NCJ Number
75716
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Wilmington Police Department's (Delaware) experience with a program that tested the effectiveness of alternative methods of handling requests for police service is discussed.
Abstract
The program, entitled 'Managing the Police Demand,' was an outgrowth of an earlier project of the Wilmington Police Department, the Split Force Patrol Project, which provided for concentrated police patrol coverage in areas experiencing high crime rates, while at the same time maintaining sufficient patrol resources to more efficiently handle requests for police service. The patrol force is split into two distinct units: the basic patrol force, whose units respond on a prioritized basis to complaints and calls for service as they are initated by citizens; and the structured patrol force, whose units are committed full-time to conducting various crime prevention and apprehension activities which are selected through analysis of crime data and various other feedback mechanisms from police personnel. Under the split force project, however, little effort was made to better manage the actual demand on patrol units. The new program aims at managing the demand for police service by diverting demand away from the traditional and costly provision of a timely response by a patrol unit to every request for police assistance. The alternatives proposed included formal delayed response (30-minute delay), specialist unit response, walk-in response (complainants come to the police station), and the telephone report. An attitudinal survey was conducted to determine what alternatives the community would accept. Results indicated the community would accept a reduction in the number of 4-hour active response units by at least 20 percent. Although firm evaluation data have not been developed and analyzed, the preliminary indication is that basic patrol unit deployment has been achieved without reducing service quality. Figures are provided.