ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses fieldwork based on the ideas, applies it analytically to police work with examples, and discusses the contributions of such a framework to theorizing. It suggests the value of team research, as different members are attracted to and talk with different people. The chapter traces out the patterns and flow of information that became the basis for cases in each organization. The investigator-centered model is the most common in use in the United States, and its features reveal the value of fieldwork. The chapter focuses on the case-producing process found in Metro to illustrate the model of casework in drug law enforcement. Most drug arrests were made by patrol officers and thus had a very elastic relationship to where the drugs were bought, the address of the dealer, and the address of anyone arrested.