Quantifying the impact: From prevalence to harm in evaluating police misconduct

• Published in: Journal of criminal justice 2024-07, Vol.93, p.102229, Article 102229
• Main Authors: Dario, Lisa M., Cesar, Gabriel T, Jalbert, Kristina, de la Torre, Frank
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Crime harm index; Pareto principle; Police accountability; Police crime; Police misconduct; Police violence
• ISSN: 0047-2352; 1873-6203
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102229

To assess the prevalence and nature of police misconduct and discipline in Florida from 2012 to 2023. To measure the relative harm of criminal offenses committed by a subset of particularly deviant police. We use official data from 241 law enforcement agencies to assess cases of serious police misconduct in 67 counties (N = 1103). The Pareto principle is used to understand the clustering of incidents and harm. Incident count and harm score are temporally examined in quarter-annual increments. Using Florida sentencing guidelines and the Cambridge Crime Harm Index (CCHI), harm scores were calculated for each offense type. We identify 24 categories of police misconduct. Perjury and failure to report had the highest incidence, followed by sexual offenses and drug- and alcohol-related misconduct. About 30% of counties account for 80% of all police misconduct incidents in Florida, while only 23% of counties account for 80% of the total harm inflicted. Harm from police crime clusters more tightly geographically than incidents in traditional hot spots. Sex-related crime is high in both incidence and harm. We conclude the challenges to quantifying harm and future applications of harm indexing, as well as the implications regarding the harm of police sexual violence. •• Data-driven harm indexing is a new approach to examining police misconduct.•• A few counties are responsible for the majority of misconduct incidents and harm in Florida.•Sex-related offenses are the only category of police crime that is both high in harm and incidence.•• Locations that rank highly on harm and incidence measures serve as critical intervention points for reducing misconduct.•• Harm is difficult to measure, and using the minimum sentence as a denominator is useful but not perfect.