Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Pete Collins, Seattle University (collinsp@seattle.edu)Elaine Gunnison, Seattle University (gunnisone@seattleu.edu)Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Seattle University (jhelfgott@seattleu.edu)Marne Koerber, Seattle University (koerberm@seattleu.edu)Stephen K. Rice, Seattle University (ricest@seattleu.edu)Sarah Robinson, Seattle University (sarah@theifproject.com)This paper presents results from the pilot evaluation of the Seattle Police Department’s “IF”Project, a crime reduction and crime prevention program run by the Seattle Police Departmentthat involves multiple components that bridge law enforcement, corrections, juvenile justice,schools, and community agencies. The core of the program involves a prison-based writingworkshop in which inmates are posed the question, “If there was something someone could havesaid or done to change the path that led you here, what would it have been?” Additionalprogrammatic components involve a monthly prison-based informational topic presentation, andworkshops in schools, courts, and juvenile justice facilities in which ex-offenders who haveparticipated in the prison-based workshops facilitate similar writing workshops for juveniles forthe purpose of crime prevention. Results from a mixed methods evaluation of all components ofthe “IF” Project including evaluation of workshops conducted from July 2012 – June 2013 inprisons, juvenile detention facilities, and schools are presented. Implications of findings forfuture development of the “IF” Project and its effectiveness in crime prevention and inaddressing issues faced by individuals engaged in criminal behavior patterns will be discussed.The Benefits and Challenges of Collaborative Research in Law EnforcementChristine Robbin, Seattle Police Department, USA (Christine.robbin@seattle.gov)Collaborative research between law enforcement and academia has unique benefits andchallenges. The benefits include generation of research questions grounded in current and realworld law enforcement priorities, pedagogical opportunities to enhance student learning throughservice-oriented research, availability of data to researchers to examine issues of practicalimportance, and research resources that would otherwise not be available to law enforcement.Challenges include difficulty in allocating staff for data preparation, management of data, thediscrepancy between the need for immediate findings to address dynamic crime patterns and thetime it takes to design and complete a research study, and difficulties in designing amethodologically rigorous study. Recommendations for addressing challenges and making themost out of practitioner-academic collaboration in law enforcement research are discussed.32