This project establishes a research partnership between FSU’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). More specifically, FSU collaborates with the Florida Statistical Analysis Center (FSAC), housed within the FDLE and responsible for conducting advanced analyses using Florida’s crime data.
FSU is conducting four research projects and will share the results via reports, professional and conference presentations, and peer-reviewed journal articles. The results inform criminal justice policymakers and advance scholarly knowledge regarding crime and criminal justice in Florida.
Project 1: An Analysis of Resistance to Police Authority in Florida
Recent events have spotlighted police-suspect interactions, and a robust body of research examining policing is currently emerging. However, research on suspects’ resistance to police authority is relatively rare, with only two studies published in the last 15 years. This project examines suspects’ resistance to police authority and conducts analyses of nonviolent, violent, and evasive resistance. The study then examines which characteristics of individuals and arrest events make charges of resistance to police authority more likely. The study also examines the prevalence and trends in resistance to police authority to detain and arrest in Florida over the last three decades.
Project 2: Traffic-Related Crime and Criminal History
Despite its ubiquity, few studies have comprehensively studied traffic crime, and little is known about potential links between driving-related offenses and more severe forms of crime. This study corrects this gap in knowledge by exploring traffic crime in Florida over a minimum 20-year period. This study first describes trends in traffic crime and the characteristics of those charged with traffic crime offenses. The study then explores relationships between driving-related offending and other types of criminal offending. In addition, this study assesses the quality and completeness of traffic crime data contained in FDLE’s Computerized Criminal History (CCH) database used for licensure, employment, firearm purchase approval, and other public requests.
Project 3: Drug Offender Recidivism
Many studies have examined drug offending and drug offender recidivism. However, a common limitation in this area of research is the length of the follow-up period. This study, therefore, explores recidivism among drug offenders in Florida over a minimum 20-year period. By using a comprehensive dataset compiled from multiple criminal justice agencies in Florida, this study expands our knowledge of trends in drug offending and drug recidivism.
Project 4: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Crime in Florida
This study explores the effects the COVID-19 pandemic and aspects of its control had on crime in Florida, with a specific emphasis on violent and domestic violence offenses. The study uses data from FDLE’s CCH from 2020 through 2022 (pandemic years) compared to at least five prior years to assess changes in crime trends and policing practices. Furthermore, this project uses incident-based reporting data available in the new Florida IBR repository (FIBRS) to conduct an exploratory analysis of this new data. In particular, this study examines relationships between victims and offenders during violent offenses, focusing on how the quality and completeness of this data changed over time, beginning with the initial FIBRS data collection in September 2020.
CONTACTS
Faculty: Nicolas Swagar
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Dates: 2023-2024
Funding Amount: $237,072