When it Comes to Implementing New Policing Strategies and Programs, are Police Services ‘Targeting, Testing and Tracking’?

• In Event: The Development of Police Organizations and Administrative Practices

Abstract

The past few short years have witnessed the rise of the EBP paradigm, both within academia and policing. The result has been a plethora of courses, conferences, workshops, websites, EBP apps and tools and the creation of four Societies of Evidence Based Policing (with some 5,000 members). However, survey research by U.S. scholars reveals that when officers are specifically asked about receptivity to policing research, many remain uninterested and see little value in adopting research-based approaches to policing issues (Lumet al. 2012; Telep and Lum 2014). Such findings suggest that adoption of EBP may not be nearly as widespread as other indicators might suggest. One novel way in which to explore receptivity is to examine whether police services utilize Sherman's (2013) Triple T approach. The present paper takes up this challenge. In it, we analyze 353 responses to an open-ended question included on a receptivity survey administered to seven Canadian police agencies. The responses provide new information on the extent to which the police engage in targeting, testing and tracking - basic elements of the EBP approach - when they develop new policing and crime prevention strategies.

Authors

• Laura Huey, University of Western Ontario

• Hina Kalyal, University of Western Ontario

• Craig Bennell, Carleton University

• Brittany Blaskovits, Carleton University

• Hillary Peladeau, University of Western Ontario