NCJ Number
79543
Date Published
1974
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Highlights from a 1-day seminar on improving police productivity (held at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., on July 19, 1974) present innovative ideas on improving and measuring productivity and deal with negative productivity.
Abstract
Moderator George Kuper introduces several speakers who examine law enforcement activities in relation to concepts and practices relating to productivity. A prevailing concept is that any increase in police manpower will automatically lead to a decrease in the crime rate; this myth is discredited, and the output of police services in relation to the dollars given to police is examined. Instead, the speakers describe several other tactics that have promise for improving productivity -- well-planned resource allocation with most resources being directed at the most serious crimes, increased percentage of civilian to law enforcement staff in police departments, and shifts to neighborhood policing. Negative productivity issues must also be understood by the police chief and administrators. These can include riots, interracial tension within the department and the community, 'blue flu,' unsolved kidnappings, and corruption. The effect of productivity strategies and productivity measurement can be better working conditions and better policing results; however, as one speaker asserts, real improvement depends on the cooperation of all elements of the criminal justice system and the input of labor into designing and implementing productivity strategies.