Evidence-based policing (EBP) is an approach to policy making and tactical decision-making for police departments. It has its roots in the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.
Advocates of evidence-based policing emphasize the value of statistical analysis, empirical research, and ideally randomized controlled trials. EBP does not dismiss more traditional drivers of police decision-making, but seeks to raise awareness and increase the application of scientific testing, targeting, and tracking of police resources, especially during times of budget cuts and greater public scrutiny.
Origins Experiments had been used in earlier decades to find better policing methods, before Lawrence Sherman first outlined a definition of "evidence-based policing" in 1998.
The Police Foundation was founded in 1970. In 1971–72 the Police Foundation worked with the Kansas City Police Department to carry out a landmark study on patrol cars in what is known as the Kansas City preventive patrol experiment.
In the early 1980s, Sherman worked with Richard Berk and the Police Foundation to carry out the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment. The study showed that arresting domestic violence suspects was a deterrent against repeat offending.Sherman, Lawrence; Richard Berk (1984). "The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Spouse Assault: A Field Experiment". American Sociological Review 49(2): 261–272. The study had a "virtually unprecedented impact in changing then-current police practices." Sherman later worked with fellow criminologist David Weisburd for a 1995 study which showed the efficacy of focusing police crime prevention resources on small hot spots of crime.Sherman, Lawrence; David Weisburd (1995). "General Deterrent Effects of Police Patrol in Crime ‘Hot Spots’: A Randomized Study". Justice Quarterly 12 (4): 625–648.
In a 1998 Police Foundation "Ideas in American Policing" lecture, Sherman outlined the concept of "evidence-based policing". His core idea was that police practice can be made far more effective if tactics proven to work during controlled field experiments are prioritized. Angel Cabrera later described Sherman as the "father" of evidence-based policing.
Societies of Evidence Based Policing In February 2000, Sherman co-founded the Campbell Collaboration's Crime and Justice Group, which has pursued the synthesis of research evidence on the effectiveness of policing and other crime prevention practices. In 2013 Sherman established the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing as a global police training and research consultancy service for members, and in 2017 he launched the Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing as the membership journal of the Cambridge Centre. The journal's priority is to publish original, applied research led by "pracademic" police officers, with many articles based on master's degree theses completed under supervision of Sherman and his Cambridge colleagues, Heather Strang and Sir Denis O'Connor, by police leaders who were mid-career, part-time students in the Cambridge Police Executive Programme.
The first professional Society of Evidence-Based Policing was founded at Cambridge University in 2010, and now has some 2,000 members from mostly UK police agencies. In 2013, police in collaboration with the University of Queensland established the Australian-New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing, which now has over 2000 members. In 2015, both Canada, and the United States established their own branches of this learned professional society. The Police Foundation provided support for the establishment of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, as it once did to create the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).
United Kingdom In 2008, Sherman made EBP the core of the Police Executive Programme at Cambridge University, a part-time course of study for senior police leaders from around the world to earn a Diploma or Master’s in applied criminology. In that year, the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) funded the first international conference on EBP, which was attended by police executives from Asia, Australia, Europe and the US. Since then the conference has been held each July, with the 10th International Conference in 2017 attended by over 300 police and scholars from six continents.
In 2010, a group of UK police officers founded the Society of Evidence-Based Policing, and elected Sherman Honorary President, along with Sir Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of the UK's Greater Manchester Police; as of 2015 the Society has over 2,800 members, including its 750-member Australia-New Zealand affiliate, consisting primarily UK police officers but with membership from Australia to Argentina and North America. The Society's twice-annual UK meetings have attracted over 200 attendees per meeting (including 2015), as well as press coverage.
In 2012, the UK Home Office founded the College of Policing, which took over many of the responsibilities of the National Police Improvement Agency (formally abolished in 2013). One of the College's five strategic objectives is "identifying, developing and promoting good practice based on evidence". The College is committed to identifying and sharing with police practitioners "what works". In 2013, the UK's largest police force, London's Metropolitan Police Service committed to "crime fighting based on what we know works".
What Works Centre For Crime Reduction Toolkit The College of Policing in the UK has created the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction, part of a network of What Works Centres created to provide easy access to robust and comprehensive evidence to guide decision-making on public spending. The Crime Reduction Toolkit is an online tool that allows users to obtain information on the evidence for and against various interventions (including their impact, cost and implementation) and use this to help shape their crime reduction efforts. The What Works Centre Crime Reduction Toolkit currently includes 35 evaluations of interventions and has identified over 300 systematic reviews covering 60 different interventions.
