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Advancing Policing Through Evidence-Based Practices

Most police officers are dedicated, hardworking people who strive to make the lives of others better. We learn from the police academy, in-service training, and our peers. But how much do we really know about the tactics and strategies that we use? Are they effective? Are they the best available? Do they work for everyone in the same way? More importantly, are there any tactics that we currently use that cause harm? These questions are central to the concept of evidence-based policing. Those of us who have taken an oath to protect and serve must ensure that we are doing the best we can to provide the most efficient and effective services. In order to provide those services, we have a responsibility to ensure that the tactics and methods we use have been tested and shown to work towards our common goals. Anything less is simply unacceptable. Imagine we have been utilizing a tactic for years without knowing that it causes people to re-offend at higher levels than some other tactic available to us. Or imagine that there were studies demonstrating that you can perform the same amount of crime control with less officers or in a shorter period. This is the kind of information that we should be generating and sharing across the profession of policing. This is what advocates for evidence-based policing so strongly support. The concept of evidence-based policing simply says that police practices should be based upon scientific evidence about what works best (Sherman, 1998). It suggests that best evidence should be used to guide and evaluate police. For years, academics and researchers have empirically examined policing, but until recently research studies were limited in scope and their results had not made it to the hands of the people on the front lines. The ASEBP wants to change that from within the world of policing. We recognize that every police officer receives basic police training on tactics, rules, criminal law, and procedure. But once that initial training is completed, the level of ongoing education varies from agency to agency. Perhaps more disturbing is our reliance on experience and intuition, which forms the basis for much of the training that we receive. The evidence-based policing movement suggests that there must be a better way to conduct business. By rigorously studying everything that we do, we can more accurately determine what works, what does not, and what is promising when it comes to our core functions of preventing crime and disorder. What is required for evidence-based policing?

Evidence-based policing can be broken into two main components, each equally important. First, there needs to be an increase in the amount of research that is conducted in policing. As police officers typically do not know how to conduct scientifically rigorous studies, this area has been left to the world of academics. Typically, criminologists design studies about crime and disorder and then publish the findings in academic journals. Most police officers have no idea that the studies have taken place and will never know about the findings. For this to change, we suggest that the police become the drivers of research, partnering with researchers to find the answers to questions that we feel are important in helping us perform our core missions. This is critical as police officers are the ones who have the most accurate view of the world within which we work. The second component of evidence-based policing is the translation of research findings into formats that are accessible to and easy for the working police officer to digest. This is not as simple as it sounds, as academic timelines and goals are completely different from those in the world of policing. A Police Chief with a particular problem in their jurisdiction may not be familiar with or care about peer review and likely needs accurate information as soon as possible to address the problem. But there are police -- known as  pracademics or  evidence cops  -- who actually take academic research findings and translate them into actionable information for policing professionals. The goal of the ASEBP is to give every police officer the tools to understand research and to determine how it can be used to address their local crime problems.

Why should we adopt an evidence-based approach?

There is an old adage about managing change. either you can manage the change, or the change will manage you. American policing is at a crossroads, with crime at historic lows but public confidence shaken. Evidence-based policing provides police professionals with an objective standard for justifying our actions by showing scientifically reliable research that supports effective tactics. As departments struggle through periods of austerity, we can show that we are being good stewards of public money by using proven tactics to address the issues that are causing the most harm to our communities. For the working police officer, an evidence-based approach would suggest using defensible data to put  officers in the places where levels of crime and disorder are high and then using practices and tactics that have been scientifically proven to be reliable without alienating the community. Such an approach would be akin to using pinpoint surgery on a specific area of disease without lopping off the whole limb -- both may achieve the desired results, but one would certainly be a better approach than the other! An example: Hot Spots Policing

One recent example is using crime analysis and data to identify those micro-places where crime is greatest. Once those hot spots have been identified, police resources can be directed to those areas with great success. For example, a study was conducted in Sacramento, CA where officers were randomly assigned to patrol some hot spots with regularity and others received the normal patrol responses. At the end of the trial period, the areas that received additional policing had significant decreases in crime and disorder. While this may seem intuitive, an evidence-based approach takes it a step further. We recognize that if you put a cop on the dot in an area where crime takes place, you will have an effect, but most agencies can‘t realistically leave officers in those specific areas indefinitely. Additional studies have shown, however, that if you put an officer into that hot spot for 15 minutes, you will get a decrease in crime that lasts for about two hours! Suddenly, this becomes much more manageable and is something that savvy police commanders have been building into their patrol deployment schemes.

