In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Martin Bouchard, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, about social network analysis and its application to understanding gangs and organized crime groups. Bouchard explains the concepts of social network analysis, including dyads and brokers, and discusses how police can use this understanding to strategically target and disrupt criminal activity. He also highlights the similarities between gang networks and police corruption networks. Bouchard emphasizes the importance of combining social network ..read more

In this episode of the Reducing Crime Podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Detective Superintendent Dave Cowan of Australia's Victoria Police. They discuss Cowan's journey into evidence-based policing (EBP) and the experiments he has conducted, including a focused deterrence trial and a trial using behavioral science to reduce failure to appear at court. They also discuss the importance of rigorous testing and evaluation in policing strategies, the need for better communication and application of research in policing, and the challenges and progress in implementing EBP within police organi ..read more

Seth Williams was a groundbreaking Philadelphia District Attorney and the first Black District Attorney in the State of Pennsylvania. He attended West Point, transferred to, and graduated from Penn State University, and Georgetown Law School, was a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the US Army, and in November 2009 with more than 75% of the vote, was elected District Attorney in Philadelphia. He was on track for a third term, when in 2017 he was convicted in federal court on a charge related to the receipt of undisclosed gifts. We talk about his incarceration, and the role of the ..read more

Ron Clarke is a criminological legend, the originator of the situational approach to preventing crime, and he co-developed the rational choice perspective with Derek Cornish. He led the UK Home Office Research and Planning Unit before going on to spend a long and storied academic career at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Ron is the founding editor of Crime Prevention Studies and authored or co-authored more than 300 books, monographs and papers. A critic of mainstream criminology, he nonetheless was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Prize in Criminology in 2015 ..read more

Ron Clarke is a criminological legend, the originator of the situational approach to preventing crime, and he co-developed the rational choice perspective with Derek Cornish. He led the UK Home Office Research and Planning Unit before going on to spend a long and storied academic career at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Ron is the founding editor of Crime Prevention Studies and authored or co-authored more than 300 books, monographs and papers. A critic of mainstream criminology, he nonetheless was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Prize in Criminology in 2015 ..read more

Terry Cherry is a recruiting officer with the Charleston, South Carolina police department, NIJ LEADS scholar, and has been recognized as an IACP 40 under 40 up-and-coming leader in policing. In her 11 years with the Charleston department she has also worked patrol, investigations, and started a problem-solving unit. Working with academic colleagues she has taken a more evidence-based approach to her recruitment work and we discuss solutions to the current crisis facing police recruitment and retention ..read more

Andrew Lemieux manages the Problem-Oriented Wildlife Protection program for LEAD Ranger – an organization that supports wildlife park rangers around the world. Dr. Lemieux is also the editor-in-chief of the Wilderness Problems Resource Portal, an open-source collection of guides and manuals specifically written for field teams and hosted by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. We talk about poaching, wildlife crime, habitat management and problem-solving in these unique and diverse wilderness places ..read more

Mark Evans, OBE is the Executive Lead for Future Policing with the New Zealand Police (NZP), and Vice President of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence Based Policing. He is the chair of the independent advisory board at the Royal New Zealand Police College and has an operational portfolio focused on fair and equitable policing outcomes, evidence-based policing, and the future use of new technologies. In a previous career, he reinvigorated crime and intelligence analysis in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. We discuss what he has learned about change and innovation in polici ..read more

Dr. Steve James is now an assistant professor in the Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology at Washington State University, having previously served for over 20 years in the British military. He has since become one of the US’s foremost experts on the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation on law enforcement. He outlines a range of practical ways police officers can manage their sleep, coffee and stimulant intake, overtime, and seasonal changes ..read more

Ken Pease, OBE is a British crime prevention legend, and the pioneer who directed the Kirkholt repeat burglary prevention project. He is currently a visiting professor at University College London, the University of Manchester, and Huddersfield University. We discuss the Kirkholt project, as well as his time teaching in Canada, having his class bombed by the provisional IRA, repeat victimization, and misleading government graphics ..read more