Crime Solvability Factors: Police Resources and Crime Detection

Timothy Coupe researches and lectures criminal justice management, crime investigation and detection in the Institute of Criminology at Cambridge University. He previously worked in operational research, computing science, business management and urban and regional planning. He has been involved in applied research into improving policing performance for the U.K. Home Office and with police services in the U.K., Sweden, Denmark and Australia. He has consultancy experience in a variety of public organisations and commercial companies on the cost-effective use of resources and improving efficiency. He is an advocate of the benefits of using scientific analysis and prediction to complement professional experience for improving the way organisations are managed.

Barak Ariel is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance. Barak is working in collaboration with Professor Lawrence Sherman and Dr. Heather Strang on Restorative Justice Trials, as well as in collaboration with Professor David Farrington on blocked randomised experiments. Barak is also working on a series of systematic reviews for the Campbell Collaboration, as well as other methodological issues related to experiments in Criminology.