NCJ Number
175325
Date Published
1996
Length
46 pages
Annotation
A proactive policing approach was developed and evaluated in two settings in England, the Thanet Basic Command Unit (BCU) in Kent and the Gateshead East BCU in Northumbria.
Abstract
The project considered proactive policing to include the targeting of specific criminally active individuals for monitoring, the use of strategic initiatives against particular offense categories determined to be problematic, and broader activities in crime prevention. The Thanet BCU was chosen as the pilot site for the development and implementation of the Crime Management Model (CMM) starting in January 1994. The project in the Gateshead East BCU built on the Thanet experience and central concepts starting in August 1994, although its structure differed in organizational detail. Both pilot sites had devolved management and used crime desks and intelligence units under a taking and coordinating group. However, several factors have hampered the ability to evaluate the CMM. These factors include the limiting of the research and development to a 15-month time period and the police agencies' introduction of new ideas that made controlled comparisons impossible. Nevertheless, the introduction of the CMM has demonstrated the feasibility of freeing resources used in a predominantly reactive and unproductive way and using them to make proactive strategies a central part of policing. Tables, figures, glossary, and 2 references