Officers On Patrol: A Qualitative Examination of Patrol Officer Behavior and Decision Making

This was my doctoral dissertation which I completed in 2018. I spent over 300 hours with on-duty patrol officers in a participant-observer role, while conducting semi-structured interviews with them. Some of the many patrol related topics are discussions about purposes, goals, expectations, being a good patrol officer, beat and shift characteristics, patrol methodology tactics and techniques, patrol intensity, obstacles to patrol, interacting with the public, beat management, discretion, inter-department communication, and the use and value of different kinds of police intelligence.

Officers-On-Patrol-A-Qualitative-Examination-of-Patrol-Officer-Behavior-and-Decision-Making

Author: Frank Heley

Frank Heley graduated from North Dakota State University with a BS in Criminal Justice in 2009, a MS in Criminal Justice Administration in 2012, and a PhD in Criminal Justice, with a focus on policing, in 2018, and is a current member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He has worked as a security supervisor in the hospitality field, as a drug and alcohol researcher, and as a criminal justice instructor, as well as having been a private investigator for 21 years. Under the auspice of the Center for Criminological Inquiry, he currently conducts independent research and provides consulting services.