Vera Institute of Justice

This lecture will summarize the findings of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on proactive policing—focusing on the practice’s impacts on crime, and the reactions of communities. Authored by a committee of experts, the report defines “proactive policing” to include strategies that police organizations develop and implement with the intent of preventing and reducing crime. They differ from traditional reactive approaches, which focus on answering citizen requests for police service and responding to crime once it has occurred. The committee’s report finds evidence that a number of proactive policing practices are successful in reducing crime and disorder, at least in the short term, and that most of these strategies do not harm communities’ attitudes toward police. Little is known about the strategies’ long-term effects, and about whether and to what extent they will offer crime-control benefits at a larger jurisdictional level, such as across an entire precinct or city. Nonetheless, the committee concluded that there is a strong evidence base for the application of many proactive policing strategies.

David Weisburd is distinguished professor of criminology, law and society at George Mason University, and Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Weisburd is also an author or editor of more than 25 books and more than 175 scientific articles that cover a wide range of criminal justice research topics. He has received many international prizes for his groundbreaking research on crime hot spots and policing. Professor Weisburd began his career at the Vera Institute of Justice as the lead researcher on the NYPD's pilot program in community policing.