Chuck MacLean | Metropolitan State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Chuck MacLean

Chapter in Motta, R. W. (ed.) (2024), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Latest Developments in Diagnosis, Causes, and Treatments. IntechOpen, 2024

Peace officers, frequently and recurrently exposed to trauma on the job and often working long sh... more Peace officers, frequently and recurrently exposed to trauma on the job and often working long shifts and overtime, increasingly suffer from PTSD and compound trauma that predispose those officers to develop depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, and suicidality, and lead those officers to shoot sooner and less accurately, to over-perceive threats, under-perceive options, and thereby pose unnecessarily enhanced risks to themselves and the public. That confluence is exacerbated by toxic masculinity and organizational stigma endemic in much of law enforcement that can prevent afflicted officers from seeking the psychological intervention and operational accommodations they desperately need. This chapter sketches the current situation among American law enforcement officers and the state-of-the-art stigma-reduction, stress-reduction, and psychological interventions that are beginning to ease the adverse impacts of PTSD and compound trauma on officers and members of the public with whom they interact.

Social Science Research Network, Mar 23, 2021

International Journal of Police Science & Management, 2020

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit th... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit their way out of the African American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness—the two most powerful determinants of African American confidence in the police. The author’s nationwide survey revealed that African Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capi... more Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has held that no state may retain that application, reasoning that any death penalty approach rejected by the majority of states is, perforce, unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. Although some laud these decisions, they ignore the States’ Tenth Amendment rights to govern themselves within broad constitutional parameters. Rather than defer to opinion polls or tallying state legislative enactments, the Court should engage in true constitutional analysis, forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, but simultaneously honoring states’ rights to govern themselves.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among ... more This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers in a community's local law enforcement agencies compared to the African-American proportions in that community's overall population, African-American civilians' confidence in their local law enforcement agencies may suffer, leading to impaired respect for law, reduced civilian cooperation with law enforcement, and civilian impressions of weakened procedural justice and fairness. With low civilian confidence, the argument goes, one could expect an enhanced sense of disenfranchisement among the underrepresented sub-populations. The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of underrepresentation of African-Americans among sworn officers serving a local community, explore the key correlates of civilian confidence viewed through the lens of African-American perceptions and attitudes, and confront the superordinate roles that procedural justice and police effectiveness play in forming African-American civilian attitudes of confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. To quantify representativeness, this study expresses relative racial compositions of the police and the policed as a Racial Mirror Index ("RMI"). If the percent of a community's police, who are African-American, exactly matches the percent of the policed in that community, who are African-American, the RMI-AA ("Racial Mirror Index-African-American") would equal 100. RMI-AAs over 100 indicate African-Americans are overrepresented on the local law enforcement agency compared to the African-American share of the general population; RMI-AAs under 100 indicate African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers on the force. Despite expectations, as this study makes clear, RMI-AA is not a significant predictor of African-American civilian confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. Instead, African-American attitudes about local law enforcement are overwhelmingly driven by African-American perceptions of procedural justice and police effectiveness. African-American confidence, trust, and satisfaction in law enforcement remains far lower than for Whites regardless of RMI-AA and the degree of underrepresentation on the force. Thus, law enforcement agencies cannot hire their way out of this confidence gap through minority recruitment. Instead, improving African-American confidence in local law enforcement will require the agencies to engage with the far more substantive work of ensuring their officers deliver both procedural justice and effective policing.

