Research Summary Existing research on plea bargaining focuses primarily on how fixed case and defendant characteristics, such as the strength of the evidence or the race of the accused, impact plea offers. Less is known about how prosecutors consider a defendant's behavior while their case is pending throughout the plea bargaining process. Drawing on an ethnographic study in two midwestern District Attorney's (DA) offices, this paper reveals how prosecutors evaluate defendants' performances pretrial as they decide their plea offers. First, I identify four types of pretrial performances that prosecutors consider: abiding by the rules of the court, addressing the harm of the crime, engaging with social services, and demonstrating positive attitude and demeanor. Then, I demonstrate how the process through which performances shape plea offers is dynamic and interactional, as defense attorneys develop assumptions about which performances prosecutors consider and support their clients in meeting those expectations.Policy Implications Defendants with fewer financial resources may face challenges in meeting pretrial performance expectations, leading to inequalities in defendants' ability to obtain more favorable plea offers. DA's offices should consider only making specific performance demands for services that are readily available to low-income defendants, such as programs offered for free. Alternatively, prosecutors could decline to prosecute low-level cases that stem from substance use or mental health issues and encourage law enforcement to make direct referrals to social service agencies instead. Otherwise, this practice risks exacerbating inequalities as more privileged defendants have greater resources to meet the performance demands compared to disadvantaged defendants. More broadly, these findings call for policies that address the underlying inequalities in access to health-care and social services, which would reduce inequality in defendants' ability to meet performance demands.
Research summary In recent years, a growing form of evidence tied to criminal cases has been police body-worn camera (BWC) footage. In many jurisdictions, the majority of cases include BWC evidence, though limited research examines how this evidence impacts prosecutorial decision-making and case outcomes. In this study, we examine this issue using 7 years (2016-2022) of prosecution data (N = 29,923) from a large urban jurisdiction in Maryland. We use covariate balancing propensity score weighting to equate treatment (BWC) and control (non-BWC) cases on baseline characteristics, and assess the impact of BWC evidence on a variety of downstream outcomes. Our results indicate that BWC evidence impacts the likelihood of nolle pros decisions and guilty pleas, reduces case-processing time, and alters incarceration sentences following guilty pleas, though the effects are conditioned by crime type and are strongest for cases initiated by "on-view" arrests.Policy implications The rapid adoption of BWCs has strained the resources of local prosecutor's offices. Empirical knowledge establishing whether, and under what conditions, BWC footage provides useful evidence during prosecution is critical to informing decisions about the costs and benefits of BWC adoption and the development of evidence-based practices for the use of BWC footage during the court process. Our findings show that BWC evidence has significant impacts on case processing outcomes, but these effects depend on the characteristics of the offense in question. Our results help to inform decisions concerning the implementation and scope of BWC programs, as well as strategies outlining the use of BWC footage during prosecution.
Research Summary Prosecutors play a significant but poorly understood role in setting probation conditions and pursuing revocations. For the 3.7 million U.S. adults under supervision, noncompliance with conditions can result in revocation and incarceration. Prison admissions from probation often stem from technical violations, not new convictions, suggesting that probation may often be "delayed incarceration." Despite their impact on incarceration rates, there is little research on how and why prosecutors recommend conditions or pursue technical revocations. We conducted an iterative mixed-methods study using multiple data sources: (1) a national statutory scan of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, (2) a national survey of prosecutors' offices (n = 305), (3) semistructured interviews with prosecutors (n = 18), (4) a targeted survey of reform-minded prosecutors (n = 22), and (5) focus groups with elected prosecutors and chiefs of staff (n = 14). The statutory scan reveals that prosecutorial authority for recommending conditions is often only vaguely defined, creating a regulatory vacuum that allows for variation in prosecutors' roles both within and between states. Survey and interview results indicate that when setting conditions, prosecutors consider statutory requirements, workload constraints, case characteristics, and broad rehabilitative concerns that may extend beyond the facts of the case. However, they typically do not pursue revocation for violations of rehabilitation-oriented conditions. Finally, many prosecutors already have the authority to implement immediate policy changes to reduce technical revocations but are constrained by other court actors and public support.Policy Implications Prosecutors already have the authority to reduce technical revocations through internal policy changes requiring no new legislation or funding. In many cases, they can immediately limit condition recommendations, eliminate most court fines and fees, and decline to pursue technical violations. These reforms would reduce unnecessary incarceration, allow individuals under supervision to focus on stability, and reduce strain on criminal legal system resources.
