Am I my brother’s keeper? Can duty to intervene policies save lives and reduce the need for special prosecutors in officer-involved homicide cases?

Jones‐Brown, Delores; Dawson, Akiv; Blount‐Hill, Kwan‐Lamar; Fuller, Kenethia McIntosh; Odér, Paul; Fradella, Henry F.

doi:10.1080/1478601x.2021.1964694

Cited by 4 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Aronie and Lopez (2017) report decreases in UoFs, citizen complaints, and disciplinary actions against police officers since implementation by the NOPD of its Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) active bystandership program. In contrast, Jones-Brown et al (2021) observed that the existence of a DTI policy did not reduce MOIDs within the 30 largest US cities from 2008 to 2018. Departments without to DTI policy reported fewer OIDs overall and less MOIDs specifically.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Despite the limitations, the our study is a notable contribution to the research literature. Little research has attempted to examine the post-implementation impact of DTI policies or the dynamics MOIDs generally (Campaign Zero, 2021;Jones-Brown et al, 2021). Thus, the current study represents an important investigation into this emerging area of police policy and practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Departments without to DTI policy reported fewer OIDs overall and less MOIDs specifically. Subsequent investigation into the language of the different DTI policies revealed considerable variation in the content of the policies in regard to the guidelines for intervention that are provided to the officers (Jones-Brown et al, 2021). Jones-Brown et al (2021) findings suggest that such variation in language and direction given to officers may influence how effective the policy is at reducing MOIDs.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Subsequent investigation into the language of the different DTI policies revealed considerable variation in the content of the policies in regard to the guidelines for intervention that are provided to the officers (Jones-Brown et al, 2021). Jones-Brown et al (2021) findings suggest that such variation in language and direction given to officers may influence how effective the policy is at reducing MOIDs. Regarding the NYPD specifically, in 2015, the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD examined 207 allegations of force from 179 cases substantiated by the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board between 2010 and 2014 (Peters and Eure, 2015).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Police officer duty-to-intervene (DTIs) policies require officers who witness misconductparticularly excessive uses of forceto take action to prevent misconduct or to initiate retrospectively corrective processes as soon as practicable (Aronie and Lopez, 2017;Jones-Brown et al, 2021). These policies vary by department in terms of their articulation of existing legal and ethical standards (Ferrell, 1988) and employment liabilities to civil and criminal liabilities for officers who fail to protect civilians against unjustified harm by other officers (Jones-Brown et al, 2021). When coupled with other strong administrative controls such as peer intervention programs, DTIs may also help in establishing an organizational culture of active bystandership (Council on Criminal Justice, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Officer-involved deaths and the duty to intervene: assessing the impact of DTI policy in New York City, 2000–2019

Dawson

Blount‐Hill

2022

PIJPSM

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PurposeIn the current study, the authors explore changes in multiple police officer-involved deaths (MOIDs) and on changes in the racial makeup of MOID victims in different stages of implementation of a duty-to-intervene (DTI) policy by the New York City Police Department (NYPD).Design/methodology/approachThe authors use fatal encounters to analyze data on MOIDs involving NYPD officers from 2000 to 2019, including three time periods: pre-DTI, initial DTI, and revised DTI. The authors use non-equivalent dependent variables design and t-tests to determine the significance of differences in MOID occurrence and civilian race between these periods.FindingsThe greatest reduction in MOIDs was observed during the initial DTI period, followed by an uptick in MOIDs during the revised DTI period. We also observed that MOIDs are racialized events that disproportionately impact Black New Yorkers. This remained the case even after the implementation of DTI.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors find mixed support for DTI as an administrative control for preventing MOIDs and reducing racial disparities in MOIDs. DTI implementation period, the significant reductions in MOIDs in the initial DTI period, but not the second also lends support for the notion that community pressure (i.e. resurgence of Black Lives Matter) also impacts officer behavior. This suggests that along with strong administrative controls, the behavior of the public may also be an important factor in controlling officer behavior.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the growing literature on duty to intervene and offers an early investigation into DTI as an administrative control for MOIDs using the NYPD as a case study. The authors examine changes in MOIDs and the racial makeup of civilians who were killed in MOIDs in three DTI periods. To the authors’ knowledge, no other study has done this.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%