NCJ Number
251987
Journal
Translational Criminology Dated: Fall 2012 Pages: 16-17
Date Published
2012
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the rationale for and the features and intended uses of the Matrix Demonstration Project (MDP).
Abstract
The issue addressed by the authors is how evidence-based policing is achieved beyond generating research relevant to what does and does not work in achieving policing goals. Closing the gap between the research supply and the demand for research-based policing practices is the translating of research into understandable and usable forms. In this effort, the authors initially developed the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix. This is a free online tool intended to assist with the organization and translation of a large body of police research on crime control for use by police agencies. This matrix visualizes this body of work to make it easier to grasp the general characteristics of effective police interventions. This was a first step in making a large body of research more accessible to police agencies; however, research, even when translated through systematic reviews or online tools, rarely explores its full implications for policing policies and practices. This led to the authors' second step in achieving evidence-based policing, the Matrix Demonstration Project (MDP). The core objective of the MDP is to institutionalize relevant research into the daily activities of police agencies and their personnel through permanent changes in infrastructure or operations. The demonstrations included in the MDP are examples that show how the processes or outputs of research might be permanently institutionalized into a police system. Each project in the MDP must be based in quality research evidence applied in police practices. Each agency included in the MDP works with the MDP team to create a free tool or standard operating procedure that enables other police agencies to try something similar, using the MDP demonstrations as examples. 3 references