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Item NDSU's Back on TRAC Program: Policy Recommendations(North Dakota State University, 2010) Gonzales, Carmen CaitlinAlcohol 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.Item Officers on Patrol: A Qualitative Examination of Patrol Officer Behavior and Decision Making(North Dakota State University, 2018) Heley, Frank AntonThe understanding of what patrol officers do, and why, suffers from a lack of perspective presented from the officers themselves. To develop this understanding, a qualitative methodology was employed in the current study which entailed ride-alongs and semi-structured interviews with 59 patrol officers of the Fargo, ND police department. Research inquires focused on how officers viewed patrol work, how they conducted it, and how they viewed, and utilized different forms of intelligence that might assist them in their patrol duties. In the context of patrol work, officers discussed the purposes of patrol and how they serve them, their personal goals, and feelings, obstacles, beat coverage, dispatch, prioritization of duties, techniques, patrol focuses and departmental expectations. Officers also discussed the utility and value of departmental and officer derived intelligence and the nature and quality of communication between both officers and the department. Results revealed the importance officers place on the act of patrolling, the patrol obstacles generated through short staffing, high call volume, and what officers referred to as nuisance calls. Also revealed was a set of officers’ informal working rules that constituted a beat management philosophy known as beat integrity. Results also uncovered the importance that officers place on communication with both the public and the department, the problem natured focus of their patrol activities, their self-reliance on officer generated intelligence, and the negative views they held regarding the quality of departmental intelligence. Results suggest how this deeper understanding of officer behavior and decision-making can improve officer development, officer satisfaction by addressing their focuses and concerns, and the dissemination and quality of intelligence.Item Juvenile Perceptions of the Police and Police Services(North Dakota State University, 2011) Sanden, Michael BrianThis study examined the impact of four categories of variables (demographics, neighborhood context variables, contact with the police, and vicarious influence variables) on juvenile perceptions of the police and police services. Data analyzed in this study were collected as part of a larger research evaluation that examined the impact of law enforcement efforts in relation to violent crime. Students from one middle school were surveyed. Statistical analysis consisted of a series of One-Way ANOVA tests and several ordinary least squares regression (OLS) models. The study found significant results for both dependent variables within all four categories of independent variables. Policy implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.Item An Examination of the Relationship Between Individual Risk Factors and Drug Court Success: An Application of the Risk, Needs, Responsivity Model(North Dakota State University, 2010) Richardson, Katie AnnResearch has documented that drug courts can and do work; however, recent attention has focused on how individual characteristics may be related to program success and post program recidivism. It was the purpose of this study to further examine how participant characteristics may impact post program recidivism by applying the Risk, Needs and Responsivity framework. A sample of 104 drug court participants and a matched sample of similar offenders who received treatment as usual was used to test the hypotheses that those who possess certain risk factors may be less likely to recidivate post program because they have been appropriately matched to drug courts-a high intensity treatment experience. Gender and group membership were also explored as potential moderators of the relationships between individual risks and post program recidivism. Results found no support for the hypotheses, and no evidence was found suggesting an interaction effect. Among the entire sample of drug court participants and comparison group members, only the control variable age was significantly related to post program recidivism; those who were older were less likely to recidivate. Among only a subsample of completers, group membership was the only variable significantly related to post program recidivism; those who were drug court participants were less likely to recidivate.Item Voter Disenfranchisement(North Dakota State University, 2010) Peterson, Timothy WalterThis 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. 111Item Do Victim Impact Panels Reduce DUI Recidivism?