This paper provides a contextual understanding of police officers and civilian receptivity to research and evidence-based policing (EBP). It focuses on how officers defined and understand the concept of (EBP). The context driving these definitions (including political pressures, professionalisation and the rise of police-academic collaborations). The history of policing is littered with reform programmes, which aim to improve effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy. What does research mean to police officers in terms of ‘hierarchies’ and a ‘ladder of evidence. It is argued that future studies of the police officer and civilian staff receptivity to research and EBP are crucial as receptivity influences the application of research and willingness to incorporate an evidence base into policing practice. Evidence-based policing (EBP) are popular and enduring reform effort, which has generated significant research and practitioner attention. In light of defunding the police movement, we must consider what police reform could and potentially should look like. Some, for example, have called for a reduced police footprint in marginalized communities through reallocating police funding toward preventative services for a myriad of social issues. However, drawing on Bayley’s (1994) Police for the Future, we show that a dilemma arises concerning police involvement in these issues the police cannot be solely relied upon to address all social issues, but they cannot be fully absolved of the responsibility either. As such, further drawing on Bayley’s (1994) thoughts for police reform, we instead argue for the adoption of evidence-based policing as a more fruitful driver of meaningful, long-term police reform as it not only enables the police to identify practices that are effective or even harmful but it also can be used as means for police accountability.

Keywords : Evidence-Based Policing, Evidence-based practice; Policing.