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Placing Arrest in Context

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The Power to Arrest

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Abstract

This chapter considers the different definitions of arrest and the reasons for the difficulty in creating a universally standard term. However, a singular definition is offered, which is used to guide discussions throughout this review. This chapter considers the historical use of arrest , including the evidence for the general and specific deterrent effects of police use of arrest . This chapter also discusses the many substantial direct and collateral consequences to individuals and communities. This wide range of costs emphasizes the importance of arrest , and how police can carefully consider its strategic use in order to achieve desired results.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It should be noted that five states, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, did not complete a survey for this study (Mai & Subramanian, 2017).

  2. 2.

    Risk-level was determined using the research-based, validated Kentucky Pretrial Risk Assessment (KPRA). This assessment consists of 12 risk factors, including measures of offense class, criminal justice, status, criminal history, failure to appear, and community stability (Lowenkamp et al., 2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Justice, IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Robin S. Engel

  2. The John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc., Albany, NY, USA

    Robert E. Worden & Hannah Cochran

  3. School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Nicholas Corsaro

  4. IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Hannah D. McManus, Gabrielle T. Isaza & Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas

  5. The John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc., Albany, NY, USA

    Danielle Reynolds

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Engel, R.S. et al. (2019). Placing Arrest in Context. In: The Power to Arrest. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17054-7_2

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