It might be difficult to believe, but the most challenging obstacle to reducing crime is changing the culture of law enforcement. Removing “That’s the way we always did it,” from the department viewpoint goes a long way in reducing social harms, but changing the culture is easier said than done.

The Thibodaux, Louisiana, Police Department’s (TPD’s) social experiment using a new community policing strategy has resulted in positive changes for the employees, the agency, and, ultimately, the community. The shift in operational culture was based on information derived from the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) philosophy.