Innovation and Issues

This chapter covers the basics of EI system development and practice, and some basic and emergent issues. It begins with a definition and summary description of systems, and an account of their early history as a highly innovative response to the problems of misconduct plaguing American policing. The chapter then reviews more detailed studies of the “problem officer” phenomenon underlying the rationale for early intervention. The focus then shifts to issues regarding the value of complaints and use-of-force reports as key system inputs and measures of impacts. The chapter ends by briefly reviewing the issue of the place of officer welfare in EI systems.