Our media is saturated with stories about big police agencies and ripe with scenes of hurried agents bustling through crowded stations with phone lines and computer keyboards creating a busy clamor in the background. In many communities across our country though, law enforcement is burdened with a budget that limits their equipment, numbers and the integral training of their officers.
Christopher Capsambelis, associate Professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Tampa and professor here for 14 years, realized all this and decided to help these disadvantaged agencies with his recent publication, Policing in Rural America.
Capsambelis, who always wanted to write something as a professor, resolved to combine his law enforcement background, pedagogy and passion for the field into a book.
During his sabbatical, he found that, despite the overwhelming number of rural agencies, very little research and study was directed towards them.
“It just fit what I was interested in writing,” describes Capsambelis.
When he contacted a publisher to begin writing his contract requested a finished product in 18 months. It was done in 12.
To capture a regional perspective on the issue, Capsambelis traveled across the country to examine different police agencies.
During his one year tour, he visited the Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, and Midwest of the United States.
He questioned officers as well as chiefs, rode with them during their work, and even talked to particular members of the community, incorporating the different viewpoints and stances into his book.
It became apparent that many of the key issues, constrained funding, man power, and training, were shared throughout the nation.
The book serves several purposes.
It can be a refreshing manual to officers, reminding them of protocol during certain situations to balance out their lack of formal training.
There are tactics on how to effectively handle specific crimes, investigations and criminals, and procedures that could potentially save lives.
There are also chapters that deal with management and with informing agencies that they are not alone in their budget shortages. “A lot of it was just what I wanted to say,” he explains.
Capsambelis recommends his work to anyone who plans to become an officer, noting that it may not be necessary for a four-year undergraduate.
However, to all students of UT, he assures that “if you set goals for yourself, and you take things step by step, you can reach your goals.”