Anthony V. Bouza and the Founding of Evidence-Based Policing

Abstract

Anthony V. Bouza (1928–2023) was a founding father of evidence-based policing. The first police chief to authorize a randomized controlled trial (RCTs) of arrest, he turned the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) into a “crime lab’’ for what works in policing. In his 9 years as Chief, he sponsored the first RCTs done anywhere on such key topics as hot spot patrols, problem-oriented policing, neighborhood watch, and arrests for misdemeanor domestic assault. He also sponsored the first digital analysis of repeat call addresses, which found that 5% of the street addresses produced 64% of the calls for service (New York Times, Minneapolis study places origins of 911 calls, 1987). Taken together, these research projects formed a critical mass of knowledge for describing evidence-based policing as a framework for police reform (Sherman, Evidence-Based Policing, 1998).