ABSTRACT
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has over the last decade made an increasing mark in several fields, notably health and medicine, education and social welfare. In recent years it has begun to make its mark in criminal justice. As engagement with EBP has spread, it has begun to evolve from what might be regarded as a somewhat narrow doctrine and orthodoxy to something more complex and various. Often criminological research has been at odds with the assumptions, conventions and methodologies associated with first generation EBP. In that context EBP poses a challenge to the research community and existing evidence base and is, accordingly, hotly controversial.
This book is a welcome and timely contribution to current debates on evidence-based practice in policing. With a sharp conceptual focus, the chapters provide a critical examination of the recent history of EBP in academic, policy and practitioner communities, evaluate key dimensions of its application to policing, challenge established understandings and pave the way for a much needed change in how research ‘evidence’ is perceived, generated, transferred, implemented and evaluated.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section Section 1|92 pages
Evidence-based policing in context
chapter Chapter 1|18 pages
The development of evidence-based policing in the UK
chapter Chapter 3|20 pages
Street-level theories of change
section Section 2|59 pages
Evidence-based policing and police practice
chapter Chapter 6|18 pages
Democracy, accountability and evidence-based policing
chapter Chapter 7|19 pages
Wicked policing and magical thinking
section Section 3|45 pages
Steps towards applying research evidence to policing
chapter Chapter 9|23 pages
Effecting change in policing through police/academic partnerships
section Section 4|15 pages
Conclusion