Fact versus Fact: A Selective View of Police Research in the United States
| Author | David J. Farmer |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7604900205 |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DAVID
J.
FARMER
Director, Police Division,
National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice,
United States Department of Justice.
Mr. Farmer is responsible for directing his Institute's nationwide
programme of research and experimentation. He was formerly
Special Assistant to the Police Commissioner and Director of
Operations Management in the New
York
City Police Depart-
ment, commanding the 250-man office directing field operations.
He was responsible for many of the innovations made during the
period of office of Commissioners Patrick V. Murphy and Donald
F. Cawley. He has also served as a Public Safety Commissioner
for Park Forest South, Illinois. He has provided police consulting
services to some 50 law enforcement agencies throughout the
United States and to various committees. He is the author of Civil
Disorder Control. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto
and of the London School of Economics.
An
American citizen,
he was born and spent his childhood in Barnstaple, Devon.
FACT VERSUS FACT: A SELECTIVE
VIEW
OF POLICE RESEARCH IN
THE UNITED STATES
In police management and operations, It
IS
becoming increas-
ingly clear that the old ways may not necessarily be the best ways.
Research being conducted in the United States is challenging time-
honoured assumptions about traditional approaches and the police
community is entering aperiod where research is becoming more
widely recognized among police practitioners as a necessity rather
than ahindrance. This article attempts to convey the general
sense of these challenges and of police research in the United
States - by outlining aspects of research work in progress in the
areas of (1) patrol, (2) program performance measurement, (3)
anti-corruption management and (4) criminal investigation. In
doing so, a choice has been made to omit reference to the research
activity in progress in other areas of police management and
operations - in technology, personnel management and in the
numerous other research areas being explored with the support of
the National Institute and of others.
It
is hoped that British police
administrators may derive some interest (whether in the form of
inspiration or solace) from reviewing these efforts to advance
104
April
1976
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