Steiner Houston, Weber State University
The current project is a collaboration between an official at a local law enforcement agency (LEA) and undergraduate students and faculty at a regional university. Although the main focus of the study is on disproportionate minority contact, this presentation will focus on the collaborative efforts of those involved in collecting and analyzing the data. In an effort to receive available grants and other funding, many LEAs have sought out partnerships with local institutions of higher education to conduct research on various topics. The willingness of LEAs to seek out such research shows a desire to look inside their organizations and proactively address any issues that may be discovered. As part of the current collaboration, the undergraduate students have maintained constant contact with the law enforcement official and have been given the opportunity to discuss the study with various record keeping and information technology personnel. This further collaboration has aided the student researchers by providing a means of obtaining redacted information on individuals who have previously contacted or been contacted by local officers. The redacted information allows the researchers to more quickly process and analyze the collected data. Some challenges have resulted from utilizing the data stored in the LEA’s records management system. Various systems have been used to collect data over the years and not all data has been transferred to the updated system. There is also some variation in how officers collect and interpret data. A final challenge that may be faced by all undergraduate research students wishing to analyze topics related to race and ethnicity is the manner in which various racial backgrounds are classified. Because previous research has rarely provided an in depth look at the collaborative process, this study will be a great resource for future researchers and community partners who wish to enter into the collaborative process together.