Evidence Based Policing (EBP)

Peter Martin APM, Ph.D.

Assistant Commissioner Adjunct Professor Chairperson

Queensland Police Service University of Queensland Australia & New Zealand

Australia Australia Society of Evidence Based Policing (ANZSEBP)

How did medicine get

to where it is today?

Policing – what is the

relationship

with science or evidence?

Complexity of today?

• Competing demands for resources

• Competing priorities

• Changes of policy direction

• Economic and social factors impacting

communities

• Technology investments

• Terrorism

• Organised crime

• Community demands

• Community engagement

• Political expectations……and more!

Questions????

• What does it take for police organisations to be

evidence based?

• How do police organisations move from the

rhetoric of using evidence to guide pract to

inculcating this into the very DNA of the police

organisation?

• How much evidence is actually there? (the

paucity of evidence).

• Identify strategies to ‘fast track’ the research

agenda of policing?

EBP – some key success factors

• Dedicated funding

• Strong and effective strategic leadership

• Training & mentoring the next generation of

officers – commitment and understanding of

science

• ……. and others

The role of police leaders in fostering evidence

based policing reform…..

1. Acknowledging the paucity of evidence

2. Allocation of sufficient discretionary budget to support

in-house evaluations

3. Training the next generation of staff to run in-house

evaluation

4. Conversations with Ministers/Government about

resource allocations

5. Moth-balling age old police practices that don’t work

6. Police leaders contributing to public discourse that

demands evidence

4 key activities for police leaders

• Knowledge and skill needs to be developed

• Opportunities need to be created for individuals

to use new found knowledge

• ‘early adopters’ will need to mentor those with

developing knowledge

• Leaders need to provide organisational support

– recognition is key for those integrating science

into practice

Tools to use the existing evidence

• the Lum-Koper Matrix (http://cebcp.org/evidence-based-

policing/the-matrix/using-the-matrix/),

• the What Works for Crime Reduction Tool Kit

(http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/Pages/Toolkit.aspx),

• Crime Solutions in the US (see

http://www.crimesolutions.gov/) and the

• Global Policing Database (GPD) developed by the University

of Queensland (Higginson, Eggins, Mazerolle, & Stanko,

2015a) in partnership with Mayor’s Office for Policing and

Crime (MOPAC)

• the UK Policing College

(http://www.college.police.uk/Pages/Home.aspx.

Australia & New Zealand

Society of Evidence Based

Policing

www.anzsebp.com

Goals of the society:

Aim One: Increased use of best available research evidence to solve

policing problems

Aim Two: The production of new research evidence by police

practitioners and researchers

Aim Three: Communication of research evidence to police

practitioners and the public

A cunning - 10 Point Plan??

1. A service wide integrated strategy – focused on creating

and managing knowledge

2. EBP Unit with broad capabilities

3. Embedding criminology trained people into the EBP Unit

(perhaps even a Director of Criminology function)

4. Professional development of senior leaders to enlighten

them on EBP

5. Holding senior leaders accountable through performance

management and set KPI’s

The cunning plan ….continued

6. Recruit training – building the next generation

7. Specific strategy for the middle level managers

8. Better utilisation and dissemination of existing research

to start with.

9. Funding – a percentage of discretionary budgets

10. Rewarding people for their achievements in this area.

Partnerships

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