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Purpose - The growth of formal police-probation partnerships in the USA has been accompanied by an increased awareness of the potential threats of mission distortion. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of mission distribution Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on interviews with police and community corrections officers involved in an active partnership in Spokane, Washington. The paper emphasizes the abuse of authority, stalking horse incidents, and the scope of legitimate police and probation authority. Findings - Ultimately, mission distortion has the potential to undermine the credibility of police-probation partnerships. Originality/value - The paper offers training and policy recommendations for police and community corrections administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The argument is presented that, is contrast to expectations, the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA) of 2000 will not be responsible for significant change in the practice of civil asset forfeiture, that the Act is a sheep in wolf's clothing. While it has ushered in some important procedural changes, CAFRA does not address several of what critics perceive to be the most significant problems associated with civil asset forfeiture, among them are a questionable standard of proof, equitable sharing, and the so-called "taint doctrine." Thus, it is likely that civil asset forfeiture will continue to be a valuable law enforcement tool in the war on drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between community-policing and grants provided by the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) in the US Justice Department. Community policing data were gathered via a survey of 700 municipal and county law enforcement agencies employing more than 100 full-time sworn officers/deputies. Grant data were gathered on the same agencies via a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the COPS Office. Census data were used for control purposes. General findings suggest that COPS funding is strongly associated with community-policing. Specific findings are: first, hiring grants were more associated with community-policing than grants designed to promote innovative programs and second, agencies with several COPS grants were more likely to report community-policing programs than agencies with fewer COPS grants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]