Introduction
Evidence-based policing (EBP) applies research evidence to policing, crime, and justice. It is an approach to education and policy-making using empirical methodologies to evaluate problems, identify successes and failures, measure change over time, and improve services (Cordner, 2020). The Houston Police Department (HPD) has put evidence-based practices into practice by using these processes to provide police services in Houston, Texas. For the HPD to survive and succeed, they need to make sure that the public is satisfied with the service they receive from them. The most effective way to achieve this goal is by conducting research and implementing action plans based on their findings. This essay discusses how Houston police have been innovative in patrolling their city and policing its citizens.
The Houston Police Department
Houston is the fourth most populous U.S. city and the largest city in Texas. According to Hyland & Davis (2019), 4.1 million people live in Houston, which is around 2% of Texas’s population. Houston has a diverse population of individuals with different backgrounds and experiences, including immigrants from all over the world. The Houston Police Department is a large, diverse police force with over 6,000 sworn officers (Hyland & Davis, 2019). The department serves approximately 2 million people and has an annual budget of $1.9 billion (Hyland & Davis, 2019). The demographics of the HPD are 70% white, 22% black, 7% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian or Alaskan Native (Hyland & Davis, 2019). Unlike many police departments, Houston has a system to track which officers do the most harm and which do the least.
Quarterly Community Outreach Programs (QCOP)
The HPD has a policy that mandates that they must conduct QCOP. These programs are designed to communicate with the community and solicit their input on improving the department’s performance (Cordner, 2020). The program is meant to increase transparency between the HPD and its residents. For this policy to be effective, people must research whether or not it achieves its goal of increasing transparency between HPD and its residents. If there are any problems with this program, people can determine what needs to be changed for it to succeed.
The Project Design
The researcher would design the project using qualitative research methods because of the interest in understanding how people perceive police work, especially in the context of their own experiences. Then the writer would use the findings to design a survey that could be sent to a larger group of people. Qualitative research is ideal for this project because it can ask questions that allow participants to describe their personal experiences with police while also illustrating them through written text (Cordner, 2020). This type of research allows one to get a better understanding of various perspectives on policing as well as how people are thinking about it at large.
EBP Resources Used for Research
The project is a collaboration between the HPD, the University of Houston, and the Harris County District Attorney’s office (Hyland & Davis, 2019). The data available are limited to what has been reported in the press, so the study would use several resources to guide the research. These resources include: first, the QCOP website, which includes information on the program’s goals, how it works, and how organizers have used participants’ feedback to improve their operations (Cordner, 2020). Secondly, the HPD’s fiscal year 2018 annual report includes statistics on arrest rates and other data relevant to this project (Fryer, 2019). Lastly, the University of Houston’s website on police involvement in community organizations and events provides information about when these events happened and how many people attended them.
Anticipated Research Outcome
The study hopes to find out how the HPD can better establish relationships with the community it serves. The HPD has been working hard to make itself more approachable to the people it serves (Hyland & Davis, 2019). However, the research aims to make them take this further by improving their communications with the community. The QCOP is an excellent way for police forces to connect with their communities, but it does not always seem effective at establishing trust between the parties involved. By examining the data collected from past events, the HPD will see what kinds of outreach activities are most popular and which are less. This information will help them determine which events will yield the best results for the department and its volunteers.
Conclusion
To successfully effect change in the policing system, it is crucial to understand how it works. More specifically, police officers and other law enforcement personnel need to learn to use better the data they collect and make good decisions based on it. For this to happen, a broader discussion surrounding how law enforcement functions and who should be responsible for reform must happen. However, before any of that can even happen, there must be some type of information presented so everyone else can understand how the police department has been utilizing its data. To achieve this, one must narrow their focus and trust their knowledge of current events and statistics.
References
Cordner, G. W. (2020). Evidence-based policing in 45 small bytes. National Institute of Justice. Web.
Fryer, R. G. (2019). An empirical analysis of racial differences in police use of force. Journal of Political Economy, 127(3), 1210-1261. Web.
Hyland, S. S., & Davis, E. (2019). Local police departments, 2016: Personnel. Las Vegas: United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. Web.