EVIDENCE BASED ENFORCEMENT

NEW MEXICO LEC MEETING

MARCH 3, 2015Sam Sinclair

Program ManagerNHTSA Region 6

MAP-21 requires each State to have an Evidence-Based Traffic Safety Enforcement Program

Your State’s Highway Safety Plan (HSP) must now include a description of that program

Codified in 23 CFR 1200.11(c)(4)

WHAT IS E-BE AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?

WHAT DOES EVIDENCE-BASED ENFORCEMENT MEAN?

Evidence-based policing is the use of the best available research on the outcomes of police work to implement guidelines and evaluate agencies, units, and officers.

Put more simply, evidence-based policing uses research to guide practice and evaluate practitioners.

It uses the best evidence to shape the best practice.

http://www.policefoundation.org/pdf/Sherman.pdf

MAP-21 SAYS:At a minimum, the State shall provide for— 1. An analysis of crashes, crash fatalities, and injuries in areas of highest risk;2. Deployment of resources based on that

analysis; and3. Continuous follow-up and adjustment of the

enforcement plan.

DESCRIPTION IN HSP?Description of the E-BE program must include the following:

• What is the problem? existing programs and resources, laws and policies.

• Data analysis that includes who is over-involved in crashes, including when, where and why.

• How the strategies will be implemented and how they will help achieve the plan’s goals.

• Why is implementation important?

• Show that it is broad enough in application to achieve the reductions (goals) sought.

TO MAXIMIZE EFFECTIVENESS

• A summary of communication elements.• Description of the process and data sources used to

identify the problem.• The identification of the specific geographic areas.• Proposed strategies; HVE, multi-jurisdictional saturation

patrols, checkpoints, etc...• Roles of key partners.• A description of the proposed outcome.• Description of the process for continuous follow-up.

IS E-BE A NEW CONCEPT?No - evidence based methods were developed in the medical community as a way to improve their practices – and to STOP practices that were not effective!Evidence-based policing has been central to highway safety programming from:

• Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (STEP) of the early 70s.

• Through today’s Data Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS).

WHAT DOES (SHOULD) THIS MEAN TO YOU?

• This type of planning/analysis is probably not new.

• Deployment of resources bases on data is not a new concept.

• Nor is continuous adjustment and follow up.

Moneyball (Breaking Biases)

HOW DO WE ANALYZE, DEPLOY, FOLLOW-UP AND ADJUST?

A left handed batter hits the ball to the right side 78 percent of the time. His grounders go to the right side 98 percent of the time. The right handed pitcher throws his two-seam fastball on the inside half of the plate 45 percent of the time to left-handers. It’s the bottom of the 12th bases are loaded and the game is tied.The hitter got six hours of sleep last night, but slept on his pillow weird and has a kink in his right shoulder that's bothering him.

HOW DO WE ANALYZE, DEPLOY, FOLLOW-UP AND ADJUST?

HSO conducts problem identification as requirement of the HSP process.

• Magnitude, Trend and Characteristics

• Is the deployment of funds/LE resources based on problem ID?

• Example…

HOW DO AGENCIES DETERMINE DEPLOYMENT?

Initially and adjustments?• Based on?

How much enforcement is enough?

What does success look like?• Do we measure in terms of outputs (citations/arrests,

contacts/warnings) or outcomes (crashes/rates)?

PROVEN STRATEGIESWhere can you find examples you can replicate or suggest?

• Countermeasures That Work• http://www.ghsa.org/html/publications/countermeasures.html

• IACP• http://www.theiacp.org/ViewResult?SearchID=376

• National Sheriffs Association• http://www.sheriffs.org/content/traffic-safety-news-resources

• NHTSA• http://www.nhtsa.gov/Driving+Safety/Enforcement+&+Justice+Services

• Where else?

IN SUMMARY

The E-BE plan must address an important safety problem;

Resources should be deployed to effectively change the outcome.

Data Driven – Evidence Based – Integrated Systems Approach

Questions?