As budgets grow leaner and public expectations continue to rise, decision-makers in the public service are increasingly seeking data and evidence of best practices to make sound and justifiable decisions.
This trend towards evidence-based decision-making is turning administrators into researchers. Those delving into topics such as police, drugs, fire and public safety may now access an extensive database of information through a new search portal created by the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in British Columbia.
Available on the centre's website (http://cjr.ufv.ca/search-widget/), the portal provides access to the titles of thousands of reports, articles, books, legislation and other data from Canada and around the world.
Project background
The concept for the project was born at a meeting of Defence Research and Development Canada's Centre for Security Science (CSS) about two years ago. At that time, Canadian public safety experts and administrators identified a lack of access to public safety data needed to support evidence-based decision-making.
The UFV's Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research took on the challenge of developing the database and portal, which went live in August 2014.
The project aligns with the centre's commitment of increasing the knowledge of those working in public safety and to openly share best practices and research. The centre regularly provides its research and consulting expertise to criminal justice agencies, governments, police agencies and community organizations on issues related to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public safety operations, proposed initiatives, and evaluations of programs and policies.
The need for data
According to Maxim, Garis, Plecas and Davies, the authors of The Right Decision: Evidence-based Decision Making for Police Professionals, it's worth the effort to collect the information needed for sound decisions, particularly difficult ones that may need to be justified with the public or superiors.
This book, which is available from the centre's website, argues that evidence-based decision-making is one of the more effective tools one can use to rationalize why a particular approach or program option was chosen.
The authors note that policing is one of the major budget items for most cities and municipalities and, "while understanding the invaluable role of police services, both the public and municipal leaders are asking that significant decisions be based on hard evidence. Questions such as what are police forces' underlying strategic value and what are the associated costs and benefits are commonly raised."
Similarly, in a recent publication by Cohen, Plecas, McCormick and Peters entitled Eliminating Crime: The 7 Essential Principles of Police-Based Crime Reduction, also available from the website, the authors argue that effective crime reduction requires police to have access to and integrate much more data, that all police activity must be evidence-based and that police agencies should develop policies, strategies and tactics based exclusively on data and rigorous analysis.
With this in mind, the new information portal is an essential tool for decision-makers seeking independent, verifiable evidence on which to base decisions related to public safety.
Basic searches of the database can be conducted by keyword, title or author, or by using advanced options. For example, a basic keyword search for marijuana finds 932 entries. From there, an advanced search can be conducted using various search terms or phrases, or by limiting the results by publication date, author, language, availability and peer review.
Looking ahead
The database will continue to grow over time as new research becomes available. In addition to using the portal, visitors can peruse and download dozens of research reports that have been produced by the Centre on a wide range of police, drugs, fire and public safety topics.
Recent reports have addressed issues such as police-based crime reduction and the nature and extent of marijuana possession in British Columbia.
Dr. Irwin M. Cohen is an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley, where he holds the RCMP Senior Research Chair in Crime Reduction. He is also the director of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research.
Len Garis is the fire chief for the City of Surrey, B.C. and past president of the Fire Chiefs' Association of British Columbia. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley.
For more information, please visit: http://cjr.ufv.ca