Contemporary police departments are facing immense pressure to preserve public safety while also remaining fiscally accountable. As a response to economic pressures, police services are turning to intelligence led policing (ILP). ILP promises ‘smarter’ and more efficient policing with the use of advanced technologies and data analysis for decision-making. The present study examines ILP implementation in one urban Canadian police department. Through in-depth interviews with fifteen patrol and middle-management members, fifty-five hours of observation, and an analysis of organizational documents, I examine how ILP reform has been understood and enacted by patrol officers on the ground. From this analysis, I uncover how officers’ perceptions and practices are loosely coupled from organizational claims surrounding ILP. I argue that this loose coupling allows the organization to acquire social legitimation while allowing patrol work to remain largely unchanged. Further, I argue that patrol officers’ perceptions and practices of ILP can perpetuate the policing of usual suspects and raise a number of concerns about implications of ‘intelligence’ practices involving citizens
