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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:58 am
Time: 11:58 am
Results for police problem-solving
6 results foundAuthor: Willis, James J. Title: The Co-Implementation of Compstat and Community Policing: A National Assessment Summary: In the last quarter century or so, Compstat (CS) and community policing (CP) have emerged as powerful engines of police reform in the United States. CS is a strategic management system focused on reducing serious crime by decentralizing decision-making to middle managers operating out of districts or precincts, by holding these managers accountable for performance, and by increasing the police organization’s capacity to identify, understand, and monitor responses to crime problems. Community policing can be characterized as a philosophy and an organizational strategy designed to reduce crime and disorder through community partnerships, problem solving, and the delegation of greater decision-making authority to patrol officers and their sergeants at the beat level. It varies more than Compstat from place to place in response to local problems and community resources. To date, researchers have focused their energy on identifying the individual merits and weaknesses of each, but have given much less attention to how well these reforms operate when implemented in the same police agency. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) asked us to do research on this coimplementation issue: Do CS and CP work together, mutually supporting each other, or are there points of conflict, where pursuing one makes it hard to pursue the other successfully? Moreover, do they work independently, that is each having little consequence for the other? This report presents findings from the first national assessment of CS and CP as co-implemented reforms. Given that systematic research on the co-implementation of CS and CP is scarce, the first purpose of this project was to illuminate the current state of implementation of each reform in the United States and the nature and extent of compatibility problems. Thus, we begin by drawing on data from our national survey to provide a profile of CS and CP in large police agencies. The purpose of the profile is to show what local police departments were doing with each reform, why they decided to adopt them, what some of the differences were between co-implementing and CP-only departments, and what some of the benefits and challenges were that arose from operating both reforms simultaneously. In the next section, we draw upon observations from site visits to seven police agencies that reported fully implementing both CP and CS. The second purpose of this project was to learn how CS and CP operated “on the ground.” To this end, we identify seven core elements that the full implementation of CS and CP would seem to demand and present in-depth knowledge on how each of these elements was implemented. More specifically, we describe how CS and CP functioned in relation to one another, and we assess their level of integration (not at all integrated, low, moderate, or high). Because of the popularity of CS and CP, our hope is that this comprehensive description of our findings and our assessment of CS/CP integration will deepen understanding among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers about the current relationship between these two reforms and provide a framework for decision-makers to envision alternative possibilities for co-implementation within local police organizations. A list of recommendations for integrating CS and CP based on our findings can be found in our report, Maximizing the Benefits of Reform: Integrating Compstat and Community Policing in America (2010). Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2010. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2011 at: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e091016308_Compstat+CommPol-web_FIN.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e091016308_Compstat+CommPol-web_FIN.pdf Shelf Number: 121002 Keywords: Community PolicingCompstatPolice Problem-SolvingPolice ReformPolice-Community Partnerships |
Author: Ulmenstein, Sibylle von Title: Group Violence Reduction Strategy: Four Case Studies of Swift and Meaningful Law Enforcement Responses Summary: The publication captures examples of successful and creative law enforcement responses to group violence as carried out by police departments at key National Network jurisdictions. It explores: • How law enforcement partners identified the prohibited violent act that triggered their response • How the act was linked to a particular street group or gang • How active group members were identified for special enforcement attention • How creative levers and sanctions were designed and applied to make the response swift and meaningful • What outcomes were achieved • What important lessons were learned While some of the enforcement actions presented here might have been shaped by specific local conditions at the time of strategy implementation, the ideas, methods, and tactics used can nevertheless be broadly applied in other jurisdictions. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2011. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2012 at: http://www.nnscommunities.org/LE_Case_Studies.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.nnscommunities.org/LE_Case_Studies.pdf Shelf Number: 124899 Keywords: GangsGroup ViolencePolice Problem-SolvingViolent CrimeYouth Violence |
Author: Engel, Robin S. Title: Effectiveness vs. Equity in Policing: Is a Tradeoff Inevitable? Summary: Engel and Eck make the case that modern policing methods make it possible to increase both "effectiveness" and "equity" at the same time. The authors note that policing agencies and criminal justice researchers have long followed a framework established in 1968 by legal scholar Herbert Packer, which presumes that for every effort police make at increasing effectiveness, they must reduce their efforts at being fair and equitable. The best example of how this formula has been used in the last 20 years is the evolution of the 'stop, question, and frisk' practices, employed by police departments in cities like New York. Engel and Eck assert that modern policing methods like problem-oriented policing can be designed to take both effectiveness and equity into account, creating crime reduction while increasing fairness and police-community relations. Engel and Eck suggest that departments use scientific evidence to measure both their effectiveness at reducing crime and also the equity of policing in their communities. They provide the example of the City of Cincinnati, which instituted reforms after a federal investigation and a racial bias lawsuit was filed against police. These reforms included the creation of the Community Police Partnering Center, and a strategic focus within the Cincinnati Police Department to implement a number of problem-solving projects that involved community members from the beginning. These practices have led to a reduction in crime and an increase in police legitimacy in Cincinnati, the authors said. Details: Washington, DC: Police Foundation, 2015. