Search the Collection

Browse the Collection

Over 850 historic documents from Herman Goldstein’s personal collection, including many items related to Herman’s work with the Chicago Police Department in the early 1960s and his creation of the concept of problem-oriented policing.

Prof. Goldstein joined the University of Wisconsin Law School faculty in 1964 after spending four years in Chicago as the executive assistant to the Chicago Police Department superintendent O.W. Wilson. Many documents authored by Prof. Goldstein or O.W. Wilson form this portion of the collection, as well as many internal Chicago Police Department items which are not available anywhere else.

For his contributions to the field of modern policing, Prof. Goldstein received the 2018 Stockholm Prize in Criminology, an international award that has been called the Nobel Prize of criminology. Professor Goldstein's work over five decades covered the most important aspects of policing in democratic societies: the broad nature of the police function, political accountability of the police, the exercise and control of police discretion, the control of police misconduct, the many dimensions of police administration that affect police effectiveness and fairness, and, ultimately, his comprehensive proposal for improving policing through a problem-oriented approach. He authored two books-- "Policing a Free Society" (1977) and "Problem-Oriented Policing" (1990)-- as well as many articles, book chapters, reports, and monographs. Professor Goldstein, early in his career, also played in integral role in collecting material for the American Bar Foundation's study of criminal justice overseen by Professor Frank Remington. The complete ABF study is available at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

You can find all of Prof. Goldstein’s works in the UW Law School Digital Repository. You can hear Prof. Goldstein discuss his legal and academic career, focusing on his work developing, implementing and advocating for problem-oriented policing in an oral history also available in the UW Law Digital Repository.

Problem-oriented policing is a framework for police reform created by Prof. Goldstein and adopted by police agencies across the globe- from Madison, WI, to Scotland Yard and beyond. Prof. Goldstein lectured widely on the topic all over the world and the text of many of those lectures and speeches is contained in this collection. 

The concept of problem-oriented policing involves having the police identify specific problems that the public expects them to handle, to dig deeply into understanding each problem in detail, and to think freshly and creatively about the best possible tailor-made solution to that problem. The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at Arizona State University continues the work of Prof. Goldstein, advancing the concept and practice of problem-oriented policing in open and democratic societies. In 1993, the Center introduced The Herman Goldstein award, recognizing police officers and police agencies in the United States and around the world applying with success the concept of Problem-Oriented Policing created by Prof. Goldstein. You can learn more about the award and its recipients.