NCJ Number
104776
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1987) Pages: 80-86
Date Published
1987
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article considers factors that make the evaluation of policing problematic, the use of evaluation to guide organizational change, and the implications of British Home Office Circular 114/83 for the evaluation of policing changes.
Abstract
Factors that make the evaluation of policing problematic include the multiple goals of policing; broad statements of objectives; multiple public demands on the police; the tenuous link between police motives, acts, and outcomes; the lower ranks' control over evaluation data; and lower ranks' resistance to performance measures. Police evaluations should be used to frame questions and identify factors that undermine or enhance the attainment of various policing goals. Evaluation research should be a long-term evolutionary process that builds upon previous evaluation findings to eliminate ineffective practices and implement change based on practices proven to achieve the goals desired by the police agency. The Home Office Circular 114/1983 emphasizes the need for explicit statements of objectives and plans for achieving them. Rigorous, critical, and objective evaluation of any policing initiatives is touted as the central feature of good managerial practice. Evaluation so conducted identifies factors that contribute to the failure to reach objectives and points toward alternative procedures that promise the desired results.