International Journal of Police Science and Management, 2020

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit th... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit their way out of the African American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness-the two most powerful determinants of African American confidence in the police. The author's nationwide survey revealed that African Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

American Journal of Trial Advocacy, 2020

Criminal trials should be searches for the truth. Over time, as science has progressed, criminal ... more Criminal trials should be searches for the truth. Over time, as science has progressed, criminal trials have admitted as substantive evidence those scientific theories and techniques that are capable of being successfully tested, that are subjected to peer review and publication, that have a known or potential error rate, that follow recognized and well- maintained standards, and that are widely accepted in their scientific fields. Many three-dimensional (3D) forensic medical radiographic techniques have arrived at the threshold for substantive admissibility in criminal trials. After all, these radiographic techniques are routinely used around the world to drive critical diagnoses and treatments and to plan complex surgeries. As such, they qualify as competent evidence to assist triers of fact in criminal trials. Providing medical evidence in a 3D format helps the evidence cross the threshold of admissibility by improving the clarity and impact of medical evidence. Once relegated to oral summary from the witness stand or two-dimensional (2D) imagery, medical evidence has historically been restricted to demonstrative evidence. The added complexity and information provided by 3D medical evidence has the potential to be allowed to accompany jurors into the deliberation room. Instead of limiting complex substantive evidence admitted in criminal trials to oral testimony or demonstrative evidence alone, several categories of 3D medical forensic evidence are today’s versions of yesterday’s photographs and x-rays. Complex medical evidence, painstakingly offered through the oral testimony of physicians, forensic pathologists, and other qualified experts, may leave jurors and even some judges unable to fully grasp the meaning and import of that medical evidence. It is time for the next generation of medical evidence to enjoy the same level of admissibility as photographs—and for the same reasons. This brief Article considers the main variants of the current generation of 3D medical evidence, the reliability and validity of those variants, and how to overcome the main evidentiary challenges to admitting 3D medical evidence reconstructed from cross sectional CT and MRI imaging in criminal trials. We begin with a brief history of the radiologic and legal evolution that lead to the development of today’s 3D technologies.

International Journal of Police Science and Management, 2021

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that departments should recruit their way... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that departments should recruit their way out of the African-American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness-the two most powerful determinants of African-American confidence in the police.
The author's nationwide survey revealed that African-Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African-Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African-American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

Criminal Law Bulletin, 2015

Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capi... more Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has held that no state may retain that application, reasoning that any death penalty approach rejected by the majority of states is, perforce, unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. Although some laud these decisions, they ignore the States’ Tenth Amendment rights to govern themselves within broad constitutional parameters. Rather than defer to opinion polls or tallying state legislative enactments, the Court should engage in true constitutional analysis, forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, but simultaneously honoring states’ rights to govern themselves.

Recent Advances in DNA & Gene Sequences, 2014

Forensic DNA Phenotyping ("FDP"), estimating the externally visible characteristics ("EVCs") of t... more Forensic DNA Phenotyping ("FDP"), estimating the externally visible characteristics ("EVCs") of the source of human DNA left at a crime scene, is evolving from science fiction toward science fact. FDP can already identify a source's gender with 100% accuracy, and likely hair color, iris color, adult height, and a number of other EVCs with accuracy rates approaching 70%. Patent applications have been filed for approaches to generating 3D likenesses of DNA sources based on the DNA alone. Nonetheless, criminal investigators, particularly in the United States, have been reticent to apply FDP in their casework. The reticence is likely related to a number of perceived and real dilemmas associated with FDP: is FDP racial profiling, should we test unknown and unseen physical conditions, does testing for behavioral characteristics impermissibly violate the source's privacy, ought testing be permitted for samples from known sources or DNA databases, and should FDP be limited to use in investigations only or is FDP appropriate for use in a criminal court. As this article explains, although those dilemmas are substantive, they are not insurmountable, and can be quite easily managed with appropriate regulation and protocols. As FDP continues to develop, there will be less need for criminal investigators to shy away from FDP. Cold cases, missing persons, and victims in crimes without other evidence will one day soon all be well served by FDP.

Ph.D. Dissertation, 2019

Confidence in Law Enforcement When African-Americans are Underrepresented on the Force: An Explor... more Confidence in Law Enforcement When African-Americans are Underrepresented on the Force: An Exploratory Study, Charles E. MacLean, 2019: Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

Descriptors: Law Enforcement, Racial Mirror Index, Civilian Confidence, Civilian Trust, Civilian Satisfaction, Minority Underrepresentation.

