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What Is the Current State of Research on Policing?

In spite of the mass of research on policing that has accumulated since the 1970s, fifty years later there is still much that we do not know. And since new issues continuously emerge in policing, the list of issues on which to conduct research is ever-expanding. In 2004, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences examined the current state of research in policing. The group concluded that

There are many important subjects about which there is virtually no scientific research. By any metric—whether lives lost to crime, the costs and benefits of government expenditures on law enforcement, or the moral obligation imbedded in the use of coercive authority—police research deserves more serious attention than it has received.⁴⁶

Much research has been conducted since the work of this committee. While we know a lot about some police strategies, it is still fair to say that we know too little about many critical police issues.⁴⁷ As discussed in this book, police practices and policies are too often based on untested assumptions and conventional wisdom. At a minimum, it is important to recognize when police practices are based on research and when they are not.

Exhibit 2.2 Tools of the Police in the 1980s

In the 1980s, police officers had a much more limited repertoire of tools by which to do their job. For instance, revolvers were carried instead of semiautomatic handguns. There were no Tasers or pepper spray, only a firearm, baton, and handcuffs. There were no computers, meaning that all reports were handwritten or typed with a typewriter. Large radios and pagers served as the communication link to dispatch; there were no in-squad computers or cell phones. There was no GPS for assistance in finding addresses. No in-squad computers also meant that all recorded information about calls for service and subjects had to be provided by dispatchers. There was no email; all written department communication was via telephone, letters, or memos.