Moving beyond “Best Practiceâ€: Experiences in Police Reform and a Call for Evidence to Reduce Officer-Involved Shootings
Robin S. Engel,
Hannah D. McManus and
Gabrielle T. Isaza
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2020, vol. 687, issue 1, 146-165
Abstract:
In post-Ferguson America, police departments are being challenged to implement evidence-based changes in policies and training to reduce fatal police-citizen encounters. Of the litany of recommendations believed to reduce police shootings, five have garnered widespread support: body-worn cameras, de-escalation training, implicit bias training, early intervention systems, and civilian oversight. These highly endorsed interventions, however, are not supported by a strong body of empirical evidence that demonstrates their effectiveness. Guided by the available research on evidence-based policing and informed by the firsthand experience of one of the authors in implementing departmental reforms that followed the fatal shooting of a civilian by an officer, this article highlights promising reform strategies and opportunities to build the evidence base for effective use-of-force reforms. We call upon police executives to engage in evidence-based policing by scientifically testing interventions, and we call on academics to engage in rapid research responses for critical issues in policing.
Keywords: evidence-based policing; police shootings; use of force; police reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:687:y:2020:i:1:p:146-165
DOI: 10.1177/0002716219889328
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