NCJ Number
151579
Date Published
1993
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Police performance measurement criteria are discussed.
Abstract
This article presents the thoughts of the authors and a group of police practitioners who met in a three-day workshop, hosted by the Houston, Texas, Police Department, to explore ideas for measuring police performance in the context of community policing. Representatives of 10 police departments participated in the workshop. Many of their ideas are applicable to a variety of police approaches. Eight topics were discussed: (1) purposes of performance measurement; (2) documenting/measuring what patrol officers do; (3) measuring the effects of officer performance; (4) measuring the performance of investigators and sergeants; (5) measuring the performance of teams; (6) measuring organizational outcomes and the performance of organizational systems; (7) participants in the performance measurement process; and (8) impediments to creating and implementing new performance measurement systems. Summaries of discussion findings on these topics are provided. The article concludes that, in the context of community policing, the continuing development of an experienced officer, always an important goal of performance assessment, should be tied to the welfare of the neighborhood. The police departments in Houston and Madison, Wisconsin, share a similar policing philosophy, but are taking different approaches toward the performance measurement issue. A listing of workshop participants and a bibliography are provided.