Working with Police to Improve the Evidence-Base for Policing

• In Event: Evidence-Based Policing in the Western Region - Organized by the Western Society of Criminology

Abstract

The notion of evidence-based policing (EBP) is generally easy for police to accept. Most executives would agree that operational policies should be based on evidence obtained through proper research techniques. But while police are open to the principle of EBP, the practice of it is more complex. For example, what constitutes research ‘evidence’ from the perspective of police executives is not always consistent with the perspective of police scholars who perform the research. In this paper, we use examples of EBP projects in Las Vegas to explore the consequences of these different perspectives for the development of police practice.

Authors

• William Sousa, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Tamara D. Madensen-Herold, University of Nevada, Las Vegas