Research Summary Using administrative case-processing records and interviews with prosecutors, we examine how a change in prosecutorial administration impacts charging and plea-bargaining practices and racial and ethnic disparities in two jurisdictions led by progressive prosecutors who replaced more traditional administrations. We find that, under the progressive administrations, prosecutors handled cases in ways that resulted in less severe charging and plea-bargaining outcomes for White, Black, and Hispanic defendants, but the magnitudes of those changes differed notably between the two offices. Drawing on qualitative interviews with line prosecutors, supervising prosecutors, and lead prosecutors, we consider how differences in organizational context, leadership style, and the role of supervisors in translating reform priorities might explain this variation. Together, the findings illustrate how progressive prosecution unfolds in highly localized ways and how organizational dynamics shape the implementation of reform.Policy Implications Prosecutors have the power to shift established charging and plea-bargaining norms, but the extent of change depends on organizational context. Office size, leadership style, and the alignment of supervisors with reform priorities shape how effectively reform is implemented. Although the progressive administrations tended to reduce the severity of punishment across racial and ethnic groups, prosecutors inherit racial and ethnic disparities in caseloads due, in part, to structural racial inequality. Thus, "race-neutral" reforms may be insufficient to meaningfully address inequality. Progressive prosecutors seeking to promote racial justice may need to pair general reductions in punitiveness with more proactive, race-conscious strategies to correct for injustices they inherit in their caseload and monitor how reform priorities are being communicated and implemented within their office.
Research Summary To estimate the effects of successive drug policy shifts on prosecutorial decisions, we employ a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of statewide aggregated charging trends (2008-2024). Focused on the changing landscape around possession of controlled substances (PCS), we examined the impact of three Oregon policies-Justice Reinvestment (2013), PCS drug defelonization (2017), and PCS drug decriminalization (2021)-on initial charge filings, charge bargaining, and charge dismissals and convictions. Across intervention periods, prosecutors filed a high percentage of PCS charges referred by law enforcement (average of 78.9%). Defelonization was associated with a significant drop in felony PCS charges, coupled with a significant increase in misdemeanor PCS charges. Following defelonization, the number of possession-related dispositions began to steadily decline, with a lower conviction rate. Decriminalization was associated with an immediate decline in both misdemeanor and felony PCS charges and fewer overall dispositions, which coincided with an increase in dismissals, whereas conviction rates remained relatively stable. Across intervention periods, PCS charges, if not dismissed, were likely to remain consistent through dispositions (>92.5%), demonstrating little charge bargaining/variation. Despite fluctuations in the number of PCS charges filed, of those not dismissed, there appears to be a concerted effort on prosecuting those charges.Policy Implications With the advent of drug courts, diversion programs, defelonization, and Oregon's most recent period of decriminalization, states are experimenting with shifting drug policies. Defelonization and decriminalization impacted prosecutorial charging practices, more so than Justice Reinvestment. Policy makers should note that defelonization had the expected impact on PCS charges, and prosecutors seamlessly adopted the new law by switching their focus to misdemeanor PCS charges. Decriminalization contributed to a shrinking of actions related to prosecutorial charging; the majority of PCS offenses were no longer criminal, resulting in significantly fewer PCS arrest referrals, thereby forcing a dearth of prosecutorial charges.
Research summary This study investigates whether deep learning models-specifically feedforward neural networks-can enhance the prediction of new violent criminal arrests among individuals released pretrial. Using data from a large southeastern county, we evaluate four neural network configurations varying in depth, regularization, and class imbalance adjustments. Results show that incorporating class weighting and threshold tuning notably improves recall of rare violent events, with the best performing model identifying 57% of individuals arrested for violent crimes while maintaining stable false positive (FP) rates. We estimate counterfactual risk estimates among detained individuals, revealing that although some violent events may be averted through detention, this comes at the cost of detaining large numbers of FPs.Policy implications Improving the identification of individuals at risk for violent crime during pretrial release is a critical public safety priority, yet prevailing tools offer limited recall for such rare events. This study shows that neural networks, when properly calibrated, can improve detection of high-risk individuals without increasing FP rates. However, algorithmic advances alone are insufficient; progress requires modernizing criminal justice IT infrastructures to enable interagency data linkages and real-time analytics. Most current data systems lack the contextual and behavioral features necessary to capture latent risk. Ultimately, system improvement efforts should move away from mechanisms like monetary bail and toward evidence-based supervision strategies, paired with investments in data modernization and cross-agency collaboration to strengthen the predictive foundation of pretrial assessments.
