Abstract
Police social work has recently grown nationwide. For one reason, it is now recognized that most 911 calls concern social issues rather than active crimes. Secondly, some identify it as a practical response to police injustice and a rise in community mental health needs. As society navigates the next era in public safety, communities require better information about this understudied role. Police social work is often characterized as a new profession, even though it began in the early 1900s. Many make this false assumption due to scant research on the topic and the absence of a standard model for the work. This three-part banded dissertation creates a roadmap for the next generation of police social workers. The first product is an archival research paper that examines the issues faced by the earliest police social workers. The second research project analyzes the perceived needs of current police social workers using a focus group, a methodology not previously applied to this population. The final product is a plenary presentation on the state of the profession, delivered at the 2025 National Police Social Work Conference. This dissertation seeks to inform practitioners, scholars, educators, and community leaders as they make pressing public safety decisions.