Police Role in the Community. James J. Drylie, Ph.D. Chapter 4

Transcription

1 Police Role in the Community James J. Drylie, Ph.D. Chapter 4

2 What is a problem? Problem Solving A recurring set of related hanrful eevnts in a community that members of the public expect the police to address. The acronym CHEERS captures six elements of a problem Community Harm Expectations Events Recurring Similarity

3 Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) A department-wide strategy aimed at solving persistent community problems by grouping incidents to identify problems and to determine possible underlying causes.

4 Key elements of POP The basis unit of police work is a problem, not an incident, call, or a case. A problem is a concern for everyone, not just police. Addressing problems is more than just a quick fix. Officers should be routinely and systematically analyzing problems before they try to solve them.

5 Analysis of problems must be thorough, but not complicated. Problems must be described precisely and accurately. What are the various interests at stake in solving the problem? The police must be proactive in trying to solve problems. Program effectiveness must be evaluated.

6 Moving from Incidents to Problems Under the professional model of policing, the primary unit of work is the incident. Incidents are generally isolated events that require a police response. Goldstein (1990) noted that fosters an institution within policing that is built upon the public s expectation of a quick police response.

7 Problem-solving This style of policing requires the police to Group incidents This helps in identifying underlying causes of problems. The problem-solving approach does not ignore that certain types of incidents will necessitate a response that is after the fact. The use of preventative patrol may help to mitigate these types of incidents.

8 Early beginnings Problem Solving Not a new approach, just refined. In the past there was little or no guidance on how to solve problems. Problems were often times left at the door, littl or no follow through. POP is a strategy that puts COP into practice. Theoretically, the two are grounded on different principals. Problem-solving helps police to ID problems, analyze them, develop response strategies, and assess results. Herman Goldstein is the principal architect.

9 Effectiveness v. Efficiency The police have traditionally emphasized efficiency in the handling of calls for service. Efficiency minimizes waste, expense or unnecessary effort; Doing things right. In contrast, an emphasis on effectiveness may produce more desired results. Doing the right thing.

10 The link Goldstein was frustrated with the practice of police judging efficiency based on response time and what they did when they arrived. Goldstein linked the use of the telephone as a driving force in determining the relationship between the public and the police. The telephone, more than any public or internal policy, dictates what a police agency does. And that problem has been greatly aggravated with the installation of 911.

11 The contradictions The nature of emergency services creates contradictions between being effective and being efficient. The police patrol randomly. The fire service does not. Which is effective? Which is efficient?

12 The SARA Model Originated with the Newport News, VA police. There are four stages; Scanning Analysis Response Evaluation

13 Scanning Analysis Response Assessment

14 Scanning Means problem identification. What is a problem? It has been defined as: A group of two or more incidents that are similar in one or more respects, causing harm and therefore of concern to the police and public. Similarity of incidents includes Behavior Location Persons Time Events

15 The Problem Analysis Triangle Offender Problem Victim Place

16 The three elements Offender Victim Location must all be present for a problem to occur. The problem then results in harmful behavior or a crime. When these elements occur over and over in patterns of recurring problems the pattern can be interrupted by removing one or more of the elements.

17 Taggers Owners Graffiti Structure Guardians The Graffiti Problem Triangle

18 Response After the problem has been clearly defined and analyzed the ultimate challenge becomes the search for the most effective way of dealing with it. Responses will often be tailored based on a review of the crime triangle.

19 Potential responses 1. Totally eliminate the problem. 2. Reducing the number of incidents the problem creates. 3. Reduce the seriousness of the harm. 4. Dealing with the problem better. 5. Remove the problem from police consideration.

20 Assessment Here the police evaluate the effectiveness of the response. Some nontraditional measures to use to see if a problem has been reduced or eliminated: Reduced instances of repeat victimization Decrease in related crimes and incidents. Neighborhood indicators. Increased citizen satisfaction. Reduced fear related to the problem.

21 Mediation Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is form of problem-solving that allows for a neutral person to assist in resolving the dispute.

22 Crime-specific Planning In fulfilling the crime-fighting role, the police can approach specific problems using a more precise strategy that will consider underlying problems that are categorized by a type of offense. The following factors are reviewed; The offense The target The impact The response

23 Crime Analysis It is important to understand How When Where Why criminal events occur, rather than to merely respond to them. Crime analysis if defined as a set of systematic, analytical processes providing timely and pertinent information to assist operational and administrative personnel.

24 Technology as a tool CompStat computer or comparative statistics. Developed by Commission Bratton, NYPD, in the early 1990s. Four principles: Widespread communication of timely information Coordinated, rapid deployments of resources to problem areas Tactics/strategies based on current intelligence Thorough follow-up and assessment

25 Crime Mapping Crime is a human phenomena and does not occur randomly based on geography. In the past the police would use geographic boundaries as a way of deploying resources with little or no consideration for the human factor. Pin mapping was an early practice. With the aid of computerized data, the police can analyze hot spots where crime is recurring with regularity.

26 Crime Hot Spot Theories Place theory explains why crime occurs at specific locations. This is the lowest level of data analysis, it examines specific places, represented by a pin or dot. Street theory is a slightly higher level of analysis, expanding the hot spots to streets or blocks, represented linearly, or in a straight line. Neighborhood theory deals with larger areas, visualized in two-dimensional shapes: rectangles, ellipses, or polygons. Large area theory looks at crime patterns on the macro-level: cities, multijurisdictional, state.

27 Common mistakes Common mistakes found in problemsolving approaches may include Spending too much time or energy on unimportant details; Failing to resolve important issues; Being secretive about true feelings; Having a closed mind; and Not expressing ideas.