Phoenix Police Department Intelligence Officers: Roles, Perceptions and Effectiveness

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Intelligence is a crucial component and tool in the criminal justice system, and yet, the ways in which it is gathered and used has gone largely unevaluated. This poster begins to address the sparsity of literature by investigating the function of Intelligence Officers in the Phoenix Police Department. It explores their roles; perceptions on information they are gathering, namely reliability and validity; and their effectiveness. Different aspects of roles and perceptions are also examined in terms of their ability to predict successful outcomes. Data reflect a 22-month sample of officer reports from the Phoenix Police Department Intelligence Officer Program. Descriptive analyses suggest that Intelligence Officers typically work specific cases with various different natures of crime. Generally, officers seem to be confident in the information they collect in terms of reliability and validity, and also appear to be relatively successful in achieving both broad intelligence successes and more tangible case successes. However, the relationships between role and perception variables and results vary in terms of both impact and significance for each type of success. Future research is required to better understand these relationships and to continue building a foundation of knowledge on Intelligence Officer effectiveness, so their impact can be optimized.

Author

• Jon Bottema, Arizona State University