InterventionEffectsEvidenceReferences After-school programsNo impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Very strong qualityIntervention: After school clubs, College of Policing. Aggression replacement training for offendersNo impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Moderate qualityIntervention: Aggression Replacement Training (ART) for reducing antisocial behaviour, College of Policing. Alcohol pricing, including alcohol taxDecrease in crimeStrong quality Intervention: Alcohol pricing, College of Policing. Alley gating (installing locks and gates in alleyways to control access)Decrease in crimeVery strong qualityIntervention: Alley gating, College of Policing.Alternative education programmes No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Strong qualityCCTV Decrease in crimeStrong qualityCognitive Behavioral Therapy Decrease in crimeStrong qualityCognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Domestic Violence No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Strong qualityCorrectional boot camps No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Very strong qualityCriminal sanctions to prevent domestic violence No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Limited qualityDrunk driving (DWI) courts No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Strong qualityDrug courtsDecrease in crime (but some studies suggest an increase)Very strong qualityEducational interventions to prevent relationship violence in young peopleNo impact on crimeVery strong qualityElectronic monitoring No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Moderate qualityEnvironmental design to prevent robbery No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Limited qualityFirearm laws Decrease in crime (but some studies suggest an increase)Strong qualityHot spots policing Decrease in crimeVery strong qualityIncreased police patrols to reduce drunk driving No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Strong qualityJuvenile curfew laws No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Moderate qualityMass media campaigns to reduce drunk driving No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Limited qualityMental health courtsDecrease in crime (but some studies suggest an increase)Very strong qualityMinimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Limited qualityMoral Reconation Therapy Decrease in crimeStrong qualityMultisystemic therapy No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Strong qualityMusic making interventionsNo impact on crimeLimited qualityNeighbourhood watch Decrease in crimeStrong qualityPolicies on hours and days of alcohol sales No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Moderate qualityRestorative Justice (RJ) conferencing Decrease in crimeVery strong qualityRetail tagging to prevent shop theftNo impact on crimeStrong quality"Scared Straight" programmesIncrease in crimeVery strong qualitySchool-based programmes to reduce drunk driving No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Moderate qualitySecond responder programmes to prevent domestic abuse No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease and or an increase)Strong qualitySobriety checkpoints Decrease in crimeVery strong qualityStreet lighting Decrease in crimeVery strong qualityTemporary release from prison No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Limited qualityTraining probation officers in core correctional practices Decrease in crimeStrong qualityTransferring youths to the adult criminal justice systemIncrease in crimeLimited qualityVictim Offender MediationDecrease in crime (but some studies suggest an increase)Strong qualityWilderness challenge programmes No impact on crime (but some studies suggest a decrease)Strong quality
United States EBP is acknowledged by some senior police leaders as a valuable approach to improve policing. The FBI Academy offers a course on EBP.
EBP has become the subject of debate in research journals, deliberating the extent to which policing should be guided by experimental criminology.Weisburd, David; Cynthia Lum and Anthony Petrosino (2001) "Does Research Design Affect Study Outcomes in Criminal Justice?" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences vol. 578, pp 50–70.Sherman, Lawrence (2013) "The Rise of Evidence-Based Policing: Targeting, Testing and Tracking." Crime and Justice vol. 42, pp. 377–431.Laycock, Gloria (2012) "In support of evidence-based approaches: a response to Lum and Kennedy" Policing 2012 vol 6, pp. 324–326.Lum, Cynthia; Leslie Kennedy (2012) "In support of evidence-based approaches: a rebuttal to Gloria Laycock" Policing 2012 vol 6, pp. 317–323. There is a consensus that more needs to be done to bridge the 'translation gap' between frontline police officers and academics.Lum, Cynthia (2009) "Translating Police Research into Practice" Ideas in American Policing, Washington, DC: Police Foundation.Lum, Cynthia (2014) "Policing at a crossroads" Policing vol 8, pp. 1–4
Academics from the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University launched the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy in 2008. Their Evidence-Based Policing Matrix records, orders and rates scientific evaluations in policing and seeks to enable police departments to access and assess existing evidence.Lum, Cynthia; Chris Koper and Cody Telep (2011) "The Evidence-Based Policing Matrix". Journal of Experimental Criminology vol 7(1), pp. 3–26