NCJ Number
146884
Date Published
1993
Length
225 pages
Annotation
Information from the police in Reading, England formed the basis of police response to citizen calls for service and police decisionmaking regarding priorities for responding and the allocation of police resources.
Abstract
Data were gathered about the nature of the approximately 3,800 calls received during February 1986, interviews with control room staff, and a questionnaire survey that received responses from 190 police officers. Findings reveal that police interpret calls largely on their perceived merits, rather than making an undifferentiated response to all calls. The two factors that significantly affected respondents' interpretation were the information available at various stages of the communications chain and the experience of the police officer. Results indicated that policing is reactive and that how the police respond to the diverse demands made upon them is decided almost exclusively by the lowest echelons of the organization. Discussion of policy implications, tables, appended survey instrument and additional results, index, and 123 references