AJ – 58 Community and Human Relations

1. AJ – 58 Community and Human Relations Chapter 8 – Problem-Solving and Community Policing

2. Traditional, Reactive Response • Citizen calls for help • Limited assistance from Dispatcher • Patrol officer responds/investigates • Handles call according to investigation • Take report/give advice • Warn/advise or arrest suspect • Back on patrol, awaiting next call with no real thought about underlying problem • May lead to repeat calls, recurring problem

3. Benefits of Problem-Solving Approach • Reactive model has little impact on… • Reducing crime • Keeping order • Number of calls for service • Community problems • Dealing with underlying problems proactively should have positive impact on all of the above

4. Police as Social Agents • Police deal with social problems on a daily basis despite existence/efforts of other social agencies • Societal problems closely linked to crime • Economy, poverty, unemployment • Lack of social bonding, inferior living conditions • Politics, social policies • These conditions may lead to criminal acts that police have to deal with, then move on to next • CP focuses on causes rather than incidents!

5. Problem-Solving as a Tactic • Prevent Crime, Improve Conditions • Focus on specific problems, not just random distribution of resources • Recognize Social Conditions that Contribute to Crime/Disorder • Analyze conditions and develop specific responses to each, not just calls for service • Realize Some Problems Outside Police Control • Cooperate with other agencies to develop unified strategy

6. Geographical Policing • Certain areas of any community seem to be “high crime areas” or “hot spots” • Usually account for large percentage of calls for service • Bars, liquor stores • Neighborhoods/Apartment complexes • Parks • Gathering spots for… • Gangs • Teens • Drug use/sales • Homeless

7. SARA Model of Problem-Solving • Scan • Analyze • Respond • Assess

8. Scanning • Departments examine their jurisdiction for • Specific problems • Hot spots • Identified by • Calls for service/citizen complaints • Criminal activity/arrests • Scanning should include assistance from Community to include their input!

9. Analysis • Collection of information related to specific problem, area, etc. • Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? • May include other contributing factors • Sales of drugs/alcohol from particular location • Analysis should attempt to focus on specific problem/area without too much overlap

10. Response • Focus on cause of problems rather than symptoms • Example: sales to minors • May be police alone or multi-agency • Police may refer problem to other agencies • Must be aware of additional subsequent problems that may result from response

11. Assessment • Was the response effective? • Did it solve the problem or just reduce or transfer it elsewhere? • If outcome less than desirable, police must return to Analyze for new Response • Is dislocating a problem a successful outcome? • Traditional answer = yes • Community Policing answer = no

12. Identifying Problems:Officer Observations and Experience • Patrol officer has intimate knowledge of beat • Problem residences, neighborhoods, bars… • Able to coordinate resources • DV services, Crime Prevention Units, ABC • Able to identify problem individuals • PR contacts, FI’s • Get to know members of community • More likely to cooperate/provide information to familiar officer

13. Identifying Problems:Citizen Complaints & Community Groups • Departments look at aggregate of calls to determine trends • Citizens concerned with problems that affect them directly or regularly • Traffic • Loitering • Panhandling • Neighborhood meetings in central location • Citizens get to voice concerns • Police gather information, develop positive relations • Follow-up response is crucial! • Service-Club organization meetings

14. Identifying Problems:Crime Mapping • Technological advances • CAD & RMS • Valuable information from each call • Location, Time, Nature of call • Response Time • Outcome of Incident • Information used to “Map” crime trends • Specific time, area, location, address • Specific call-type, incident, crime

15. Identifying Problems:Police Reports/Calls for Service • Types of police reports • Offense/crime • Incident • Arrest • Follow-Up/Supplemental • Crime Analysis Unit • Analyze data from reports • Produce summaries of information • Crimes, offenders, deployment plans • Pin maps, daily bulletins by area/beat • Modus Operandi, commonalities in day/time/location

16. Identifying Problems • Geographic Concentration Pattern • Identify certain hot-spots by concentration of crimes over certain time period • Similar Offense Patterns • Compare similarities in crime, suspect, victim, time, location, MO to identify trends • Citizen Surveys • Questions regarding crime, fear of crime, attitude towards police/police services • Good prelude to a neighborhood meeting!

17. Police Problem-Solving • Drug sales • NYPD • Citizens help police find stashed drugs • Lexington, KY • Police remove basketball hoops • San Diego, CA • Increased-enforcement threat, rehab programs • Residential Burglaries • Crime prevention safety checks

18. Lack of analytical skills/training Lack of problem-solving framework in department Resistance to change Sufficient time for proper analysis Lack of Community involvement and/or cooperation Lack of support from local government Unclear answers as to what strategies work best Linear thinking for a non-linear problem Lack of information about the problem Obstacles to Problem-Solving