Directory Profile

Dr. James’ research focus includes the interaction between physical stressors (such as sleep related fatigue), law, policy, training and practice relating to operational performance for military and law enforcement personnel. He strives to better understand the dynamics of performance in a wide variety of policing tasks; driving, citizen encounters, crisis intervention, and deadly force encounters.

Dr. James uses neurophysiological measurements and simulation technology to evaluate training and performance of military and law enforcement personnel. This research will lead to more effective, and more cost effective, training and greater public safety. Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. James served in the British military as an infantry soldier and officer; serving in Cyprus, the Former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.

Education

• Washington State University, Ph.D. in Criminal Justice & Criminology, 2015
• Washington State University, MA in Criminal Justice, 2011
• Trinity College, Dublin University, BSc (Hons) in Business & IT, 2007

Research

• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2016). The reverse racism effect: are cops more hesitant to shoot black suspects? ,. Criminology and Public Policy, 15(2), 457-479.
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2017). Does the “Reverse Racism Effect” Withstand the Test of Police Officer Fatigue? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 40(2), 184-196. doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-01-2016-0006
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (In Press). Race, Attire, or Demeanor: Do Suspect Characteristics or Behaviors Predict Whether Routine Police-Civilian Encounters Turn Deadly? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (In Press). The Impact of Work Shift and Fatigue on Police Officer Response in Simulated Interactions with Citizens. Journal of Experimental Criminology.
• James, S. M. (2015). Distracted Driving Impairs Police Patrol Officer Driving Performance. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 505-516.
• James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2012). Driven to Distraction. The Journal Of California Law Enforcement, 46(2), 14-18.
• James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2015). Police Drowsy Driving: Predicting Fatigue-Related Performance Decay. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 517-538.
• James, S. M., Honn, K., Gaddameedhi, S., & Van Dongen, H. P. (In Press). Shift Work: Disrupted Circadian Rhythms and Sleep – Implications for Health and Well-Being. Current Sleep Medicine Reports.
• Johnson, R. R., Stone, B. T., Miranda, C. M., Vila, B., James, L., James, S. M., . . . Berka, C. (2014). Identifying psychophysiological indices of expert versus novice performance in deadly force judgment and decision making. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(512). doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00512
• Vila, B., James, S. M., & James, L. (In Press). How Police Officers Perform in Encounters with the Public: Measuring What Matters at the Individual Level. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.
• Winser, M. A., Hinson, J. M., James, S. M., Vila, B., Whitney, P., & Van Dongen, H. P. (2014). Fatigue During Deadly Force Decision-Making: Measuring Skin Conductance Response During Simulations. Sleep-Wake Research in The Netherlands, 25, 81-84.
• Wolfe, S. E., Rojek, J., Alpert, G., Tiesman, H., & James, S. M. (2015). Characteristics of Officer-Involved Vehicle Collisions in California. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 458-477.

