Research Projects

The Barrie Police Service is proud to support, host, and lead research initiatives to enhance our service to the Barrie community and advance the policing profession. Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) utilizes the best evidence available to inform decision making and policy development. It is a tool that aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of policing by using scientific testing enhance outcomes.

Our research initiatives support numerous priorities within our 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, including our objective to inspire innovative policing practices.

Current Research Projects

Currently conducting research with students and academics from: Current Research Topics Being Explored:
  • Georgian College
  • McGill University
  • Ontario Tech University
  • Simon Frasier University
  • Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Waterloo University
  • Mental Health and Wellness
  • Harm-Focused Deployment
  • Diversity and Racial Trauma Training
  • Procedural Justice and Visibility
  • The Role of Technology in Policing
  • Recruitment and Retention Practices
  • Police-Arrestee Interactions
High-Visibility & Evidence-Based Police Vehicles

The BPS’s public-facing survey to measure the public’s perception of various police accoutrements and car decals as it pertains to variables such as: trust, authority, legitimacy, friendliness, approachability, aggressiveness, professionalism. We aim to better understand how we can increase our visibility and legitimacy through these results.

Partnership with Dr. Rylan Simpson, Simon Frasier University

Harm-Focused Police Deployment

The Barrie Police Service has implemented an evidence-based, harm-focused deployment model that challenges traditional zone-focused policing practices. Using the Canadian Police Reported Crime Severity Index after modifying it using the Cambridge Crime Harm Index, we deploy an innovative and victim-focused way of measuring crime and harm within our community.

Inspired by research by Braga (1999; 2008; 2012), Kennedy (2015), Ratcliffe (2022), Telep (2014), Kopper (1995; 2015), Sherman (1995).

Wellness with Georgian College

This collaboration between Georgian College, Barrie Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police creates a unified research team of academics with related expertise and forward-thinking police organizations driven to produce sustained and significant change in mental health and wellness in policing. 

The overarching goal of this research project is to determine occupational, operational, and organizational challenges, and develop a plan to overcome these challenges to build resiliency in the policing workplace.

Partnership with Dr. Eleanor Gittens and Dr. Isabelle Deschamps, Georgian College

Examining Arrestee and Officer Perceptions of Policing in Barrie

This project explores how people who have direct experience with the police make sense of arrest encounters soon after their own has taken place. Interest lies in how arrestees (as not only suspects, but also as repeat arrestees, victims or observers of crime and policing) reconcile their different experiences and observations.

How does the most recent experience of policing affect their perceptions? How influential is a negative or positive experience? What specific elements comprising an interaction lead to reports of satisfaction and dissatisfaction?

Partnership with Dr. Holly Campeau at Waterloo University

Helpful Resources

    External Research Request

    Interested in conducting research with us? The Barrie Police is accepted external research requests on a rolling basis. Research projects proposed by external agencies/researchers must align with at least one of Barrie Police Service’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan objectives. Projects that have specific police operational impact will be prioritized.

    To get started, please complete the External Research Request Form below.

    Any questions can be sent to: [email protected]

    Research Request Form

    Contact Us:

    Madison Charman

    Barrie Police Service Organizational Researcher
    [email protected]

    Research & Innovation Unit

    110 Fairview Road, Barrie ON L4N 8X8

    705-725-7025

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