Research Highlights

Researchers Submit Report on Racial Profiling Study

Several faculty researchers analyzed records from more than two million traffic stops to determine if racial profiling or biased policing is being practiced by the Washington State Patrol.

Participating in the study were Michael Gaffney, assistant director, Division of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS); Clayton Mosher, sociology, WSU Vancouver; Mitch Pickerill, political science; Mike Smith, criminal justice, WSU Spokane, who is a nationally recognized expert on racial profiling; and Nicholas Lovrich, director of DGSS. read more

Researcher Evaluates Homeland Security in Washington State

Steven Stehr, chair of political science, has prepared a section of a report from The Century Foundation that examines homeland security responses in the Evergreen State. Others from Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin added their states' efforts to the report released June 25, 2003.

The September 11 attacks made clear the central role that state and local governments play in homeland security. The federal government has been developing a homeland defense strategy and has created a new department to execute it. None of that will matter, however, unless state and local governments are a strong and effective part of the plan. read more

Patients in Pain, Doctors in Fear: Research Sheds New Light

Two Washington State University researchers are shedding new light on the connection between patients in pain and their doctor’s fear of prescribing medication.

“Today, millions of Americans suffer from intractable pain that is inadequately medicated,” said Nicholas Lovrich, director of DGSS. “Although most American physicians freely admit that their pain management practices are lacking, they nonetheless fear that dispensing significant amounts of opioid analgesics for both terminally ill and chronic pain patients could result in a criminal investigation by local prosecutors.” read more

WSU Researchers Play Key Role in Effort to Solve Rape and Homicide Cases

Hundreds of thousands of unsolved rape and murder cases could potentially be solved by processing DNA samples now housed at crime labs across the country, and researchers in the political science department/criminal justice program will play a key role in the effort.

The Debbie Smith Act, authored by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), creates a federal program to test and process the DNA evidence, which is estimated to be between 200,000 and 500,000 samples. The job of determining the extent of the project falls to Smith Alling Lane, a prominent Tacoma legal research firm.

Currently, survey instruments for state crime labs, private crime labs, prosecutors, and local law enforcement agencies are being "pre-tested" with a nationwide survey scheduled in September and October. The job of analyzing all the data collected falls to researchers Travis Pratt and Michael Gaffney... read more