Another example: Focused Deterrence

There is a strong evidence-base that shows the majority of crime and disorder is committed by a relatively small group of people. By stopping that minority from committing criminal acts, police agencies can have a disproportionately large effect on crime in their jurisdictions. While the traditional police model has been geared towards targeting those offenders for arrest and prosecution, a number of agencies have shifted towards a collaborative model of focused deterrence. In such an approach, individual offenders are specifically targeted because of their ability to impact crime and create harm. Key stakeholders from various segments of the community come together to find ways to offer the proverbial carrot and the stick. Police, probation, prosecutors, and judges determine that this person will receive the maximum amount of investigation, prosecution, and sentencing if they offend again. At the same time, however, community resources are made available to assist the offender in getting treatment or social services that may help them work their way out of crime. This message is then delivered to the offender in no uncertain terms by all involved. In the cities that have adopted these approaches, there is evidence of a strong deterrent effect and decreases in crime and disorder. This novel approach suggests that our police mission should focus as much on preventing crime as catching criminals, as it is a much more efficient and effective way to help our communities.

What about foot patrol?

For years now, police have heard the lament that we lost touch with our communities with the advent of the police radio car. One way to get back in touch with our communities was to deploy officers back onto foot beats. While there is evidence that suggests this increases feelings of trust and respect between police and their communities, the question of whether or not they are effective in reducing crime remained unanswered. One recent study conducted with the Philadelphia Police Department suggests that foot patrols in hot spots of crime can have an impact on crime while still obtaining the benefits of positive police-community relations. If this is the case, it would make a compelling argument for using data to deploy officers on foot.

Can you explain the concepts of legitimacy and procedural fairness?

With the recent events taking place around the country, many police officers have been exposed to the term legitimacy for the first time, but it is a concept that is central to the profession of policing. Police officers must be seen as fair, honest, and impartial in the way they perform their duties in order to maintain the extraordinary rights they are granted. Research suggests that every encounter a citizen has with a police officer combines to form their opinion of the police in general. Every working police officer knows that you can go into the most dangerous neighborhood on your beat and have a positive interaction with the majority of the good people who live there. For every positive interaction you have, you will increase your perceived legitimacy to that person. In return, people will be more likely to provide you with information about crimes and will be less likely to fight or run based upon their perception of you. One of the most important ways of achieving legitimacy is through the idea of procedural fairness. This suggests that the way in which you approach an encounter may be as important as the outcome of that encounter. If a person believes they were treated fairly and impartially and is allowed a voice in the process, research suggests that they are more likely to comply with your directions and less likely to challenge your authority. This could result in more civil interactions making police-citizen contacts safer in the long run.

So now what?

If you are reading this, you likely have an interest in bettering policing as a sworn police officer, a researcher, or maybe a concerned civilian. Now it's time to use the data and tools we have to improve policing! The evidence-based policing movement does not claim to have all the answers and there are going to be times when critical decisions must be made in a split second. That is just the nature of policing and is what makes it a challenging profession. For everything else, however, having a scientifically proven evidence-base to support and guide how we operate can help reduce crime, keep officers safe, and improve our relations with the communities we serve.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Evidence-Based Policing

Introduction, general overviews.

• Resources and Translation Tools
• Effective Strategies
• Methodologies and Evidence Quality
• Police-Researcher Partnerships
• Embedding Research into Practice
• Debates about Evidence and Experience
• Police Receptivity to Research
• Future of Evidence-Based Policing

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Evidence-Based Policing by Cody W. Telep LAST REVIEWED: 25 September 2018 LAST MODIFIED: 25 September 2018 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0255

