Frank Wilson
Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Indiana State University
Key Findings
- White officers were most prominently depicted in lead roles in police films 89% of the time in police films from 1971 to 2011.
- African American officers were depicted in lead roles in police films 19% of the time, which is representative of African American officers nationally.
- White officers were primarily depicted in a serious light while African American officers were primarily depicted comedically.
- Films rarely depicted two minority officers in the same film.
Description
In the article, “The Effects of Problem-Oriented Policing on Crime and Disorder,” Weisburd and his co-authors examine problem-oriented policing (POP) to assess its impact on crime. The researchers conducted a literary review of POP studies using the following criteria: 1) study used the Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment (SARA) model for POP, 2) study used a comparison group, and 3) study reported at least one crime or disorder outcome. The researchers reviewed more than 5,500 studies and found only ten studies met the criteria. The results of the meta-analysis showed that POP significantly reduced crime and disorder in both experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The authors cautioned the positive results of POP in this study as it had a small sample size. The authors also noted that the police use many multifaceted interventions that make it difficult to assess the impact of one intervention.