Reducing Crime
A monthly podcast featuring conversations with influential thinkers in the police service and leading crime and policing researchers working to advance public safety. Often amusing, often enlightening, always informative. Jerry Ratcliffe (professor and former police officer) chats to a range of international guests covering police, policing, crime science, criminology, criminal justice, and public safety policy. Details and transcripts at reducingcrime.com/podcast.
Episodes
May 29, 2025 • 38 mins
David Décary-Hétu is a professor at the University of Montreal and chair of the Darknet and Anonymity Research Centre. Décary-Hétu's research focuses on studying data from offenders who use anonymity technologies like the dark web, cryptocurrencies, and encryption. He reveals that the dark web was originally developed by the military to enable anonymous communication, and that while the dark web and other anonymity technologies pos...
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April 28, 2025 • 35 mins
Loren Atherley is the Senior Director of Performance Analytics & Research and the Senior Research Scientist for the Seattle Police Department. He emphasizes the importance of taking an incremental, gradual approach to implementing evidence-based policing. He focuses on building data curiosity and buy-in within the department by providing useful analytical products and dashboards. He advocates for hiring "pracademics" - academics wi...
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March 23, 2025 • 36 mins
Gina Hawkins, experienced police leader, former chief, and President of the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, discusses the importance of support networks and mentorship for women in policing, especially at the executive level. She emphasizes the ‘sorority-like’ connections among women leaders that provide crucial emotional and professional support. She talks about the personal sacrifices that come with taki...
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February 23, 2025 • 36 mins
Jerry Ratcliffe talks to Professor Cliff Stott, a distinguished social psychologist specializing in crowd behavior, group identity, and public order policing. Stott discusses his background and early life experiences, and how this led him to study crowd psychology and develop the Elaborated Social Identity Model as an alternative to outdated mob psychology theories. Stott's work aims to debunk the myth that crowds inherently lose c...
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January 29, 2025 • 38 mins
A line-of-duty death is the ultimate tragedy for a police department. Nobody likes to tempt fate, but planning ahead can make a significant difference should a catastrophe occur. After her police officer husband Greg was killed in the line of duty, Kassy Alia Ray founded the non-profit organization Serve & Connect and in this episode discusses how it fosters positive change through sustainable police-community partnerships. She als...
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December 22, 2024 • 40 mins
Adrian Raine is the Richard Perry University Professor of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Raine's pioneering work has used brain imaging and psychophysiological techniques to study the biological factors underlying antisocial and violent behavior, including in violent offenders and psychopaths. We have a fun and accessible chat about everything from psychopaths to the nature or nurture deb...
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November 20, 2024 • 35 mins
Jason Potts is the chief of the Las Vegas Department of Public Safety, and the president of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing. Potts discusses the challenges of implementing evidence-based policing practices as a police leader, including getting buy-in from frontline officers, middle managers, and elected officials. In this chat, he emphasizes the importance of developing a culture that embraces ambiguity, risk, and f...
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October 25, 2024 • 39 mins
Thaddeus Johnson is a former police officer from Memphis who is now an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University. He has extensively researched issues related to policing, crime, and racial disparities. Johnson discussed his experiences as a Black police officer and the challenges of navigating his racial identity in that role. He also highlighted the broader systemic racism and inequities ...
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September 30, 2024 • 36 mins
Dr. Ian Adams talks about his career in policing, his transition to academia, and his recent policy research paper titled "Fuck: The Police." They discuss the use of profanity in policing and the need for a nuanced approach to regulating it. Adams conducted a survey experiment with police chiefs and sheriffs across the United States, finding a strong national consensus on the issue. He argues that policy should focus on the impact ...
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August 29, 2024 • 42 mins
Grant Edwards APM, a retired commander from the Australian Federal Police, shares his experiences and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in this episode. He discusses the cumulative effect of trauma in policing and the importance of mental health management, and emphasizes the need for a mentally safe workplace and a culture that supports vulnerability and open communication. He suggests that organizations should ...
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July 30, 2024 • 40 mins
A former police officer and detective, Dr. Cynthia Lum is Distinguished University Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, and directs their Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. She is an appointed member of the National Academies of Sciences Committee on Law and Justice, an appointed trustee to the Council on Criminal Justice, and a board director for the National Policing Institute. We talk about ...
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June 26, 2024 • 38 mins
In this episode, John Mina, the Sheriff of Orange County, Florida, discusses his background in law enforcement, including his time as Chief of Police in Orlando, and his decision to run for Sheriff. He talks about the benefits and challenges of being an elected law enforcement official and the unique role of the Sheriff in American policing. Mina also shares his views on recruitment and retention, the relationship between law enfor...
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May 28, 2024 • 41 mins
Dr. Peter Neyroud, former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police and director of the Police Executive Programme at Cambridge University, discusses his career in British policing and his involvement in leadership challenges, police firearm use, and training. He highlights the importance of evidence-based policing and the need for clear guidance and policies in areas such as police shootings. He emphasizes the need for a strong evid...
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April 30, 2024 • 47 mins
Jerry Ratcliffe chats with Keith Humphreys, an influential figure in drug policy and a professor at Stanford University. They discuss the dangers of synthetic opioids, the role of academics in advising government, and the differences between drug policies in San Francisco and Portugal. Humphreys emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to drug policy, combining public health and public safety measures. He highlights the nee...
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March 26, 2024 • 41 mins
Alex Piquero, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Miami, discusses his career in criminology, including his time as the director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. He talks about the importance of mentors, the role of universities in challenging and provoking ideas, and the need for academics to engage in public intellectualism. Piquero also discusses challenges he faced in government ...
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February 28, 2024 • 38 mins
Did you see the movie BlacKkKlansman? If so you will love this episode. Host Jerry Ratcliffe chats with his mate Jim Rose, a former narcotics officer and senior advisor to the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Rose was also the real-life white cop in BlacKkKlansman. He discusses his experience infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a young undercover officer and his subsequent work...
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January 29, 2024 • 42 mins
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Beatriz Magaloni, a professor of international relations and political science at Stanford University. Magaloni discusses her work on community policing with a specific ‘pacifying police unit’ in Brazil's most dangerous favelas, focusing on the different types of control exerted by criminal organizations in these areas. She explains the challenges faced ...
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December 27, 2023 • 43 mins
In this episode of Reducing Crime, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews criminologist David Weisburd. They discuss Weisburd's career, his work on hotspots policing and procedural justice, and his advice for young scholars. Weisburd emphasizes the importance of focusing on long-term research questions rather than being swayed by current trends or immediate concerns. He also discusses the misconceptions surrounding hotspots policing, incl...
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November 28, 2023 • 39 mins
In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Martin Bouchard, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, about social network analysis and its application to understanding gangs and organized crime groups. Bouchard explains the concepts of social network analysis, including dyads and brokers, and discusses how police can use this understanding to strategically target and disrupt crimina...
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October 30, 2023 • 37 mins
In this episode of the Reducing Crime Podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Detective Superintendent Dave Cowan of Australia's Victoria Police. They discuss Cowan's journey into evidence-based policing (EBP) and the experiments he has conducted, including a focused deterrence trial and a trial using behavioral science to reduce failure to appear at court. They also discuss the importance of rigorous testing and evaluation in pol...
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