Research summary Indiana Code allows local prosecutors to withhold prosecution and offer diversion for residents charged with low-level offenses. In doing so, prosecutors can minimize the collateral consequences of justice-system involvement. Although widely adopted as an alternative to traditional prosecution, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of prosecutor-led diversion programs. The current study builds on this area of research by evaluating two prosecutor-led diversion programs operating in one large and one moderately sized jurisdiction, highlighting their effectiveness in limiting future criminal justice contact. We examined administrative prosecution records from 2013 to 2023 in which 21,653 filed cases met statutory eligibility for diversion, and 4572 individuals accepted a diversion offer in the larger site. In the moderate-sized jurisdiction, 17,357 cases were eligible, with 6335 offers accepted. Propensity score-weighted and instrumental variable regression techniques indicate that diversion was associated with a reduced probability of a new criminal case filing 1-year after the instant case filing relative to all other eligible cases. Moreover, program participation moderated the effect of race on future criminal justice contact.Policy implications Prosecutor-led diversion programs are one strategy used to efficiently manage criminal caseloads, hold defendants accountable, temper the collateral consequences of conviction, and reduce recidivism. The findings reported here indicate that these programs are associated with lower rates of recidivism. However, the programs' discretionary design results in case- and defendant-level sorting and selection processes that shape program efficacy. After adjusting for sorting and selection effects, associations between diversion and favorable outcomes persist but raise important questions about both equitable access to diversion programs and the reliability of previously reported diversion findings.
Research Summary Prosecutorial discretion plays a central role in shaping criminal case outcomes, yet its influence in the context of probation, particularly during violation proceedings, remains underexplored. This paper explores how prosecutorial discretion functions within the courtroom workgroup to shape probation, from plea bargaining to responses to violations, in the context of mass supervision today. Using qualitative data from 23 in-depth interviews with prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys in a midsize U.S. jurisdiction, we analyze how institutional norms, organizational pressures, and competing logics of punishment, rehabilitation, and efficiency shape decision making. Prosecutors influence who is offered probation, what conditions are imposed, and how compliance is interpreted, often anchoring decision making through informal case "valuation" practices that reflect victim-centered, fiscal, and efficiency-oriented logics. Within the workgroup, their recommendations carry significant weight, shaping outcomes even as they are formally subject to judicial approval and adversarial negotiation.Policy Implications Probation is among the most common criminal legal sanctions, and evidence suggests that violations are increasing, which can have negative implications for individuals and systems. Research has attributed increases in probation violations to the growing complexity of supervision conditions, which make compliance more challenging. The findings identify prosecutors as central, yet largely overlooked, policy actors in shaping probation outcomes at both sentencing and revocation. As such, the research underscores the need for policy changes that 'right size' the conditions of probation and address the organizational norms and decision-making practices of the courtroom workgroup.
Research Summary Correctional institutions generally ban consensual sexual intimacy among incarcerated people-a policy that traces historically to homophobic bias and persists today because of institutional inertia and untested claims about its security benefits. Is such sexual deprivation cruel and inhumane? Using a novel experimental method-relative harm valuation (RHV)-in two national surveys, we investigate public opinion on sex bans, quantifying the perceived suffering that would result from sexual deprivation. The results are striking. Most respondents prefer criminal victimization to the loss of sex and believe sexual deprivation is more agonizing than negative life events involving illness, injury, job loss, and infidelity. About half of respondents prefer to be flogged or caned over suffering a permanent sex ban, and one-fourth prefers to have a body part (e.g., hand) amputated. Our data also reveal that only a minority of respondents opposes allowing consensual sexual intimacy behind bars, and most believe that prohibiting sex encourages rape.Policy Implications Policy makers and correctional officials should reconsider banning consensual sexual intimacy among incarcerated people for two reasons. First, it is a form of nonjudicial punishment that causes suffering and violates human dignity. Second, it is a policy that lacks empirical backing, given the absence of relevant research. We argue for a new "golden rule" of corrections: If a correctional policy, such as banning masturbation or consensual sex, inflicts suffering on incarcerated people, it should be tested experimentally to see if it has any benefits. Given that our findings (and others) show that sex is a basic human need, experiments are needed to test whether it is possible to relax prohibitions on consensual sexual intimacy (and masturbation) behind bars without compromising institutional safety.