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Ideas in American Policing, no. 18: Accessed March 4, 2015 at: http://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201502/PF_IIAP_EngelandEck_Jan2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201502/PF_IIAP_EngelandEck_Jan2015.pdf Shelf Number: 134742 Keywords: Police EffectivenessPolice PerformancePolice Problem-SolvingPolice Reform (U.S.) |
Author: Curtis, Irene Title: The use of targets in policing Summary: Policing needs to change to respond to the challenges of the future, including the changing nature of crime, the increasing range and complexity of demand, continued financial constraints and the rapid pace of technological change. As forces adapt to changing circumstances, performance frameworks will also need to adapt to help the police make decisions to meet these challenges - and to understand whether or not they are succeeding. Numeric targets have seen extensive use in policing for many years, as part of both local and national police performance frameworks. The Public Service Agreements (PSAs) of the 1990s in particular created a slew of national targets in policing and across the public sector more widely. Since then, problems associated with targets such as 'gaming' and 'perverse incentives' have been well documented and targets have gradually been dropped by many forces. The last of the national targets in policing (for increasing public confidence and targets for response times, included in the policing pledge) were removed by the Home Secretary in 2010. This review aims in the first instance to understand the extent to which targets - and their associated behaviours - persist and has involved desk research, interviews, force visits and a survey of police officers and staff. Over 6,000 people completed the survey and, while methodological limitations mean the results needs to be interpreted with caution, the fact that so many officers and staff took the time to respond is telling of how strongly many feel about this subject. Details: London: Home Office, 2015. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466058/Review_Targets_2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466058/Review_Targets_2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137802 Keywords: Crime StatisticsDecision-MakingEvidence-Based PracticesPolice LegitimacyPolice PerformancePolice Problem-SolvingPolice ReformPolicing |
Author: Human Impact Partners Title: Stress on the Streets (SOS): Race, Policing, Health, and Increasing Trust not Trauma Summary: Violence in the urban core is a disease - a social disease - that is a top public health crisis of the 21st century. As a trauma physician, it is a disease that I treat daily; I have seen a 300% increase over a 10-year period in children coming into our Cincinnati Children's Hospital Trauma Center with gunshot wounds. But violence is not immutable; we can prevent it. Like other initiatives public health is credited with improving or eradicating - deaths from motor vehicle crashes, polio, and smallpox - inner city violence lends itself to a cure. However, this cure must not cause additional harms. That's why policing practices used to reduce violence and mitigate trauma can and should be more community-oriented. Michael Davis, Chief of the Brooklyn Park Police Department has said, "the future of community policing is community building." The affected community has a role in this cure, as do the police charged with the safety of the community. But with current practices under question for causing more violence, not less, we need communities and police to engage collaboratively, acknowledge complex key drivers of violence, and seek systems-based approaches to better partner in resolving it. This revealing report is a first step in that journey. It documents profound impacts of policing practices on the health of individuals and the community, describing impacts to physical, mental, and emotional health. Importantly, it describes how stress has major, short- and long-term health impacts not just for the public, but for police as well. In its recommendations, this report offers important concrete measures for how policing can rebuild community trust through problem-solving and community-oriented models. It highlights promising practices in four actions - civilian review boards; body-worn cameras; ongoing training of officers about issues like implicit bias and use of force as well as better supervision and evaluation of officers; and department-wide performance measures - that when fully implemented can lay the groundwork for police to be part of the community as opposed to policing the community. Just as health professionals and police have partnered together on past issues, together we can jointly address the root causes of violence in concentrated disadvantage. Policing practices that build trust - through transparency, community dialogue, and accountability - and solve community problems are a key component for keeping more children off my surgical table. Details: Oakland, CA: Human Impact Partners, 2015. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2016 at: http://www.humanimpact.org/projects/past-projects/ Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.humanimpact.org/projects/past-projects/ Shelf Number: 137828 Keywords: Community PolicingPolice AccountabilityPolice LegitimacyPolice Problem-SolvingPolice StressPolice-Community Relations |
