Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
A sentinel event review (SER) is a system-based, multistakeholder review of an organizational error. The goal of an SER is to prevent similar errors from recurring in the future rather than identifying and punishing the responsible parties. In this article, we provide a detailed description of one of the first SERs conducted in an American police department—the review of the Lex Street Massacre investigation and prosecution, which resulted in the wrongful incarceration of four innocent men for 18 months. The results of the review suggest that SERs may help identify new systemic reforms for participating police departments and other criminal justice agencies.
Keywords
Criminal justice policy, systems approach, law enforcement, policing, procedural justice, quality improvement, root cause analysis, sentinel event review, organizational management
Publication Title
Criminology & Public Policy
Repository Citation
Hollway, John and Grunwald, Ben, "Applying Sentinel Event Reviews to Policing" (2019). All Faculty Scholarship. 2100.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2100
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons
Publication Citation
18 Criminology & Pub. Pol'y 705 (2019)