December 2025: Translating Research Into Action

Cutting-edge research is being applied to shape policing in powerful ways. Bridging the gap between evidence and practice drives meaningful change, as data, science, and lived experience converge to create more effective public safety strategies.

 GUEST EDITOR: Megan Stoltz

Articles

• The Rise of the Pracademic

  By DeAris V. Hoard, PhD, Officer, and Jennifer Hall, PhD, Sergeant, Louisville Metro Police Department, Kentucky
  The policing profession is undergoing a profound transformation as police agencies embrace the hybrid professional: the “pracademic.” Popularized by Dr. Paul L. Posner, the term combines “practi...

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• Concentrating on Crime and Criminal Offenders

  By John M. MacDonald, PhD, Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Michael R. Smith, JD, PhD, Professor, University of Texas – San Antonio; and Elizabeth R. Groff, PhD, Professor (Ret.), Temple University, Pennsylvania
  Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images The crime reduction benefits of focused efforts by police in crime hotspots is one of the most widely es...

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• The Network Effect

  By Marie Ouellet, PhD, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia; Sadaf Hashimi, PhD, Assistant Professor, University Nebraska Omaha; Jason Gravel, PhD, Assistant Professor, Temple University, Pennsylvania; and Dean Dabney, PhD, Professor, Georgia State University
  Police chiefs face common, long-standing challenges, regardless of geography: 

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• Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Investigations

  By Cynthia Lum, PhD, Director, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP); Christopher S. Koper, PhD, Co-Director, CEBCP; Lisa Barao, PhD, Associate Director of Research Crime & Justice Policy Lab; Jeffery Egge, Sergeant (Ret.), Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota, CEBCP; Mathew Lewis, Chief (Ret.), Suffolk County Police Department, New York; Chris Mastroianni, Sergeant, Hartford Police Department, Connecticut; and Michael Goodier, PhD, Program Manager, IACP
  The growing body of research on police investigations shows that detectives, their work, and the organization and supervis...

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