Why innovations in policing don’t work or don’t translate: An implementation science survey of US police leaders

Abstract

Introduction:Police agencies are often hesitant to adopt evidence-based practices.The barriers may include political factors, ingrained habits and cultures, and labor union concerns.This study examined organizational and community-level barriers and facilitators that influence innovation in policing using an implementation science framework.Methods: A body of 31 survey items operationalized for implementation in police settings were mapped onto the constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.The resulting instrument was administered to 72 police leaders and researchers at professional gatherings for police.Results:Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that implementation bore heavily on an innovation's prospects for success independent of the effectiveness of the innovation itself, and several factors served as barriers and facilitators.Among them, there was agreement that innovations in policing were often more complex than the actions they replaced, weren't supported by changes to an agency's information technology infrastructure, not integrated into officers' performance evaluations, and were likely to be mistrusted if they originated from external sources.Officers were unlikely to understand an innovation's comparative value, and likely to seek their own preferred outcomes regardless.Discussion: Responses illustrate how effective policing practices could nonetheless be deemed infeasible, unacceptable, fail to be adopted, or prove unsustainable, providing insights into why many of the innovations and reforms that seek to improve policing are met with limited success despite a promising evidence base.These findings may guide new implementation strategies police can use to accelerate successful organizational change.