Dr Alejandro Gimenez Santana1, Dr Joel Caplan1, Dr Les Kennedy1
1Rutgers University, Newark , United States
Our presentation discusses the nature of collaboration that we have developed between academic researchers and law enforcement analysts in developing an evidence-based approach to crime reduction and prevention. The concepts of evidence-based practice and co-production have emerged as influential paradigms driving advances and/or reforms in public policymaking and practice. Both concepts have roots and applications in law enforcement contexts, yet police strategies employing either have largely evolved on separate tracks. Data-informed community engagement (DICE) as an approach encompasses both. It involves regularly sharing data amongst government and community (e.g., business, civic) stakeholder agencies to create agreed-upon understandings of priority issues, likely causes, and desired outcomes. These narratives are then used to guide interventions as coordinated community-based responses to designated crime problems. Notably, academic researchers have been influential in DICE initiatives to date. Here, the academic role has differed from more typical evaluation to capacity-building, enhancing the analytic capabilities for DICE stakeholders.
We will present the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC), a Rutgers University anchor initiative that focuses on the co-production of public safety through a collaborative process of data sharing and analysis. NPSC helps community stakeholders maximize existing resources to prevent crime and enhance public safety in evidence-based ways. In only four years, NPSC has brought together a total of 46 community partner organizations, including community groups, local corporations, healthcare providers, real estate developers, law enforcement, and city hall officials, among others. The strong working relationship between NPSC data analysts and community organizations creates opportunities to deeply understand local needs and to inform current efforts with reliable data insights. As part of this process, community groups participate in a monthly forum where everyone is presented with updated data and analytics to engage in a conversation that identifies new priorities and immediate solutions to the most pressing crime problems.
Biography:
Dr. Alejandro Gimenez-Santana is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers-Newark, where he serves as Director of the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC) and Deputy Director of the Rutgers Center on Public Security (RCPS). Before assuming the position of NPSC Director, he has served as a consultant for the World Bank in Colombia, and the Inter-American Development Bank in Uruguay. Currently, he is directing a multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to improve public safety in the city of Newark through the application of an evidence-based, data-informed community engagement effort.