ZEVA - origins, objectives and tasks

Imagine you have the task of evaluating a chocolate.

An evaluation is the systematic examination of the quality or usefulness of an object. The most important evaluation objects include projects, measures and other interventions, organizations, products and evaluations themselves (DeGEval - Gesellschaft für Evaluation e.V., 2016).

At first glance, criteria such as appearance or taste come to mind.

But how exactly do you examine appearance or taste in an evaluation? First of all, it is necessary to form indicators, such as the degree of sweetness or the melting ability of the chocolate on the tongue. These criteria must then be made measurable through operationalization, e.g. the cocoa content of the chocolate.

This turns an initially seemingly undemanding task into a challenging data collection exercise with the aim of creating a decision-making aid for other consumers. Among other things, this is the aim of an evaluation.

With the introductory decree of 11.11.2003, the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia commissioned the NRW State Office of Criminal Investigation to set up a Central Evaluation Unit. Since spring 2004, the Central Evaluation Office (ZEVA) has been advising and supporting the 47 district police authorities in the state, the three higher state authorities and the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia as an independent department.

Currently, ZEVA consists of five police officers who have undergone further methodological training over the years. These include external training courses such as the former modular training course "FEEZ" for the basic development of methodological competence and the Beccaria qualification program of the Lower Saxony State Prevention Council for the development of impact-oriented crime prevention competence.

Since the introduction of ZEVA, the tasks have steadily expanded. Starting with support in the development of impact-oriented crime prevention concepts and the establishment of knowledge management at the heart of ZEVA's activities, this has developed further through extensive outsourcing of evaluations to scientific institutions for outstanding state projects or subject areas (e.g. "Crash Course NRW", "Turning the corner") - right up to conducting its own impact-oriented process evaluations (e.g. House of Juvenile Justice in Paderborn, "More safety at soccer matches"). Today, ZEVA provides support in all areas of police activity. In addition to crime control, this includes road safety work, fields of action with an integrative approach and the areas of operations and central tasks (Dungs, 2018).

ZEVA is an institutional member of the DeGEval - Gesellschaft für Evaluation e.V. Since 1997, this association of institutions and individuals has contributed to the professionalization and exchange of information on all aspects of evaluation. Clients, scientists and evaluators from many different professional and political fields develop quality criteria and discuss the possibilities and limitations of evaluations. In doing so, DeGEval is guided by a definition it has drawn up, which points out the essential characteristics of a "professional" evaluation and thus distinguishes itself from everyday evaluations in private life.

Furthermore, ZEVA is in contact with other state criminal investigation offices (e.g. Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein).

We stand for a sustainable mission statement based on five principles:

Planning with purpose

For an effective and successful project or program with subsequent evaluation, a cause-oriented description of the problem is essential. The aim of our work is to build up the resulting target-oriented planning from the outset in a logical and structured manner with our support and knowledge of project management.

Precisely investigate

In order to obtain a comprehensive and analyzable picture of the project or program, it is essential to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Based on our sound understanding of methods, we use standardized questionnaires or expert interviews, for example, to gain a precise insight into the impact of the project or programme.

Evaluate fairly

We aim to assess the object of evaluation fairly using the DeGEval standards in our independently conducted evaluations, in a supportive manner when outsourcing evaluations and in cooperative evaluations.

Create transparency

Evaluations are sometimes used to scrutinize and explore complex projects, programmes or measures. Their findings create transparency for all participants, greater job satisfaction and, thanks to the now visible and measurable (failures) successes, a basis for management decisions.

Saving resources

The aim of evaluations is to create objective benchmarks that can be used to deploy human and material resources in a sparing and targeted manner. This makes police work more effective, efficient and sustainable.

This mission statement is reflected in our ZEVA cycle, which provides a clear overview of our work.