NCJ Number
98923
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes a research agenda that focuses on police-prosecutor relations with the intent of improving the percentage of arrests that result in convictions.
Abstract
The high percentage of arrests that do not produce convictions signifies a large waste of criminal justice resources. Previous research indicates that this high percentage of failed cases is largely attributable to inadequate investigative techniques used by the police, police prioritizing arrests rather than convictions, and the failure of prosecutors to provide feedback to police on case outcomes. A research program designed to strengthen police-prosecutor cooperation in producing convictions could advance along several fronts. The research should focus on factors and actions that can improve the quality of police arrests. A specific research objective that would support this goal is a nationwide survey of police incentive systems and the information used as input to those systems. Such a survey would facilitate identifying factors in police incentive systems that promote or detract from arrests designed to produce convictions. A survey of prosecutors could identify those aspects of police cases which increase or decrease the likelihood of a conviction. Communication between police and prosecutors that would facilitate quality arrests should also be examined in research. Ten notes and 25 references are provided.