Pulling Together: Integrating Police Craft and Police Science

James J. Willis & Stephen D. MastrofskiDepartment of Criminology,

Law and Society

Key question

How might the science and craft of policing engage to improve police science and increase the likelihood that it will be used well?

Two forces of influence on police decision making

Science or EBP Emphasis on

scientific method and evidence

Craft Emphasis on

knowledge, skill, and judgment based on daily experience

How much top leadership has tried to get employees to adopt/follow this approach (N=95 CEOs)

Community policingCrime analysis

Hot spotsProcedural justiceProb-oriented polBroken windows

Early interventionEvidence-based pol

Affirmative actionCompstat

Rapid responseVideo recording

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

% "great deal" or "top priority"

Importance of EBP to police officers (N = 56)

Scientific evidence on what works

Crime analysis

Computers & info technology

Good relats w/community leaders

Public speaking

Persuasion

Physical fitness

Writing

Defensive tactics

Verbal coercion

Negotiation

People/places/customs

Laws, rules, & regulations

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all important

A little important

Somewhat important

ImportantVery

important

What should we do?

1) Replace those with little faith in science with true believers

2) Convert non-believers through training and supervision

3) Seek allies among street-level officers

Ways to move science forward

1. Make science more relevant to craft

Science has tended to focus on crime prevention

Order maintenance and service functions largely overlooked yet make up bulk of police work (Bittner 1990)

Example of neighbor dispute

Video clip of actual incident of dispute between two neighbors

Goals identified by patrol officers included safety on the scene maintaining order throughout the encounter satisfying the complainant’s concerns mitigating the likelihood the dispute would

reoccur in the future Science’s contribution to our understanding of

these goals or outcomes and their attainment is currently very modest

Science and the processes of street-level police work

What can science tell us about pragmatic concerns of patrol officers? For example: How can police officers do procedural

justice? How can police officers diagnose a

problem most effectively?

2. Treat craft with respect

The craft of problem diagnosis (Muir 1977) Can involve sophisticated decision-

making techniques and careful observation of human behavior

Neighbor dispute as: Mental health issue? Serious criminal

matter? Minor dispute, or a family matter?

Treat craft with respect (cont.) Science could consult with craft on

discovering the best means to a given end Requires systematically tapping into the best

that craft has to offer E.g., testing several fine-grained

responses to neighbor dispute More efficient and insightful than just

divining from scientific theory

In sum

May well improve acceptance of science by: Allowing craft a hand in “crafting”

research Conversing with craft rather than

asserting virtues of science

Conclusion

Though none but a fool or a madman will ever pretend to dispute the authority of experience, or to reject that great guide of human life

-- David Hume (1748:26)

Further reading

Bayley, David and Egon Bittner. 1984. “Learning the Skills of Policing.” Law and Contemporary Problems 47: 35-39.

Mastrofski, Stephen D. 1996. “Measuring Police Performance in Public Encounters.” In Quantifying Quality in Policing, edited by Larry Hoover, pp. 207-41. Washington, DC. Police Executive Research Forum.

Willis, James. 2013. Improving Police: What’s Craft Got to Do with It? Ideas in American Policing. Washington, DC: The Police Foundationhttp://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201306/IAP16_Willis_2.pdf