Evidence Based Policing

Introduction
Over the years, much has been done in order to improve law enforcement decision making. As a result, evidence-based policing was developed. Evidence-based policing (EBP) is defined as "the use of the best available research on the outcomes of police work to implement guidelines and evaluate agencies, units, and officers"(Schmalleger, 2015). This means that there is research being conducted about police procedures in order to allow police officers to better understand what they are doing right and wrong, which then leads to more effective police work. In other words, evidence-based policing uses research into everyday police procedures to evaluate current practices and to guide officers in future decision making (Schmalleger, 2015). …show more content…
One important study that was completed on law enforcement practices was the Kansas City Experiment. This experiment was the first large-scale scientific study of law enforcement practices, it was focused on the practice of preventive patrol, and it was sponsored by the Police Foundation (Schmalleger, 2015). In this experiment, areas of Kansas City were separated into three parts. The first part consisted of no change in patrol, the second area doubled the patrol available, and the third part tried a completely different approach to patrolling, which consisted of no patrolling at all (Schmalleger, 2015). The results of this experiment were unexpected. There was no change in any of the three areas that were being studied (Schmalleger, 2015). This experiment is one of many that have tried to explain and show how police work is done and that has tried to answer one of the many questions about police work that are …show more content…
This matrix "is a research-to-practice translation tool that organizes moderate to very rigorous evaluations of police interventions visually, allowing agencies and researchers to view the field of research in this area" (“Evidence-Based Policing Matrix”, n.d.). It is used to help those who research law enforcement and police interventions be able to visually see the evaluations and to help determine what might help them (“Evidence-Based Policing Matrix”, n.d.). This Matrix categorizes and visualizes evaluated police tactics according to three common dimensions of crime prevention, the nature of the target, the extent to which the strategy is proactive or reactive, and the specificity or generality of the strategy (“Evidence-Based Policing Matrix”, n.d.). This means that the matrix gives information about police strategies and what can be done to help police officers make the right decisions in their communities. The evidence-based policing matrix describes can be used by police officers to guide them in developing future tactics and strategies (“Evidence-Based Policing Matrix”, n.d.). Some strategies might work and some might not, and this matrix will help determine which do work and which do not. This makes it easier for police officers because they can just study this matrix and easily figure out what they can do to help improve police work and decisions in their