Are there data-driven ways to reduce robberies, drunk driving and violence through better resource allocation? Proponents of evidenced-based policing (EBP) believe there are.

EBP is under consideration as a policing strategy by the Des Moines Police Department, and Highline College teaches it as part of its criminal justice program.

The public is invited to learn about EBP at a free training scheduled for March 14, 2017, 8 to 11 a.m., at Highline College in Building 2. The training is open to the public, but space is limited. Register by March 12 by emailing Crystal Kitterman at ckitterman@highline.edu.

Presented by Dr. Cynthia Lum, the training will include an overview of EBP and evidence-based approaches to preventing crime. The three-hour session is geared toward law enforcement, support staff, administrators, scholars, students, campus safety personnel and policy makers.

Lum is a professor of criminology, law and society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. She is also the director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, one of the founding members of the Division of Policing in the American Society of Criminology, and the North American editor of “Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice” (Oxford). She specializes in the areas of policing, security and evidence-based crime policy, and she served as a patrol officer and detective in the Baltimore City Police Department.

The training is co-sponsored by Highline College and the Des Moines Police Department.

For questions, contact Sgt. Mike Graddon, Des Moines Police Department, 206-870-7611, mgraddon@desmoineswa.gov; or Dr. Steve Lettic, Highline College, 206-592-3422, slettic@highline.edu.

Highline College’s main campus is midway between Seattle and Tacoma at South 240th Street and Pacific Highway South (Highway 99); address: 2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines.