Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships: Working Towards Understanding Local Public Safety Issues and Evaluating Policing Efforts

• In Event: Communities and Place: Policing Crime in Places

Abstract

The development of researcher-practitioner partnerships continues to advance translational and evidence-based research/strategies. A UA Research Team formed a partnership with the Little Rock Police Department to assist in training crime analysts, understanding local crime and public safety issues, and evaluating police strategies. Two priorities for LRPD entailed understanding crime occurrence in one of the problematic districts and identifying if mandatory police overtime could be attributed to a decline in crime. We assisted LRPD crime analysts on utilizing RTM and CACC to identify similarities and differences across their problematic district. Additionally, we employed change-point detection and trend analysis to identify if there were significant changes in crime occurrence post-mandatory overtime. Results are discussed in relation to the value obtained through researcher-practitioner partnerships.

Authors

• Grant Drawve, University of Arkansas

• Jyotishka Datta, University of Arkansas

• Casey T. Harris, University of Arkansas

• Shaun Thomas, University of Arkansas