Center for Police Research
Research helps to identify effective policies and practices in policing. The IACP Center for Police Research seeks to find evidence-based explanations, recommendations, and solutions for everyday challenges in policing through rigorous and meaningful research.
2024 Recruitment & Retention Survey Results
Sobering Centers: Implementation Guide
De-escalation (Use of Force)
Alternatives to Arrest
This project reviewed existing research and consulted with subject-matter experts to better understand the principal questions concerning arrest and police-led diversion, critically evaluate the tentative...
About the Center for Police Research
The Center for Police Research engages in rigorous research that has practical implications for the field and is intended to serve as a national model for the way law enforcement agencies and researchers work together to help protect communities, safeguard citizens’ rights, and ensure the fair treatment of all individuals.
There is currently a gap between research and practice that the Center for Police Research seeks to close. Often times existing research does not provide actionable recommendations that can be easily translated into practical policies and practices that could enhance policing. Moreover, academic researchers often do not have access to all the data that police departments have, yet this data is necessary to conduct rigorous and meaningful research on police practices. The goal of the Center for Police Research is to provide a path for law enforcement and researchers to work together on studies that will drive future practices and policies.
For more information or with any questions about the Center for Police Research, please contact us at [email protected].
Volunteer as a Potential IACP Research Site
By volunteering as an IACP research site, your agency could be considered for evaluations important policing topics such as:
Public Trust
Recruiting and Retention
De-escalation and Use of Force
Co-Response and Alternative Response
Officer Safety and Wellness
Officer Accountability
And more...
Start Your Mentor Match Journey Today!
The Mentor Match program was developed by IACP to facilitate the ability of those in the policing profession to connect with their peers for professional guidance and advice. This may be through a formalized long-term mentoring relationship, or it may be a project-specific consultation. Mentor match can help you find, connect, and share experiences with others from anywhere in the world and the relationships that result may look different for everyone, depending on their unique needs.
More Center for Police Research Projects
The Center for Police Research has worked on multiple projects to contribute to the body of evidence on policing topics and strategies based on the needs of the field. The links below include several of the projects the Center for Police Research has worked on, each including evidence-based products and information relevant to the field of policing.
Sobering Centers: Using sobering centers as an alternative to arrest can strengthen public trust, minimize harm, save agency and jail resources, and connect individuals to services. This toolkit and podcast will provide considerations on how to plan, implement, and sustain a sobering center within a jurisdiction.
Perspectives on Body Worn Cameras: This video series presents perspectives from law enforcement officers, attorneys, and academic scholars from around the United States about how body-worn cameras can impact police departments and the communities they serve.
Domestic Violence Analysis: This problem analysis, in partnership with Tulsa Police Department (TPD) discusses three overarching subjects from within the city of Tulsa: city-wide domestic violence trends, domestic violence suspects, and domestic violence victims.
Examining Case Clearance: Through a partnership with the Knoxville Police Department (KPD), this evaluation examines the impact of solvability factors and investigatory efforts by KPD on the likelihood of case clearance for burglary and robbery offenses.
More Center for Police Research Resources
The Center for Police Research is committed to being responsive to the needs of the field and providing a path for law enforcement and researchers to work together in order to drive policy and practice. The links below include resources to guide law enforcement in closing the gap between research and practice.
IACP Center for Police Research Products
Are you interested in learning more about evidence-based policing? Do you need guidance on establishing and sustaining a law enforcement-researcher partnership? Would you like to learn what a randomized control trial is? Visit this page for resources on these topics, and more:
Model Policy for Collaborative Research Partnerships
Research partnerships are a critical component for enhancing policing policies and strategies. Knowing how to partner, when to partner, and what to expect when partnering is important for both the agency involved, as well as the researcher. The Law Enforcement-Researcher Collaborative Partnerships Model Policy / Concepts and Issues Paper were designed to assist you in this process:
