A dialogue of collaboration: cooperation in Canadian policing research today

Today, in Canadian policing research, unprecedented opportunities exist for university-based researchers to investigate various research questions with cooperation from police leadership. Given complexities in contemporary policing, it is recognized that transformational changes require contributions from external knowledge and scientific research – in furtherance of the movement toward evidence-based practices. This paper incorporates data originating from interviews with 20 Canadian police commanders and 20 Canadian policing research academics. It is clear that the majority of this study’s participants realize that more cooperative research arrangements are required to resolve long-standing issues around access, trust, and control of the research agenda. For academics, however, this does not extend to a policing research institute model for Canada (similar to that of the Scottish Institute for Police Research). In addressing these issues, this paper informs, and provides empirical context to, on-going international discussions across policing research and police communities – vis-à-vis ending the ‘dialogue of the deaf’.