A Way Ahead

doi:10.1017/9781108885737.005

4 - A Way Ahead

Re-envisioning the Relationship between Evidence-Based Policing and the Police Craft

from Part I - Taking Stock of Evidence-Based Policing

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2023

James J. Willis and

Edited by

Gali Perry and

David Weisburd: Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and George Mason University, Virginia
Tal Jonathan-Zamir: Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gali Perry: Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Badi Hasisi: Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Summary

Evidence-based policing (EBP) is perhaps the most significant police reform movement of the last 30 years. Most notable for identifying what does or does not work, and for trying to integrate science into policing, much of EBP’s focus remains on program evaluation methods and investigating crime prevention strategies. This vision for policing often characterizes the craft of police work as an obstacle rather than a useful contributor to science. This is changing, as proponents of EBP begin to embrace a wider variety of methods to assess a broader range of outcomes, and to treat both science and experience as necessary elements of successful police reform. In this chapter, we recommend that EBP focus more attention on assessing the choices that patrol officers make in their everyday encounters with the public. Drawing on a case study of a neighbor dispute, we show how EBP could benefit from listening to practioners and learning what their rich experiences have taught them about how best to respond. We also suggest ways that research might help generate knowledge on the essential normative or moral questions that characterize street-level discretion, and thus combine knowledge about what works with knowledge about doing the right thing.

Keywords

Craft experience science evidence-based policing expertise intuition policy values moral decision-making ethics

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Future of Evidence-Based Policing , pp. 64 - 82
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108885737.005 [Opens in a new window]
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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