Changing Public Threats and Police Priorities

Kansas police chiefs are a unique group of individuals. Because they are located throughout the various sized communities within the state, they have the potential to affect the daily lives of more people on a day-to-day basis than any other branch of law enforcement. The purpose of this study was to analyze how police chiefs prioritize emerging threats. In this study, using a purposeful sample, 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Kansas police chiefs across the state. These police chiefs were asked about their views on the biggest emerging threats they have observed within the last 10 years. What was discovered during the research process went beyond learning about the process of change for threat prioritization, or what specific threats Kansas police chiefs think their communities are facing today.