I n the last three decades, several concepts have been advanced to structure efforts to improve p... more I n the last three decades, several concepts have been advanced to structure efforts to improve policing. Among them have been team policing, neighborhood policing, community policing, problem-oriented policing, and, most recently, quality-of-life policing. With much overlap, each concept, as reflected in its name, emphasizes a different need, relegating other commonly advocated reforms to a secondary role, shaped to support that need. This volume traces the efforts to implement problem-oriented policing. The emphasis in problem-oriented policing is on directing attention to the broad range of problems the community expects the police to handle–the problems that constitute the business of the police–and on how police can be more effective in dealing with them. A layperson may think this focus elementary on first being introduced to it. Indeed, laypeople probably assume that police continually focus on the problems they are expected to handle. But within policing, this focus constitu...
Several years ago, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference ... more Several years ago, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in Albuquerque, N.M., police administrators adopted a resolution to address the increasing number of false burglar-alarm dispatches in their communi ties. They formed a task force whose membership included police officials and alarmindustry representatives. They developed and approved a plan to field-test several approaches to false-alarm reduction. Elgin, Ill., was one of three cities selected nationwide to try some new approaches to this growing problem. In 1994, Elgin police responded to 4,655 false alarms, representing 7.7 percent of the department's total workload. As part of the pilot program, alarm companies were asked to visit their Elgin customers to reeducate them about proper alarm-system operation. The com panies were also asked to thoroughly evaluate their customers' alarm systems for compliance with identified false-alarm-reduction standards and, in some cases, to recommend system modifications. The police asked the companies to follow up on all false alarms and tailor solutions to each problem's specifics. Shortly before the pilot program began, Elgin implemented, by ordinance, a system for regulating false alarms that included fines assessed to those users with four or more false alarms in a year, and revocation of alarm permits for those with 10 or more. This revocation can be reversed if the alarm system is fixed. In 1995, in the first few months of the effort, a 42 percent reduction in false alarms was noted. Since that time, some additional strategies have been implemented. Businesses have been asked to train employees on proper alarm-system use, alarm companies are ironing out mechanical and user problems, and police have met with employees of banks experiencing high false-alarm rates to tailor responses to their repeat problems. From the inception of the effort through May 1997, Elgin sustained a 50 percent reduction in false alarms, compared with the 1994 baseline false-alarm figures.
The Response Guides are one of three series of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police. The other ... more The Response Guides are one of three series of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police. The other two are the Problem-Specific Guides and Problem-Solving Tools. iii About the Response Guides Series These guides emphasize effectiveness and fairness as the main considerations police should take into account in choosing responses, but recognize that they are not the only considerations. Police use particular responses for reasons other than, or in addition to, whether or not they will work, and whether or not they are deemed fair. Community attitudes and values, and the personalities of key decision-makers, sometimes mandate different approaches to addressing crime and disorder problems. Some communities and individuals prefer enforcement-oriented responses, whereas others prefer collaborative, community-oriented, or harm-reduction approaches. These guides will not necessarily alter those preferences, but are intended to better inform them. The COPS Office defines community policing as "a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships." These guides emphasize problem-solving and policecommunity partnerships in the context of addressing specific public safety problems. For the most part, the organizational strategies that can facilitate problem-solving and policecommunity partnerships vary considerably and discussion of them is beyond the scope of these guides. These guides have drawn on research findings and police practices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Even though laws, customs and police practices vary from country to country, it is apparent that the police everywhere experience common problems. In a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is important that police be aware of research and successful practices beyond the borders of their own countries.
The public calls upon the police to respond to an astounding range of problems and to perform an ... more The public calls upon the police to respond to an astounding range of problems and to perform an extraordinary diversity of tasks, all the while assuming that police have the expertise and resources to do so. Many of these problems and tasks fall to the police through the default of others: from gaps in government services, to the abandonment of responsibility by private citizens, corporations, and other organizations. This has always been a concern. In recent years, through a more methodical approach to policing, police are increasingly pressing for a more rational distribution of responsibilities based upon a detailed examination of the differing facets of police business.This guide details the ways in which police can persuade or coerce others to address crime and disorder problems. As such, it differs from other guides in the Response Guides series; whereas most Response Guides examine the kinds of responses that can be used to address common crime and disorder problems — crackd...