Author: Scottish Institute for Policing Research Title: Policing 2026 Evidence Review Summary: Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority commissioned a series of evidence reviews from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research which have helped inform the development of the 2026 strategy. Written by an international group of leading policing scholars and practitioners, the reviews bring together the best research evidence from the last 30 years on key topics, including prevention, performance and partnership working. Each review combined important insights into what good practice looks like with concrete suggestions for how policing in Scotland can use this evidence to ensure that they are at the cutting edge of policy and practice. The specially commissioned papers collected together to form this Evidence Review have been written by a group of international policing experts with extensive experience as academic researchers, senior practitioners and policy makers. The strategic importance of this evidence review is that it embodies an evidence-based approach to policing, which values the role of research, science, evaluation and analysis to inform decision making within police organisations. As Professor Fyfe highlights in the first paper, such an approach has several wider benefits: - Politically, evidence-based approaches are central to the governance, accountability and legitimacy of policing and citizens expect police forces to draw on evidence to identify effective and efficient practices as well as emerging threats; - Economically, developing policy and practice on a robust evidence base of effective and cost-efficient activities is vital to the future sustainability of the police service; - Organisationally, evidence-based approaches are vital to claims about police professionalism so that the building of a body of knowledge on which good practice is based is key to achieving an enhanced professional status. There are also more immediate operational benefits to policing of an evidence-based approach: - Employing strategies and tactics that have been shown to reduce harm means more effective responses to community concerns and an increase in police legitimacy; - Evidence based approaches requires the police to access and analyse their own data which can lead to improvements in managerial accountability and better data recording and analytics; - The use of evidence to support innovative and creative ways of tackling problems can increase satisfaction with police work among officers and staff. Policing in Scotland is in a strong position to play a world-leading role in evidence-based approaches given the established strategic partnership between Scotland's universities, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority embodied in SIPR. Established in 2007 and now with an international reputation for research and knowledge exchange, SIPR plays a key role in contributing to evidence-based approaches in policing, supporting a strategic approach to innovation, contributing to education, professional development and organisational learning; and building research and analytical capacity in policing and universities. The use of evidence is central to the arguments about prevention addressed by Professor Laycock who focuses on the importance of Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) as the core of a preventative approach and how this should be rooted in the SARA model of Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment: - Scanning provides insight into the nature, frequency and impact of problems; - Analysis focuses on understanding the problem, collecting relevant data, and assessing the effectiveness of the response; - Response involves assessing what type of response would work in different contexts and them implementing an appropriate mechanism drawing on relevant knowledge and experience, including the on-line Crime Reduction Toolkit developed by the College of Policing. - Assessment focuses on whether an intervention was implemented effectively (a 'process' evaluation) and what the impact was. By embracing POP and experimentation, analysis, and assessment as a means of clearly defining the problems faced by communities and of developing evidence-based means of addressing these problems, Police Scotland has the potential to establish itself as a Learning Organisation. But to do this they need a different kind of police training and a supportive infrastructure that values experimentation, accepts risk, and encourages trust and delegation. Prevention must be focused in particular places because problems are not distributed evenly or randomly and the evidence clearly demonstrates that targeting specific locations where crime concentrates yields the best effects on crime prevention, and will also typically involve some form of partnership working between police and other organisations. These are the key message of the following 2 reviews. That on place-based policing by Professors Lum and Koper reinforces the conclusions of the Prevention paper, by identifying the key pillars of a place-based policing strategy: - Conducting geographic crime analysis of micro-places (neighbourhoods, street intersections etc.) and long term time trends so that a better understanding is achieved of the social, environmental and routine activity characteristics of hot spots - Proactively directing patrol to hot spots - Optimizing deterrence at hotpots - Problem solving at hotspots - Community engagement at hotspots Embracing these elements is vital to both more efficient and more effective policing. Their conclusion is unequivocal: 'Problem-solving and community-oriented approaches at crime hot spots can enhance long-term effectiveness of police actions and help strengthen police-citizen relationships'. These conclusions are echoed in the paper on partnership by Dr O'Neill which spells out the ways in which partnership needs to be recognised as an essential component of contemporary policing. The Christie Commission has set the broader strategic context for this in Scotland and this is reinforced by the Policing Principles set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012: the main purpose of policing is to improve the safety and well-being of persons, localities and communities in Scotland, and that the Police Service, working in collaboration with others where appropriate, should seek to achieve that main purpose by policing in a way which (i) is accessible to, and engaged with, local communities, and (ii) promotes measures to prevent, crime, harm and disorder' (para.32). The research evidence base clearly highlights a number of key ingredients for successful partnerships which include relationships of trust, stability in staffing, co-location and pooled budgets. Within police organisations, there is also a need to ensure people have to the right skills for partnership working, that they receive appropriate training and that there are internal processes to support and reward partnership work. Officers also need to think differently about performance and success in relation to partnership working by focusing on broader outcomes, like harm reduction, and