Research for Policing

The Police Foundation takes a unique perspective on research. Unlike many organizations we strive to conduct research for policing, not on policing. This makes a profound difference in how we conduct and disseminate research.  Our goals are twofold. First, we conduct high quality research that produces results directly applicable to the field of policing. Our research is designed to address the questions, challenges, and problems faced by contemporary law enforcement agencies. Second, we act as a translational agent to move existing research from theory into practice.

Creating the Evidence to Innovate

The Police Foundation exists to support thoughtful innovation in the science and craft of policing. Perhaps the most apparent innovations in policing have come in the form of new technology. The rapid development and adoption of technology such as mobile devices, unmanned aerial systems, and AVL tracking often leaves agencies scrambling for answers to complex questions about implementation, measures of success, and cost effectiveness. Innovation can also come in the form of social and cultural changes. The Police Foundation conducts the research needed to thoughtfully implement these changes.

Supporting Democratic Policing

Democratic policing requires effective communication between law enforcement agencies and the public it serves. Democratic policing is also intrinsically linked to police legitimacy. The Police Foundation has conducted over 40 years of research to support the ideas of democratic policing. Most recently we have engaged in research designed to shed light on the decision making process that leads to wrongful conviction. We have also worked to spread the principles of democratic policing on an international level, most recently in Liberia and Mexico.

Partner News: Two Police Chiefs Honored at 2013 Innocence Network Conference

The Innocence Network honored two innovative police chiefs last week at the annual Innocence Network Conference for their work to reform the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions: William G. Brooks, III, Chief of the Norwood, Massachusetts Police Department, and Darrel Stephens, former Chief of the Charlotte Police Department. More information can be found at the following link.

The Police Foundation has worked closely with the Innocence Project to develop effective and reliable eyewtiness identification procedures.

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Partner News

3D-Printed Firearm Successfully Fired for the First Time

A Texas man successfully fired the first bullet from a 3D-printed firearm on Saturday, May 5, raising new security concerns and prompting calls for a ban on such weapons. Plastic guns are not detectable by metal detectors, and policymakers and law enforcement officials expressed concern about security vulnerabilities posed by such weapons.

"This technology is emerging so quickly that few law enforcement officials know what a 3-D printer is or understand how it can be used," said Police Foundation President.Jim Bueermann in an interview with NBC News.

National Police Week: May 12-18, 2013

National Police Week is dedicated to honoring America's law enforcement community. At the May 13 Candlelight Vigil--a signature event of Police Week--there is a reading of the names newly engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. A schedule of National Police Week events is available here.

Jim Bueermann Attends White House Meeting on Gun Legislation

Police Foundation President Jim Bueermann met with Vice President Biden at the White House on May 2, along with other law enforcement leaders, to discuss continued efforts to pass gun control legislation. Three weeks after bipartisan gun-control legislation was defeated in the Senate, the vice president conferred with law enforcement leaders on a renewed effort to expand background checks and close loopholes on gun trafficking. According to Bueermann, "There is optimism about the passage of reasoned gun legislation."

New Publication: Police independent oversight in Australia and New Zealand

Congratulations to Dr. Garth den Heyer, Senior Research Fellow, for his recently published article in Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. The article, titled “Police independent oversight in Australia and New Zealand”, discuses the effectiveness and accountability of independent oversight organizations on policing organizations. The abstract is available below and the full text can be found at the link.

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New Publication

Challenges to Policing Terrorism in Pakistan: A Police Foundation Report

In this paper, Ahmad Ishaque Jehangir, Deputy Inspector General of the Police Service of Pakistan, and a 2012-13 Humphrey Fellow, describes the range of challenges facing Pakistan's domestic security. Pakistan’s police force is underresourced, poorly trained, badly paid, low in morale, and viewed with suspicion. Terrorist attacks have escalated in the last decade, and law enforcement in Pakistan needs significant reform in order to effectively counter the increasing terrorism and insurgency that is gripping the nation.

Policing and Society: Dr. Garth den Heyer on Militarization in Policing

Senior Research Fellow Garth den Heyer's article, Mayberry Revisited: A Review of the Influence of Police Paramilitary Units on Policing, was recently published in Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. In his paper, Dr. den Heyer refutes the proposition that policing has increased in militarization and analyzes earlier survey findings and subsequent literature in a wider context, which includes the argument of the professionalization or the evolution of policing.

Wearing a Badge, and a Video Camera

The New York Times reports on Police Foundation Executive Fellow Tony Farrar's study to evaluate the effect of body-worn video cameras on police use-of-force. The study found that wearing cameras was associated with dramatic reductions in use-of-force and complaints against officers.

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executive fellows

Five Things Law Enforcement Executives Can Do to Make a Difference

The National Institute of Justice has released Five Things Law Enforcement Executives Can Do to Make a Difference, a flyer and Web page summarizing evidence about what works in law enforcement. Developed by former NIJ director John Laub and Police Foundation president Jim Bueermann, Five Things synthesizes many years of research and distills evidence-based practices that can make a difference into a single list.