Systematic Social Observation of the Police in the 21st Century

John McCluskey is Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. His most recent work has included research on police decision-making, emerging technology and its impact on criminal justice, and teacher victimization.  He earned his BA, MA, and Ph.D. from the University at Albany, USA.  

Craig D. Uchida is President of Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. and a criminal justice researcher with interests in policing, violent crime reduction, and homicide investigations. He oversees research and evaluation projects in police and criminal justice agencies across the USA. He holds a Ph.D. from the University at Albany, USA.

Yinthe Feys holds a master's degree in Criminology and is currently conducting a PhD on the ethical decision-making process of local police officers in Belgium. Previously, she worked on topics regarding police accountability (GhentUniversity) and ethnicity (Flemish Government).

Shellie E. Solomon is CEO of Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. and is a criminal justice researcher who focuses on policing, collective efficacy, and community-based crime reduction. She is also the Executive Director of Children of Inmates, a non-profit organization that assists children whose parents are incarcerated. She holds a Ph.D. from the United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Netherlands.

This book on systematic social observation (SSO) methodology provides detailed, step-by-step guidance for researchers on using the method. It identifies varieties of approaches and uses of SSO, the different steps used when performing SSO, and the benefits and challenges associated with using SSO.

The chapters discuss different aspects related to SSO, such as:

• Access to the field or footage
• Ethics, including informed consent with data collection
• Use of body-worn camera footage for SSO

It is ideal for criminology and police researchers looking for assistance outlining their research frame.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2. The SSO Method in Police Research and Criminology.- Chapter 3: Developing and conducting an SSO study: A how-to-guide for social science research.- Chapter 4. Video-based SSO and Body-Camera Data.- Chapter 5:  Environment-based systematic social observation and police research.- Chapter 6: The Future of Systematic Social Observation and Policing.