Navigating Context and Change: The Evolution of Police Diversion Programs in Response to Political, Social, and Theoretical Shifts

• In Event: Models of Police Diversion at the Point of Arrest

Abstract

This qualitative study involved administration of semi-structured interviews with organizational leaders across the United States who lead police diversion programs. After consensus coding and analysis were conducted several key themes emerged. First, the importance of the larger context within which police diversion programs existed locally and more broadly were key to program success. Additionally, programs were heavily influenced by prevailing political and social forces and thus created, altered, and reimagined based on these influences. The theoretical framing and logistical execution of the police diversion programs depended on and changed according to these socio-political forces. Unsurprisingly, programs often shifted in significant ways in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—often changing the pathways for client involvement, adjusting to changes in resource availability, and reimagining programming. Police partnerships also changed in response to the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted during summer 2020, raising questions among interviewees about the utility of law enforcement in diversion work at all, as calls for alternatives to punitive responses continue to emerge. Beyond that context, theoretical frameworks also drove programmatic changes including shifts from punishment to harm reduction, diversion to deflection, and criminalization to treatment.

Author

• Nancy Digby Franke, La Salle University