This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers in a community’s local law enforcement agencies compared to the African-American proportions in that community’s overall population, African-American civilians’ confidence in their local law enforcement agencies may suffer, leading to impaired respect for law, reduced civilian cooperation with law enforcement, and civilian impressions of weakened procedural justice and fairness. With low civilian confidence, the argument goes, one could expect an enhanced sense of disenfranchisement among the underrepresented sub-populations.

The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of underrepresentation of AfricanAmericans among sworn officers serving a local community, explore the key correlates of civilian confidence viewed through the lens of African-American perceptions and attitudes, and confront the superordinate roles that procedural justice and police effectiveness play in forming African-American civilian attitudes of confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement.

To quantify representativeness, this study expresses relative racial compositions of the police and the policed as a Racial Mirror Index (“RMI”). If the percent of a community’s police, who are African-American, exactly matches the percent of the policed in that community, who are African-American, the RMI-AA (“Racial Mirror Index-AfricanAmerican”) would equal 100. RMI-AAs over 100 indicate African-Americans are overrepresented on the local law enforcement agency compared to the African-American share of the general population; RMI-AAs under 100 indicate African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers on the force.

Despite expectations, as this study makes clear, RMI-AA is not a significant predictor of African-American civilian confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. Instead, African-American attitudes about local law enforcement are overwhelmingly driven by African-American perceptions of procedural justice and police effectiveness. African-American confidence, trust, and satisfaction in law enforcement remains far lower than for Whites regardless of RMI-AA and the degree of underrepresentation on the force. Thus, law enforcement agencies cannot hire their way out of this confidence gap through minority recruitment. Instead, improving African-American confidence in local law enforcement will require the agencies to engage with the far more substantive work of ensuring their officers deliver both procedural justice and effective policing.

Chapter in Motta, R. W. (ed.) (2024), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Latest Developments in Diagnosis, Causes, and Treatments. IntechOpen, 2024

Peace officers, frequently and recurrently exposed to trauma on the job and often working long sh... more Peace officers, frequently and recurrently exposed to trauma on the job and often working long shifts and overtime, increasingly suffer from PTSD and compound trauma that predispose those officers to develop depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, and suicidality, and lead those officers to shoot sooner and less accurately, to over-perceive threats, under-perceive options, and thereby pose unnecessarily enhanced risks to themselves and the public. That confluence is exacerbated by toxic masculinity and organizational stigma endemic in much of law enforcement that can prevent afflicted officers from seeking the psychological intervention and operational accommodations they desperately need. This chapter sketches the current situation among American law enforcement officers and the state-of-the-art stigma-reduction, stress-reduction, and psychological interventions that are beginning to ease the adverse impacts of PTSD and compound trauma on officers and members of the public with whom they interact.

Social Science Research Network, Mar 23, 2021

International Journal of Police Science & Management, 2020

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit th... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit their way out of the African American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness—the two most powerful determinants of African American confidence in the police. The author’s nationwide survey revealed that African Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capi... more Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has held that no state may retain that application, reasoning that any death penalty approach rejected by the majority of states is, perforce, unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. Although some laud these decisions, they ignore the States’ Tenth Amendment rights to govern themselves within broad constitutional parameters. Rather than defer to opinion polls or tallying state legislative enactments, the Court should engage in true constitutional analysis, forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, but simultaneously honoring states’ rights to govern themselves.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among ... more This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers in a community's local law enforcement agencies compared to the African-American proportions in that community's overall population, African-American civilians' confidence in their local law enforcement agencies may suffer, leading to impaired respect for law, reduced civilian cooperation with law enforcement, and civilian impressions of weakened procedural justice and fairness. With low civilian confidence, the argument goes, one could expect an enhanced sense of disenfranchisement among the underrepresented sub-populations. The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of underrepresentation of African-Americans among sworn officers serving a local community, explore the key correlates of civilian confidence viewed through the lens of African-American perceptions and attitudes, and confront the superordinate roles that procedural justice and police effectiveness play in forming African-American civilian attitudes of confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. To quantify representativeness, this study expresses relative racial compositions of the police and the policed as a Racial Mirror Index ("RMI"). If the percent of a community's police, who are African-American, exactly matches the percent of the policed in that community, who are African-American, the RMI-AA ("Racial Mirror Index-African-American") would equal 100. RMI-AAs over 100 indicate African-Americans are overrepresented on the local law enforcement agency compared to the African-American share of the general population; RMI-AAs under 100 indicate African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers on the force. Despite expectations, as this study makes clear, RMI-AA is not a significant predictor of African-American civilian confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. Instead, African-American attitudes about local law enforcement are overwhelmingly driven by African-American perceptions of procedural justice and police effectiveness. African-American confidence, trust, and satisfaction in law enforcement remains far lower than for Whites regardless of RMI-AA and the degree of underrepresentation on the force. Thus, law enforcement agencies cannot hire their way out of this confidence gap through minority recruitment. Instead, improving African-American confidence in local law enforcement will require the agencies to engage with the far more substantive work of ensuring their officers deliver both procedural justice and effective policing.

