The Prevalence and Characteristics of Police Practitioner–Researcher Partnerships

Abstract

Consistent with the current models of governance in public sector organizations, there have been an increasing number of advocates within the law enforcement community calling for agencies to participate in partnerships with researchers. Despite this support, little is known about the prevalence of police practitioner- researcher partnerships, nor has there been any examination into which agencies participate in partnerships with researchers or the reasons why agencies do not participate. The present study addresses these gaps in knowledge by reporting on findings from a national survey of law enforcement agencies on research partnership participation. The results reveal nearly one third of responding agencies reported they had participated in a research partnership within the last 5 years. The most common reason provided for not participating in these relationships was a lack of funding resources. Discussion on the future expansion of police practitioner-researcher partnerships in light of these findings is provided.