College of Policing to host What Works Centre for Crime Reduction

The government has announced that the College of Policing will host a What Works Centre for Crime Reduction. The Centre's role will be to identify the best available evidence on approaches to reducing crime and potential savings to the police service, their crime reduction partners and the public.

The College will work with academics, police and other crime reduction partners to review the evidence base and produce results for decision-makers such as Police and Crime Commissioners.

The What Works Centre will inform the police service and their crime reduction partners about how to tackle the most pressing crime reduction issues. The Centre will use the most robust and comprehensive research methods to review evidence on practices and interventions. It will draw the evidence together and identify which approaches are likely to be effective. The Centre will also provide the knowledge, tools and guidance to support practitioners and decision makers to target their resources more effectively.

In recent years there has been a strong drive to implement 'evidence-based policing' through using the best available evidence to inform decisions about practices and policies. The introduction of the What Works Centre gives this approach greater momentum and puts the evidence-based approach at the heart of what the College is trying to achieve.

The Centre will be led by a core College team and will also be commissioning the support of universities and other providers to deliver the requirements. The College plans to tender with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for academic partners in What Works Centre activity in the near future.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall, chief executive of the College, said: "We welcome this important opportunity for the College to work with partners to ensure What Works knowledge is at the heart of our shared efforts to prevent crime and protect the public."

The College What Works Centre is part of a world-leading network of centres providing robust, comprehensive evidence to guide public spending decisions. The network will build on two existing centres of excellence - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Educational Endowment Foundation. Four new independent institutions, including the College of Policing, will be responsible for gathering, assessing and sharing the most robust evidence to inform policy and service delivery in the areas of tackling crime, promoting active and independent ageing, effective early intervention and fostering local economic growth.