Presentations

• Association of Washington Cities 30th Annual Healthy Worksite Summit, March 2017, Lynnwood, WA. “Sleep Issues for Shift Workers.”
• 48th Annual Northwest Leadership Seminar, March 2017, Portland, OR. “Managing Officer Fatigue at the Individual and Organizational Levels.”
• Justice Reinvestment Summit and What Works in Public Safety Conference, February 2017, Salem, OR. “Enhanced CIT: The Evolution of Crisis Intervention Training.”
• Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), November 2016, Orland, FL. “Novel Process for Developing Metrics That Measure What Police Do.”
• Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), November 2016, Chelan, WA. ““Novel Process for Developing Metrics That Measure What Police Do.”
• National Conference on Officer Wellness and Trauma, Concerns of Police Survivors, November 2016, Grapevine, TX. “The Alertness Edge: Managing the Effects of Sleep Loss and Shift Work on Officer Performance, Health, and Safety.”
• International Association of Chief of Police (IACP) Annual Conference, October 2016, San Diego, CA. “The Alertness Edge: Managing the Effects of Sleep Loss and Shift Work on Officer Driving Performance.”
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, September 2016, Glynco, GA. “Novel Process for Developing Metrics That Measure What Police Do.”
• CIT Regional Conference, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, September 2016, Tacoma, WA. “Resilience: 1st Responders and their Agencies”
• MoDOT Traffic and Highway Safety Division, Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Advisory Council (LETSAC) Conference, July 2016, Lake Ozark, MO. “The Alertness Edge: Managing the Effects of Sleep Loss and Shift Work on Officer Performance, Health, and Safety.”
• U.S. Department of Defense Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group (DoD HFETAG) Meeting 70, May 2016, NASA Langley Research Center, VA. “Rapid Development of Precise Metrics for Human Performance Assessment.”
• Crisis Intervention Team International, April 2016, Chicago, IL. “Enhanced CIT: The Evolution of Crisis Intervention Training.”
• Major City Chiefs Association Winter meeting, February 2016, San Antonio, TX. “The Human Element in 21st Century Policing: Managing the Effects of Sleep Loss and Shift Work on Officer Performance, Health, and Safety.”
• International Association of Chief of Police (IACP) Annual Conference, October 2015, Chicago, IL. “Reducing Force and Building Community Trust by Adopting Crisis Intervention and Social Interaction Training.”
• Oregon CJIS Users Workshop, October 2015, Seaside, OR. “The Alertness Edge: Managing the Effects of Sleep Loss Personnel Performance, Health, and Safety.”
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Division, Human Systems Integration, Community of Practice Briefing, September 2015, Washington, D.C. (remote). “Fatigue and Operational Performance: Results from Novel Experiments with Police Subjects.”
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Division briefing, August 2015, Washington, D.C.. “Translating Novel Research Tools into Better Police Critical Operational Task Training.”
• U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security, Domestic Preparedness Support Initiative (DPSI) briefing, August 2015, The Pentagon, D.C.. “Impact of Operational Fatigue and Shift Work on Police Critical Job Task Performance.”
• California Highway Patrol – All Commanders Workshop, September 2014, Sacramento CA. “Managing Officer Fatigue.”
• Orange County Peace Officers’ Association, February 2014, Irvine CA. “The Impact of Sleep and Other Stressors on Law Enforcement Health and Safety.”
• ONR Biomedical Program Review, August 2013, Arlington VA. “Impact of Operational Fatigue on Deadly Force Decision Making, Driving, Cognition and Tactical Social Interaction.”
• Sleep, June 2013, Baltimore, MD. “Interactions Between Police Officer Deadly Force Judgment and Decision Making, Work Shift and Fatigue.”
• PORAC Symposium, April 2013, Reno, NV. “TIRED COPS: What Research Tells Us About Managing Fatigue.”
• ACJS, March 2013, Dallas, TX. “Impact of Fatigue and Distraction on Police Operational Driving Preliminary Findings.”
• CA POST SAFE Driving Symposium, October 2012, San Diego, CA. “Fatigue and the Effects on Performance.”
• International Association of Chief of Police (IACP) Annual Conference, October 2012, San Diego, CA, “Tired and Distracted Police Drivers: 5 Things to Remember.”
• ASC, November 2011, Washington, D.C.. 1) “Driving Training, Law Enforcement Collisions and Simulation;” 2) “Terminal: An Analysis of Fatal Police Vehicle Accidents Related to Departmental Policy for Use of Mobile Data Terminals;” 3) “The Relevance of the Psychology of Terrorist Organizations on Community Oriented Policing Strategies.”
• ASC, November 2010, San Francisco, CA. “Beyond Our Boundaries: The Inclusivity of Criminal Justice Sciences.”

