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They argue that their findings are important for informing the efficient deployment of police services - an approach they note is particularly important for their study context given scarce police resources. Theron et al. ([18]) conducted an analysis of crime concentration, with a focus on how their findings can be used to inform the deployment of police resources. They found results were consistent across organizations in just one study, with the remaining studies showing either partial replication of results or results that were in complete contrast to those from other police organizations that were sampled. [Extracted from the article]

This paper explores how police bureaucracies, in their pursuit of greater accountability and management efficiencies, create what are intended to be rational data collection and use processes. However, these processes often produce unintended consequences: namely, behaviours, practices, and policies that confound an organisation's goals. Drawing on Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis and qualitative data from two Canadian police organisations, we argue that although police bureaucracies focus on maintaining efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control when it comes to their data processes, not only do inaccuracies occur, but they happen because an over-emphasis on rational processes can produce forms of irrationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this piece we reply to a commentary from Staller and Koerner on our work entitled, #Defund or #Re-Fund? Re-Examining Bayley's Blueprint for Police Reform. In short, we agree on the necessity of reflexivity within policing research and the area of evidence-based policing more specifically, but also see this reply as an opportunity to clarify some misconceptions around evidence-based policing and what it means to be "evidence-based." More specifically, we touch upon the flexibility of evidence-based policing to be implemented in tandem with other reform approaches, the value of experiential knowledge and qualitative methods within evidence-based policing, and the confounding of evidence and evidence-based. We conclude on the point of reflexivity and put out a call for follow-up studies that examine the implications of evaluated police practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the defund the police movement, it is imperative we consider what police reform could and potentially should look like. Some, for example, have called for a reduced police footprint in marginalised communities through reallocating police funding towards preventative services for a myriad of social issues. However, drawing on David Bayley's Police for the Future, we show that a dilemma arises with respect to police involvement in these issues: the police cannot be solely relied upon to address all social issues, but they cannot be fully absolved of the responsibility either. As such, further drawing on Bayley's thoughts for police reform, we instead argue for the adoption of evidence-based policing as a more fruitful driver of meaningful, long-term police reform as it not only enables the police to identify practices that are effective or even harmful, but it also can be used as means for police accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the global growth of evidence-based policing (EBP), there remains a resistance to change within police organizations that ultimately impedes the adoption of evidence-based practices. As a means of identifying which level of policing is most resistant to EBP, the present study describes results from interviews with 38 sworn and civilian Canadian police executives on their perceptions as to which level of policing – leadership, middle management, or the frontline – is most resistant. The results indicate that although there was no consensus among our participants, the middle management level was perceived as most resistant to EBP for a wide array of reasons. Ultimately, the results have practical implications for police practice that surround the need for a greater adoption of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to an increase in interactions between the police and persons with perceived mental illness (PwPMI), police services have begun deploying specialized crisis responses to more adequately address these calls. One such response is a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) that is comprised of frontline officers who are specially trained on mental health; another is a Co-Response Team (CRT) where an officer is paired with a mental health practitioner. With police services presumably shifting scarce resources to deploy these responses, it is paramount to understand the challenges they may endure. With little Canadian research on these responses to-date, the purpose of this paper is to document which Canadian police services deploy these responses and how their composition varies by jurisdiction, as well as their perceived challenges. Through a mixed methodological approach, the results indicate that most of the participating services deploy varying compositions of a CIT and/or CRT, but are perceived to endure a variety of challenges which may impede the overall success of these responses. A call for future research is made which may assist Canadian police services in addressing some of the identified challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Management of patients presenting for various nonspecific complaints without clear neurological abnormalities and with normal ventricular size remains highly controversial. We intended to share our rationale for surgical treatment of patients who show symptoms of transient increase of intracranial pressure owing to the presence of the cyst. Materials and methods: We have retrospectively analyzed 28 cases of patients who presented without Parinaud syndrome nor ventricular enlargement and underwent pineal cyst removal in our centre between 2007 and 2015. We analyzed patients' age, sex, symptoms, preoperative cyst size, perioperative course, treatment outcome and neurologic status at discharge and at follow-up visits 4 and 12 months afterwards. Results: Main complaints included paroxysmal headaches, nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances, syncope and transient depression of consciousness. Mean age of patients was 31 years (17-55); there were 24 females and 4 males. Mean cyst diameter was 17 mm (10-26). Decision about surgical treament was based on signs of transient increases of intracranial pressure. All patients underwent complete cyst excision via midline suboccipital craniotomy and infratentorial supracerebellar route. Short-lasting perioperative neurological signs (notably upgaze palsy) were noted in 22 cases and uniformly resolved within the observation period of 12 months. Conclusion: Abnormal neurological findings and ventricular enlargement are not indispensable to justify surgical treatment of pineal cysts. Judicious selection of surgical candidates based predominantly on clinical grounds can lead to excellent operative results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last two decades, interest in the topic of how police interact with individuals perceived to have a mental health problem has increased substantially. This interest has produced a growing body of research on the topic and with it an expansion in the variety of terms and frames used in discussing the issue. The variation in terminology and topic framing is important to consider for a number of theoretical and methodological reasons, including our ability as researchers to shape the wider response to the issue and concerns about the extent to which the varied terms are valid and comparable. To explore this topic, we undertook a scoping review of 92 articles on the topic published between 2000 and 2017. The findings show that the current framing tends to emphasize issues related to the mental health system and police training to the detriment of other forces related to the issue such as housing, poverty, and stigma. The analysis also shows that person with mental illness is the most common terminology used in the literature, but its use raises some concerns about validity and precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]