There has been a strong push for evidence-based policing around the world in recent years from researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Although there is no single definition of the concept, evidence-based policing generally refers to police strategies and tactics being guided by scientific evidence of effectiveness. This evidence can take many forms, although the evidence-based movement frequently turns to results from methodologically rigorous work and in particular randomized experiments and quasi-experiments that can provide the most believable answer to questions of whether a strategy or tactic works. But the evidence in evidence-based policing is not limited exclusively to findings from randomized experiments, and can include a variety of approaches with a common emphasis on policing practice being guided by science and empiricism, rather than anecdotes, untested traditions, or hunches. In addition to police practice being guided by research, evidence-based policing emphasizes police departments consistently evaluating their own practices. This requires a strong emphasis on analysis and data to guide decision-making. In recent years, a number of new resources and translation tools have made it easier for practitioners to access and digest research evidence. There is now a large and growing evidence based on what works in policing, particularly for reducing crime. A number of different approaches have been taken to connect this research to policing practice, including developing and sustaining partnerships between police and researchers. These partnerships can be challenging to maintain, especially without external funding, but are more successful to the extent that they are mutually beneficial and focus on areas of interest to both academics and practitioners. Internal champions and crime analysts can also be utilized to embed research into practice. Evidence-based policing does have its critics, which has led to recent debates in the field. Some, for example, argue that the evidence-based movement has overemphasized rigorous methodologies at the expense of officer experience and expertise. Others point to a concern about blindly following empirical research without considering normative, practical, and financial constraints that should also impact policing practice. Recent work on receptivity to research in policing suggests that officers are generally open to evidence-based policing and partnering with researchers, although gaps remain in officer knowledge about existing research. Evidence-based policing is likely to remain a prominent topic in the years to come, as researchers, practitioners, and policymakers consider ways to ensure fair and effective policing in communities around the world.

The papers in this section introduce the topic of evidence-based policing, defining the term and providing examples of what evidence-based policing looks like in practice. These definitions vary somewhat across papers. Sherman 1998 is the seminal paper on evidence-based policing and represents perhaps the first time the terminology of evidence-based medicine was ever applied to policing. Sherman 2013 revisits this seminal work fifteen years later, providing updates on the state and status of evidence-based policing around the world. Mears 2007 notes the challenges in making crime policy in general more evidence based, while Welsh 2006 focuses on these challenges in particular in policing and the benefits of an evidence-based approach. Bueermann 2012 focuses on the necessity of evidence-based policing for agencies to be as effective and efficient as possible in an era of limited resources for law enforcement. A number of recent works provide a good overview of evidence-based policing. Fyfe 2017 defines the term and focuses in particular on efforts to make policing in Scotland more evidence based. Tilley and Laycock 2017 describes different types of evidence that can be incorporated into evidence-based policing and what can be learned from the evidence-based movements in other fields. Lum and Koper 2017 is a comprehensive volume on evidence-based policing, providing a broad definition of the term, focused on research and science playing a role in decision making. The book profiles several agency projects to better integrate research into practice.

Bueermann, J. 2012. Being smart on crime with evidence-based policing. National Institute of Justice Journal 269:12–15.

In this paper a former police chief focuses on the importance of using scientific evidence to guide policing practice. The author suggests being evidence-based is especially important in an era of limited financial resources when agencies must maximize their effectiveness and efficiency. The author also points to the value of police departments partnering with universities to assist in evaluations and learning about science.

Fyfe, N. 2017. Evidence-based policing . In Policing 2026 evidence review . Edited by Scottish Institute for Policing Research, 9–20. Dundee, UK: Scottish Institute for Policing Research.

The author of this paper defines evidence-based policing, discusses its benefits, and reviews barriers to using research in practice. The author focuses in particular on efforts to make policing in Scotland more evidence based, through close collaboration between Police Scotland and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), a consortium of researchers from thirteen universities who focus on conducting high-quality research and working to translate this research into policing practice.

Lum, C., and C. S. Koper. 2017. Evidence-based policing: Translating research into practice . New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

This book provides an extensive overview of the concept of evidence-based policing, reviewing policing practices with strong evidence of effectiveness, as well as a number of approaches to better integrate and embed research into practice. These approaches draw from the Matrix Demonstration Project, an effort to test strategies for institutionalizing research into practice in multiple agencies (see Evidence-Based Policing Matrix Demonstration Project , cited under Resources and Translation Tools for more information). This is the most comprehensive volume to date on evidence-based policing.

