Patrol: The Backbone of Policing (Vocabulary Flashcards)
Page 1: Patrol: The Backbone of Policing
- Patrol: The backbone of policing
- Services handled by patrol officers
- Unique in the nature of discretion
- It is a low status assignment
- Paperwork and Patience
Page 2: 1a. General Points about Patrol
- It is the backbone of policing
- Services handled by patrol officers
- Unique in nature of discretion
- It is a low status assignment
- Paperwork and Patience
Page 3: 1b. Purpose of Patrol
- What is the purpose of patrol?
- Question
Page 4: 1b. Purpose of Patrol
- To deter crime
- Enhance feelings of public safety
- Be available to provide service
- O.W. Wilson: Be omnipresent
Page 5: “Representative” Day in the Life of a Patrol Officer
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjQtdOjXvH8
- “Radio Car”
- Respond to calls from people, sent by dispatcher
Page 6: Factors Impacting Patrol Organization & Delivery
- Number of police officers
- Percentage of patrol
- Distribution by shift and area
- Number of officers available at any time
- Type of patrol
- Management style of patrol officers
Page 7: Patrol Work is “Citizen Driven”
- Reiss
- 81% of contacts citizen initiated
- POPN Study in Indianapolis: 54% of contacts citizen initiated
- Police Patrol is Reactive… but getting to be less so
- Proper engagement and legitimacy
- Too many police officers engaging in proactive strategies
- Difficulty mobilizing the police when called
Page 8: Three findings that (should have) revolutionized policing
- Crime is extremely concentrated (no matter the jurisdiction)
- Response time does little to apprehend offenders
- Random preventive patrol does not work
Page 9: Minneapolis Hot-Spots Study
- Low-income people/areas call the most
- 5% of addresses account for 64% of all calls
- 60% of addresses NEVER call the police
- Minneapolis Hot-Spots Study
Page 10: Other studies offering support
- Koper (1995) – Sacramento, CA
- Braga and Bond (2008) – Lowell, MA
- Braga et al., (2012) – Jacksonville, FL
- Braga, Papachristos, & Hureau (2014) – Meta Analysis
Page 11: Response Time
- Does not:
- Increase probability of arrest
- Increase public satisfaction (within reason)
- Really has little effect on crime/apprehension
- Fast does not increase the probability of arrest
- Slow does not decrease the probability of arrest
- Recent findings (2023)
- Faster response time increases apprehension for two crimes
- What are they? WHY do these findings make sense?????
Page 12: KC Patrol Experiment (1972-73) — 15 Beats
- Reactive, Proactive, and Control
- Figure 1: SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE 15-BEAT EXPERIMENTAL AREA
- R C P 0 R P C R C P P R R P C
- P = Proactive
- C = Control
- R = Reactive
Page 13: KC Patrol Experiment — Findings
- Findings, No effect on:
- Crime
- Fear
- POLICE
- Citizen attitudes/perceptions about crime
- C: (referenced in the transcript diagram/table)
Page 14: Continued KC Patrol Experiment
- Impact:
- PREVENTIVE PATROL DOES NOT WORK
- Shattered Basic Assumption of Policing
- Effect on organizations?
- Flint, MI and Newark, NJ in the late 1970s
- Tested FP effect on crime, arrest, attitudes
- Findings:
- Did not reduce serious crime
- Did improve on fear and satisfaction
- Piza and O’Hara (Newark - 2014):
- 42% reduction in violent crime, inc. displacement
- Groff et al. - Hotspots (Philadelphia - 2014):
- No impact on violent crime, more rigorous
- Haberman & Stiver (Dayton 2019):
- No significant decrease in violent crime
- Significant reduction in disorder
Page 16: So? What do you do???
- How can we use police resources more efficiently if preventive patrol in its historical formats does not work?
Page 17: Patrol Strategy Innovations
- Directed Patrol
- Hot Spots Policing
- What to do when you get there?
- Prioritize Calls
- Refer (or ignore)
- Take report on phone or online
- Citizen fills it out on paper
- Delay Response for nonemergency
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbjoHdlrEUU
- Employ volunteers or cadets
- Use 311 system