How do law enforcement agencies screen for and mitigate insider threats?

Screening for Insider Threats in U.S. Law Enforcement

This project has concluded.

So What?

While there are anecdotal examples of insider threats in law enforcement, we do not have a systematic understanding of whether these are isolated incidents or indicative of a more pervasive issue. The first step in addressing this gap is to assess department-level policies and procedures. Specifically, we are interested in what agencies consider during hiring decisions, which types of individuals are being screened out of the hiring process, and how agencies elect to monitor and detect potential insider threats among office​​rs.

Project Summary

The main objective is to better understand current policies and procedures to screen for and identify insider threats in the law enforcement hiring process and among active officers.

Purpose/Objectives

This project’s findings will inform recommendations for best practices for screening applicants and current officers to reduce the risk of insider threats while also identifying additional research directions of an understudying topic.

Methods

Researchers are taking a multi-pronged approach to conduct formative research on insider threats in U.S. law enforcement. Using a mixed-methods design, they are collecting both (a) archival data and (b) survey data on hiring and screening policies and procedures from a stratified random sample of police departments and sheriff’s offices around the country, with (c) follow up interviews to further probe findings.

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Reports and Publications

Screening for Insider Threats in U.S. Law Enforcement: A National Sample of Department Policies and Practices – State of Practice Guide

This report explores the extent to which law enforcement agencies around the country are concerned with potential insider threats in their departments.

Screening for Insider Threats in U.S. Law Enforcement: A National Sample of Department Policies and Practices – Plain Language Summary

This handout provides an overview of the insider threats project and outlines key takeaways from the full report.

Screening for Insider Threats in U.S. Law Enforcement: A National Sample of Department Policies and Practices – Self-Assessment Toolkit

This document provides law enforcement agencies with a worksheet to assess how rigorous their hiring practices are in screening for insider threats.

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Research Team

Erin Kearns, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Associate Professor
• School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Head of Prevention Research Initiatives at NCITE
• Expertise: Relationship between public perceptions of terrorism and counterterrorism practices, relationship between communities and law enforcement

Sadaf Hashimi, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• College of Public Affairs and Community Service
• TRAC Program Coordinator; VIPR Lab Co-Director
• Expertise: Policing and policy, peer influence and crime, violence prevention efforts

Jessie Huff, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• College of Public Affairs and Community Service
• NIJ LEADS Scholar; VIPR Lab Co-Director
• Expertise: Experimental examinations of police programs and policies

Justin Nix, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Distinguished Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• College of Public Affairs and Community Service
• NIJ LEADS Scholar; VIPR Lab Co-Director
• Expertise: Policing, police legitimacy, procedural justice, the "Ferguson Effect," police use of force