In 2008 the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) jointly embarked on an ambitious project – a second Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety. This first phase of this new Executive Session, which ran from 2008-2011, experienced debates about the efficacy of community policing, the main outgrowth of the first executive session, and the challenge of reducing crime and reducing fear while being viewed as legitimate and just by the community. 

We heard participants pose questions about the future of policing - the role and activities of officers and executives as well as the definition of police operations in the future were identified as priority conversations. The responsibility of police executives with political leaders to redefine mission with a specific ambition of reducing incarceration while reducing crime and fear was raised. Finally, all agreed there remains much work to be done around race – both inside police departments and with communities. In the Phase II session from 2011 to 2014, the members were tasked to complete not only the unfinished conversations, but also contribute to the body of published scholarship on these topics deemed critical to all stakeholders of police.

The Session meetings provoked scholars and practitioners to collaborate on a new series of papers that hope to influence the field in the way the Perspectives on Policing did for a previous generation. The series of papers from this second Executive Session is called New Perspectives in Policing.

New Perspectives in Policing


Sparrow, Malcolm K. One Week in Heron City: A Case Study (Part A). New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) September 2009.

Sparrow, Malcolm K. One Week in Heron City: A Case Study (Part B). New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) September 2009.

Bayley, David H. and Christine Nixon. The Changing Environment for Policing, 1985-2008. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety), September, 2010.

Gascón, George and Todd Foglesong. Making Policing More Affordable: Managing Costs and Measuring Value in Policing. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety), December 2010.

Sparrow, Malcolm K. Governing Science. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) January 2011.

Weisburd, David and Peter Neyroud. Police Science: Toward a New Paradigm. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) January 2011.

Stone, Christopher and Jeremy Travis. Toward a New Professionalism in Policing. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) March 2011.

Braga, Anthony A., Edward A. Flynn, George L. Kelling, and Christine M.  Cole. Moving the Work of Criminal Investigators Towards Crime Control. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) March 2011.

Sklansky, David Alan. The Persistent Pull of Police Professionalism. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) March 2011.

Stephens, Darrell W. Police Discipline: A Case for Change. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) June 2011.

Travis, Jeremy,  Ronald Davis, and Sarah Lawrence. Exploring the Role of the Police in Prisoner Reentry. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) July 2012.

Batts, Anthony W.,  Sean Michael Smoot,  and Ellen Scrivner. Police Leadership Challenges in a Changing World. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) July 2012.

Davis, Edward F. , Alejandro A. Alves, and David Alan Sklansky. Social Media and Police Leadership: Lessons from Boston. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) March 2014.

Ramsey, Charles H. The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward Understanding. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) June 2014.

Batts, Anthony W.,  Maddy deLone, and Darrel W. Stephens. Policing and Wrongful Convictions. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) August 2014.

Sparrow, Malcolm K. Managing the Boundary between Private and Public Policing. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) September 2014.

Meares, Tracey L. with Peter Neyroud. Rightful Policing. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) February 2015.

Sparrow, Malcolm K. Measuring Performance in a Modern Police Organization. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) March 2015.

Rahr, Sue and Stephen K. Rice. From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) April 2015.

Braga, Anthony A. and Rod K. Brunson. The Police and Public Discourse on “Black-on-Black” Violence. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) May 2015.

Bayley, David H., Michael A. Davis and Ronald L. Davis. Race and Policing: An Agenda for Action. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) June 2015.

Flynn, Edward A. and Victoria Herrington. Toward a Profession of Police Leadership. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) June 2015.

Dudley, Richard G. Childhood Trauma and Its Effects: Implications for Police. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) July 2015.

Braga, Anthony A. Crime and Policing Revisited. New Perspectives in Policing (Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety) September 2015.