Peer-Reviewed Papers

• Wilson, M.*, Brown, N.*, James, L., James, S.M., Stevens, K., Butterfield, P. (In Press). Psychometric evaluation of the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument in a population of working nurses. Journal of Nursing Measurement. *shared first author
• James, L., James, S.M., Wilson, M., Brown, N., Dotson, E., Edwards, C., Butterfield, P. (2020). Sleep health and predicted cognitive effectiveness of nurses working 12-hour shifts: an observational study. International Journal of Nursing Studies. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103667
• James, S.M., James, L., Dotson, L. (2020) Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Police Department’s Early Intervention System. Journal of Experimental Criminology. doi:10.1007/s11292-019-09397-8
• James, L., James, S. M., & Dotson, E. (2019). Using Interval-Level Metrics to Investigate Situational, Suspect, and Officer-Level Predictors of Police Performance During Encounters with the Public. Police Quarterly. doi:10.1177/1098611119857559
  
• James, L., James, S. (2019) The Development and Testing of a Simulation-Based Implicit Bias Training Platform. Police Chief, November 2019.
• Gunzelmann, G., James, S. M., & Caldwell, J. (2019). Basic and applied science interactions in fatigue understanding and risk mitigation. In H. P. Van Dongen, P. Whitney, J. M. Hinson, K. A. Honn, & M. W. Chee (Eds.), Progress in Brain Research Volume 246: Sleep Deprivation and Cognition (pp. 177-204). Cambridge, MA: Academic Press. doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.03.022
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2018). Testing the impact of citizen characteristics and demeanor on police officer behavior in potentially violent encounters. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 41(1), 24-40. doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2016-0159
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2018). The Impact of Work Shift and Fatigue on Police Officer Response in Simulated Interactions with Citizens. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11, 111-120. doi:10.1007/s11292-017-9294-2
• Vila, B., James, S. M., & James, L. (2018). How Police Officers Perform in Encounters with the Public: Measuring What Matters at the Individual Level. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 41(2), 215-232. doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2016-0166
• James, L., & James, S. M. (2017). Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) metrics: a novel method of measuring police performance during encounters with people in crisis. Mental Health Addiction Research, 2(4), 2-4.   HYPERLINK “http://doi.org/10.15761/MHAR.1000143”  doi:10.15761/MHAR.1000143
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2017). Does the “reverse racism effect” withstand the test of police officer fatigue? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 40(2), 184-196.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-01-2016-0006”  doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-01-2016-0006
• James, S. M., Honn, K., Gaddameedhi, S., & Van Dongen, H. P. (2017). Shift Work: Disrupted Circadian Rhythms and Sleep – Implications for Health and Well-Being. Current Sleep Medicine Reports, 3(2), 104-112.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-017-0071-6”  doi:10.1007/s40675-017-0071-6
• Lynch, G. T., James, S. M., & VanDam, M. (2017). Pupillary Response and Phenotype in ASD: Latency to Constriction Discriminates ASD from Typically Developing Adolescents. Autism Research, Early Access.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1888”  doi:10.1002/aur.1888
• James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2016). The reverse racism effect: are cops more hesitant to shoot black suspects? Criminology and Public Policy, 15(2), 457-479.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12187”  doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12187  &   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12483”  doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12483
• James, S. M. (2015). Distracted Driving Impairs Police Patrol Officer Driving Performance. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 505-516.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0030”  doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0030
• James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2015). Police Drowsy Driving: Predicting Fatigue-Related Performance Decay. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 517-538.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0033”  doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0033
• Wolfe, S. E., Rojek, J., Alpert, G., Tiesman, H., & James, S. M. (2015). Characteristics of Officer-Involved Vehicle Collisions in California. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3), 458-477.   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0029”  doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0029
• Johnson, R. R., Stone, B. T., Miranda, C. M., Vila, B., James, L., James, S. M., . . . Berka, C. (2014). Identifying psychophysiological indices of expert versus novice performance in deadly force judgment and decision making. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(512).   HYPERLINK “https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00512”  doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00512
• Winser, M. A., Hinson, J. M., James, S. M., Vila, B., Whitney, P., & Van Dongen, H. P. (2014). Fatigue During Deadly Force Decision-Making: Measuring Skin Conductance Response During Simulations. Sleep-Wake Research in The Netherlands, 25, 81-84.
• James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2012). Driven to Distraction. The Journal Of California Law Enforcement, 46(2), 14-18.

