Evidence-Based Policing Matrix
ANNOUNCEMENT: During the Summer of 2024, the Matrix will be undergoing several updates. Please be patient with us as we improve these pages.
Below you will find tools and ideas on using the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix. Please use the quick links below to find out more information. Looking for information on the Matrix axes and coding? Click here for the Matrix Key.
Articles and Books on Using Evidence
- Lum, C. and Koper, C.S. (2017). Evidence-Based Policing: Translating Research into Practice (Oxford University Press).
- Lum, C. and Koper, C.S. (Updated 2023). The Evidence-Based Policing Playbook. Operational guidance that reflects the Matrix.
- Lum, C., Koper, C., and Telep, C. (2011). The Evidence-Based Policing Matrix. Journal of Experimental Criminology 7(1): 3-26.
- Lum, C. (2009). Translating Police Research into Practice. Ideas in American Policing Series. Washington, DC: Police Foundation.
- Lum, C., Telep, C., Koper, C., and Grieco, J. (2012). Receptivity to Research in Policing. Justice Research and Policy, 14(1), 61-95.
The Matrix Demonstration Project
The Matrix Demonstration Project provides examples of institutionalizing principles from the Matrix and also from police research more generally into practice. Agencies can download ideas, forms, guidelines, and videos from the MDP to develop their own efforts.
Video Training on Evidence-Based Policing and the Matrix
- How to Use the Matrix (coming, Summer 2024)
- Evidence-Based Policing Workshop Videos and Workbook. held at George Mason August 15, 2011; includes presentations about the Matrix
- Evidence-Based Policing: Translating Research into Practice. Webinar by Cynthia Lum held on November 8, 2011
- Evidence-Based Policing Workshop held at George Mason August 13, 2012; includes presentations about the Matrix Demonstration Project.
Other Ideas – For Police Agencies
1. In patrol:
The Matrix indicates that patrol officers can improve their ability to prevent and deter crime by balancing their reactive, rapid-response 911 approach, with proactive, place-based, targeted, focused, and community-engaged approaches. The Matrix provides several examples and ideas of these approaches for patrol officers and supervisors to consider. Many of the effective studies in the Matrix are reflected in the Evidence-Based Policing Playbook, which provides proactive and preventative operational ideas for officers to use during their non-committed time.
2. For command staff:
The Matrix can be interacted with at command meetings such as COMPSTAT or other managerial practices to determine if the most effective approaches are being used for a particular crime problem and also to foster evidence-based leadership in general deployment. For example, during a COMPSTAT meeting, the focus could be shifted from reciting monthly statistics and vague assertions of tactics to mapping tactical suggestions or existing strategies onto the Matrix, discussing what alterations in tactics and strategies can push approaches towards more effective approaches. The Matrix could be also more broadly used to self-assess the agency’s overall tactical portfolio. Comparing an agency’s existing patrol interventions and tactics with effective realms of the Matrix can provide a comparison between the tendencies of an agency’s patrol deployment and what is known from research.
3. Promotions and advancement:
Candidates, when tested on crime prevention scenarios (which is often common at the first and second-level supervisor ranks), could be assessed on their knowledge of the evidence and also on developing solutions that are aligned with more effective policing approaches. The tactical resumes/portfolios of those in line for promotion could be mapped into the Matrix to discern whether contenders generally use approaches that are more evidence-based or if they tend to rely on methods that are more traditional or less effective.