BLOG.

GOBSAT (aka ‘best practices’)

If there was ever a buzz-term that was likely to trigger the hell out of me, it’s got to be ‘best practices.’ Why, you ask? Well, because...

Gun violence? There may be some research on that.

In the world of police science there are very few things of which we can state with any degree of certainty, nevermind confidence. Why?...

The Duh Factor (or why we probably need to rethink the approach to ACE research)

Every so often someone in policing will relate a story about a piece of research they read or heard about that describes a relationship...

Why Your Well-intentioned Intuitions are No Substitute for Research Evidence (and may be harmful)

As some of you may know, this year my research efforts have been focused on missing persons cases. As a result, I am occasionally asked...

Commerce and Science

I get a lot of political flak for not being the friendliest, most collaborative person in the policing community, because I tend to...

Re-examining the Hawthorne Effect

It is an accepted piece of wisdom that policing – like most institutions - has a graveyard out back full of failed, dead programs. I will...

We don’t Need a College of Policing, We Need a Building 10

A recent issue of a Canadian police magazine featured an article advocating for a provincial Police College aimed at professionalizing...

Things that are difficult to speak

On Friday another police officer died from suicide. This is possibly the second such loss this week. Like many of us, my life has been...

Sprinting for Research

This past week I was in San Diego speaking to a group of American police association leaders about the importance of research and all of...

"You have the brains, I have the looks ... let's save lots of money*"

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking at the International Crime Analysts' Training Conference in Maryland. And for those...