NCJ Number
219785
Journal
Revue de l' IPC Review Volume: 1 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 11-44
Date Published
March 2007
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of the theory, practice, and evaluation of some of the major U.S. policing innovations in recent decades and offers guidelines for future policing innovations.
Abstract
The author identifies two generations of recent policing innovations. The first (1980-2000) called for bold changes in the nature of policing in order to solve neighborhood problems and meet community needs for safety, liberty, and contact with a personalized police force. In addressing the need for effective public-safety problem solving, Goldstein (1979) introduced the theory of problem-oriented policing. At approximately the same time, "broken windows" (public disorder and visible neighborhood deterioration) was viewed as another problem solving model, which focused on police foot patrol. This first generation of recent innovation included the emergence of community policing, which was grounded in the community crime prevention movement of the 1970s and earlier work in team policing. The second generation of recent policing innovations (2001 to the present) began with the era of information technology (IT). Grounded in rapid technological advances, a push for data-driven policing, and research that shows the clustering of criminal activity by area, this model focuses on geo-based crime fighting and the surveillance of suspects. Compstat policing and "hot spots" policing are the featured policing practices of this era. The first generation of innovation has struggled to achieve police reform in the real world for reasons noted in this paper. In the meantime, the IT generation has emerged as central, with a narrower vision of policing and a return to the crime-fighting model. This paper explores the prospects and problems for these two generations of reform and speculates about where to go from here. 88 references