Research Summary Over time, the evidence on the impact of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) has become increasingly mixed. Though there are numerous contributors to the inconsistent findings (e.g., context, policy, training, culture), one pressing issue involves the failure of law enforcement agencies to review any more than a fraction of the BWC footage generated by their officers. This footage review problem violates a central precondition for the hypothesized civilizing effect of BWCs on officers: their belief that footage will be reviewed. AI-driven BWC analytics has emerged as a solution that may overcome the footage review problem, but there has been virtually no research on such AI-based platforms. The current study fills this gap through an evaluation of Truleo in the Apache Junction and Casa Grande Police Departments (AJPD, CGPD). Officers were randomized to Treatment (Truleo) and Control (non-Truleo) conditions for a 6-month period, and we compared study groups across a range of measures including Truleo-generated professionalism, use of force, complaints, stops, arrests, and citations. Treatment officers in both departments were more likely to generate High Professionalism ratings, but group differences fell short of statistical significance. Use of force decreased significantly in AJPD and in some of the pooled models, though the pooled models were sensitive to multiple-comparisons corrections. The Bayesian probabilities paradigm offers an additional lens for considering the mixed effects with High Professionalism and use of force.Policy Implications Taken together, results suggest Truleo may hold promise for promoting positive behavior change among officers consistent with a civilizing effect. Law enforcement agencies should explore whether AI-driven BWC analytics can enhance their BWC program, expand their review of footage, and positively shape their officers' behavior. Additional research is needed in other settings to test the durability of these findings and the value of AI-generated metrics of police performance (e.g., professionalism). Researchers should consider the significance of research findings from a broader lens that accounts for practitioner perspectives on the meaningful impact of an innovation. Lastly, the results presented here inform the ongoing dialogue over the role of AI in policing.
Research Summary Contemporary criminal justice discourse frequently highlights rising caseloads as a crisis for prosecutors across the United States. Yet, empirical assessments of how caseloads impact prosecutorial decision making are scarce. This study exploits data on office caseloads and cases disposed between 2021 and 2024 in 19 prosecutors' offices across Colorado to investigate the impact of office caseload pressure on plea and charge reduction rates. We use a two-level modeling strategy in which weekly activity is nested within prosecutors' offices, and caseload pressure is measured using weekly open case counts. While nearly as much variation in outcomes occurs across prosecutors' offices as across weeks, we find that prosecutors' offices resolve fewer cases via guilty plea in weeks when caseload pressure is higher. Effects are slightly stronger on dispositions for misdemeanor offenses than felonies. Little relationship between caseload pressure and charge reductions is observed.Policy Implications This study provides useful insight into prosecutorial responses to caseload pressures. Although pleas are traditionally conceptualized as a tool to increase efficiency in case processing, we find little evidence that prosecutors' offices increase their use of pleas or charge bargaining when caseload pressures are higher. Current rising caseload pressures may incentivize dismissals rather than plea bargains, potentially impacting case outcomes, public safety concerns, and disparities in case processing burdens across sociodemographic groups. The results highlight how staffing in high-pressure offices, early case reviews, and policies prioritizing cases may ensure caseloads remain manageable or may limit the impact of caseload pressures on case outcomes.
