NCJ Number
163168
Date Published
1995
Length
228 pages
Annotation
Although this guide can be used to explore the performance of any police program, it focuses on issues related to the evaluation of community policing.
Abstract
The means and methods for conducting three types of evaluations are explained. Program monitoring evaluation focuses on the extent to which the program is reaching its intended target population and whether or not its delivery of services is consistent with program design specifications. Impact evaluation addresses the extent to which the program is effective in meeting its goals and objectives within budget and without resulting in significant unwanted outcomes. Efficiency evaluation pertains to the results or benefits produced by a program in relation to its costs. This guide also provides an introduction to the benefits of committing to evaluation and to the ways in which evaluation research can be used by police organizations. Further, it details the range of methods that are currently used in the evaluation of police programs through reliance on "real world" examples of evaluations of community policing programs across Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. Finally, it examines the common goals and objectives of community policing, explores how these goals and objectives have been measured, and summarizes current knowledge about the performance of community policing programs. Appended review of community policing definitions, summary of the results of Canadian evaluations of community policing, a list of broad performance indicators for the police, and a program logic model developed for the evaluation of Victoria Police Department's Community Police Stations and a 156-item bibliography