(North Dakota State University, 2016) Joyce, Sarah LeighThis study looks at Victim Impact Panels as an effective program for reducing recidivism of convicted drunk drivers. Researchers collected data on a group of DUI offenders who were sentenced to attend a Victim Impact Panel (VIP) after being convicted of a DUI (410 cases) and a group of DUI offenders who were sentenced by a judge who did not order them to attend a VIP (373 cases). Using logistic regression, researchers found those offenders who were sentenced to attend a Victim Impact Panel were significantly less [likely] to reoffend, both in terms of subsequent DUI convictions, and criminal offenses in general. In addition, this study showed Victim Impact Panels proved to be beneficial to those offenders who have had previous DUI convictions, and have attended a Victim Impact Panel in the past. The resulting policy and program implications are discussed.Item Citizens’ Perception of Police Services in an Oil Boomtown(North Dakota State University, 2018) Huynh, CarolPast research indicates that various factors influence citizens’ perception of police services, including citizen characteristics, prior criminal victimization, personal safety, and fear of crime. However, less is known about the influence that these variables have on citizens’ perceptions in a community experiencing rapid population growth as a result of increased energy production. Thus, the focus of the current research was to examine how such variables impact citizens’ perception of crime control by police officers in a town experiencing rapid changes. This study also examined the role of residential longevity by testing for perceptual differences among long-time and boom residents. Finally, this research considers the influence of neighborhood social cohesion/trust on citizens’ perception of police services. Data for this study was gathered from surveys completed by a random sample of residents living in Williston, North Dakota during the fall of 2015 (N=301). Overall, results suggest a number of factors related to citizens’ characteristics, prior criminal victimization, and personal safety impact residents’ perception of police services. Second, long-time residents were more likely than boom residents to agree that the police were doing a good job delivering services to their community. Lastly, neighborhood trust (but not neighborhood reliability) influenced residents’ perception of police services. The implications of these findings are discussed.Item No Time for Stolen Yard Gnomes: Changing Styles of Policing during an Oil Boom(North Dakota State University, 2016) Dahle, ThorvaldWestern North Dakota law enforcement agencies have experienced dramatic changes in the policing landscape as a result of an oil boom. These agencies were forced to deal with a rapidly growing population that brought different cultural expectations and a substantial rise in crime. Using Klinger’s (1997) framework of formal and informal policing behaviors, the current study explores how policing styles have changed in these agencies. Researchers interviewed 101 officers from eight agencies to determine how the oil boom impacted the way they conduct their work, interact with citizens, and handle calls for service.Item Sexual Assault Cases and the Funnel of Justice: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making(North Dakota State University, 2014) Wentz, Ericka AnnIn order to improve responses to sexual assaults so that fewer cases drop out of the criminal justice funnel, it is important to understand the decision-making processes of the police and prosecutors in these cases. The focal concerns perspective posits that legal and extralegal variables factor into the police and prosecutors' decisions about how to proceed with sexual assault cases. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors' charging decisions often differ from how the police classify the incidents. This study examined 11 years of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police in a Midwestern city to determine the level of congruence in the charging decisions made by the police and prosecutors. Unique from past research, this study used a mixed methods approach to analyze the data from police reports and court documents. Quantitative data examined the extent to which charging decisions were congruent between the police and prosecutors and assessed which factors in sexual assault cases predict the agreement in police and prosecutors' charging decisions. Qualitative data was used to determine which factors were cited most frequently within sexual assault case documents in congruent and incongruent cases. The quantitative analysis revealed that the police and prosecutors' decisions were in agreement in 34% of the cases, and distinct from prior research, the only statistically significant predictors of congruent charges were legally-relevant variables. Findings from the qualitative analysis mirrored those from the quantitative analysis, as legally-relevant characteristics such as the amount of evidence collected and the use of physical force were cited more frequently in congruent cases than incongruent cases. Overall, the results suggest that the focal concerns of the police and prosecutors in this study revolve primarily around the level of evidence available in sexual assault cases. Implications resulting from these findings are discussed.Item Characteristics of Child Pornographers Under Federal Supervision in the State of North Dakota(North Dakota State University, 2020) Doerr, Mandy LeeCurrently, it is estimated that there are over 45 million child pornographic images and videos on the internet. The purpose of the current study is to record the characteristics of those convicted of accessing, distributing, and/or producing child pornography in the State of North Dakota. To examine this phenomenon, the District of North Dakota Federal Probation and Pretrial Supervision Service records have been disseminated. Overall, the results indicate that child pornographers in North Dakota mirror those around the globe. In addition, the sample of child pornographers was compared to other sexual offenders and general offenders through bivariate analyses. There were statistically significant differences found between both groups.