Evidence-based Practice in Policing: Why the Potent ial for Improvement is Often Unrealized (original) (raw)

The Benefits, Challenges, and Lessons of Evidence‐Based Policing

Law enforcement is a blue‐collar vocation, let’s face it, a majority of us in American policing still wear nametags to work. Policing a bar fight is typically the same today, as it was 100 years ago, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to data and research to prove what works and what may not. Because many practitioners choose to rely on anecdotal experiences, traditions, and instincts while being reluctant to embrace research, the challenges are significant. However, just as the medical field was resistant to science and research for years, there are some shifts that signal law enforcement has begun to embrace research (Sherman, 2013). The acceptance of researchbased policing in the U.S. is progressing with positive examples in the Philadelphia, Rialto, and Sacramento Police Departments, all of whom successfully conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aimed at evaluating policing strategies. Empirical data (e.g., hot spots policing and the effectiveness of body‐worn cameras) showed their methods were effective in reducing crime and bolstering legitimacy, for example, body‐worn camera usage reduced complaints and use of force in the Rialto study (Sherman, 2013). In spite of the benefits and challenges, we must realize the nuanced interplay of policing and research and how traditions, cultures, and cynicism can limit progress. We can learn many lessons from medical research as well, which this paper discusses. Finally, I draw on my experiences as a police practitioner, and some exposure to academia, to highlight the efforts and benefits that have been made toward evidence‐based policing in American law enforcement.

Moving the Needle on Evidence-Based Policing

We can't know if something works or not unless we test it. Yet in nearly every police department across America, the vast majority of policies and practices are in place simply because that's the way things have always been done. American law enforcement is deeply entrenched in tradition, but when it comes to work as high-stakes as policing, we need to substantiate what we're doing with evidence. Pure dogma and tradition are not enough. Evidence-based policing can enhance traditional methods. Random patrol, rapid response, and reactive investigations should be supplemented with specific and detailed responses born out of targeting, testing, and tracking our data. I have been thinking about data, research, and evidence as they apply to policing for the latter part of my 17-year career, but it was really three years ago that I drank the Kool-Aid when it comes to evidence-based policing. The LEADS Scholars program has been a way for me to meet like-minded people who are equally passionate about using evidence to inform our work in law enforcement and has sparked a lot of the evidence-based projects I've done. Testing the Effectiveness of ALPR Technology The city of Vallejo, California, where I am employed, has one of the highest rates of auto theft for a city its size, approximately 120,000 people. Inspired by the LEADS program, in April 2017 I began a partnership with BetaGov, a nonprofit organization that supports research projects that have on-the-ground impact. BetaGov emphasizes practitioner-led trials that allow for midstream adaptability without the long timelines common in research partnerships with academics at traditional institutions. With BetaGov, I examined the effectiveness of automatic license plate readers (ALPR), with the goal to understand whether ALPR technology works as intended. Specifically, I was interested in whether using ALPR technology can increase stolen vehicle recovery, affect officer behavior, and improve the ability of officers to detect stolen vehicles. At the end of the trial, our data confirmed that ALPR technology led to higher frequencies of vehicle recoveries and arrests and that fixed LPR was more effective in making arrests than mobile LPR. The power of this project is its ability to be replicated, and the on-the-ground application of its results. This was not an out-of-reach, theory-heavy academic research project. The randomized control experiment designed with BetaGov is simple and could easily be replicated in other departments. The larger the problems a department faces, the more helpful evidence-based research results will be. In Vallejo, we took on this project knowing that ALPR technology could potentially allow us to be more efficient in identifying automobiles linked to crimes and individuals who commit those crimes.

The Necessity of Evidence-Based Policing: Promotion, Difficulties and Barriers to Implementation

2014

This dissertation is an examination of the literature surrounding the concept of Evidence-Based Policing. Evidence-Based Policing is the application of the best available research as to ‘what works’ in policing. It is a necessary development in the drive to turn policing into a profession. This has been learned from the experiences of other, older and well established professions. It is also necessary in the current financial and political environment as it represents the most likely method of generating efficiency, economy and effectiveness in an era of budget cuts but increased accountability. However, obtaining knowledge is difficult. We must ensure that we use the appropriate scientific testing methods to gain the best possible evidence because different hypotheses to be tested do not always lend themselves well to certain types of trial. Moreover we must also repeat and replicate studies as often as possible to utilise the self-correcting mechanisms of science. Another difficulty is that, paradoxically, from the point of view of policing as a craft, evidence and research may rob officers of their professional judgement, as a more rigid scientific approach may clash with officers’ experiences. There are barriers to its implementation that are thrown up by the clash of practical and operational norms within the police service and academia; there are also barriers thrown up by politicians with their personal biases and ideologies which lead to the abuse of evidence. These difficulties and barriers are breaking down and being overcome through exposure to evidence-based practices. The development of bodies such as the College of Policing and Society for Evidence-Based Policing will move the Evidence-Based Policing agenda forward to a place where it will be the norm for the police to implement.

Evidence-Based Policing: Using evidence and research to improve policing practice

Ethical Record (123 (2). pp. 20-22.), 2018

This article appeared in the "Ethical Record" the journal of the Conway Hall Ethical Society following a talk on the subject which took place at their Thinking On Sunday series of Events on 14th January 2016. It outlines the concept of Evidence-Based Policing to a non-specialist audience. It defines the concept and outlines why it is required within contemporary policing as a facet of police professionalism.

Research and Evidence-Based Policing for Police Officer Receptivity

International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology , 2022

This paper provides a contextual understanding of police officers and civilian receptivity to research and evidence-based policing (EBP). It focuses on how officers defined and understand the concept of (EBP). The context driving these definitions (including political pressures, professionalisation and the rise of police-academic collaborations). The history of policing is littered with reform programmes, which aim to improve effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy. What does research mean to police officers in terms of 'hierarchies' and a 'ladder of evidence. It is argued that future studies of the police officer and civilian staff receptivity to research and EBP are crucial as receptivity influences the application of research and willingness to incorporate an evidence base into policing practice. Evidence-based policing (EBP) are popular and enduring reform effort, which has generated significant research and practitioner attention. In light of defunding the police movement, we must consider what police reform could and potentially should look like. Some, for example, have called for a reduced police footprint in marginalized communities through reallocating police funding toward preventative services for a myriad of social issues. However, drawing on Bayley's (1994) Police for the Future, we show that a dilemma arises concerning police involvement in these issues the police cannot be solely relied upon to address all social issues, but they cannot be fully absolved of the responsibility either. As such, further drawing on Bayley's (1994) thoughts for police reform, we instead argue for the adoption of evidence-based policing as a more fruitful driver of meaningful, long-term police reform as it not only enables the police to identify practices that are effective or even harmful but it also can be used as means for police accountability.