There has been much discussion in recent years about the use of evidence-based research to inform practices within police agencies. And this is likely to increase in the future. Many talented policing professionals are educating themselves on current research trends and knowledge and are making efforts to incorporate that learning to improve the performance and effectiveness of their organizations. The academic world as well is active in developing knowledge of evidence-based practices to support and encourage these efforts and are collaborating with practitioners to bring this knowledge into agencies.

There are myriad challenges to the success of evidence-based policing on a large scale. Among these are inherent resistance on the part of old-line police leaders and staff to change, the lack of sufficient education, training, and skills on the part of practitioners to conduct research and adopt new approaches, and some occasional inflexibility on the part of both agencies and academia to accommodating partnerships. However, one key missing piece involves the organization and structure of most police agencies. With few exceptions, most agencies do not have units and staff that are specifically dedicated to researching evidence-based practices, and planning and implementing new initiatives. As we move forward, future policing will have to confront this reality as staffing constraints continue, public demand for better policing increases and the complicated nature of crime evolves – especially as the developers of artificial intelligence accelerate its presence, utility and impact.

Police agencies are generally organized into functions that are operational (patrol, investigations, special operations), or administrative in nature (management and support functions). The one area that is often missing is a research and development capability, that looks towards the ability of the agency to grow, evolve, and improve as needs and circumstances change. Many agencies do indeed have units dedicated to this function, but most do not. Aspects of research fall within other parts of the agency such as analysis units, training units, or policy and accreditation teams. But these units have significant day-to-day functional responsibilities that limit the time and effort that they can employ to research, testing and development of new initiatives.

With the changing and evolving reality within the policing profession, it is obvious that there is a need for robust research and development capacity with police agencies. This is however, a capacity that has been sorely neglected in recent decades. Following the urban unrest and subsequent studies of policing in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, much effort was initiated nationally to promote change in the profession. At the vanguard of the change effort was the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), which was created and empowered to promote needed professional reforms within police agencies in the United States. Numerous LEAA grants were effective in developing planning resources, and encouraging the growth of research and planning staffs (R&P) in police departments. With this function working effectively in many agencies, numerous positive innovations and significant research efforts came to fruition.

Over time, however, these gains have been diminished. The growth of crime analysis in the early 1990’s, although certainly a positive development, had the effect of siphoning personnel and technical resources into that specialty, and away from more general research and planning functions. The introduction of more advanced technology tools into policing at roughly the same time also caused R&P units to devote increasing resources to specific IT research and development efforts. Over the past two decades, a renewed emphasis in intelligence collection and analysis has once again pulled scarce resources in a new direction.

In many police organizations, there are efforts made to fill this gap, but they have tended to be haphazard and inconsistent. Increasingly, many interested officers and staff members are taking the initiative to develop research initiatives and partnerships, with some success. However, they often take on these projects as “extra work” that falls outside – and competes with - their regular duties. Organizational support for such efforts is also inconsistent from agency to agency. In some instances, selected officers are assigned special R&D projects as “resume builders” ahead of promotion. While this can be helpful to the organization, commitment and follow-through on such projects can be lacking.

When we talk about resources for agency-level research and development, we are talking primarily about human assets (of course, AI will soon be added to the mix). The knowledge, skills and abilities that are needed to provide this capability within police agencies usually come from talented and well-trained civilian staffers – although sworn officers provide vital perspectives and contributions as well. The early LEAA grants resulted in the hiring and development of the first generation of dedicated planners in police agencies in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. By now, these cohorts have aged out and retired, and have frequently not been replaced. Local and state politics has tended to favor hiring and retaining sworn officers in lieu of the (mostly) civilian support elements.

What is required in my view, is for police agencies to take a forward-leaning, strategic approach to this issue. Police leaders should formally incorporate the general research and development function within the organizational structure through the creation of specialty units dedicated to this purpose. Such units should ideally consist of a mixed group of sworn and non-sworn members, with a variety of complementary skills in research, analysis, and planning. Among their primary functions should be as follows:

• Conducting general research of evidence-based practices, in support of agency needs and priorities.

• Developing and maintaining academic research partnerships by serving as the point-of-contact and liaison for and with the outside academic community.

• Be a principal source of information within the agency on current research and EBP knowledge.

• Lead and facilitate both formal and informal research efforts within the agency.

• Test and develop pilot initiatives that are evaluated for adoption within the agency.

This effort should be undertaken broadly among agencies throughout the profession and should be supported by professional associations who are able to provide the initial support to identify needs and to develop strategies and templates for the re-establishment of effective research and development capacity within police agencies. Groups such as the American Society for Evidence-Based Policing (ASEBP), and the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA) among others, could all be very helpful in this regard.

Police agencies today are finding themselves in a situation where they are facing another period of momentous change, without the internal capacity to effectively manage this change. The mandate being thrust onto the profession – to re-invent itself for the 21st century – requires the capability to work cooperatively with various entities (both within and outside of government) to conduct effective research, determine what exactly works, and develop strategic plans to implement necessary change. This will in turn, require police agencies throughout the United States to rebuild and grow capacity to manage this process with effective research and planning capabilities.

About the author: FPI Fellow John Kapinos is a policing consultant, retired Lt. and Director of the Policy and Planning Division, Montgomery County Police Department, MD, and retired Strategic Planner with the Fairfax County Police Department, VA. Click here to read his full bio.