The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the original date of publicati... more The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the original date of publication. Given that URLs and websites are in constant flux, neither the author nor the COPS Office can vouch for their current validity. Department of Justice reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and authorize others to use, this publication for Federal Government purposes. This publication may be freely distributed and used for noncommercial and educational purposes. The Problem-Specific Guides summarize knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and to improving the overall response to incidents, not to investigating offenses or handling specific incidents. Neither do they cover all of the technical details about how to implement specific responses. The guides are written for police—of whatever rank or assignment— who must address the specific ...
Problem-oriented policing initiatives are one important form of crime prevention, and they offer ... more Problem-oriented policing initiatives are one important form of crime prevention, and they offer opportunities for learning about implementation success and failure. Problem-oriented policing initiatives can succeed or fail for a variety of reasons, among them: inaccurate identification of the probk?n, inaccurate analysis of the problem, inadequate implementation, or application of an incorrect theory. This paper draws upon both the research literature and reports on problem- oriented policing initiatives to identify those factors that best explain why action plans do or do not get implemented. It identifies and provides examples of five clusters of factors that help explain implementation success or failure: (I) character- istics, skills, and actions of project managers; (2) resources (3) support and coopera- tion external to the police agency; (4) evidence; and (5) complexity of implementation.
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Local police have long assumed some responsibility for enforcing state and local government admin... more Local police have long assumed some responsibility for enforcing state and local government administrative regulations, such as those governing licenses and permits. In recent years, local police have broadened their use of regulatory authority to make it an integral part of their crime and disorder control efforts, doing so either directly or through the cooperation of other local and state regulatory agencies. This shift in police legal orientation, from predominantly criminal toward administrative, has been promoted and supported through problem-oriented policing and situational crime prevention frameworks. This article reviews applications of police regulatory control to specific crime and disorder problems, the mechanisms by which they work, and the possible ramifications for police administration and police intragovernmental and extragovernmental relations.
I n the last three decades, several concepts have been advanced to structure efforts to improve p... more I n the last three decades, several concepts have been advanced to structure efforts to improve policing. Among them have been team policing, neighborhood policing, community policing, problem-oriented policing, and, most recently, quality-of-life policing. With much overlap, each concept, as reflected in its name, emphasizes a different need, relegating other commonly advocated reforms to a secondary role, shaped to support that need. This volume traces the efforts to implement problem-oriented policing. The emphasis in problem-oriented policing is on directing attention to the broad range of problems the community expects the police to handle–the problems that constitute the business of the police–and on how police can be more effective in dealing with them. A layperson may think this focus elementary on first being introduced to it. Indeed, laypeople probably assume that police continually focus on the problems they are expected to handle. But within policing, this focus constitu...
Several years ago, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference ... more Several years ago, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in Albuquerque, N.M., police administrators adopted a resolution to address the increasing number of false burglar-alarm dispatches in their communi ties. They formed a task force whose membership included police officials and alarmindustry representatives. They developed and approved a plan to field-test several approaches to false-alarm reduction. Elgin, Ill., was one of three cities selected nationwide to try some new approaches to this growing problem. In 1994, Elgin police responded to 4,655 false alarms, representing 7.7 percent of the department's total workload. As part of the pilot program, alarm companies were asked to visit their Elgin customers to reeducate them about proper alarm-system operation. The com panies were also asked to thoroughly evaluate their customers' alarm systems for compliance with identified false-alarm-reduction standards and, in some cases, to recommend system modifications. The police asked the companies to follow up on all false alarms and tailor solutions to each problem's specifics. Shortly before the pilot program began, Elgin implemented, by ordinance, a system for regulating false alarms that included fines assessed to those users with four or more false alarms in a year, and revocation of alarm permits for those with 10 or more. This revocation can be reversed if the alarm system is fixed. In 1995, in the first few months of the effort, a 42 percent reduction in false alarms was noted. Since that time, some additional strategies have been implemented. Businesses have been asked to train employees on proper alarm-system use, alarm companies are ironing out mechanical and user problems, and police have met with employees of banks experiencing high false-alarm rates to tailor responses to their repeat problems. From the inception of the effort through May 1997, Elgin sustained a 50 percent reduction in false alarms, compared with the 1994 baseline false-alarm figures.
