Although partnerships between researchers and police practitioners have increased over the last few decades in some of the largest police agencies in the United States, very few small agencies have engaged in a partnership with a researcher. Of the 18,000 local police agencies in the United States, small agencies with less than 25 sworn officers make up about three quarters of all police agencies. To support future collaborations between researchers and smaller police agencies, like those in Douglas County, Kansas, this article identifies challenges that researchers can address and explores how these relationships can benefit small police agencies across the United States.

尽管在过去的几十年中，在美国一些最大的警察局中，研究人员与警察从业人员之间的伙伴关系有所增加，但很少有小型机构与研究人员建立伙伴关系。在美国的18,000个地方警察机构中，宣誓人数少于25名的小型警察机构约占所有警察机构的四分之三。为了支持研究人员与堪萨斯州道格拉斯县的小型警察机构之间的未来合作，本文确定了研究人员可以应对的挑战，并探讨了这些关系如何使全美的小型警察机构受益。