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Research has begun to explore to what extent I-502, the initiative authorising the retail distribution of recreational marijuana in Washington State, influenced a range of public safety outcomes. However, despite a growing body of research exploring potential impacts on crime, absent from this research has been a more nuanced analysis of officer workload. Specifically, an analysis into calls for service received and initiated by police. To document to what extent I-502 is associated with changes in the type of calls police agencies respond to, this research uses an interrupted time series, to analyse data provided from two border-straddling cities (Pullman, WA, and Moscow, ID). Findings indicate that recreational sales of marijuana is associated with noteworthy changes in police resourcing in the legalised state setting and the magnitude of those changes vary based on call type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies based on relatively weak analytical designs lacking contextualization and appropriate comparisons have reported that the legalization of marijuana has either increased or decreased crime. Recognizing the importance for public policy making of more robust research designs in this area during a period of continuing reform of state marijuana laws, this study uses a quasi-experimental, multi-group interrupted time-series design to determine if, and how, UCR crime rates in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to legalize marijuana, were influenced by it. Our results suggest that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes in Colorado or Washington. We observed no statistically significant long-term effects of recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in these states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcomes associated with police body-worn cameras (BWCs) and their influence on use of force is chiefly known from large-scale implementation studies and randomised controlled trials. While these studies provide valuable insight, there is concern that these studies are susceptible to the Hawthorne effect. Using an interrupted time series analysis, this study examines whether the implementation of BWCs had an effect on use of force incidents within a United States department that independently adopted BWCs and did not participate in a collaborative research trial. Results show that while there was a non-significant drop in use of force incidents at the month of BWC implementation, there was a steady, significant increase in use of force incidents for every month following implementation. The number of incidents reaches pre-BWC implementation frequencies after three years. These findings indicate that BWCs may influence police behaviour immediately following implementation, though this influence weakens over time as BWCs become normalised with daily police use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]