Partnerships between law enforcement leaders and academic researchers have resulted in remarkable successes over the last thirty years. Policing practices in vital areas of criminal justice have been influenced by robust research projects that have led to substantive and sound policy recommendations. Despite notable successes, much remains to be done. The powerful potentials of law enforcement/researcher partnerships haven’t yet been fully realized. Existing research partnerships too frequently suffer from a number of predictable but unresolved problems and only a small minority of the 17,580 law enforcement agencies across the country have even realized the benefits of research partnerships.

In 2003, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) embraced the goal of promoting effective law enforcement/research partnerships in every agency across the United States. Joining with the Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice (ADPCCJ) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the IACP hosted the October 2003 roundtable Improving the Partnership Between Law Enforcement Leaders and University Based Researchers. The goal of the roundtable was to identify the problems that hinder the establishment and perpetuation of effective law enforcement/research partnerships and draft solutions to those problems. The IACP is grateful to the NIJ for its financial support of this exploratory meeting.