Start with the people involved.
Police officers and staff, researchers, partners and communities identify important problems and judge whether a response is useful, workable and fair.
About the Society
Our mission
People, practice and evidence—working together. SEBP is a grassroots UK charitable incorporated organisation helping people improve policing for the public through the use, production and communication of the best available evidence.
- Since 2012
- Building a practical movement
- UK CIO · 1215875
- Registered with the Charity Commission
- Open to all
- Practitioners, researchers, partners and the public
01
What is EBP?
What is EBP?
Make better decisions using the best available evidence.
Evidence-based policing is about making better decisions using the best available evidence. It combines research, data, professional experience, and community needs to help policing achieve better outcomes. Rather than relying on habit or assumptions, it asks: what is most likely to work, and how do we know?
Evidence-based policing can be applied across everything from crime prevention and investigations to leadership, policy, training, and organisational change.
It is not a rulebook.
Research is often incomplete, contested, or still developing. Being evidence-based means using the best available evidence to inform decisions, alongside professional judgement and local context.
The whole picture
People. Practice. Evidence.
Good evidence becomes useful through the people who shape it and the settings in which it is applied.
Test ideas in the real world.
Implementation matters. SEBP encourages clear outcomes, proportionate evaluation and honest learning when context changes what is possible.
Use more than one kind of knowledge.
Research, local data and professional experience are considered together, with the strengths and limits of each made visible.
Our mission
Improve policing for the public.
SEBP exists to make evidence a normal, practical part of how policing learns and decides. Three enduring goals guide the organisation.
- 01
Use
Promote the use of best available research evidence to solve policing problems.
- 02
Produce
Support the production of new research evidence by police practitioners and researchers.
- 03
Communicate
Lead the communication of research evidence to police practitioners and the public.
The Society
Who are we?
The Society of Evidence Based Policing (SEBP) was founded in the United Kingdom in 2012. We are an independent charitable incorporated organisation dedicated to embedding evidence-based approaches in policing. Membership is open to anyone committed to making a positive difference through evidence.
Our core aims
Promote the use of the best available research, support police practitioners and researchers to produce new evidence, and communicate research clearly to practitioners and the public.
Our governance & structure
SEBP is overseen by its Board of Trustees, with day-to-day delivery delegated to the Executive Committee. As a CIO, it is regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Our independence & values
The Society is not tied to a single force, supplier or political position. Its independence allows it to follow the evidence, support forces of different sizes and remain accountable to members and the public.
People behind the work
A volunteer network across policing, academia and beyond.Our people
A community, not an institution speaking at people.
Trustees provide governance, the Executive Committee delivers SEBP’s strategy and regional co-ordinators connect evidence-based practice across the UK. Volunteers are at the heart of the work.
- Practitioners bringing live operational questions
- Researchers helping design and interpret studies
- Regional teams connecting people and sharing learning
- Partners supporting events, resources and new evidence
Get involved
Bring a question, an idea or your experience.
Membership is open to anyone committed to improving policing through evidence. You can learn, volunteer, collaborate, attend events or support the charity.
Working together
Our partners & supporters
Organisations supporting SEBP’s work to make useful evidence easier to access and apply.
AccentureYouth Endowment FundCollege of PolicingCGI
Get in touch
Contact SEBP
For general enquiries, email info@sebp.police.uk. For local enquiries, contact your regional co-ordinator.