Facilitators and Impediments to Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Risk-Based Policing Strategies Using Risk Terrain Modeling: Insights from a Multi-City Evaluation in the United States

• NCJ Number: 251489
• Author(s): Eric L. Piza, Leslie W. Kennedy, Joel M. Caplan
• Date Published: January 2018
• Length: 0 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Risk Terrain Modeling Experiment: A Multi-Jurisdictional Place-Based Test of an Environmental Risk-Based Patrol Deployment Strategy; Policing by Place: A proposed multi-level analysis of the effectiveness of Risk Terrain Modeling for allocating police resources

Annotation

This study contributes to the literature by discussing researcher/practitioner partnerships and program implementation in the context of a multi-city risk-based policing project in the United States.

Abstract

The contemporary policing literature contains numerous examples of partnerships between academic researchers and police agencies. Such efforts have greatly contributed to evidence-based policing by increasing the knowledge base on effective strategies; however, research has demonstrated that successful collaboration between researchers and practitioners can be a challenge, with various organizational and inter-agency factors presenting difficulties at various stages of the process. In addition. applied research can often face implementation challenges when the time comes to convert research into practice. The current study conceptualized police interventions as contingent on four distinct phases: 1) problem analysis, 2) project design, 3) project implementation, and 4) project evaluation. In this project, the research partners were able to complete each phase in certain cities while the project experienced difficulty at one or more phases in other cities. These disparate experiences are discussed, with factors identified that facilitate or impede successful completion of each step. Policy implications and recommendations for future risk-based policing interventions are discussed. 69 references (Publisher abstract modified)