Introduction
This research proposal will be planning out the design of a research project that will be conducted through a Virginia State Police internship. The general topic that is being focused on in this research proposal is automobile accident prevention. It is an important topic to key into because close to 1.3 million people die in automobile accidents each year (Road Safety Facts). Accidents are not done out of a malicious behavior rather it is simply neglecting to pay attention or a sheer accident. Which leads to my research question: Is the Deterrence Theory and effective strategy being applied by law enforcement agencies, to help reduce the number of automobile accidents occurring on our interstate highway systems? This research proposal will consist of academic research through multiple scholarly journals that have reviewed methods for reducing automobile accidents. Throughout the internship, research will also be obtained through interviews and second-hand observance.
Literature review
The first article titled, Assessing the Capability of Intensive Police Programs to Prevent Severe Road Accidents: A Systematic Review, discusses important programs that the police are implementing in order to help reduce or prevent car accidents. The authors Blais and Dupont review a total of thirty-eight studies from the years of 1990 on till 2004 that go over “the effectiveness of repressive police programs” (Blais, E., & Dupont, B.). When reviewing the studies, they had two objectives. “The first objective is to assess the effect of the programmes and see whether they result in significant road-accident reductions. The second objective is to identify which types of police programmes are most effective, and under which conditions, in order to be able to make recommendations on their implementation.” (Blais, E., & Dupont, B.) This article will help in my research because it will allow me to focus more on key deterrence theories or strategies that are applied by law enforcement agencies. Then reference those findings when completing my field research.
The second article titled, Does Police Presence Reduce Car Accidents?, reviews data collected from “geographic locators attached to police vehicles in Dallas, Texas”(Weisburd, S.). This data was collected over a year’s time and the device collects specific data around peak traffic times, holidays, and weekends. It also collects data from roaming patrol vehicles along with strategically placed stationary patrol vehicles. This article will be very helpful to my research because they show the effects that the holidays and the rush hours have on traffic conditions. Which is a good factor because during the holidays is when you usually see an increase in police patrol. Therefore, it would be interesting to find out how this compares to the research that will be collected throughout my observations.
The third article titled, The effects of drunk-driving checkpoints on crashes—A meta-analysis, goes into another tool that is applied by law enforcement agencies the DUI-checkpoint. “When DUI-checkpoints are introduced as a new measure, the effects may be greater because drivers have not (yet) become acquainted to it and developed avoiding strategies” (Erke, A., Goldenbeld, C., & Vaa, T.). This article will be beneficial for my research project because it briefly talks about how implementing this tool might work at first but then people adapt to it and the results may weaken. It will also shed light on if implementing DUI-checkpoints is one of the more effective strategies used to reduce accidents.
The last article titled, Do Traffic Tickets Reduce Motor Vehicle Accidents? Evidence from a Natural Experiment, talks about “number of tickets issued to identify the causal impact of traffic tickets on motor vehicle accidents using daily municipality-level data from Massachusetts” (Luca, D. L.). This article provides another example of how police use deterrence strategies in order to help prevent automobile accidents. The article also states that “Reducing motor vehicle accidents is a key concern” (Luca, D. L. ) which is true and with this in mind, it would be interesting to find out if there are more effective strategies or methods than others. The article brings about one more key statement “an individual makes the decision of whether to commit a crime or not by weighing the expected costs against the expected benefits” (Luca, D. L.). This statement will be very beneficial to my research paper because it mainly shapes the argument of the deterrence theory. If people feel as if they are going to get caught why would they risk the chance of getting caught? If people possess this mindset it may reduce risky behavior and the number of accidents in general.
RESEARCH QUESTION AND METHODOLOGY
Is the Deterrence Theory and effective strategy being applied by law enforcement agencies to help reduce the number of automobile accidents occurring on our interstate highway system? Information will be gathered on this research question through interviews of experienced professionals. Four to six professionals will be selected and should have first-hand experience in dealing with automobile accidents. They should also have experience with effective strategies or ineffective strategies that are applied by agencies to help prevent automobile accidents.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
• The Deterrence Theory is a model that helps to prevent crime or disorder from happening by instilling a fear of getting caught in the individual who may commit the act. Do you feel as if this theory is being effectively used by highway patrol in accident prevention?
• What are some ways to which your department applies the Deterrence Theory? In other words, what are some methods or tools you use to determine where these resources will be allocated?
• Are there methods or strategies that you feel are more effective or ineffective than others, if so which?
• During the holiday travel time, there is generally an increase in police presence on the highways. In general, what does the increase in police presence do?
• Does your department have standards that are set so that if accidents do become superfluous you look into what is going on?
• Do you feel as if a stationary patrol car or a roaming patrol car is more effective in catching the public’s attention? For example, a patrol car driving down the highway vs a patrol car parked on the side of the highway.
LIMITATIONS
The limitations that should be expected from this proposal would be that the research will only be limited to the Virginia State Police. It is the only department that information will be obtained from during this research project. There will also only be interviews documented from four to six experienced professionals out of a department consisting of more than 2,000 troopers. There may be bias from this research because the department may want to show their best side. The limitations and biases of the academic research will be taken into account as well.
Conclusion
In conclusion with this research project, it will hopefully shed light on how law enforcement officials try to improve their accident statistics. It will dig into previous scholarly journals for information and also obtain information through interviews with experienced professionals in the Virginia State Police. Four to six individuals will be interviewed and asked a series of six open-ended questions. With all of the information collected from the academic research and the individual interviews, the research question for my research project will be answered.