Research Summary Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) face an elevated risk of victimization relative to their peers. Victims with IDD may view police departmental websites or policies to identify available accommodations in deciding to report their experience. The current study employs a convergent mixed-methods approach to examine the websites of policing organizations across four states to determine the prevalence and nature of disability-related policies (n = 1678), as well as insights from interviews and focus groups with law enforcement professionals (n = 27). Findings suggested that policies were rare and often did not directly apply to victims with IDD. Coercive processes underlie the formulation of many disability-related policies. Moreover, professionals often reported agencies not having policies, despite normative processes supporting the need for policies. Although these findings are important, it remains less clear whether agencies' websites provide accessible information for crime victims with IDD where language access involves more than just translation. Website content, such as clear descriptions of accommodations, may influence victims with IDD decisions to report. However, gaps in implementation and law enforcement's awareness of these policies can significantly hinder the reporting process for victims with disabilities.Policy Implications Findings highlighted the need for greater transparency with respect to police policies. Agencies need to reconsider the utility of existing policies for victims with IDD, if they exist, in terms of accessing support and overcoming communication and access barriers to seeking help. Policies should also be written in plain language and accessible to all victims regardless of disability status.
Research Summary Pretrial reform is vital, as nearly 500,000 unconvicted people are held in U.S. jails while awaiting trial. Risk assessment instruments (RAIs) offer data-driven identification of defendants who are unlikely to reoffend and can safely be released, yet face criticism from across the political spectrum-for potentially perpetuating racial bias or endangering public safety. Moreover, inconsistent judicial application undermines the effectiveness of RAIs. Using data on 146,841 federal defendants, we apply causal analyses with machine learning to estimate the effects of a policy that presumptively releases defendants classified as relatively low risk by the Pretrial Risk Assessment (PTRA). Compared to magistrate judges' status quo decisions, this approach would reduce pretrial detention by 34.2% and increase successful community releases by 31.8%, with only a 1.6% rise in public safety risk. Black defendants would experience greater benefits (39.0% detention reduction vs. 27.3% for White defendants). Detention cost savings would be approximately $3.5 billion.Policy Implications Although the PTRA outperforms unstructured judgment, it should strongly guide rather than replace judicial discretion. The central challenge is structuring judgment in pretrial decision making. As an initial step, the federal system should expand inclusion of PTRA risk estimates in pretrial reports beyond the current 15% of districts, implementing standardized reporting formats to ensure clear communication and consistent application. For greater impact, policy makers should consider a risk-based presumptive release framework where defendants below a specified risk threshold are released unless magistrate judges identify specific statutory factors justifying detention. This approach addresses inconsistent RAI application while preserving judicial authority. Implementation will require investment in trust-building and practice fidelity, but structuring pretrial decisions around validated risk measures promises to enhance fairness, reduce costs, and maintain public safety-outcomes with broad political appeal.
Research summary Crime and violence continue to be problems that plague urban areas across the United States and the globe. One key approach for responding to these problems is "focused deterrence" which includes programs that prevent criminal behavior by blending criminal justice, social service, and community-based action. While previous systematic reviews have supported the crime control effectiveness of focused deterrence, prior reviews have not included randomized experimental evaluations which are generally recognized to provide stronger causal claims when implemented with fidelity. This updated review of 50 controlled evaluations benefits from the addition of 26 rigorous studies, of which 9 are randomized experimental field trials. This suggests the importance of reassessing the evidence and provides opportunities for additional moderator analyses of program impacts. The overall meta-analysis suggested that focused deterrence was associated with a statistically significant 23% crime reduction in treatment groups relative to control groups. Meta-analysis of the 9 randomized experiments suggested focused deterrence generated a smaller 16% crime reduction. Programs designed to reduce gang and group-involved gun violence were associated with the largest crime reduction impacts. Studies that examined community outcomes generally observed positive impacts.Policy implications A much more rigorous scientific evidence base now exists to support the continued use of focused deterrence to control crime and violence. These analyses, which include randomized controlled trials, provide robust and consistent evidence that focused deterrence reduces crime. Moreover, preliminary results from a group of studies that measure community outcomes, suggest that community residents have positive perceptions of these programs. Program implementation remains challenging with studies noting persistent problems with treatment integrity and sustainability. Further research is also needed to clarify prevention mechanisms so key program activities can be better understood and enhanced.
