Search Guides
Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
Library Resources on Law Enforcement
The Law Enforcement page is intended to be used in tandem with Criminal Justice Essentials. Essentials includes the databases and other resources most relevant to criminal justice overall. This page lists subject specific databases, books, and websites to help you explore topics specific to the Law Enforcement Emphasis.
Links are followed by an "info" icon--hover over the icon to see how the resource is relevant to research in corrections.
Policing Policy, Methods & Theory
Includes: intelligence-led policing, problem oriented policing, community policing, and modern policing systems; policy and procedures.
Image: Officer Next Door Participants Community Policing program in Meridan, MS
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Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCriminal Justice Abstracts is the leading bibliographic database for criminal justice and criminology research. It provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for hundreds of journals covering all related subjects, including forensic sciences, corrections, policing, criminal law and investigation.
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Business Source CompleteRelevance: articles relating to criminal justice management including policing methods and training; general leadership.
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PsycINFORelevance: psychological articles on offenders and police; search for "problem oriented policing", "community policing" etc. using quote marks.
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SocINDEX with Full TextRelevance: experts on topics like cultural attitudes of and toward police; risked-based policing; problem oriented policing; COMPSTAT and more.
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Academic Search PremierRelevance: articles on all policy, procedures, and policing methods.
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HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowProvides comprehensive coverage of law and law-related periodicals. Also contains historical trial records, important legal works from the 16th to the 20th centuries, treaties, and select government records, including the Congressional Record and the Federal Register.
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Legal Collection This link opens in a new windowA collection of respected, scholarly peer-reviewed publications including law journals, documents, and case studies.
Government Publications
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Department of Justice (DOJ)Relevance: the DOJ is the epicenter for government research and news publications on criminal justice. Peruse the site to become familiar with the various agencies, publications, legislative histories, and resources related to law enforcement.
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Law Enforcement, Bureau of Justice StatisticsRelevance: reports and statistics on federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies as well as special topics in law enforcement.
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Law Enforcement, CrimeSolutions.govRelevance: research and evaluation of programs and practices related to law enforcement; a NIJ website.
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National Criminal Intelligence Resource CenterRelevance: a list of criminal justice professional associations and entities which assist law enforcement with policies, standards, analysis, training and education, and technical assistance; from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, DOJ.
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Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Police (BIP)BIP's main goal is to uphold the constitutional sovereignty of the Federally recognized Tribes and preserve peace within Indian country.
Criminal Investigations
Includes investigation & criminology issues, forensics, and technology-based methods (e.g. body cameras, "lie detectors," drones, etc.)
Image: Ole Miss UPD K9 dog Dios
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Academic Search PremierRelevance: articles on all aspects of investigation and law enforcement in general.
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EconLitRelevance: articles related to economics of policing, including cost efficiencies for investigations and technology.
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PsycINFORelevance: psychological literature on officers, offenders and victims.
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Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCriminal Justice Abstracts is the leading bibliographic database for criminal justice and criminology research. It provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for hundreds of journals covering all related subjects, including forensic sciences, corrections, policing, criminal law and investigation.
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ProQuest Central: Criminal Justice This link opens in a new window
This is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. As well as U.S. and international scholarly journals, it includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, dissertations, crime reports, crime blogs and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement and related fields.
This database includes an AI powered tool. For more information see the ProQuest Research Assistant FAQ.
Looking for Topics?
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Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, University of AlbanyRelevance: a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of problem-oriented policing including 72 different problem-specific peer-reviewed guides which review the research and reported police practice for specific crimes.
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CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Contains original, comprehensive reports and analysis on issues in the news. CQ Researcher is part of CQ Collections.
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International Association of Chiefs of PoliceRelevance: full text of law enforcement publications such as IACP News, IACP Leadership Insights, IACP's Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program, Police Chief Magazine, and the IACP Ethics Toolkit.
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Law Enforcement NewsRelevance: John Jay College of Criminal Justice's highly acclaimed newspaper for and about American policing, published 1975- 2005.
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PARC - Police Assessment Resource CenterRelevance: PARC works with law enforcement agencies, local governments, and community organizations in order to provide "independent, evidence-based counsel on effective and accountable policing." Their site provides many of PARC's reports a wide variety of their investigations and assessments of police misconduct, police-community relations, internal monitoring and more.
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Police FoundationRelevance: a non-profit, non-partisan, and non-membership-driven organization dedicated to improving American policing through innovation and science. Extensive publication library covers crime mapping, American policing, practices and strategies, terrorism, and body worn cameras, to name a few.
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Rand CorporationRelevance: a non-profit think tank that studies issues in order to help policymakers make decisions based on evidence-based research, including issues related to law enforcement.
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Roper Center For Public Opinion Research This link opens in a new windowCollection of polling data from 1936 to the present that includes US polling firms, social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more.
Policing Specific Populations
Includes: women, LGBT, Native American, African American, LatinX, and other populations.
Image: Miami police on patrol in Liberty City, FL
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Bibliography of Native North AmericansRelevance: covers all aspects of native North American culture, history, and life including policing issues and information on the BIP (Bureau of Indian Police).
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Ethnic NewsWatchRelevance: newspapers and magazines published by the ethnic and minority press; generate topic ideas by searching any law enforcement related topic to see the variety of ideas on an issue.
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Gender Studies DatabaseRelevance: articles about officers, victims of crime, and criminals and how gender impacts and interacts with the criminal justices system.
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LGBT Life with Full TextRelevance: articles and full text books on the relationship between law enforcement & LGBT people.
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Race Relations AbstractsRelevance: academic articles with a focus on relationship between and among races; useful to research the relationship between race and law enforcement.
Selected Titles in Policing
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Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship
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Drawing on the richest study of police stops to date, the authors show that who is stopped and how they are treated convey powerful messages about citizenship and racial disparity in the United States.
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Confessions of an Undercover Agent: Adventures, Close Calls, and the Toll of a Double Life
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Charlie Spillers dealt with a remarkable variety of career criminals, including heroin traffickers, safecrackers, burglars, auto thieves, and members of Mafia and Mexican drug smuggling operations. In this riveting tale, the author recounts fascinating experiences and the creative methods he used to succeed and survive in a difficult and sometimes extremely dangerous underworld life.
