Case Study: A Southern Police Department in the United States

Russell (2014) conducted an evaluation of an EI system in an unnamed police department in a southern state of the United States. Russell was an officer in the department and undertook the evaluation for a dissertation as part of Doctor of Education degree. The case study is distinctive for its attention to process issues, including stakeholder input into the design of the system and extensive training. The study included a process evaluation, with findings suggesting that a consultative and carefully planned approach to implementation was highly effective from the perspective of staff managing and using the system. Russell (2014) also found a 28.8% drop in the rate of all complaints against police for 3 years following the introduction of the system, and a 23.3% drop in more serious complaints. Surprisingly, however, given the level of cooperation experienced, the evaluation provided very little information on the nature of interventions and no specific cohort effects were recorded, again highlighting the need for comprehensive evaluation of systems.