NCJ Number
214623
Date Published
May 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of Queensland Police Service's (Australia) Operational Performance Reviews (OPRs), which is a police management strategy that focuses on reducing crime through peer reviews of empirical evidence of what does and does not work in reducing crime.
Abstract
The evaluation findings indicate that the introduction of OPRs in early 2001 was associated with a significant decrease in the total number of reported offenses in Queensland when crime before OPRs (1995-2001) was compared with crime after the introduction of OPRs (2001-2004). Had OPRs not been introduced across Queensland in 2001, a steady, seasonally based increase in crime would have been predicted. By June 2004, the actual number of reported offenses was 8,495; whereas, without the introduction of OPRs, the number of reported offenses would have been expected to be approximately 11,700. When operational costs for the OPRs were weighed against the savings of reduced crime, the OPRs apparently was cost-effective, resulting in an overall saving of $1,162,175. Thus, results indicated that OPRs in Queensland were an important factor in reducing crime, particularly unlawful entries; however, explanations that have accompanied crime reductions in other Australian jurisdictions cannot be ruled out. The findings suggest that focusing police resources on the worst crime "hotspots", based on crime analysis and proven police strategies, can significantly reduce major crime problems in a district or region. The evaluation collected reported crime data for 60 offenses from the Queensland Police Service administrative data system, and these were reduced to 13 crime types. A time series analysis was used to assess the size and direction of reported crimes before and after the introduction of OPRs. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 28 references