Purpose
The National Police Research Platform provided unprecedented data about police performance, but what did the agency heads think of this research program and the results? How useful were the findings for police practice and what more is needed? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions and explore ways to translate the findings and sustain the Platform in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
Chiefs and sheriffs from the 100 participating agencies were invited by e-mail to take an online feedback survey about their experiences with the Platform. Data from 64 agencies were analyzed.
Findings
The majority of chief executive officers rated their overall experience with the Platform as positive, found the results useful and reported that the findings caused them to make changes, rethink things, and identify unforeseen issues. Most of them also expressed a willingness to participate in future Platform initiatives, but many felt additional guidance would help with interpreting findings and identifying next steps. This paper discusses how the Platform can respond to feedback and continue advancing the science of policing. Mainly, this can be achieved by engaging key organizations and providing routine feedback and education to participating agencies and the field at large.
Originality/value
This paper addresses previously unanswered questions about the utility and future of the National Police Research Platform from a police management perspective. It includes a preliminary discussion about how to sustain the Platform and ensure that research findings are translated into practice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.