Koper & Lum studying policing innovations to reduce serious crashes on rural roads

Christopher Koper, Associate Professor, Criminology, Law and Society, and Cynthia Lum, Professor and Director, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP), Criminology, Law and Society, are conducting an evaluation of the implementation and effects of an evidence-based, data-driven, place-based, and problem-solving patrol strategy to significantly reduce serious injury and fatal vehicle crashes on Iowa roadways.

The strategy was developed by Captain Ken Clary of the Iowa State Patrol, who is a member of CEBCP’s Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame. This is the second year the strategy has been in place.

As part of this project, Koper and Lum will carefully follow the implementation of the program and evaluate its effects on traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities using quasi-experimental designs. Koper and Lum will also disseminate their findings to the Iowa State Patrol and the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) to better inform the DDACTs program (Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety) of the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration.

The researchers received $49,868 from the U.S. Department of Transportation for this project through a subcontract with IADLEST. Funding began in March 2020 and will end in March 2021.

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