NCJ Number
175456
Journal
Policing Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: 1997 Pages: 716-728
Date Published
1997
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Conducted to identify and compare types of activities performed by community and beat police officers and the amount of time spent on these activities, this study found activities of community police officers differed substantially from those of beat police officers.
Abstract
Data were collected between January and August 1995 as part of a larger evaluation of community policing in Cincinnati, Ohio. Systematic observations of community and beat police officers were carried out. It was found community police officers spent a great deal of time engaged in community-based service activities, especially meeting-related activities. Traditional activities associated with patrol work consumed much of the beat police officer's workload. Specifically, random patrol, responding to noncrime calls, and crime-related tasks accounted for about 70 percent of beat police officer time. These tasks were of much less significance for community police officers. Traditional crime-related activities consumed only about 5 percent of community police officer time. As a group, community police officers performed many diverse activities. A key implication of the study is that police organizations need to develop the means to better capture and measure the different activities performed by community police officers and the effects of these activities. 33 references, 6 notes, and 3 tables