The Madhya Pradesh Police through the Training Branch and the MP Police Academy has initiated the concept of evidence based police policy and practice which required an institutionalisation of action based research and analytical approach in practice and innovations. The DG Research and Policy cell was established in the police headquarters with a mandate to do evidence based policy work in evaluating police performance, documenting innovations, implementing new approaches and doing systematic action research to experiment with changes in practice before scaling up a new strategy and using large scale improvement in orientation and service delivery. This cell was established in November 2016 and soon it reached out to practice in various field units and specialised

centres. The cell was started with the foresight and an evidence based police reforms vision of the then DGP Shri Rishi Shukla, which was sustained and institutionalised after his tenure by successive DGs and this is why it stands strong with its multifarious role in improving police image by informing evidence based policy and practice in policing. A collaborative approach was undertaken to institutionalise evidence based policy by collaborations with leading universities and think tanks interested in governance, law enforcement and justice sector research and innovations. The Police Officers specialisation, training and orientation to scale up their performance was also set as a criteria for establishing this cell. The cell opened up gates for sustainable police reforms and improvements in police practice.