NCJ Number
138802
Date Published
1992
Length
72 pages
Annotation
This essay reviews the information gathered thus far about the epidemiology of crime-control targets and the crime control results of police work.
Abstract
Available experimental evidence suggests that police actions can reduce crime, increase crime, or make no difference; the effect depends on a wide range of conditions. According to the epidemiological evidence, police can direct their crime-control efforts much more sharply on high-risk places, times, offenders, and victims (to a lesser extent). Field interrogations and directed patrol may reduce robbery, but place-oriented and victim-oriented problem solving remains underdeveloped. Police efforts to control soft crime, domestic violence, street-level drug marketplaces, burglary, auto theft, and drunk driving also were examined. Less than 3 percent of street addresses and 3 percent of the population in a city are responsible for over half the crime and arrests. Together the experimental and epidemiological findings support the value of a more intensive and sustained program of research and development for testing current and innovative police efforts to control crime. 156 references