Making Connections between Research and Practice

Abstract

This chapter explores the connection between research and practice, addressing the paradox of policing research. On the one hand, research-based knowledge of, and for, policing has increased significantly in the past 50 years. Yet, on the other hand, police policy and practice has remained relatively uninformed by police research findings, and the demand for evidence to inform policy from within police organizations has been weak. The chapter provides an overview of the seminal work that has primarily come from the United States and the United Kingdom. The research forms the body of work that has become established as the canon of policing studies, providing the central source of an understanding of police and policing today and forming the basis of a professional body of work. The chapter then considers the challenges of connecting research and practice with reference to the growing narratives of police–researcher collaboration.