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Thinking About Policing

Ideas. Evidence. Practice.

Research
Assistant

Start with a policing problem.
Find evidence to help you think it through.

Follow the question beyond its keywords, explore connected problems and return to the original sources.

Explore the research sources

Your next line of enquiry

Try:

The search looks beyond your words to the linked crimes, behaviours, victims and vulnerabilities.

How far would you like to go?

The report includes only relevant research found. There may be fewer than you request.

Use public topics only. Leave out names, personal information and details of individual cases.

Checking the research service…

A question, followed properly

More than a keyword search.

  1. Open up the problem

    Look for the linked behaviours, harms and vulnerabilities, as well as the words you entered.

  2. Follow the evidence

    See direct and related studies, their methods, limitations and original sources.

  3. Think about the next step

    Use a detailed report to consider practical options and what still needs testing.

Where we look for evidence Research collections, specialist centres and original sources. 61 sources

Your question guides the search, including related harms, behaviours and vulnerabilities. The report records the sources actually searched and any access limits.

Discover more with ID-EBPAn international directory of research organisations and evidence resources. Opens in a new tab

Directory listings help us find research. We assess the original studies; a listing or rating is not a quality assessment.

Evidence collections12 sources

Reviews, toolkits and maps: start here when asking whether an intervention works.

Research centres and partnerships13 sources

Primary studies, implementation research and explanations of policing problems.

UK data, law and public policy21 sources

Original statistics, legislation, scrutiny and inspection. Check the jurisdiction of each publication.

Safeguarding, vulnerability and health8 sources

Specialist evidence on harm, victims, children, relationships and health.

  • The Children’s Society · County lines toolkit (opens in a new tab)

    UK · check resource jurisdiction

    Exploitation, safeguarding and county lines practice resources.

    Identify whether a claim comes from research, service data, advocacy or practice guidance.

  • NSPCC Learning (opens in a new tab)

    UK nations · jurisdiction-specific resources

    Child safeguarding research, reviews and practice learning.

    Check nation-specific law and distinguish reviews, guidance and primary research.

  • Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (opens in a new tab)

    England and Wales · check research settings

    Child sexual abuse evidence, scale, identification and response.

    Prevalence, recorded incidents and service demand use different denominators.

  • SafeLives · Research library (opens in a new tab)

    UK · check dataset and service coverage

    Domestic abuse, victim experience and service research.

    Service-user data may not represent everyone experiencing abuse; inspect selection and comparison.

  • NIHR Evidence (opens in a new tab)

    UK relevance · study settings vary

    Accessible research summaries on health, mental health and public health.

    Follow the original study; the summary does not replace appraisal of methods and applicability.

  • Cochrane (opens in a new tab)

    International evidence

    Systematic reviews for health, addiction and related interventions.

    Check search dates, certainty and whether health-service findings transfer to policing settings.

  • NICE (opens in a new tab)

    Check nation, topic and guidance status

    Evidence reviews and guidance on health and relevant services.

    Guidance is not automatically a policing legal duty; check scope, version and applicability.

  • Youth Justice Resource Hub · Research and evaluation (opens in a new tab)

    England and Wales · check each study

    Youth justice research, evaluation reports, reviews and learning about children in the justice system.

    Separate practice material from research findings and consider exploitation, safeguarding and children’s experiences alongside reoffending.

Find and follow the research7 sources

Research discovery, practitioner translation and accessible copies. Follow the underlying study.

  • ID-EBP · International Directory of Evidence-Based Policing (opens in a new tab)

    International source directory

    Discover research organisations, evidence collections and specialist sources beyond the initial topic wording. Follow each profile to its original publisher.

    Searches source profiles, not every external paper. Listings, ratings and verified ownership do not assess research quality; record which destinations were actually searched.

  • Society of Evidence Based Policing (opens in a new tab)

    UK practitioner network

    Research briefings, presentations, learning and practitioner connections.

    Follow primary references; a presentation or practitioner account may not report a completed evaluation.

  • Police Science Dr (opens in a new tab)

    UK relevance · international research

    Accessible policing research summaries and learning.

    Read the primary source before relying on a finding in a decision or report.

  • OpenAlex (opens in a new tab)

    International scholarly record

    Research metadata, citation discovery and links to available versions.

    Metadata and citation counts do not establish research quality; coverage is incomplete.

  • CORE (opens in a new tab)

    International repositories

    Find accessible research papers and repository versions.

    Check version, publication status and whether the copy contains the full methods and results.

  • UKRI · Gateway to Research (opens in a new tab)

    UK-funded research

    Find funded projects, researchers and associated outputs.

    Funding or registration of a project is not evidence that an intervention works.

  • UK Data Service (opens in a new tab)

    UK and international datasets

    Quantitative and qualitative datasets with documentation and access routes.

    Respect dataset-specific access conditions and study methodology.

Catalogue updated 19 October 2026. This is a starting point, not a complete list of available research or a record of completed searches. Individual sources have different coverage and access conditions.

An evidence-led starting point for judgement and local testing. Each report shows what was found, what was read and where the evidence is uncertain.