THE BASICS
About the author
In brief
Jerry Ratcliffe is a former British police officer, college professor, and host of the Reducing Crime podcast. He works with police agencies around the world on crime reduction, leadership, and criminal intelligence strategy.
After an ice-climbing accident ended a decade-long career with London’s Metropolitan Police, he earned a first class honors degree and a PhD from the University of Nottingham. He has published over 100 research articles and eleven books, including “Reducing Crime: A Companion for Police Leaders” and "Evidence-Based Policing: The Basics".
Ratcliffe has been a research adviser to the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, an instructor for the ATF intelligence academy, and he is a scientific advisor to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a Professor of Practice and the Faculty Director of the Master of Applied Criminology and Police Leadership in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania.
In detail
Jerry Ratcliffe is the Faculty Director of the Master of Applied Criminology and Police Leadership in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a scientific advisor to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and hosts the Reducing Crime podcast. He is a former police officer with London’s Metropolitan Police (UK) where he served for 11 years on patrol duties, in an intelligence unit, and with the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department. He works with police agencies around the world on crime reduction, leadership, and evidence-based strategy. He has published over 100 research articles and eleven books, including “Reducing Crime: A Companion for Police Leaders” and "Evidence-Based Policing: The Basics". Ratcliffe has been a research adviser to the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, an instructor for the ATF intelligence academy, and he is a member of the FBI Law Enforcement Education and Training Council.
As a lecturer in policing (intelligence) based at the New South Wales Police College he coordinated Australia’s National Strategic Intelligence Course. Dr Ratcliffe also worked as a senior research analyst with the Australian Institute of Criminology, where he conducted one of the first evaluations of an intelligence-led policing operation. Since moving to the US in 2003, he has worked with numerous agencies around the world. He taught intelligence-led policing across Central America for a decade, was the lead researcher on the award-winning Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment, and has been a research advisor to the Philadelphia Police Commissioner and the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI.
He has twice received the Professional Service Award from the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA), has been awarded the LEIU Distinguished Service Award, and in 2014 he received the Ronald V. Clarke ECCA award for contributions to environmental criminology and crime analysis. He is a Fellow of both the Academy of Experimental Criminology and the Royal Geographical Society. In 2019 he received the Joan McCord award from the Academy of Experimental Criminology, and in 2023 was awarded the Sir Robert Peel medal.
He was a member of the National Academies of Science Committee on Proactive Policing and In 2015 the US Attorney General appointed him to the Department of Justice’s OJP Science Advisory Board.
Jerry was an officer in the British Army reserves (Royal Engineers), led an expedition down the Selenga river in Siberia, and was the first non-Iban tribesman to successfully navigate (with a traditional carved boat) the rapids of the Temburong river in Borneo. He is an instrument rated seaplane pilot, and also likes to scuba dive, ski, and drink bourbon…just not at the same time.