International Journal of Police Science and Management, 2020

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit th... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that police departments should recruit their way out of the African American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness-the two most powerful determinants of African American confidence in the police. The author's nationwide survey revealed that African Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

American Journal of Trial Advocacy, 2020

Criminal trials should be searches for the truth. Over time, as science has progressed, criminal ... more Criminal trials should be searches for the truth. Over time, as science has progressed, criminal trials have admitted as substantive evidence those scientific theories and techniques that are capable of being successfully tested, that are subjected to peer review and publication, that have a known or potential error rate, that follow recognized and well- maintained standards, and that are widely accepted in their scientific fields. Many three-dimensional (3D) forensic medical radiographic techniques have arrived at the threshold for substantive admissibility in criminal trials. After all, these radiographic techniques are routinely used around the world to drive critical diagnoses and treatments and to plan complex surgeries. As such, they qualify as competent evidence to assist triers of fact in criminal trials. Providing medical evidence in a 3D format helps the evidence cross the threshold of admissibility by improving the clarity and impact of medical evidence. Once relegated to oral summary from the witness stand or two-dimensional (2D) imagery, medical evidence has historically been restricted to demonstrative evidence. The added complexity and information provided by 3D medical evidence has the potential to be allowed to accompany jurors into the deliberation room. Instead of limiting complex substantive evidence admitted in criminal trials to oral testimony or demonstrative evidence alone, several categories of 3D medical forensic evidence are today’s versions of yesterday’s photographs and x-rays. Complex medical evidence, painstakingly offered through the oral testimony of physicians, forensic pathologists, and other qualified experts, may leave jurors and even some judges unable to fully grasp the meaning and import of that medical evidence. It is time for the next generation of medical evidence to enjoy the same level of admissibility as photographs—and for the same reasons. This brief Article considers the main variants of the current generation of 3D medical evidence, the reliability and validity of those variants, and how to overcome the main evidentiary challenges to admitting 3D medical evidence reconstructed from cross sectional CT and MRI imaging in criminal trials. We begin with a brief history of the radiologic and legal evolution that lead to the development of today’s 3D technologies.

International Journal of Police Science and Management, 2021

Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that departments should recruit their way... more Although a common maxim among many practitioners argues that departments should recruit their way out of the African-American confidence race gap by hiring more minority officers, that maxim is unfounded and redirects our recruitment efforts away from hiring to ensure procedural justice and police effectiveness-the two most powerful determinants of African-American confidence in the police.
The author's nationwide survey revealed that African-Americans living in cities with more racially representative law enforcement agencies were no more confident in local law enforcement than those living in cities where African-Americans were underrepresented. That same survey proved, instead, that African-American confidence is far higher where local police forces deliver procedural justice and effective policing than where local police forces are merely racially representative. This article presents the survey findings and explores the policy implications for law enforcement recruitment.

