Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:30:42.583Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - The Role of the “Super Evidence Cop” in Evidence-Based Policing

The Israeli Case

from Part V - The Practitioner’s Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2023

By
Simon Perry  and
Michael Wolfowicz
Edited by
David Weisburd ,
Tal Jonathan-Zamir ,
Gali Perry  and
Badi Hasisi
David Weisburd
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and George Mason University, Virginia
Tal Jonathan-Zamir
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gali Perry
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Badi Hasisi
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access

Summary

The road to evidence-based policing (EBP) is often difficult, and the Israeli experience has been no different. To overcome barriers and more effectively facilitate and ensure translation of research into practice, Sherman (1998) suggested the role of the “evidence cop.” The evidence cop, whether a sworn officer or an outside academic, is assigned responsibility for overseeing the implementation of EBP. Success in achieving the ambitious objectives of EBP is likely to vary considerably due to the likelihood that the officers will be perceived with suspicion, undermining their authority. Our analysis takes a historical perspective, focusing on two distinct attempts at strategic reform in the Israel Police (IP). The first took place in the mid-1990s under Commissioner Hefetz, while the first author was a senior figure in the IP and benefits from first-hand knowledge of the attempt to integrate EBP. The second attempt took place in the recent years under Commissioner Alsheich. The reason Alsheich was able to achieve considerable success in his substantial EBP reform in the police force, while Hefetz and many commissioners around the world were less successful, lies, in our opinion, in the fact that Alsheich himself was the “evidence cop”, leading the process as a “super evidence cop.”

