The Power to Arrest: Lessons from Research

This insightful volume examines key research questions concerning police decision to arrest as well as police-led diversion. The authors critically evaluate the tentative answers that empirical evidence provides to those questions, and suggest areas for future inquiry.

Nearly seven decades of empirical study have provided extensive knowledge regarding police use of arrest. However, this research highlights important gaps in our understanding of factors that shape police decision-making and what is required to alter current police practice. Reviewing this research base, this brief takes stock of what is known empirically about all aspects related to the use of arrests, providing important insights on the knowledge needed to make evidence-based policy decisions moving forward.

With the potential to better impact policy and programs for alternatives to arrest, this brief will appeal to researchers and practitioners in evidence-based policing and police decision-making, as well as those interested in alternatives to arrest and related fields such as public policy.

Robin S. Engel, Ph.D. 

Robin S. Engel is Director of the IACP / UC Center for Police Research Policy, and Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She recently served at the Vice President for Safety and Reform at the University of Cincinnati. Her work includes establishing academic-practitioner partnerships and promoting best practices in policing, with expertise in empirical assessments of police behavior and crime reduction strategies.

 Robert E. Worden, Ph.D. 

Robert E. Worden is the director of the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc., and associate professor of criminal justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

 Nicholas Corsaro, Ph.D. 

Nicholas Corsaro is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati.  He has served as an evaluator of a large number of strategic police initiatives that have focused on law enforcement capacity, organizational structure, and crime prevention. 

Hannah D. McManus, M.S. 

Hannah D. McManus is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include police effectiveness and legitimacy, public perceptions of police, and the establishment of academic-practitioner partnerships to promote best practices in policing.

Danielle Reynolds, M.A. 

Danielle L. Reynolds is a Senior Research Analyst with the John F. Finn Institute of Public Safety and a doctoral student at the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany. Danielle is currently managing a project which examines supervisory coaching and its impact on officers’ street-level behavior.  Her research interests include police organization and supervision and police decision-making.

 Hannah Cochran, B.A. 

Hannah P. Cochran is a Research Analyst with the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety and a Master’s student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany. Ms. Cochran holds a B.A. in both Political Science and Studio Art from Connecticut College. Her research interests include police investigations of non-fatal shootings and police-prosecutor relationships. 

Gabrielle T. Isaza, M.S. 

Gabrielle T. Isaza is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy as well as a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati.  Her research interests include situational crime prevention, campus policing, police effectiveness and fostering the practice of police-academic partnerships.

Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas, Ph.D. 

Dr. Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas is a research consultant for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. Her research interests include the examination of patrol officers’ behavior and racial/ethnic disparities. She has published articles in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Crime and Justice, Police Quarterly, and Policing.