Horizons Fall 2014

5 HORIZONS Durham even gets calls from BSO employ- ees asking if they can get a degree in oceanog- raphy, which could be beneficial to members of BSO’s Dive Rescue Team. contributions to the community Still, the partnership’s cornerstone is both institutions’ contributions to the community, which echoes one of NSU’s Core Values. “We wanted to better the quality of life for Broward County residents,” Durham said. “That’s number one. Because of where NSU is located, and with BSO being one of the larg- est accredited law enforcement agencies, we really needed to do that for our residents.” Tammy Kushner, Psy.D., executive associ- ate dean of the Institute for Human Service, Health, and Justice and a board member of the partnership, agrees that both institutions and the community benefit. “As a collaborative partnership, we are able to determine problems in the community and find solutions together,” said Kushner, point- ing to the critical issues of drugs, homeless- ness, and the need for diversion programs for juveniles. “I’m even more hopeful that once our research is presented at training confer- ences, we will reach individuals, communities, and departments nationally.” One thing that sets the NSU-BSO part- nership apart is its shared faculty researcher, an element of the program cited in the National Institute of Justice study. With full access to all BSO databases, the researcher can tackle studies and address issues requested by the BSO or suggested by any school or department within NSU. One of the most notable studies has been its examination of armed encounters between deputies and civilians, said Leslie Taylor, Ph.D., BSO research coordinator and board member of the partnership from the beginning. “The two-year study, using a decade of data, was able to use not only BSO as a case study, but also all police departments in Broward County, in terms of armed encounters in the community,” he said. The study looked at how and why shoot- ings occur and at ways to avoid potentially deadly confrontations. It also examined how to keep officers on the street safe as they’re protecting Broward County residents. PARTNERSHIP: A NATIONWIDE MODEL A 2013 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice selected the NSU-BSO partnership as a nationwide model for the way law enforcement agencies and researchers can cooperate. Researchers from the University of South Carolina identified some 4,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies that had some form of research partnership. They eventually winnowed their study down to 89, and then identified 4 different models of how partner- ships are executed. NSU-BSO was chosen to show a formal partnership with a university. Highlights of the NSU-BSO partner- ship, according to the study, include J joint funding of a full-time research/academic position dedicated to writing grants, conducting research, and other activities that support the partnership J creation of a board of advisers, comprising members from both institutions, that provide “collaborative governance” and facilitate research requests J broad involvement by the university (NSU-BSO has involvement from multiple academic disciplines and the leadership of NSU and the BSO.) J trust and mutual respect from both partners Another partnership cited in the report was the Richmond Police Department for its informal partnership with Virginia Common- wealth University’s School of Government and Public Affairs. A work-study student aiding the NSU/BSO partnership board, Christopher Perez discusses research aimed at survivability dur- ing an armed encounter. Several NSU colleges, such as the Huizenga Business School, offer opportunities for BSO employees.