Keywords

super evidence copevidence copIsrael Policeevidence-based policingtotal evidence-based policingscience-led policingpolice-led sciencepolice culturepracademicsEMUN” (Trust) Reform
Type
Chapter
Information
The Future of Evidence-Based Policing , pp. 273 - 291
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramovsky, A. (1995). Partners against crime: joint prosecutions of Israeli organized crime figures by US and Israeli authorities. Fordham International Law Journal, 19, 1903–1919.Google Scholar
Abramovsky, A. (1996). Prosecuting the Russian Mafia: Recent Russian Legislation and Increased Bilateral Cooperation May Provide the Means. Virginia Journal of International Law, 37, 191–222.Google Scholar
Alsheich, R. (2020). Police Commissioner at the Forefront in Defense of Values. Tchelet.Google Scholar
Amir, M. (1998). Organized crime in Israel. In Friedmann, R. R. (Ed.), Crime and Criminal Justice in Israel: Assessing the Knowledge Base toward the Twenty-First Century (pp. 121–138). State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Amir, M. (2001). Is there organized crime in Israel? Shaarei Mishpat JUT, 2(3), 231–337.Google Scholar
Asa-el, A. (2018, October 26). Top cop Alsheikh ‘neither quit nor was fired’. Retrieved from The Jerusalem Post: www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/top-cop-goes-home-570061Google Scholar
Boba, R. (2010). A practice‐based evidence approach in Florida. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 11(2), 122–128.Google Scholar
Boba, R. (2011). Institutionalization of problem solving, analysis, and accountability in the Port St. Lucie, FL Police Department. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-w0613-pub.pdfGoogle Scholar
Braga, A. A. (2016). The value of ‘pracademics’ in enhancing crime analysis in police departments. Policing: a journal of policy and practice, 10(3), 308–314.Google Scholar
Cassey, Y. (2019). Policing strategies in the rural area and the police dealings with agricultural crime. The main thing in research 2019 collection of articles on police issues. Israel Police.Google Scholar
Gimshi, D. (1999). Community policing in Israel and in the world. Israel Police.Google Scholar
Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Goldstein, H. (1990). Excellence in problem-oriented policing. McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Goldstein, H. (2003). On further developing problem-oriented policing: The most critical need, the major impediments, and a proposal. Crime Prevention Studies, 15, 13–48.Google Scholar
Grint, K., Holt, C. & Neyroud, P. (2017). Cultural change and lodestones in the British police. International Journal of Emergency Services, 6(3), 166–76.Google Scholar
Hefetz, A. (1996). Toward community policing. Mashabei Enosh, 105–106, 22–24.Google Scholar
Hollenberg, A. (2017). Body cameras in the Israel Police. In Ziso, M. (Ed.), The essence of research (pp. 87–104). The Israel Police, Planning and Organization Department, Strategic Division. (in Hebrew) www.policemuseum.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2017-רקחמב-העיקר.pdfGoogle Scholar
Huey, L., & Mitchell, R. J. (2016). Unearthing hidden keys: Why pracademics are an invaluable (if underutilized) resource in policing research. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 10(3), 300–307. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paw029Google Scholar
Israel Police. (2007). Annual Accountability Report, 2007. Government Publication Bureau of Israel. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar
Israel Police. (2017). Annual statistics of the Israel police. The Israel Police, Planning and Organization Department, Strategic Division. www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/police_statistical_abstract_2017/he/shanton_2017.pdfGoogle Scholar
Israel Police. (2019a). Annual statistics of the Israel police. The Israel Police, Planning and Organization Department, Strategic Division.Google Scholar
Israel Police. (2019b). Survey of the standing of the Israel police. The Israel Police, Planning and Organization Department, Strategic Division. www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/2018_police_freedom_of_information/he/םירקס.pdfGoogle Scholar
Jonathan-Zamir, T., & Harpaz, A. (2018). Predicting support for procedurally just treatment: The case of the Israel National Police. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(6), 840–862. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818763230Google Scholar
Jonathan-Zamir, T., Weisburd, D., Dayan, M., & Zisso, M. (2019). The proclivity to rely on professional experience and evidence-based policing: Findings from a survey of high-ranking officers in the Israel Police. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(10), 1456–1474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819842903Google Scholar
Keane, J., & Bell, P. (2013). Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety–A comparative review of the literature. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 41(3), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2013.06.003Google Scholar
Laufman-Gavri, L., & Hasisi, B. (2017, November 15). “Let my station go”: Reforming police practices in Israel [Conference presentation]. The American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Lum, C. M., & Koper, C. S. (2017). Evidence-based policing: Translating research into practice. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lum, C., Telep, C. W., Koper, C. S., & Grieco, J. (2012). Receptivity to research in policing. Justice Research and Policy, 14(1), 61–95. https://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.14.1.2012.61Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S.D. (2015). Police CEOs: Agents of change? The Police Chief, 82(11), 52–54.Google Scholar
May, T., Hunter, G., & Hough, M. (2017). The Long and Winding Road: Embedding Evidence-based Policing Principles. In Knutsson, J. & Tompson, L. (Eds.), Advances in Evidence-Based Policing (pp. 139–156). Routledge.Google Scholar
Mazerolle, L., Darroch, S., & White, G. (2013). Leadership in problem-oriented policing. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 36(3), 543–560.Google Scholar
