Researchers share process, goals of countywide law enforcement contact study

Douglas County’s pursuit of a study on law enforcement contact is unusual, a researcher told roughly 25 people who attended a presentation Thursday evening at Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

Jack McDevitt, of Northeastern University, has conducted similar studies in cities in Vermont and Missouri, as well as in Seattle and Boston — where data was gathered on 2.4 million traffic stops. But most of those have come after a lawsuit or an allegation of police misconduct. That wasn’t so in Douglas County, he said.

“Agencies got together and said, ‘We want to know. We want to be proactive,’” McDevitt said. “‘If it’s happening, we want to know ahead of time and not be reactive to a suit.’”