The Police Foundation

Citation

Carter, J.W. (2012), "The Police Foundation", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2012.18135aaa.006

The Police Foundation

Article Type: Policing on the web From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 35, Issue 1

Since its creation in 1970, the Police Foundation has been instrumental in improving the manner in which police services are delivered. Over the course of the past forty years, the Police Foundation has carved a niche for itself as a leader in the evaluation of police practices and a supporter of innovation in the field. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a handful of policing scholars, policy makers and/or professionals who are unfamiliar with at least one of the Police Foundation’s many research projects; such as, the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment or the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment.

One of the principal goals of the Police Foundation has been to disseminate its publications to the broadest possible audience, ensuring that policing scholars, professionals and policy makers have the knowledge necessary to make the best possible decisions and perform in the most appropriate manner possible. In today’s digital age, the Police Foundation uses the internet to pursue that mission by maintaining an online electronic library[1] where visitors may download electronic copies and/or order hard copies of the Police Foundations publications that are still in print. While the vast majority of the reports and other resources are available free of charge, some of the documents which are available only in hardcopy format are available for a nominal fee.

Within the walls of this electronic library lies a wealth of accumulated knowledge about the field of policing. For example, the electronic library includes the all of the monographs in the foundation’s “Ideas in American Policing” series, each written by leading scholars in the field. This series contains monographs by scholars such as Lawrence Sherman, David Bayley, Stephen Mastrofski and Jerome Skolnick. The electronic library also provides access to research reports from a staggering collection of Police Foundation projects. These projects cover issues such as domestic violence, terrorism, police officer behavior, immigration issues, drug enforcement, police personnel issues, use of force, women in policing, the role of the police, as well as many other topics. For those who need only the briefest of summaries, the Police Foundation’s electronic library provides a number of two-page summaries of selected research projects such as the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment and the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment. Finally, for the more technologically savvy visitor, the electronic library provides access to a large number of manuals, guides, newsletters and other publications specifically addressing the topic of crime mapping.

Regardless of the specific topic, as long as it concerns the field of policing, if a visitor needs to find research results, manuals, guides, newsletters, monographs or even training curricula, then the Police Foundation’s electronic library is certain to be an extremely valuable resource. Whether one is a police practitioner, professional, educator, student or policy maker, the electronic library is well worth a visit. Who knows what treasure you might find.

The Police Foundation’s Electronic Library is accessible at http://www.policefoundation.org/docs/library.html

J.W. Carter II, PhDCollege of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA