NIJ’s Policing Research Portfolio focuses on advancing research that equips law enforcement with knowledge and tools needed to support the police workforce, promote effective policing practices, protect officers, and implement strategies to combat crime. It also represents a call to the research community to provide policymakers and practitioners with the evidence needed to improve policing practices — both within agencies and in community settings — and to equip officers with effective tools that protect them from harm and enhance public safety.
Police face complex challenges that demand evidence-based research to improve operations and practice. NIJ’s Policing Research Portfolio builds knowledge and practical tools that strengthen law enforcement effectiveness and support the effective and efficient delivery of services to communities. NIJ’s longstanding commitment to supporting rigorous research on the challenges facing police executives and their officers is reflected in our research priorities, which aim to build an evidence base that promotes public safety, contributes to the understanding of policing, and advances the science needed to inform policymakers. This includes research to advance police performance, improve strategies to fight crime, and support the police workforce through better hiring, recruiting, retention, and training of police officers. It is also critical to better understand how policing practices can promote strong engagement and cooperation with community residents to support the delivery and effectiveness of policing services.
This portfolio focuses on several priorities, including police workforce development, criminal investigations, officer decision-making, crime reduction and public safety policing strategies, and police partnerships. The portfolio advances science through rigorous research that collects a mix of qualitative and quantitative data and uses observational, quasi-experimental, randomized, and mixed-method research designs. NIJ promotes partnerships with agencies, organizations, scientific communities, and other entities closest to policing issues to identify research needs, develop appropriate research, and translate findings into useful tools for police officers. This portfolio is instrumental in evaluating police practices and program effectiveness as well as determining promising strategies and policies to advance policing in state, tribal, and local agencies and the communities they serve.
Research Priority 1: Identify effective methods for developing the workforce (i.e., sworn officers and civilians) within police agencies.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 1.1 | What skills, education, and experiences improve officer performance? |
| Research Question 1.2 | Which training modalities and dosages are most effective in improving officer performance? |
| Research Question 1.3 | What is the impact of training technologies on officer performance? |
Research Priority 2:
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 2.1 | Evaluate practices implemented to improve the effectiveness of outcomes (e.g., arrests) in criminal Investigations. |
| Research Question 2.2 | What effective strategies and practices can improve case clearance rates? |
| Research Question 2.3 | How do partnerships and organizational practices (e.g., patrol support, civilian investigators) influence clearance rates? |
Priority 3: Evaluate strategies designed to enhance officer decision-making processes and outcomes.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 3.1 | How does technology (e.g., body-worn cameras) have an impact on officer decision making? |
| Research Question 3.2 | Which training curricula, modalities, or technologies are most effective in enhancing officer decision making? |
| Research Question 3.3 | What organizational practices (e.g., field training officer programs, scheduling, disciplinary procedures) enhance officer decision making? |
Priority 4: Identify and evaluate policing strategies aimed at reducing crime and enhancing public safety.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 4.1 | What is the impact of deployment policing strategies (e.g., hot spots or problem-oriented policing) on reducing crime? |
| Research Question 4.2 | What is the impact of shift and staffing strategies on reducing crime? |
| Research Question 4.3 | Which organizational strategies (e.g., intelligence sharing, enhanced data management) are most effective at reducing crime? |
Priority 5: Assess police partnerships implemented to enhance public safety.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 5.1 | What is the impact of technologies (e.g., social media or emergency alert systems) on police effectiveness and investigative outcomes? |
| Research Question 5.2 | What is the impact of co-responder models on resolving critical incidents safely? |
| Research Question 5.3 | Which external partnerships (e.g., federal and state agencies, community groups, businesses) are most effective at improving public safety? |
Reports -
- Partners in Crisis: Improving Police Response to Individuals in Moments of Crisis by Providing Service Alternatives
- Effects of Directed Patrol and Self-Initiated Enforcement on Firearm Violence: A Randomized Controlled Study of Hot Spot Policing
- The Effects of Body-Worn Cameras on Police Activity and Police Citizen Encounters: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Datasets -
- A Place-Based Approach to Address Youth-Police Officer Interactions in Crime Hot Spots: A Randomized Controlled Trial , 3 U.S. Cities, 2021-2023
- The Benefits of Body-Worn Cameras: New Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada, 2014-2015
- Homicide Investigations in Los Angeles, California: An Analysis of Solved and Unsolved Cases, 1990-2010
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