Diary of a Police Officer

• NCJ Number: 192164
• Author(s): Jim Knox; Stephen McDonald
• Date Published: November 2001
• Length: 60 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Great Britain Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Police Research Series Paper 149.

Annotation

This British study aimed to identify ways to reduce police officers' time away from the beat, particularly by reducing or eliminating those taks performed by officers that could be done by civilians, outside agencies, or by better use of technology.

Abstract

Information pertinent to the study was obtained from 378 "diaries" kept by police officers across England and Wales regarding their activities throughout their shifts. Researchers also spoke to over 70 police officers to obtain a more detailed understanding of the demands on their time. The study found that police officers were spending almost as much time in the police station (43.1 percent of their time) as they were on the streets. Most time outside the police station was spent dealing with incidents and making inquiries. Only approximately 17 percent of police officer time was spent on "reassurance" patrol (being visible to and interacting with citizens). When on patrol, most time was spent in the patrol car, in part because officers must be able to respond rapidly to priority incidents. Officers were more likely to be out of the police station at night, but this meant fewer citizens were able to observe them, thus reducing the "reassurance" impact. There was no evidence that "community beat officers" spent more time on the beat than officers who were assigned to a sector. The large amount of time in the station was required to process prisoners, prepare prosecutions, and perform paperwork. Rather than proposing the employment of more officers, the recommendations of this study focused on ways to free the time of existing officers for more time on the beat. The recommendations focused on using other agencies and personnel to do what police officers were currently doing in the station, using support staff more effectively and efficiently, and enabling police to accomplish station duties more efficiently, so as to spend a greater percentage of time on the beat. 2 tables, 2 figures, and appended example of a "diary," a description of the field work, and quantitative results by shift and time of week