Evidence Cafés

An Evidence Café is characterised by the knowledge exchange between an academic and frontline police officers. They are facilitated by an Evidence-Based Champion (EBC) from the host force and an Academic from one of the Consortium research projects. The café starts with coffee and a brief introduction to the aims of the cafe from the EBC and academic, framing the discussion within the context of evidence based policing.

The academic gives a 5 minute presentation key research outcomes and highlighting areas they think are of relevance. Coffee cups are refilled, and attendees discuss the issues raised with reference to their experiences in practice. The key here is 'knowledge exchange' rather than presentation.

Following on from an Evidence Café, forces may want rollout cafe-style activities called Practitioner Cafés to share concepts of evidence based practice and evidence based policing more widely within the force.

Cafés are underpinned by the Learning Resources available from the Policing Centre for Research and Learning Website and selected for their relevance to policing needs.

For more information about how to host a local Evidence Café, select this link to view the online Evidence Cafe - how to guide PDF document.