Law enforcement interventions in the Netherlands: mapping interventions and 'browsing' for evidence

This article provides an analysis of a cross-section of 31 evaluations in one policy field in one country during a period of two years. It offers a national profile of an evaluation effort in law enforcement and demonstrates that this cross-section diverges widely from the typical interventions evaluated under the auspices of the Campbell Collaboration. The article elaborates on an alternative methodology for assessing such evaluation studies: mapping interventions and theory-driven ‘browsing’ for evidence. It shows that most interventions are not directly aimed at individuals or clients, who may be treated in different ways, but at institutional actors, organisations or the entire law enforcement chain. Three intervention strategies are described and assessed: developing and implementing ‘new projects’; streamlining the law enforcement chain; and developing and implementing new (or amended) laws and regulations. Many working mechanisms underlying these strategies refer to behaviour inside bureaucracy, which goes beyond mere ‘implementation’. The article demonstrates that the alternative methodology is quite ‘practical’ for synthesising evaluation research on such interventions.