Police Strategies: What Works
Learning Objective 4: Explain why differential response strategies enable police departments to respond more efficiently to 911 calls.
Learning Objective 5: Explain why reactive arrest strategies might be incompatible with problem-oriented policing.
A. Calls for Service
i. All agencies practice incident-driven policing, in which calls for service are the primary instigators of action
ii. Response Time and Efficiency
a. The speed with which the police respond to calls for service has traditionally been seen as a crucial aspect of crime fighting and crime prevention
b. Response time is the time elapsed between the instant the call is received and the instant police arrive at the scene
c. Response time has become the benchmark for efficiency
iii. Improving Response Time Efficiency
a. Call systems to reduce the strain on 911 operations
b. Another popular method of improving performance in this area is a differential response strategy, in which the police distinguish among different calls for service so that they can respond more quickly to the most serious incidents
iv. Next Generation 911
a. Most pressing challenges are technological in nature
b. Today, most emergency calls for service come from mobile phones, and increasing numbers of consumers are taking advantage of VoIP (voice-over-Internet protocol) technology.
1. Standard 911 systems cannot pinpoint the exact location of a mobile phone or a computer
2. If a caller is unable to provide that information, then, it can prove very difficult for police officers to determine the site of the emergency
3. The Next Generation 911 system relies on the internet and allows police to receive text messages, videos, photos, and location
i. But it is operated by local and state agencies and will likely not be available nationwide until the end of the century
| Media Tool
“State of Tennessee Leads the Way in Next-Gen-9-1-1” · A short clip about the Next Gen calls for service system. |
B. Patrol Strategies
i. Most officers work general patrol, making the rounds of a specific area with the purpose of carrying out general patrol functions
ii. General patrols are random
iii. Testing Random Patrol
a. Tested strategies of preventive patrol from 1972 through 1973
b. Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment
1. Control beats – normal preventive measures were taken
2. Proactive beats – level of preventive measures was increased
3. Reactive beats – preventive patrol was eliminated
Results showed that increasing or decreasing preventive patrol had little or no impact on crimes, public opinion, police response time, traffic accidents, and reports of crime to police
iv. Directed Patrols
a. Directed patrols target specific areas of a city and often attempt to prevent a specific type of crime
b. Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment