This paper chronicles the preparation, describes the course content, and details the evaluation of a course designed to train police officers in interpersonal communication. Training was done in two-hour sessions for a police department that was implementing the philosophies and activities of community policing. The paper discusses the needs…

Explores the strength and fury of the backlash against William Macpherson's inquiry into the brutal murder of a black man named Stephen Lawrence in 1993 following a botched investigation. Discusses racial bias, and particularly institutional racism, in Great Britain. Describes steps taken to combat racism via efforts within the schools and notes…

Community policing and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) are evolving initiatives that can respond to changing social problems and demands. However, many of the challenges faced by both programs arise out of the fundamentals of human nature. Among the greatest barriers to overcome are: (1) the resistance to change that affects law…

Public information campaigns have become a staple of contemporary crime prevention efforts. While formal research on such campaigns has been limited, some important lessons may be learned from evaluation of the national "Take a Bite Out of Crime" or "McGruff" crime prevention campaign initiated in 1979. A large-scale formal…

Studies of delinquency have recently shifted their emphasis from social structures that motivate delinquent acts to those that define an act as delinquent. This shift suggests that preventing behavior from being labeled delinquent could prevent the occurrence of additional or more serious delinquency. A study of Chicago communities demonstrated…

The limited effectiveness of the press as an agent of reform is considered in this paper in view of the role of the Minneapolis press in the rise and decline of a corrupt city administration from 1900 to 1905. The paper first posits a continuum along which press effects on reform may be pinpointed; it then discusses the muckraking era, which…

This report presents the proceedings of a conference on Hispanics and public policy. The report begins with five keynote addresses which, respectively, present an historical sociological overview of Hispanics in the U.S., analyze the effects on public policy of Hispanic population growth, assess the impact of Hispanic presence in the media, and…

The need to perform effectively under stress is a concern in many professions. For police officers and managers, who make split-second life and death decisions, the problem takes on added significance. The annotated documents compiled are in three sections: an overview to describe types and effects of stresses, police stress causal factors, and…

Reports results of a study on the effectiveness of a coordinated community intervention to reduce domestic violence in DuPage County, IL. Logistic regression analysis indicated that arrest significantly deterred subsequent domestic violence incidents over an 18-month follow-up period, especially with those with a previous history of police…

Reports rate of intimate partner homicides (married and unmarried, heterosexual and homosexual) in Chicago from 1965-1993 (2,556 in all). Identifies major trends in intimate homicide over this 29-year period; discusses the people who are most at risk and the riskiest situations. Explores implications for intervention strategies. (LKS)

Describes a community-based research project that collaborated with the police department to survey female residents' attitudes toward the role of the police in handling domestic violence cases. Explains that this project provided students with the opportunity to directly experience the research process early in their undergraduate psychology…

The three issues of this newsletter published during 1990 contain the following articles: "You Can't Run before You Learn To Walk" (Jose Manuel Ventura); "The Truth about Police Torture" (J. Maya R.); "A Student's Testimony"; "Voices from the Community" (Gabriel Ramirez and Others); "Books and Authors" (Jose Hunter); "You and Your Health" (Arnaldo…

This paper, the third in a series of juvenile delinquency publications, lists specific programs presently under way in the areas of school vandalism, violence, the role of police, decision-making and the prevention of disorders. It is a bibliography of related materials, almost all of which are annotated and abstracted. Most date from the early…

Three police training programs varied markedly and present a selection of models appropriate to different circumstances and training needs. The New Jersey Police Training Commission provides for supervisory training through the use of mobile classrooms staffed with trained professional teams, equipped with modern teaching aids, and experimenting…

This report offers 2-year colleges and law enforcement agencies alternatives for merging resources for improving police training and education. Currently approximately 250 2-year colleges offer programs inlaw enforcement, police science, or police administration education. The President's Crime Commission reports that present training programs of…