Media (Selected)

• Police 1: Policing Matters Podcast, 09/04/2020, Dead tired: fighting fatal fatigue in law enforcement
• CNN, 07/29/20, Facing the Realities of Racism: Unconscious Bias, https://mms.tveyes.com/mediaview/
• USA Today, 06/22/2020, Fractured skulls, lost eyes: Police break their own rules when shooting protesters with ‘rubber bullets’ https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2020/06/19/police-break-rules-shooting-protesters-rubber-bullets-less-lethal-projectiles/3211421001/
• The Spokesman-Review, 06/21/2020, Spokane County undersheriff received suspension for saying ‘ex-wives should be killed’, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/21/spokane-county-undersheriff-received-suspension-fo/
• The Spokesman-Review, 06/09/2020, Rules of engagement: Spokane leader wants clear guidelines for protests, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/09/rules-of-engagement-spokane-leader-wants-clear-gui
• The Spokesman-Review, 06/04/2020, Make space for protest but stay in control: Experts say police must balance both in situations like the one that erupted Sunday in Spokane, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/04/make-space-for-protest-but-stay-in-control-experts
• Behind the Shield podcast http://www.jamesgeering.com/podcast/2020/2/1/episode-275-steve-james
• Excellence in Training Academy, Creating Metrics for Objectively Measuring Police Officer Performance,  Excellence in Training Academy
• The Daily Herald, Cops are the most sleep deprived workers in America that’s bad news in the suburbs too 10/11/2019 https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20191011/cops-are-the-most-sleep-deprived-workers-in-america-thats-bad-news-in-the-suburbs-too
• Police Shootings: The Data and the Damage Done, Science Vs, Gimlet, 11/21/2019 https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/kwh2g9/police-shootings-the-data-and-the-damage
• Bias, A Finish Line Features, LLC and Unleashed Productions, Inc Film https://www.biasfilm.com/
• Daily Herald, 01/12/2018, Are police behind the wheel as distracted as the rest of us? http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180112/are-police-behind-the-wheel-as-distracted-as-the-rest-of-us
• NPR, 12/08/2016, Morning Edition, http://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504718239/military-trained-police-may-be-slower-to-shoot-but-that-got-this-vet-fired
• Al Jazeera America, Ali Velshi On Target , 12/06/2015, ‘Under the Gun’, http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/Ali-Velshi-On-Target
• King 5 News, 05/07/2015, Distracted Driving Dangers a Focus of WSU Lab’s Work, http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/investigations/2015/05/07/distracted-driving-wsu-spokane-lab/70972944/
• The Spokesman-Review, 12/16/2014, Feds Set to Announce Police Review Results, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/dec/16/feds-set-to-announce-police-review-results
• Channel 9 News (Australia), 09/30/2014, Police Use of Force (video available on request)
• KXLY, 09/17/2014, WSU, Spokane Police Collaborate on Multi-Year Research Project, http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/28115170
• CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, 08/28/2014, Preparing Police for Confrontation, http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/28/preparing-police-for-confrontation

Honors and Awards

• 2019-Outstanding Paper in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards Winner for: Vila, B., James, S. M., & James, L. (2018). How Police Officers Perform in Encounters with the Public: Measuring What Matters at the Individual Level. Policing: An International Journal.
• 2018-Outstanding Paper in the 2018 Emerald Literati Awards Highly Commended for: James, L. James, S.M., & Vila, B. (2017) “Does the “reverse racism effect” withstand the test of police officer fatigue?” Policing: An International Journal.
• 2016-Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), Conference Best Paper & Best Paper in Human Performance Analysis and Engineering, 2016.
• 2016-Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane Commencement Student Spotlight Award, 2016.
• 2016-Emerald Publishing 2016 Outstanding Paper of the Year Award for Excellence for: James, S. M., & Vila, B. (2015). Police Drowsy Driving: Predicting Fatigue-Related Performance Decay. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(3).
• 2012-Member of CA POST SAFE Driving Research Team awarded the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)/Sprint 2012 Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award

Updated 9/10/20