ABSTRACT
This chapter provides one possible solution to the problem Albert J. Reiss identified. It analyses collective models of research and development with agency-specific models for local application and extension of collective research. The chapter begins from Reiss’s arguments that information processing is the core technology of policing, including problem solving, and research and development are the core information technology of problem solving. It presents the major elements of an evidence-based paradigm for using information in police organizations. The medical discussion focuses on the role of organizational “evidence cops” as internal accountability managers providing information on outputs and outcomes to all levels of the organization. The chapter shows that how such performance information can be socially organized to monitor and change police practices on a continuing basis for improvement in results. A prime example of evidence-based decision-making shows how it can mobilize social control to save lives.
