What Does Evidence-based Policing Mean to Police Officers?

• In Event: Issues in Evidence Based Policing

Abstract

Evidence-based policing has become a commonly used term in academic circles to describe policing policies and practices guided by research evidence demonstrating their effectiveness. Less is known, however, about whether police practitioners understand and use the term. Here, we examine data from a survey on receptivity to research and evidence-based policing from nearly 1,400 police officers, supervisors, and leaders from multiple U.S. agencies. Officers familiar with the term “evidence-based policing” were asked to define it, and we coded each definition for key terms (e.g., research, data, effectiveness) identified in the scholarly literature as relevant to evidence-based practice and for overall match to commonly used academic definitions. Our results suggest low familiarity with the term, particularly among patrol officers, and wide variation in officer-provided definitions. We also examine the extent to which definitions vary based on agency and officer characteristics.

Authors

• Cody Telep, Arizona State University

• Logan Somers, Arizona State University