In this paper, the authors lay out possible directions for policing practice and research because of the embedded, collaborative partnerships that led to the Tulsa Community-Based Crime Reduction initiative.
The authors state that the most fitting way to celebrate Joan Petersilia’s numerous advancements within the field of criminal justice is to deliberately practice the two most important lessons that best define her legacy. First, embedded research should drive collaborative partnerships to foster real-world change based on science. Second, such real-world change should reduce the consequences of crime as well as the social costs of heavy-handed criminal justice sanctions within distressed communities to transform criminal justice policy and practice. In this paper, the authors outline future directions for policing practice and research as a result of the embedded, collaborative partnerships that led to the Tulsa Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) initiative. The Tulsa CBCR initiative and subsequent evaluation shows that police-driven, collaborative stakeholder partnerships (including business owners, resident steering committees, local government, police, and researchers) significantly reduced crime within targeted areas, allayed many citizens’ perceptions of risk, and improved residents’ attitudes about the Tulsa Police Department. Publisher Abstract Provided