Research Summary Second-chance hiring, or an employer's commitment to hiring (at least some) people with criminal records, is simultaneously an ongoing public movement and an opaque process. To examine perceptions of second-chance policies and employers, we analyzed interview data from formerly incarcerated adults in the Greater Boston area. We find that a small portion was familiar with Ban-the-Box (BTB), a policy that had been in effect locally for more than a decade; after learning about the policy, participants indicated that it was a promising start but could unintentionally provide false hope if employers conduct criminal background checks soon thereafter. We then asked for definitions of criminal record (or in our study context, "CORI") friendly employers. Participant descriptions fell into three categories: exclusionary, CORI-friendly under certain circumstances, and fully inclusive. Descriptions of the sometimes-friendly employers reflected individualized assessments, where the criminal history and context seemed to matter. Although partial exclusion was not ideal to participants, even the most well-reputed inclusive jobs-those connected to labor unions-carried cautions from union-member participants. Finally, we explored whether submitting evidence of rehabilitation is feasible. Most participants indicated they could readily provide a recommendation letter and/or accomplishments to an employer if provided the opportunity-but few reported having this experience.Policy implications Examining the perceptions of job applicants with criminal records can provide insight into both problems and possibilities. Existing counterintuitive empirical findings on BTB may be driven, in part, by job applicants with criminal records not being aware of (and therefore not responding to) policy changes. Even after being informed, skepticism of BTB points to the importance of employer responses throughout the decision process. We recommend four policy pathways: increasing awareness of existing policies, expanding CORI-friendliness through employer engagement, promoting broader culture change, and incorporating positive credentials into individualized assessments through formalized processes.
Research Summary Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana restricted states' ability to impose life without parole for youth under age 18 (henceforth JLWOP). Since Miller, 46 pieces of legislation across 34 states and the District of Columbia have altered JLWOP sentencing policies. The current study provides the first comprehensive and scientific review of this legislation. Using policy surveillance as a methodological guide, we found that a majority of statutes (N = 28) ban JLWOP sentencing, above and beyond the Supreme Court's requirement. Many statutes also extended sentencing reforms and post-conviction relief eligibility to other types of sentencing beyond JLWOP. However, all but one statute still allows either JLWOP or life with parole as a sentencing option for minors convicted of homicide crimes and requires between 15 and 40 years, at minimum, to be served before being eligible for release. Grounding our analysis in institutional theory, we argue that the relative punitivity of the JLWOP reforms enacted was associated with measures of JLWOP institutionalization across states (i.e., pre-Miller JLWOP population and pre-Miller sentencing schema), suggesting that states where JLWOP was more routinely used were more resistant to policy reform.Policy Implications The current study provides implications for future decarceration efforts. Findings suggest that state legislatures are willing to enact post-conviction relief measures (e.g., judicial review or "second look" measures) for individuals convicted of violent crimes to address over-incarceration, deviating from previous decarceration efforts focused on non-violent, low-level offenses. In spite of the promising window for juvenile justice reform that Miller provided, however, these reforms have taken a relatively modest, incremental approach toward altering extreme youth sentencing practices in the United States. Policy makers and advocates seeking to promote sentencing reform efforts should factor in how highly institutionalized a sentencing practice is in each state, as this might inform effective strategies for policy change.
Research Summary Alternatives to police response to 911 calls have emerged as a leading public safety reform strategy. A key policy implementation challenge lies in determining whether alternative responders, police, or both are most appropriate for a given situation-a decision that largely falls to 911 call takers and dispatchers. This article examines how dispatch organizations have tried to structure these decisions through protocols and decision trees. Drawing on 39 interviews and 20 h of observations with 911 workers in San Francisco and Denver, we argue that these tools, as currently structured, are poorly suited to handle the uncertainty, subjectivity, and ambiguity that characterize many street crisis calls. In the absence of more thoughtfully designed guidance from leadership, we find that dispatch staff routinely work around the rules to attain the response they believe is most appropriate.Policy Implications Addressing the dispatch protocol issue is critical for the success of the alternative response movement. Absent workable protocols, dispatchers sometimes default to sending the police, undermining the progress alternative response promises. Applying our learnings from Denver and San Francisco, this study points to a two-pronged approach that dispatch agencies can use to improve call diversion guidance. First, they can refine existing protocols and decision trees by grounding them in the experiential knowledge of frontline staff. Second, they can supplement these tools with more flexible forms of guidance-such as organizational value statements or collaborative decision-making frameworks-to aid decision making when protocols reach their limits. Together, these changes can produce guidance that is more responsive to the realities of dispatch work and better aligned with the goals of alternative response.
