Summary
"Today it appears that scholars are being attracted in increasing numbers toward the evidence-based movement and policymakers, such as the United States Department of Justice, are encouraging police to do the same. Consequently, it would seem to be a good time to reconsider the value of the police craft in relationship to police science. Improvements in policing rest heavily on the shoulders of those who do policing at the coalface, and patrol officers have long thought of the way they perform their work as a craft. Thus, unless more attention is given to the craft aspects of policing within the context of the evidence-based movement, it is unlikely that efforts to integrate science with policing will deliver the results that reformers desire. Ultimately, any attempt to improve police performance must take into account the views of those who constitute any department’s largest resource and their understanding of what constitutes superior police work."--Includes text from pages 2-3.