Criminal Justice & Political Science Masters Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhdl:10365/32494

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    NDSU's Back on TRAC Program: Policy Recommendations
    (North Dakota State University, 2010) Gonzales, Carmen Caitlin
    Alcohol and other drug use by college students has been considered by college administrators to be problematic for many years, but strategies in place were not effective or were being under-utilized. Data taken from both the NDSU CORE Survey on Alcohol and Other Drug Use as well as the national CORE survey indicate that many students use alcohol as their drug of choice; 71 % of those surveyed reported using alcohol within the 30 days prior to survey administration. In 2006, North Dakota State University was selected as a pilot institution for the Back on TRAC program. Back on TRAC utilizes a holistic approach based on the drug court model and public health and combines this approach with rewards and sanctions for compliance with program requirements to provide treatment for substance abuse to college students. The program was implemented in 2008, and since then, 8 students have participated in Back on TRAC at NDSU. Based on the Back on TRAC program used at NDSU, three recommendations have been made to increase the provision of services to program participants. These recommendations were developed using information collected about the program currently in place at NDSU, as well as information collected about the Back on TRAC program at Colorado State University, Oklahoma State University, and Texas A&M.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Voter Disenfranchisement
    (North Dakota State University, 2010) Peterson, Timothy Walter
    This paper examines the policy of voter disenfranchisement and how it disproportionately affects minorities. Voter disenfranchisement is the denial of voting rights to the criminally convicted. The research indicates African Americans are significantly disproportionally affected by this policy when compared to white Americans. Currently, the United States Supreme Court has allowed states to incorporate their own policy for disenfranchising felons residing in their state. The recommendation of this paper is to create a uniform policy for voter disenfranchisement among the fifty states, which would allow for any eligible voter living in the community to vote. The policy would only deny voting to those that are incarcerated. This recommendation is based on the belief that voting is a fundamental right and that the current policy disproportionately affects minorities. Also, implementation of this policy would be cost effective for states because tracking disenfranchised community members would no longer be needed. 111
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Pretrial Services: Exploring What Works and Policy Implications
    (North Dakota State University, 2022) Waller, Vanessa
    As the view on mass incarceration around the United States is further explored, there has been a need for alternatives to jail. Specifically, pretrial services programs are an opportunity for recently charged defendants to be released from jail while being supervised in the community. Pretrial services programs find eligible defendants in local jails and collect information regarding the case to determine an appropriate release plan. Once the individual is released from jail, their risk assessment score is utilized to create a supervision plan along with the conditions imposed by the court during the bail hearing. This policy paper discusses previous literature regarding the effectiveness of pretrial services programs. Multiple policy recommendations are suggested, including assessing clients’ risks and needs as well as utilizing assessment tools to determine supervision. Finally, a proposed program evaluation design is presented.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Use of Force Policy Adequacy in Rural and Urban Agencies
    (North Dakota State University, 2021) Seyfried, Benjamin David
    Police use of force has become one of the most widely covered topics in the media today. Especially in the past year, police use of force incidents have been heavily scrutinized and reviewed, and it was one of the most prominent topics of discussion in the 2020 presidential election. Previous studies have shown that there are factors which influence an officer’s choice to use force beyond the circumstances of the encounter itself. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the adequacy of a rural law enforcement agency’s use of force policy – the National Park Service – while comparing it to an urban-tailored law enforcement use of force policy – the State of Minnesota – based on previous use of force research findings. It is ultimately recommended that the National Park Service modernize its use of force policy to be more consistent with the Minnesota policy. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Assessment and Policy Recommendations for Domestic Illegal Firearms Trafficking
    (North Dakota State University, 2012) Heley, Frank Anton
    This report examined the nature of domestic illegal firearms trafficking, including key features and predictors of firearms trafficking, and rationalizes the defining of domestic illegal firearms trafficking into three levels that are indicative of the seriousness and features inherent to the particular level of trafficking. This report also examined the scope of the trafficking situations at their respective levels, the means already being utilized to address firearms trafficking problems, and their effectiveness. Finally, this report recognizes that the differing levels of trafficking may require varied and differing efforts be used in combating firearms trafficking and policy recommendations involving both legislative and enforcement efforts are detailed at the respective levels of trafficking.