The Response Guides are one of three series of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police. The other ... more The Response Guides are one of three series of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police. The other two are the Problem-Specific Guides and Problem-Solving Tools. iii About the Response Guides Series These guides emphasize effectiveness and fairness as the main considerations police should take into account in choosing responses, but recognize that they are not the only considerations. Police use particular responses for reasons other than, or in addition to, whether or not they will work, and whether or not they are deemed fair. Community attitudes and values, and the personalities of key decision-makers, sometimes mandate different approaches to addressing crime and disorder problems. Some communities and individuals prefer enforcement-oriented responses, whereas others prefer collaborative, community-oriented, or harm-reduction approaches. These guides will not necessarily alter those preferences, but are intended to better inform them. The COPS Office defines community policing as "a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships." These guides emphasize problem-solving and policecommunity partnerships in the context of addressing specific public safety problems. For the most part, the organizational strategies that can facilitate problem-solving and policecommunity partnerships vary considerably and discussion of them is beyond the scope of these guides. These guides have drawn on research findings and police practices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Even though laws, customs and police practices vary from country to country, it is apparent that the police everywhere experience common problems. In a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is important that police be aware of research and successful practices beyond the borders of their own countries.
The public calls upon the police to respond to an astounding range of problems and to perform an ... more The public calls upon the police to respond to an astounding range of problems and to perform an extraordinary diversity of tasks, all the while assuming that police have the expertise and resources to do so. Many of these problems and tasks fall to the police through the default of others: from gaps in government services, to the abandonment of responsibility by private citizens, corporations, and other organizations. This has always been a concern. In recent years, through a more methodical approach to policing, police are increasingly pressing for a more rational distribution of responsibilities based upon a detailed examination of the differing facets of police business.This guide details the ways in which police can persuade or coerce others to address crime and disorder problems. As such, it differs from other guides in the Response Guides series; whereas most Response Guides examine the kinds of responses that can be used to address common crime and disorder problems — crackd...
The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the original date of publicati... more The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the original date of publication. Given that URLs and websites are in constant flux, neither the author nor the COPS Office can vouch for their current validity. Department of Justice reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and authorize others to use, this publication for Federal Government purposes. This publication may be freely distributed and used for noncommercial and educational purposes. The Problem-Specific Guides summarize knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and to improving the overall response to incidents, not to investigating offenses or handling specific incidents. Neither do they cover all of the technical details about how to implement specific responses. The guides are written for police—of whatever rank or assignment— who must address the specific ...
Problem-oriented policing initiatives are one important form of crime prevention, and they offer ... more Problem-oriented policing initiatives are one important form of crime prevention, and they offer opportunities for learning about implementation success and failure. Problem-oriented policing initiatives can succeed or fail for a variety of reasons, among them: inaccurate identification of the probk?n, inaccurate analysis of the problem, inadequate implementation, or application of an incorrect theory. This paper draws upon both the research literature and reports on problem- oriented policing initiatives to identify those factors that best explain why action plans do or do not get implemented. It identifies and provides examples of five clusters of factors that help explain implementation success or failure: (I) character- istics, skills, and actions of project managers; (2) resources (3) support and coopera- tion external to the police agency; (4) evidence; and (5) complexity of implementation.
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Local police have long assumed some responsibility for enforcing state and local government admin... more Local police have long assumed some responsibility for enforcing state and local government administrative regulations, such as those governing licenses and permits. In recent years, local police have broadened their use of regulatory authority to make it an integral part of their crime and disorder control efforts, doing so either directly or through the cooperation of other local and state regulatory agencies. This shift in police legal orientation, from predominantly criminal toward administrative, has been promoted and supported through problem-oriented policing and situational crime prevention frameworks. This article reviews applications of police regulatory control to specific crime and disorder problems, the mechanisms by which they work, and the possible ramifications for police administration and police intragovernmental and extragovernmental relations.
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