Kevin Bethel is a retired Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner and now Chief of School Safety for the Philadelphia School District. We chat about the school-to-prison pipeline and his work rethinking the role of police in schools. His diversion program has reduced school arrests by 71 percent.
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Mo McGough, Chief of Staff at The Policing Project at NYU Law, about the role, representation, and experiences of women in policing. They discuss the need for greater gender parity in law enforcement, the challenges faced by women officers, and the importance of changing the culture within police departments to support women. They also touch on the intersectionality of gender with other issues such as race and the need for men in leadership positions to advocate for ge...
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Dr. Robert Schug, a neuro criminologist and clinical psychologist, about the real science behind serial killer research. They discuss the misconceptions surrounding serial killers, the difference between serial, spree, and mass killers, and the need for more scientific research in this field. Dr. Schug also talks about his work interviewing serial killers and the importance of approaching them as humans rather than monsters. He emphasizes the potential for identifying ...
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Philip Atiba Goff, an expert in racial bias and discrimination. They discuss the concept of implicit bias and its impact on policing, as well as the limitations of current training programs. Goff emphasizes the importance of shifting the focus from individual character to situational factors when addressing racial disparities in policing. He also highlights the need for better measurement of the consequences of policing practices and the importance of including margina...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Chris Magnus, the police chief for Tucson, Arizona. Magnus discusses the innovative approaches his department is taking to address social problems affecting the city, such as homelessness and substance abuse. He emphasizes the need for a shift away from a reflexive arrest approach and towards more evidence-based and tailored solutions. Magnus also highlights the importance of building partnerships with other service p...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Lorraine Mazerolle, a professor of criminology at the University of Queensland. They discuss Mazerolle's career in criminology and her work on police and crime prevention partnerships. Mazerolle explains the importance of partnerships in sustaining long-term crime control and highlights the benefits of dyad partnerships, which involve the police and one other agency. She also discusses the role of legislation in suppo...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Thomas Abt, a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Abt discusses his recent book, "Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence--and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets," and the importance of translating academic research into evidence-based policy advice. They also discuss the challenges of implementing comprehensive anti-violence plans in cities and the need for m...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Professor Lawrence Sherman, director of the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing at the University of Cambridge. They discuss executive police education, harm-focused victimization, and the use of algorithms in policing. Professor Sherman also talks about the police constable degree apprenticeship program and the challenges of implementing evidence-based policing in the US. He emphasizes the importance of educ...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Marcus Felson, a professor of Criminal Justice at Texas State University and the originator of the routine activities approach to crime. Felson discusses the origins and importance of the routine activities theory in crime prevention. He emphasizes the need for simplicity and clarity in criminology research and criticizes mainstream criminologists for their vague and confusing conceptualizations. Felson also discusses...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Dr. Ella Cockbain, an Associate Professor in the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London. They discuss the challenges of tackling human trafficking, labor exploitation, and sexual exploitation. Dr. Cockbain highlights the complexities and misconceptions surrounding trafficking, emphasizing the need for accurate definitions and evidence-based responses. She also discusses the unintended co...
Sir Denis O'Connor has been in British policing for over 50 years and a leader for nearly two decades. Across a variety of roles, he has been at the center of a number of significant high-profile reviews. We discuss police careerists, the growth of oversight regimes, and the need for a plan to win. There's also some reflection on the former prevalence of violence at weddings in the east end of London.
Dr. Renee Mitchell is a sergeant in the Sacramento police department, California, and a co-founder and current president of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing. In a wide-ranging chat, we explore the myriad ways research can help 21st century policing. We also cover her Sacramento Hot Spots Experiment, how policing research is like following the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and its lack of evidence base, "Make it stop" policing, and the l...
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Dr. Ian Hesketh, the Wellbeing Lead at the UK College of Policing and the Senior Responsible Owner for the National Police Wellbeing Service in the UK. They discuss the importance of officer wellness and resiliency in the face of mounting challenges in the police service. They also touch on the concept of "leaveism," where officers use their personal vacation time instead of taking sick leave, and the need for line ma...
Rob Briner is Professor of Organizational Psychology in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. He tells me about the vital role of accountability in pushing evidence-based practice, the appeal of apparent simplicity and good intentions that can trap people in harmful responses, the three words managers can't seem to say, and the idea of watchful waiting.
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Geoff Barnes, the director of criminology for the Western Australia police force. They discuss the importance of evidence-based policing and the role of senior leadership in making it sustainable. Barnes shares his experiences working with police departments and highlights the challenges of implementing evidence-based practices. He emphasizes the need for police-led experiments and the involvement of academics in supporting these initiatives. The conversation also touc...
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Charis Kubrin, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, about her research on California Proposition 47. Proposition 47 is a law that reduces some non-violent, non-serious crimes to misdemeanors. Kubrin's research found that Proposition 47 had no significant impact on violent crime and may have had a small impact on motor vehicle theft and larceny. However, she emphasizes the need for further research and analysis to fully understand the effects of the law....
John Eck is a professor at the University of Cincinnati and the originator of the SARA model of problem-oriented policing. We discuss his work around investigation management, the nonsense and unreliability of clearance rates, the true value of detective work, the failings of community policing, and what he learned about place management from a cemetery.
I catch up with Geoff Alpert, professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, and a stalwart of the policing research field for over 30 years. We discuss how to get research into the hands of police officers, and what are the essential skills for a new policing researcher coming out of a graduate program.
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Major Wendy Stiver, a commander in the Dayton Ohio Police Department and a practitioner in residence for the National Institute of Justice's LEADS scholar program. Stiver discusses the challenges of implementing evidence-based policing and overcoming resistance within police departments. She also talks about her research on infant mortality cases, patrol officer exposure to secondary trauma, and foot patrol evaluation...
Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Tamara Herold, a researcher who worked on the award-winning PIVOT Project. The PIVOT Project, which stands for Place-Based Investigations of Violent Offender Territories, aimed to understand why violent crime hotspots persist and how to effectively reduce crime in these areas. The project involved investigating the networks of places and offenders in these hotspots and implementing a citywide violence reduction strategy. The project achieved impressive results, with a ...
In this podcast episode, Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Kim Rossmo, a former detective and current professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Texas State University. Rossmo discusses his research on investigative failures and wrongful convictions. He explains that investigative failures often involve a cluster of factors, including personal biases, rush to judgment, and confirmation bias. He emphasizes the importance of evaluating the reliability of evidence and avoiding tunnel vision in investi...
I discuss with Jakob Lindergaard-Bentzen (program manager with the Danish National Police) the challenges of promoting and supporting ILP, the complexity of the modern detective role, and how to staff and sustain an analysis unit. We even use the one word that you weren't allowed to use in the Danish police until a couple of years ago.
In this second episode of Reducing Crime, I talk with Detective Inspector Mike Newman of the Queensland Police Service in Australia. We chat about the development of evidence-based policing in their force, and how they have forged relationships with local academics. QPS have emerged as one of the most progressive police agencies developing new approaches to identifying best practice.
In the pilot episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Police Chief Tom Nestel about ongoing education in policing, innovation, building trust, working in different departments, and evidence-based policing. Nestel discusses his experience in various police departments and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in law enforcement. He also emphasizes the need for effective communication and the use of technology, such as Twitter and body-worn cameras, to ...