Research Summary This qualitative study examines how frontline police officers in British Columbia experienced and adapted to Canada's first formal drug decriminalization policy 1 year after implementation. Drawing on 30 semi-structured interviews and using thematic analysis with a policy alienation and street-level bureaucracy lens, we analyzed how officers felt alienated from the policy process and coped with this experience as frontline implementers. Key themes show that frontline officers experienced processes of policy alienation in various ways: they felt that the policy was misaligned with their frontline perspectives; the Policy undermined their ability to help people in their communities; and legal ambiguity surrounding the Policy was challenging to navigate. Their coping strategies revealed that officers interpreted and executed decriminalization in divergent ways.Policy Implications These findings have important implications for policymakers and police leadership considering drug policy reforms. Officers' feelings of disempowerment and policy meaninglessness, especially in contexts of legal ambiguity, may lead to inconsistent or inequitable enforcement. Strengthening communication across police ranks is critical. Middle managers may help translate reform goals, identify resource gaps, and support effective coping strategies. Legal clarity should extend beyond policy updates to help officers reconcile overlapping laws and reduce liability concerns. While there are limits to policy consultation with frontline officers within the hierarchical structure of police institutions, reform efforts should still engage with frontline officers' working logics. Training should address harmful attitudes and misunderstandings of drug use, clarify legal boundaries, and mitigate unintended harms of enforcement. Ultimately, effective drug policy reform in a multi-jurisdictional system requires acknowledging how frontline officers interpret and shape policy within institutional constraints.
Background: Mexico rolled out state-led criminal justice reforms between 2000 and 2017 to modernize procedures and improve rule of law. Whether these changes reduced violent crime-especially in cartel-affected areas-remains uncertain. Aims: Estimate the impact of reform implementation on homicides and arrests, and assess mechanisms related to enforcement capacity and public cooperation with law enforcement. Materials & Methods: We build a municipality-year panel (2000-2017) from death certificates (homicides) and administrative records (arrests). Because states adopted reforms at different times, we use difference-in-differences estimators designed for staggered adoption and heterogeneous treatment effects, with rich fixed effects and controls. To probe mechanisms, we analyze nationally representative survey measures of crime reporting, institutional trust, and perceived police/prosecutorial integrity. Results: Reform implementation is associated with a similar to 25% increase in homicide rates. Over the same horizon, arrest rates fall by >50%. As homicides are less prone to underreporting than other crimes, the homicide increase is unlikely to be a reporting artifact. Survey evidence shows reduced crime reporting, declining trust in institutions, and more negative views of police and prosecutors; effects are strongest in cartel-affected regions. Discussion: The pattern is consistent with an erosion of effective enforcement capacity at rollout: fewer arrests and lower public cooperation raise expected returns to violent crime. In high-violence settings, reforms that change procedures without parallel boosts to investigative and prosecutorial capacity-and without safeguards for witnesses-can weaken deterrence. Conclusion: Mexico's staggered judicial reforms coincided with higher homicides and sharply lower arrests. Successful reform in violent contexts likely requires coordinated institutional strengthening (policing, prosecution, witness protection), phased implementation with measurable benchmarks, and strategies to sustain public trust and reporting.
Research SummaryCorrectional officers (COs) are the backbone of the custodial system as they are tasked with critical responsibilities such as safeguarding the welfare of incarcerated populations and maintaining institutional security. Despite their importance, studies have consistently revealed how COs worldwide face high rates of mental illness. Although mental health interventions like Employee Assistance Programs and Critical Incident Stress Management seminars are available, many officers find them stigmatizing and misaligned with their daily stressors. Alternative, evidence-based programming options are therefore required that can effectively improve the mental health of these essential frontline workers. In direct response to this need, the current study conducted a cluster randomized experiment to evaluate whether a novel life coaching intervention could effectively treat COs mental illness. One county jail in Tennessee received the life coaching treatment, while two other similarly matched jails served as comparison groups. Paired samples t-tests and linear regression models revealed statistically significant reductions in the post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and burnout levels of the experimental group.Policy ImplicationsStudy findings are accompanied by a cost-benefit analysis to support the adoption of life coaching as an alternative mental health intervention that can effectively and economically improve the psychological health of COs. As such, this study may carry policy relevance for those stakeholders around the world wishing to improve CO mental health.
