Reducing Crime

Required listening for anyone interested in criminology or LE. Especially the more practical side of criminology and smart policing.

No other podcast has the breadth of experts and topics related to evidence based policing and is executed so well. Jerry is a phenomenal host! Rather than taking the role of interviewer, he is easily able to guide interesting conversations with prominent leaders in policing, criminology, and other related fields. He is very funny and also an expert in the field so each episode is informative and entertaining.

One of the best resources on all things policing that you will find anywhere today. The crème de le crème of today’s practitioners and researchers, innovators and leaders in law enforcement. The list of interviewees/podcasts is breathtaking. Ratcliffe somehow manages to do quick, smart and funny informal chats -often over a pint – with everyone from some of the most renowned scholars in the world (#66 David Weisburd, #57 Ken Pease, #19: Lorraine Mazerolle), to legends in the fields (#37 Bill Bratton, #41 Charles Ramsey), to those up and coming ( #61 Terry Cherry, Charleston PD, SC). Getting to be a fly on the wall for these conversations from the USA, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada is really like reading a tabloid with none of the guilt. Enjoyable…quality learning… maybe unicorns are real. At least this one is. Some of my favorites, • #02: this takes place at a snowed in bar during a conference in one of the strangest little English towns I have ever visited, Milton Keyes. Loved the audio ambiance, and hearing from an officer how important EBP is. Made the whole issue of “practical criminology” much more human (see also, #64) • #34: discussion of policing protests, “crowd psychology”, doing real embedded research in movements such as those related to Occupy and BLM. • #67: issues related to policing Brazil's favelas. How do areas like favelas become places where violent criminals reign? When they do, what can and what have police tried to do, and to what effect? So many applications to other issues (e.g. terrorist recruitment) • #61: recruiting diversity and how it can improve policing, this LGBTQ officer talks about using her unique background in the arts and business to take a more evidence-based approach in her work as recruiting officer with the Charleston (South Carolina) police department. • #36: talking to Superintendent of UK Thames Valley Police over a glass of wine. Twenty plus years of experience, work on domestic abuse and setting up weekly online talks between community and cops. Great stuff. @_reducingcrime

Some podcasts are fun to listen to, and some provide helpful information — this one does both. I appreciate the broad range of experts, which allows for a better understanding of how complex policing is in today’s society, and how to strive to make it both effective and just.