Evidence-Based Policing ─ Translating Research into Practice

Today's police agencies are in a period of both crisis and reform as they try to improve their ability to deliver public safety to citizens in ways that are effective, legitimate, and sustainable. Evidence-based policing offers one such solution - an approach which emphasises the value that research can bring to police officers and, by extension, the public they serve.

However, evidence-based policing is not just about the process of understanding and evaluating police practices. It is also about translating and using that knowledge in daily police activities. This unique book examines the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of various police practices and provides tools to help turn research into practice. Part I gives a practitioner's definition of evidence-based policing, a primer on how to judge and interpret research findings, and a review of the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, a tool for translating research on police crime control interventions. In Part II the authors review the breadth of knowledge about policing interventions for people, places, communities, and technology, focusing on how to optimize operations based on this information. Tools and ideas that can assist in implementing evidence-based practices into patrol, investigations, supervision, management, crime analysis, and leadership are provided in Part III. Finally, in Part IV the authors speak to researchers about how they might continue to work with police agencies to advance evidence-based policing.

Cynthia Lum, George Mason University, Department of Criminology, Law and Society and Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University,Christopher S. Koper, George Mason University, Department of Criminology, Law and Society and Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University

Cynthia Lum is a Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also the Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, one of the founding members of the Division of Policing in the American Society of Criminology, and the North American Editor of Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice (Oxford). She specializes in the areas of policing, security, and evidence-based crime policy, and served as a patrol officer and detective in the Baltimore City Police Department.

Christopher S. Koper is a Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is also the principal fellow of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason and an associate editor of the Journal of Experimental Criminology (Springer). Dr. Koper was formerly the director of research at the Police Executive Research Forum and a member of the research advisory board of the Police Foundation. His research in policing has covered crime control strategies, the effects of technology, community policing, hiring and retention, and the institutionalization of evidence-based practices.