What Works in Policing?
Resource Library
Below is a list of resources to learn more about what works in policing. The George Mason Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy and Arizona State University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice research team drew upon many of these resources in evaluating what does and does not work in policing.
George Mason Resources
Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University)
- Evidence-Based Policing Research Program
- Systematic Reviews Research Program
- Evidence-Based Policing Matrix
- Matrix Demonstration Project
- Technology Web Portal
- Policing One Page Research Briefs
- Evidence-Based Policing Videos
- 2011 Evidence-Based Policing Workshop (see the accompanying workbook)
- 2012 Evidence-Based Policing Workshop (see the accompanying workbook)
- 2014 Evidence-Based Policing Training for First Line Supervisors
Government and Nonprofit Organization Resources
- American Society of Evidence-Based Policing (practitioner-led organization)
- Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
- Strategies for Policing Innovatoin (the Bureau of Justice Assistance and CNA are working with more than 50 law enforcement agencies to build data-driven and evidence-based tactics and strategies. The website has information on these police-researcher partnerships, as well as a series of useful publications and webinars)
- Criminology 101 Webinar (Scott Decker)- this webinar from the Smart Policing Initiative covers key findings every police practitioner should know from criminological research
- Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Coordinating Group
- Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
- Division of Policing (American Society of Criminology)
- International Association of Chiefs of Police Center for Police Research and Policy
- Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
- National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
- CrimeSolutions.Gov (ratings of the effectiveness of criminal justice programs and policies)
- Police Foundation
- Evidence-Based Policing App
- Publication Library
Ideas in American Policing Series:- “Evidence-Based Policing” (Lawrence Sherman, 1998)
- “Place-Based Policing” (David Weisburd, 2008)
- “Translating Police Research into Practice” (Cynthia Lum, 2009)
- What Works Centre for Crime Reduction? (United Kingdom)
Articles, Reports, and Books of Interest
- Evidence-Based Crime Prevention (edited by Lawrence W. Sherman et al., 2002)
- “The Evidence-Based Policing Matrix” (Cynthia Lum, Christopher S. Koper, & Cody W. Telep, Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2011)
- Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence (National Research Council, 2004)
- Proactive Policing: Effects of Crime and Communities (National Academies of Sciences, 2018)
- The Importance of Place in Policing: Empirical Evidence and Policy Recommendations (David Weisburd, Cody Telep, and Anthony Braga, Swedish National Crime Prevention Council, 2010)
- “Police Innovation and Crime Prevention: Lessons Learned from Police Research over the Past 20 Years” (Anthony A. Braga & David L. Weisburd, National Institute of Justice, 2007)
- “Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising?” (Lawrence Sherman et al., Report to the United States Congress prepared for the National Institute of Justice, 1997)
- “What is Known about the Effectiveness of Police Practices in Reducing Crime and Disorder” (Cody W. Telep & David Weisburd, Police Quarterly, 2012, requires a subscription to view full article)
- “What is Known about the Effectiveness of Police Practices?”(Cody W. Telep & David Weisburd, Paper for “Understanding the crime decline in NYC” conference, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011)
- “What Can Police do to Reduce Crime, Disorder, and Fear?” (David Weisburd & John E. Eck, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2004)