POLICE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE PUBLIC - THE LIMITATIONS OF OFFICIAL CRIME RATES (FROM EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICING, P 70-97, 1980, R V G CLARKE AND J M HOUGH - SEE NCJ-71038)

• NCJ Number: 68607
• Author(s): A K BOTTOMLEY; C A COLEMAN
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 28 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Social Science Research Council
• Sale Source: Gower Publishing Co Ltd
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE INHERENT LIMITATIONS OF UTILIZING EXISTING STATISTICS TO EVALUATE POLICE EFFECTIVENESS, EXAMINES SOME RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS, AND SUGGESTS NEW RESEARCH IN THE AREA.

Abstract

OFFICIAL CRIME RATES, DESPITE ALL THEIR LIMITATIONS, ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN THE BASIC SOURCE FOR PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF CRIME AND POLICE EFFECTIVENESS FOR YEARS TO COME. FOR THIS REASON THEY MUST BE SUBJECT TO CONSTANT SCRUTINY. THEY CAN MOST APPROPRIATELY BE VIEWED AS THE PRODUCT OF A DECISTION THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN OR THE REFLECTION OF A JUDGMENT THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN REACHED. SPECIALLY COLLECTED RESEARCH DATA IS NEEDED TO EVALUATE ASPECTS OF POLICE PERFORMANCE. THE FOCUS OF THE PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT CRIME AND THE POLICE SHOULD BE SWITCHED FROM LIMITED AND RELATIVELY IMPRECISE MEASURES OF ALLEGED EFFECTIVENESS TO AN EXAMINATION OF THE BROADER ISSUE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF POLICING PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS. THE POLICE ARE MORE LIKELY TO RAISE THEMSELVES IN THE PUBLIC ESTIMATION BY IMPROVING THEIR VISIBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, AND THE QUALITY OF THEIR RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS. WORKING WITH THE PUBLIC AS A PRIME OBJECTIVE MIGHT PAVE THE WAY FOR A NEW CONCEPTION OF SHARED RESPONSILBILITY FOR LAW AND OTHER, NOT MEASURED BY HIGHLY DUBIOUS CRIME STATISTICS BUT IN TERMS OF A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF THE NATURE OF THE CRIME IN SOCIETY. IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF POLICE-CITIZEN INTERACTION IS CRITICAL. TABLES AND APPROXIMATELY 45 REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.