Roundtable: Evidence-Based Policing: Bridging the Gap between Policing and the Ivory Tower

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Law enforcement officers using data and research to inform their work are caught between two worlds: academia and policing. Although the evidence-based movement has begun to gain traction in policing, most law enforcement departments do not rely heavily on data and research, and the majority of policing practices are based on tradition and dogma, rather than data. The National Institute of Justice’s Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Scholars program supports mid-rank law enforcement officers working on the frontlines of this movement. NIJ’s LEADS Scholars conduct research to inform their agencies’ policies and practices and are leading advocates for the value of data, evidence, and research in policing. LEADS Scholars have conducted research to inform policing across a wide spectrum of topics, including officer trauma, racial bias, vehicle lighting schemes, auto burglary, and automatic license plate readers. In this roundtable, a group of LEADS Scholars will discuss challenges they have faced and their successes in bridging the gap between research and policing.

Sub Unit

• Area XII. Roundtables

Chair

• Geoff Alpert, University of South Carolina

Discussants

• Shon Barnes, Salisburg, NC Police Department

• Jeremiah Johnson, Darien, CT Police Department

• Obed Magny, Sacramento, CA Police Department

• Christopher Ortiz, Glen Cove, NY Police Department

• Wendy H. Stiver, Dayton (OH) Police Department

• Sheryl Victorian, Houston, TX Police Department