Police-Led Field Experiments: Lessons from the NIJ's LEADS Scholars Program (Webinar)

A police sergeant on the east coast and a police lieutenant on the west coast describe studies they have recently completed in their mid-sized departments to test the effectiveness of patrol techniques. Their studies, which were field experiments in the vein of rapid research, including random assignment, not only produced information of practical value but also demonstrated an important element of evidence-based policing - systematically testing what you do to determine how well it works - not because you got a grant that required an evaluation, but because it is the logical and rational thing to do. They have even taken the next step of replication, to see whether the results from a study in one department are reproducible in a different jurisdiction.