Chapter 13: Police Strategies and Tactics

The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

Robert Peel

• Crime Control Strategies– Preventive Patrol– Immediate Response to Calls– Follow-up Investigations

• Robert Peel’s view of the police force was that of a preventive force

• Patrol Function Categories– Crime prevention - pro-active deterrence

– Law Enforcement - reactive deterrence

– Order Maintenance - security

– Social Services - community welfare

• Patrol as a function

– Constant Movement

– Prevent/deter crime

– Eliminate opportunity for crime

Patrol Activities and Purposes

• Crime Detection and Prevention

• Apprehension of Criminals & Wanted Suspects

• Data & Information Collection

• Report Writing & Documentation

• Public Assistance• Peace Keeping and Order

Maintenance• Conflict Resolution

• Traffic Control and Enforcement

• Parking Enforcement• Law Enforcement Reduce

Citizens’ Fear of Crime• Detect and Enforce Code and

Safety Violations• Rapid Responses to

Emergencies• Public Relations• Police Visibility• Property Protection

• Foot Patrol• Motorcycle Patrol• Motorized Patrol• Bike Patrol• Horse Patrol• Aircraft Patrol• Watercraft Patrol

• Routine Patrol• Directed Patrol• D-Runs• Saturation Patrol• Split Force• Suspect-

Oriented Patrol

Method of Patrol Techniques of Patrol

PATROL SUPERVISION

• Hands on - supervisor involved in day to day activities

• Command - supervisor shows up at incident sites and gives orders

• Counsel - supervisor available and when requested shows up at incident sites

Traffic Enforcement

• Issue Traffic Citations• Issue Parking Citations• Investigate Traffic

Accidents• Arrest Drunk Drivers• Enforce Seatbelt Laws• Direct Traffic

• Insure Safety of Public• Reduce Accidents and

Injuries• Collect Information• Make Criminal Arrests• Enforce Laws• Facilitate Traffic Flow

Activities Purposes

Purposes of Criminal Investigation

• Determine whether or not a crime has been committed.

• Decide if the crime was committed within the investigator’s jurisdiction.

• Discover all facts pertaining to the complaint.

• Gather and preserve physical evidence.

• Identify the perpetrator.

• Develop and follow up all clues.

• Locate and apprehend the perpetrator.

• Aid in the prosecution of the offender by providing evidence of guilt that is admissible in court.

• Testify effectively as a witness in court.

• Recover stolen property.

Specialized Units and Operations

• Special Weapons & Tactics

• Vice & Drugs• K-9• Organized Crime• Community

Services• Crime analysis

• Domestic Violence• Sex Crimes• Internal Affairs• Crime Prevention• Juvenile & School

Service• Intelligence

• Preventive Patrol– Patrol is considered the backbone of police work.

Billions of dollars are spent each year in the United States to maintain and operate uniformed and often superbly equipped patrol forces.

– The assumption underlying such deployment has been that the presence or potential presence of officers patrolling the streets in marked police cars deters people from committing crime.

• THE KANSAS CITY PREVENTIVE PATROL EXPERIMENT– This landmark experiment found that traditional

routine patrol in marked police cars does not appear to affect the level of crime.

– Nor does it affect the public’s feeling of security. – The experiment demonstrated that urban police

departments can successfully test patrol deployment strategies, and that they can manipulate patrol resources without jeopardizing public safety.

• The Kansas City experiment asked the following questions:– Would citizens notice changes in the level of police

patrol?– Would different levels of visible police patrol affect

recorded crime or the outcome of victim surveys?– Would citizen fear of crime and attendant behavior

change as a result of differing patrol levels?– Would their degree of satisfaction with police

change?

• Findings:– Citizens did not notice the difference when the

level of patrol was changed. – What is more, increasing or decreasing the level of

police patrol had no significant effect on resident and commercial burglaries, auto thefts, larcenies involving auto accessories, robberies, or vandalism–crimes traditionally considered to be prevented by random, highly visible police patrol.

• Immediate Response to Calls• Follow up Investigations– Typically 10 – 20% of a department’s personnel

are investigators

• Refinements– Patrol Refinements• Directed Patrol• Field Interrogation

– Rapid Response Refinements• Differential Responses to calls for service

– Investigative Refinements• Solvability factors• Repeat Offender Approach

• Community Oriented Policing– Community policing is a philosophy that promotes

organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

• Community Oriented Policing is comprised of three key components:– Community Partnerships

Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police. • Other Government Agencies• Community Members/Groups• Nonprofits/Service Providers• Private Businesses• Media

• Organizational TransformationThe alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.

• Agency Management Climate and culture– Leadership Labor relations– Decision-making Strategic planning– Policies Organizational evaluations– Transparency Organizational Structure

• Geographic assignment of officers – Despecialization Resources and finances

• Personnel – Recruitment, hiring, and selection Personnel supervision/evaluations– Training

• Information Systems (Technology)

• Problem Solving– The process of engaging in the proactive and

systematic examination of identified problems to develop and rigorously evaluate effective responses. • Scanning: Identifying and prioritizing problems• Analysis: Researching what is known about the problem• Response: Developing solutions to bring about

lasting reductions in the number and extent of problems• Assessment: Evaluating the success of the responses• Using the crime triangle to focus on immediate

conditions (victim/offender/location)

• Problem Oriented Policing is the primary strategy of Community Oriented Policing. The community and police work together analyzing community problems and developing customized responses to them.

• Problem Oriented Policing– In the late 1970’s, researchers, police

professionals, and policymakers became interested in improving the effectiveness of policing.

– Research during this period pointed out the limitations of random patrol, rapid response, and follow-up criminal investigations–practices that had been the foundation of policing for many years.

• Problem Oriented Policing– Police deal with a range of community problems, many of which

are not strictly criminal in nature.– Arrest and prosecution alone–the traditional functions of the

criminal justice system–do not always effectively resolve problems.

– Giving the officers, who have great insight into community problems, the discretion to design solutions is extremely valuable to solving the problems.

– Police can use a variety of methods to redress recurrent problems.– The community values police involvement in non-criminal

problems and recognizes the contribution the police can make to solving these problems.

• Community Involvement:– Public Relations• “The Public Relations Office serves as the primary

contact for local, state, and national media through its response to incidents and dissemination of news releases about Department programs and activities.”

• Community Involvement:– Crime Prevention

• Crime Prevention is the anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of a crime risk, and the initiation of action to remove or reduce it.

• Crime Prevention is an active approach utilizing public awareness and preventive measures to reduce crime.

• Crime Prevention reflects a philosophy of self-defense where the police and the community take action before crimes are committed.

• Crime Preventions programs will reduce crime, stimulate public awareness concerning crime prevention and enhance our communities.

• Crime prevention works. It is cheaper, safer, and healthier for communities to prevent crime than to have to treat its victims, deal with its perpetrators, and lose civic health and productivity.

• Communications Channels

• Communications Channels

• Communications Channels