long term benefits rather than quick fixes. More generally, O'Neill makes the points that there needs to be a shift from viewing partnership work as 'nice to have' to seeing it as a core component of contemporary policing which allows the police to learn about which organisations are best placed to address particular problems. This problem solving focus is also central to Stanko's assessment of performance frameworks in policing. She cogently argues that a focus on crime narrows public discussion about the wider benefits of policing and disables the police from playing a broader partnership role in delivering safety and security in local communities. A good performance frameworks requires command of evidence and analysis and for the police this means that they must not only have command of the information they hold on the needs of users, the nature of problems, and the resources they can mobilize to deal with these issues, but also the ability to convert this 6 information into a joined up conversation with other partners in the public, private and third sectors and with communities. In this way, it is possible to develop a 'whole of government' approach to the delivery of safety and security in a local area strongly aligned with the Christie principles. Stanko points to specific example of performance frameworks which begin to allow this more joined up, outcome focused approach. In New Zealand, for example, the police have 3 high level outcomes: - Protected communities and preventing harm - Minimizing harm to victims - Delivering valued police services What this offers is a way of seeing the NZ police as part of a whole of government approach to improving security and justice for New Zealanders and the interconnectedness of what the police do with other parts of the public, private and third sectors. The focus of performance measurement therefore needs to be on outcomes and, through the use of evidence and analytics, allow informed debates of the underlying problems affecting communities which can then bind public, private and third sectors together in problem solving partnerships. As Stanko observes, numbers of crime don't tell you whether crime or security has changed within a community - it just counts what people have told the police. If the focus of performance is to be on reducing harm and vulnerability through collaborative partnerships then there need to be a range of key measurement indicators to reflect this, which might include: a reduction in repeat violent offending, reductions in repeat victimizations for domestic and sexual violence, a reduction in the number of repeat visits for knife in juries in A&E, an increase in the reporting of sexual violence etc. The police would play a key part in some of these but each indicator would also need contributions for others (in health, victims' services, probation etc.). Furthermore, there needs to be local analysis of this information to feed into problem-solving at a local level. Drawing on their data, Police Scotland can lead a conversation about safety and security at national and local levels, but this needs to be integrated with data from other organisations to create a shared evidence base focused on outcomes relating to key questions such as: is violence getting better or worse in Scotland? what drivers of well-being should government focus on to improve safety to which the police can contribute? and is Scotland getting safer? Police performance is scrutinised through governance and accountability mechanisms and Dr Henry draws on a wide body of work to distil some key principles of what good democratic governance of policing should look like. This includes a focus on: - Equity in terms of organisational resource allocation and priorities in delivering services and in terms of individual experiences in police encounters; - Delivery of services that are responsive to public needs and which benefit all citizens and are based on fair, transparent processes and procedures; - Responsiveness in that policing should in part reflect the will and interests of people in terms of delivering the priorities and services they need but also draw on the knowledge of other professionals and partner organisations. It is also crucial that responsiveness does not compromise equity if being responsive to public demands would create discriminatory actions; - A distribution of power which balances central and local interests, with the centre contributing stability, consistency and equity, and the local focusing on responsiveness, flexibility and public participation; - The provision of information given that the viability of the principles of good governance depends on good information which is needed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, to gauge public sentiment and document processes and procedures. This information might come from the police but would also include other knowledge from a range of other sources including neighbourhood data, academic research and information from other partner organisations; - Redress which relates to the need for organisational accountability of senior management and the individual accountability of officers in exercising their powers; - Participation in that the public should have a sense of ownership of how their society is policed and that there is an opening up of deliberation around policing to a breadth of voices. All the different thematic areas covered in the Evidence Review require good leadership and in the final paper by Dr Brookes the focus is on the need to think differently about police leadership. This means moving beyond thinking about the 'who' of leadership (i.e. the heroic leader) and asking other questions about the 'what', 'when', 'where', 'how' and 'why' of leadership. In addressing these questions, Brookes argues, a much more holistic view of leadership emerges, less focused on the traits of individual leaders, and more on the importance of setting a long term vision and developing shared norms that are adaptive and respond to changes in the external environment. This is the basis for transformational rather than transactional leadership and creating an organisation which prioritises professionalism, information sharing, quality assurance, an orientation towards service users, working with others and a problem-solving focus. Details: Edinburgh: The Institute, 2017. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2018 at: Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 149795 Keywords: Evidence-Based PolicingPolice AdministrationPolice EffectivenessPolice PatrolPolice PerformancePolice Problem-Solving |