Paper 4. Multi-Jurisdictional Police Research: The Challenges of Juggling Partnerships across Contexts

• In Event: Strengthening Evidence-Based Policing Through Applied Research Partnerships Part II

Abstract

The latest Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey indicates that there are 14,700 general purpose law enforcement agencies in the United States. 98% of these agencies have fewer than 250 full-time sworn officers. Yet, most policing research focuses on the 2% of agencies with more than 250 full-time sworn officers. The reasons for this focus often have more to do with simplified research designs than any assertion that these 2% of agencies are representative of policing in the other 98%. Drawing on a state-wide research project that partnered with agencies ranging from 42 sworn officers to 534 sworn officers, we discuss the promises and challenges of conducting multi-jurisdictional studies of smaller agencies to overcome our limited knowledge of 98% of law enforcement agencies.

Authors

• Kyle McLean, Clemson University

• Emily Suiter, Clemson University

• Bryan Lee Miller, Clemson University