Systematic reviews in policing have become an increasingly common way for researchers to synthesize the state of research on programs, practices, and policies. Reviews utilize comprehensive and transparent search strategies to identify and summarize the evidence base for a particular topic, providing rigorous assessments of the state of scientific knowledge about policing strategies needed for evidence-based policing. This chapter summarizes findings and conclusions from systematic reviews on policing, building on an earlier paper that included 17 policing reviews completed between 2004 and 2015. In the current chapter, we identify updates to five of these reviews, and new reviews on 13 policing topics. Our “review of reviews” on 30 policing topics suggests a growth in primary research in policing, and in particular an increase in reviews on non-crime control topics. But we also suggest existing reviews provide insufficient “how to” guidance for implementing evidence-based strategies. We argue in concluding that scholars have succeeded in providing a “first generation” of studies that tell us whether general policing approaches are effective, but a much larger evidence based is needed for a “second generation” of systematic reviews that would provide specific guidance about choosing and implementing evidence-based practices in the field.

Over the past two decades, evidence-based policing has become accepted by practitioners around the world. This chapter focuses on evidence-based policing from the perspective of one who has served as a police chief in four different cities, implemented problem-oriented policing in three agencies and engaged in numerous research initiatives with a view toward improving police effectiveness. It discusses the risks and rewards of a police chief conducting research in a real-world laboratory. It provides suggestions on how researchers might encourage broader adoption of evidence-based practices in the future. Finally, the chapter identifies several areas in need of attention by researches in the future.