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18 - Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Anthony A. Braga  and
David Weisburd
Edited by
David Weisburd  and
Anthony A. Braga
Anthony A. Braga
Affiliation:
Senior Research Associate in the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government
David Weisburd
Affiliation:
Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice University of Maryland, College Park
David Weisburd
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Anthony A. Braga
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

In this volume, a group of leading scholars presented contrasting perspectives on eight major innovations in American policing developed over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. Police departments needed to improve their performance and innovation provided the opportunity to make these improvements. These innovations represent fundamental changes to the business of policing. However, as many of our authors point out, improving police performance through innovation is often not straightforward. Police departments are highly resistant to change and police officers often experience difficulty in implementing new programs (Sparrow, Moore, and Kennedy 1990; Capowich and Roehl 1994; Sadd and Grinc 1994). The available evidence on key dimensions of police performance associated with these eight innovations, such as crime control effectiveness and community satisfaction with services provided, is also surprisingly limited. These observations are not unique to the policing field. For example, as Elmore (1997) suggests, the field of education was awash in innovation during the 1990s, but there is little evidence examining whether those innovations advanced the performance of schools, students, or graduates.

While our knowledge about the effects of these innovations on police performance is still developing, we think there is much reason for optimism about the future of policing. This period of innovation has demonstrated that police can prevent crime and can improve their relationships with the communities they serve. In the near future, we don't anticipate the dramatic strategic innovations that characterized the last two decades.

Type
Chapter
Information
Police Innovation
Contrasting Perspectives
 , pp. 339 - 352
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

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  • Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing
    • By Anthony A. Braga, Senior Research Associate in the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, David Weisburd, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice University of Maryland, College Park
  • Edited by David Weisburd, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Anthony A. Braga, Harvard University, Massachusetts
  • Book: Police Innovation
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489334.018
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  • Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing
    • By Anthony A. Braga, Senior Research Associate in the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, David Weisburd, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice University of Maryland, College Park
  • Edited by David Weisburd, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Anthony A. Braga, Harvard University, Massachusetts
  • Book: Police Innovation
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489334.018
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.

  • Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing
    • By Anthony A. Braga, Senior Research Associate in the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, David Weisburd, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice University of Maryland, College Park
  • Edited by David Weisburd, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Anthony A. Braga, Harvard University, Massachusetts
  • Book: Police Innovation
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489334.018
Available formats
×