Evidence-based policing and police receptivity to research: evidence from Taiwan
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 12 July 2022
Issue publication date: 24 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how evidence-based policing (EBP) is understood by police officers and citizens in Taiwan and the influence of police education on police recruit's receptivity to research evidence in policing.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a cross-sectional design that includes Taiwanese police officers (n = 671) and a control group of Taiwanese criminology undergraduate students (n = 85). A research instrument covering five themes is developed, and after a pilot test the final scale remains 14 items.
Findings
The analysis suggests that police officers in Taiwan generally hold a positive view towards the role of research and researchers in policing, more so than is often observed in similar studies conducted in Western countries. Receptivity to research was found to be significantly higher among the non-police sample compared to the police sample. Moreover, time spent in police education was significantly associated with lower levels of receptivity to research.
Originality/value
The paper makes two original contributions to the literature on police officer receptivity to research. It is the first paper to (1) empirically examine police officers' openness to, and use of research in an Asian setting and (2) to compare police officers' receptivity to research with those of a relevant non-police group.
Keywords
Citation
Lin, K., Sidebottom, A. and Wortley, R. (2022), "Evidence-based policing and police receptivity to research: evidence from Taiwan", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 860-880. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-04-2022-0050
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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