Identifying Effective Police Investigative Practices: A National Study Using Trajectory Analysis

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

Crime clearance rates are often used by the police and the public as a measure of police performance, especially for homicide. Clearance rates for serious offenses have remained steady at the national level for over 30 years, although homicide clearances have decreased. Prior limited research indicates the importance of investigative practices in clearing crime. This panel describes a two-year research project funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in order to expand the scope of study on crime clearances and investigative practices. The study involves 30 years of clearance and crime data from a national sample of the 100 largest police agencies in the United States, as well as police agencies with 100 or more sworn officers. Trajectory analysis is used to examine variations in the clearance rates among police agencies. Later stages in the project will involve identifying agencies with high and low clearance trajectories in order to examine investigative practices of these agencies.

Sub Unit

• Area VIII: Policing / 55: Police Strategies, Interventions, and Evaluations 

Individual Presentations

• Understanding Crime Clearances: A Research Program to Improve Police Performance - Charles F. Wellford, University of Maryland; Cynthia Lum, George Mason University

• Revealing Longitudinal Heterogeneity in Police Clearances: An Application of Group-based Trajectory Modeling - Thomas Lind Scott, University of Maryland

• Examining the Relationship between Police Crime Rates and Clearance Rates Using Dual Trajectory Analysis - Heather Vovak, George Mason University

Chair

• Ronal Serpas, Loyola University New Orleans

Discussant

• Carl Jensen, The Citadel