Mears, D. P. 2007. Towards rational and evidence-based crime policy. Journal of Criminal Justice 35:667–682.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.09.003

This article describes evidence-based crime policy in general, pointing to a mismatch between much of current crime policy and a rational, evidence-based approach. The author points to a number of problems with current practice, including gaps between theory and the design of practices, gaps between ideal and actual practice implementation, a lack of rigorous evaluations, and a lack of cost-efficiency assessments.

Sherman, L. W. 1998. Evidence-based policing . Ideas in American Policing. Washington, DC: Police Foundation.

This Ideas in American Policing lecture introduces the concept of evidence-based policing. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the topic. The author argues police practices should be based on scientific evidence about what works and points to the importance of agencies both using prior research to design interventions and constantly engaging in internal research to assess effectiveness. This paper sparked much of the subsequent research on evidence-based policing.

Sherman, L. W. 2013. The rise of evidence-based policing: Targeting, testing, and tracking. In Crime and justice in America, 1975–2025 . Edited by M. Tonry, 377–451. Crime and Justice 42. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

This article reviews the state of evidence-based policing in the fifteen years since the author originally wrote about the concept. The author in particular describes the importance of the “triple-T” strategy of policing. This involves police targeting the highest-risk places and people, testing to ensure strategies are effective and not harmful, and tracking what officers are doing in the field and how that relates to policy goals.

Tilley, N., and G. Laycock. 2017. The why, what, when and how of evidence-based policing. In Advances in evidence-based policing . Edited by J. Knutsson and L. Tompson, 10–26. Oxford and New York: Routledge.

This chapter provides an overview of evidence-based policing, describing why evidence should be used in policing, detailing different types of evidence that can be useful in guiding policing, and offering suggestions on how evidence can best be incorporated into practice. The authors point to lessons learned from the fields of medicine and engineering to suggest how evidence might be better incorporated into police training and work.

Welsh, B. C. 2006. Evidence-based policing for crime prevention. In Policing innovation: Contrasting perspectives . Edited by D. Weisburd and A. A. Braga, 305–321. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.

This chapter provides an overview of what evidence-based policing is and the benefits of an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. In summarizing prior reviews of the policing research evidence base, the author concludes there is sufficient knowledge available for policing practices to be guided by science and argues that evidence-based policing is an innovation worth adopting for police to maximize their crime prevention potential.

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What is ebp.

Evidence-based policing explained

Evidence-based policing (EBP) is an approach to policing that prioritises the use of the best available research and data to inform decision-making across all aspects of police work. It aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of policing strategies, policies, and practices by grounding them in empirical evidence rather than relying solely on tradition, intuition, or anecdotal information.

Key principles of EBP include:

Using rigorous research: EBP emphasises the importance of utilising high-quality research, such as randomised controlled trials, to evaluate the effectiveness of different policing interventions and strategies.

Data-driven decision-making: EBP encourages police forces to collect and analyse data to identify crime patterns, evaluate the impact of interventions, and inform resource allocation decisions.

Collaboration: EBP often involves partnerships between police forces, researchers, and community stakeholders to ensure that research is relevant to the needs of the community and that findings are effectively translated into practice.

Transparency and accountability: EBP promotes transparency in sharing research findings and evaluation results, as well as accountability for the outcomes of police interventions.

By embracing evidence-based policing, policing can improve public safety, increase community trust, and optimise the use of resources.

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Evidence-Based Policing

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Lawrence W. Sherman, Ph.D.

The new paradigm of “evidence-based medicine” holds important implications for policing. It suggests that just doing research is not enough and that proactive efforts are required to push accumulated research evidence into practice through national and community guidelines. These guidelines can then focus in-house evaluations of what works best across agencies, units,victims, and officers. Statistical adjustments for the risk factors shaping crime can provide fair comparisons across police units,including national rankings of police agencies by their crime prevention effectiveness. The example of domestic violence, for which accumulated National Institute of Justice research could lead to evidence-based guidelines, illustrates the way in which agency-based outcomes research could further reduce violence against victims. National pressure to adopt this paradigm could come from agency-ranking studies, but police agency capacity to adopt it will require new data systems creating “medical charts”for crime victims, annual audits of crime reporting systems, and in-house “evidence cops” who document the ongoing patterns and effects of police practices in light of published and in-house research. These analyses can then be integrated into the NYPD Compstat feedback model for management accountability and continuous quality improvement.

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