Criminal Law Bulletin, 2015

Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capi... more Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has held that no state may retain that application, reasoning that any death penalty approach rejected by the majority of states is, perforce, unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. Although some laud these decisions, they ignore the States’ Tenth Amendment rights to govern themselves within broad constitutional parameters. Rather than defer to opinion polls or tallying state legislative enactments, the Court should engage in true constitutional analysis, forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, but simultaneously honoring states’ rights to govern themselves.

Recent Advances in DNA & Gene Sequences, 2014

Forensic DNA Phenotyping ("FDP"), estimating the externally visible characteristics ("EVCs") of t... more Forensic DNA Phenotyping ("FDP"), estimating the externally visible characteristics ("EVCs") of the source of human DNA left at a crime scene, is evolving from science fiction toward science fact. FDP can already identify a source's gender with 100% accuracy, and likely hair color, iris color, adult height, and a number of other EVCs with accuracy rates approaching 70%. Patent applications have been filed for approaches to generating 3D likenesses of DNA sources based on the DNA alone. Nonetheless, criminal investigators, particularly in the United States, have been reticent to apply FDP in their casework. The reticence is likely related to a number of perceived and real dilemmas associated with FDP: is FDP racial profiling, should we test unknown and unseen physical conditions, does testing for behavioral characteristics impermissibly violate the source's privacy, ought testing be permitted for samples from known sources or DNA databases, and should FDP be limited to use in investigations only or is FDP appropriate for use in a criminal court. As this article explains, although those dilemmas are substantive, they are not insurmountable, and can be quite easily managed with appropriate regulation and protocols. As FDP continues to develop, there will be less need for criminal investigators to shy away from FDP. Cold cases, missing persons, and victims in crimes without other evidence will one day soon all be well served by FDP.

Ph.D. Dissertation, 2019

Confidence in Law Enforcement When African-Americans are Underrepresented on the Force: An Explor... more Confidence in Law Enforcement When African-Americans are Underrepresented on the Force: An Exploratory Study, Charles E. MacLean, 2019: Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

Descriptors: Law Enforcement, Racial Mirror Index, Civilian Confidence, Civilian Trust, Civilian Satisfaction, Minority Underrepresentation.

This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers in a community’s local law enforcement agencies compared to the African-American proportions in that community’s overall population, African-American civilians’ confidence in their local law enforcement agencies may suffer, leading to impaired respect for law, reduced civilian cooperation with law enforcement, and civilian impressions of weakened procedural justice and fairness. With low civilian confidence, the argument goes, one could expect an enhanced sense of disenfranchisement among the underrepresented sub-populations.

The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of underrepresentation of AfricanAmericans among sworn officers serving a local community, explore the key correlates of civilian confidence viewed through the lens of African-American perceptions and attitudes, and confront the superordinate roles that procedural justice and police effectiveness play in forming African-American civilian attitudes of confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement.

To quantify representativeness, this study expresses relative racial compositions of the police and the policed as a Racial Mirror Index (“RMI”). If the percent of a community’s police, who are African-American, exactly matches the percent of the policed in that community, who are African-American, the RMI-AA (“Racial Mirror Index-AfricanAmerican”) would equal 100. RMI-AAs over 100 indicate African-Americans are overrepresented on the local law enforcement agency compared to the African-American share of the general population; RMI-AAs under 100 indicate African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers on the force.

Despite expectations, as this study makes clear, RMI-AA is not a significant predictor of African-American civilian confidence, trust, and satisfaction in local law enforcement. Instead, African-American attitudes about local law enforcement are overwhelmingly driven by African-American perceptions of procedural justice and police effectiveness. African-American confidence, trust, and satisfaction in law enforcement remains far lower than for Whites regardless of RMI-AA and the degree of underrepresentation on the force. Thus, law enforcement agencies cannot hire their way out of this confidence gap through minority recruitment. Instead, improving African-American confidence in local law enforcement will require the agencies to engage with the far more substantive work of ensuring their officers deliver both procedural justice and effective policing.