards and police departments in each of the jurisdictions. These jurisdictions were selected because they had a civilian review board and/or an intervention by the United States Department of Justice. The data were gathered between 2016 and 2021. They were gathered in several ways. Data in some jurisdictions were available on police department and/or civilian review board websites, and in some cases in annual reports by those agencies. In many cases, formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were made to both civilian review board and/or police departments to obtain nominally public data that was not published in annual reports or on websites.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Police jurisdictions in the United States
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
None.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2023-07-27
Version History View help for Version History
2023-07-27 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.
This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.