A Tipping Point for "Totally Evidenced Policing": Ten Ideas for Building an Evidence-Based Police Agency

Abstract

Increasing numbers of police professionals have decided to practice evidence-based policing. Yet many of these ‘‘early adopters’’ encounter opposition from their colleagues. Advocates of evidencebased policing (EBP) increasingly ask whether, or how, an entire agency can be transformed at about the same time, rapidly creating a ‘‘tipping point’’ for ‘‘totally evidenced’’ policing—defined as a steady growth of evidence-based decisionmaking on as many practices as possible. Such tipping points may require (1) a powerful advocate for EBP; (2) an ‘‘evolutionary’’ dimension to add on to any ‘‘smothering paradigm’’ that resists the addition of evidence to decision-making; and (3) strong external demands for change. Several attempts to create ‘‘totally-evidenced’’ decisions across entire agencies are under way. This article describes a hypothesis for how they might succeed, consisting of a 10point plan to be implemented simultaneously. Show more