The federal government invests millions of dollars into training and technical assistance programs intended to improve the operations of local governments and agencies. One such program is SPI, in which local law enforcement agencies implement new strategies and the outcomes of these strategies are formally evaluated.While each individual funded SPI project has an associated evaluation, no one has yet formally reviewed the totality of the projects and their evaluations to glean information and insight about project characteristics and how those characteristics relate to project outcomes. Understanding and evaluating these kinds of programs requires a complexity-oriented approach, as they are comprised of a multitude of varying locally-driven focuses and approaches to interventions and evaluation. This dissertation summarizes characteristics of the existing SPI projects and their evaluations and then applies Ray Pawson’s realist evaluation framework to understand project contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes (CMOs) and their relationship (Pawson & Tilley, 1997). I apply Pawson’s framework to a nationally-funded grant program intended to build sustainable evidence-based practice in law enforcement agencies. It includes a descriptive analysis of characteristics associated with project success as well as the use of a qualitative comparative analysis model. Findings from this research could help inform funding decisions, training and technical assistance offerings, and policy regarding federal investment in local initiatives.

Author

• Thorkildsen, Zoë

Language

• en

Keyword

• evaluation
• policing

Date created

• 2025

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Public Policy & Administration

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Newcomer, Kathryn

Committee Member(s)

• Bernstein, David J
• Bond-Fortier, Brenda

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/hx11xg20n