Research Symposium

BIO

Hello! My name is Kayla, and I am a Cuban-American student from Miami, FL. I am pursuing a dual degree in Criminology and Psychology with minors in Crime Scene Investigation and Public Administration. I am currently studying National Data Sets, and how well they report law enforcement officers who have been killed or assaulted while on duty. Additionally, I work as an investigative intern at the Gadsden County Public Defender’s Office, where I where I assist attorneys by conducting intake interviews and gathering information for defense strategies. Some of my research interests include forensic psychology, criminal behavior, and the intersection of psychology and the justice system. I aspire to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology.

Understanding Assaults on the Police: A Systematic Review on the Strength, Limitations, and Future of National Data Sources for Empirical Research

Abstract

Assaults on the police represent a pressing public policy issue, especially as law enforcement faces challenges in recruitment and retention due to the unique occupational dangers associated with policing. A growing body of empirical research has sought to understand the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of these incidents; however, its development is complicated by the limitations of national data sources on police assaults. The aim of this systematic literature review is threefold: (1) assess the prevalence of each national data source on police assaults, (2) synthesize the limitations of these data sources as detailed in prior research, and (3) describe the unique feature of each data source that can facilitate future research. To this end, searches of literature published from January 1960 to September 2024 were performed using a combination of search strategies, such as electronic database searches, reference searches, and forward citation searches. Studies will be screened against a set of inclusion criteria and coded to address the study’s three key research questions. It is anticipated that the results of this study will highlight the key strengths and limitations of current national data on this crucial public policy issue. Further, it will illuminate opportunities to improve the state of police assault data and facilitate translational policing research.

Keywords: Law enforcement, Assaults, Data-sets