McKenna, P. F. (2018). Evidence-based policing in Canada. Canadian Public Administration, 61(1), 135–140.Google Scholar
Neyroud, P. (2017). Policing with science: a new evidence-based professionalism for policing. European Police Science & Research Bulletin, Special Conference Issue No. 2, 39–44. http://91.82.159.234/index.php/bulletin/article/view/201Google Scholar
Neyroud, P., & Weisburd, D. (2014). Transforming the police through science: The challenge of ownership. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 8 (4), 287–292.Google Scholar
O’Neill, M. E., Marks, M., & Singh, A. (2007). Police occupational culture: New debates and directions (Vol. 8). Emerald Group Publishing.Google Scholar
Perry, S., & Jonathan-Zamir, T. (2015). Lessons from Empirical Research on Policing in Israel. in Jonathan-Zamir, T., Weisburd, D., & Hasisi, B. (Eds.), Policing in Israel: Studying Crime Control, Community and Counterterrorism (pp. 237–251). CRC Press.Google Scholar
Piza, E. L., Szkola, J., & Blount-Hill, K. L. (2020). How can embedded criminologists, police pracademics, and crime analysts help increase police-led program evaluations? A survey of authors cited in the evidence-based policing matrix. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1–15.Google Scholar
Rojek, J., Martin, P., & Alpert, G. P. (2015). The literature and research on police–research partnerships in the USA. In Rojek, J., Martin, P. & Alpert, G. P. (Eds.), Developing and maintaining police-researcher partnerships to facilitate research use (pp. 27–44). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2056-3Google Scholar
Santos, R. B. (2013). Implementation of a police organizational model for crime reduction. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 36(2), 295–311. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639511311329714Google Scholar
Santos, R. B., & Santos, R. G. (2012). The role of leadership in implementing a police organizational model for crime reduction and accountability. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 6(4), 344–353.Google Scholar
Santos, R. G., & Santos, R. B. (2019). A four-phase process for translating research into police practice. Police Practice and Research, 20(6), 585–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, J.M. et al. (2014). Effective policing for 21st-century Israel. RAND. www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR200/RR287z1/RAND_RR287z1.hebrew.pdfGoogle Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (1984). Experiments in Police Discretion: Scientific Boon or Dangerous Knowledge. Law & Contemporary Problems, 47(4), 61–82.Google Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (1998). Evidence-based policing. Police Foundation. www.policefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Sherman-1998-Evidence-Based-Policing.pdfGoogle Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (2002). Evidence-based policing: Social organization of information for social control. In Waring, E. J. & Weisburd, D. (Eds.), Crime and Social Organization (2nd ed., pp. 217–248), Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Sherman, L. (2011). Police and Crime Control. In Tonry, M. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Crime and Criminal Justice (pp. 509–537). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195395082.013.0017Google Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (2013). The rise of evidence-based policing: Targeting, testing, and tracking. Crime and Justice, 42(1), 377–451.Google Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (2015). A tipping point for “totally evidenced policing” ten ideas for building an evidence-based police agency. International Criminal Justice Review, 25(1), 11–29.Google Scholar
Siegel, D. (2003). The transnational Russian mafia. In Siegel, D., Van de Bunt, H. & Zaitch, D. (Eds.), Global organized crime (pp. 51–62). Springer.Google Scholar
Sizer, S. (2017). 11. The Jewish Temple: Past, Present and Future. In Paas, S. (Ed.), Israelism and the Place of Christ: Christocentric Interpretation of Biblical Prophecy (pp. 233–245). LIT Verlag.Google Scholar
Telep, C. W., & Weisburd, D. (2014). Generating knowledge: a case study of the National Policing Improvement Agency program on systematic reviews in policing. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10(4), 371–398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-014-9206-7Google Scholar
Tilley, N., & Scott, M. S. (2012). The past, present and future of POP. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 6(2), 122–132.Google Scholar
Walsh, B. (2006). Evidence-based policing for crime prevention, In Weisburd, D. & Braga, A. A. (Eds.), Prospects and Problems in Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives (pp. 305–321). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., Amir, M., Barak, I., Tennenbaum, A. & Shalev, O. (1997). Committee report – community policing in Israel – opportunities and risks. Mishtara Vechevra, 1, 109–30.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., & Hasisi, B. (2018). The winding road to evidence-based policy in corrections: A Case Study of the Israel Prison Service. Israel Law Review, 51(1), 111–125. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021223717000218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisburd, D., Hasisi, B., Litmanovitz, Y., Carmel, T., & Tshuva, S. (2020). Institutionalizing problem‐oriented policing: An evaluation of the EMUN reform in Israel. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(3), 941–964.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., Shalev, O., & Amir, M. (2002). Community policing in Israel: Resistance and change. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25(1), 80–109.Google Scholar
Willis, J. J., Mastrofski, S. D., & Kochel, T. R. (2010). Maximizing the benefits of reform: Integrating Compstat and community policing in America. US Department of Justice. www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e051131361_FirstLine-Supervsn-Compstat_508.pdf.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×