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Burruss, G. W., & Giblin, M. J. (2014). Modeling isomorphism on policing innovation: The role of institutional pressures in adopting community-oriented policing. Crime and Delinquency, 60(3), 331–355.

Abstract: Recent research on innovation diffusion points to a number of key factors that stimulate the need for change or facilitate the adoption of innovations. Empirical studies examining the process of innovation—that is, how ideas are spread—are less common and often lack a theoretical foundation. The present study uses institutional theory to develop a model of community-policing adoption in municipal law enforcement agencies. The fit of the institutional model is assessed using secondary data and structural equation modeling. The results show that centrist forces—including publications, the professionalization of law enforcement, and other law enforcement agencies—shape the organizational adoption of community-policing reforms. The implications of the research for communicating innovations are addressed.

Questions to Consider:

1. The research showed that the institutional environment influenced the adoption of community-policing reforms. Are some police leaders more likely to be attuned to institutional messages—reading journals and books or attending conferences, for example—than others? What factors lead some leaders to pay attention to these sources?
    

Freeman, N. J., & Sandler, J. C. (2010). The Adam Walsh Act: A false sense of security or an effective public policy initiative? Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21(1), 31–49.

Abstract: With the enactment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA), states are required to standardize their registration and community notification practices by categorizing sex offenders into three tier levels in the interest of increasing public safety. No empirical research, however, has investigated whether implementation of the AWA is likely to increase public safety. Using a sample of registered sex offenders in New York State, the current study examined the effectiveness of the Adam Walsh tier system to classify offenders by likelihood of recidivism. Results indicated that the AWA falls short of increasing public safety. In fact, registered sex offenders classified by AWA as Tier 1 (lowest risk) were rearrested for both nonsexual and sexual offenses more than sex offenders in Tier 2 (moderate risk) or Tier 3 (highest risk).

Questions to Consider:

1. State adoption of the provisions of AWA has been relatively slow. Do you think nonadopting states are more influenced by the costs of implementation or the effectiveness of the law itself? Explain.
    

King, W. R. (2009). Toward a life-course perspective of police organizations. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46(2), 213–244.

Abstract: The author prescribes and describes a new, temporally rich organizational perspective: a life-course perspective of police organizations. This perspective will contribute to more informative tests of existing organizational theories by improving understanding of how police agencies change and resist change, and the role of process. The author describes the life-course perspective and how a life-course perspective yields more informative tests of existing organizational theories and advances understanding of police organizations. Six events along the organizational life course are reviewed (creation, early founding effects, growth periods, declining periods, crisis, and organizational disbanding). Finally, two advantages of this perspective are discussed, as well as the temporal orientations of life-course research.

Questions to Consider:

1. Given recent calls for reform in policing from the public, government officials, and others, do you think that newly formed police agencies will be imprinted with certain characteristics not found in existing police organizations? In other words, will certain characteristics be more likely to appear in new rather than extant departments? If so, identify some of these organizational features.