Dr. Darryl Wood, former Justice faculty now Assistant Professor with Washington State University, Vancouver; Dr. André Rosay, Justice Center Director; Greg Postle, graduate student at the University of Delaware; and Katherine TePas, State of Alaska Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coordinator, are the authors of the article, "Police Presence, Isolation, and Sexual Assault Prosecution," recently published in the Criminal Justice Policy Review.
The article considers the effects of geographic isolation and local police presence on the processing of 230 sexual assault cases reported to Alaska State Troopers. Policing in rural areas throughout the United States is hindered by geographic isolation. In Alaska, this hindrance is often severe. The authors examined how the Village Public Safety Officer program provides an effective solution to policing in rural areas - areas that lack the resources to have their own policing. Findings show that Village Public Safety Officers facilitate case processing by enhancing the likelihood that referred cases would be accepted for prosecution. However, after accounting for other potential influences, isolation did not impact the likelihood of prosecution. These results provide strong support for the Village Public Safety Officer program and have important implications for all rural areas in the United States.
Criminal Justice Policy Review is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal committed to the study of criminal justice policy through quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methodological approaches. The Review is published quarterly.
