NCJ Number
65738
Date Published
1979
Length
8 pages
Annotation
MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR ALLOCATING POLICE PATROL RESOURCES TO MEET THE GROWING COMPLEXITY OF PATROL ALLOCATION; HOWEVER, MOST DEPARTMENTS LACK THE KNOWLEDGE AND WILL TO USE THEM.
Abstract
AS POLICE DUTIES GROW MORE COMPLEX, EXPENSIVE, AND NUMEROUS, IT BECOMES IMPORTANT TO IMPROVE PATROL PRACTICES AND, THEREFORE, PATROL ALLOCATION. THIS ALLOCATION NOW REQUIRES MUCH ORGANIZATION, SOPHISTICATED INPUT, AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, WHICH CAN BE OVERWHELMING IN A LARGE URBAN AREA. FURTHER, CONVERTING DATA CRITERIA INTO MEASURABLE POLICE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND LINKING CRIME REDUCTION WITH PATROL ALLOCATION POLICY AND DIFFICULT. THE TRADITIONAL ALLOCATION METHOD (THE 'HAZARD' METHOD) INVOLVES EQUALIZING WORKLOADS BY CREATING A SCORE FOR EACH PATROL SECTOR, BASED ON ITS SIZE, AMOUNT, AND TYPE OF CRIME. THE SCORE IS THEN TRANSLATED INTO ITS MANPOWER NEED. HOWEVER, THE HAZARD METHOD IS ARBITRARY, A POOR PLANNING TOOL, AND USELESS FOR DETERMINING HOW LARGE A POLICE FORCE SHOULD BE. VARIATIONS OF THE HAZARD METHOD ARE ALSO UNSATISFACTORY AND MERELY POINT TO A NEED FOR MATHEMATICAL PATROL ALLOCATION. SEVERAL MATHEMATICAL ALLOCATION METHODS DISCUSSED USE ALGORITHMS, TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BEAT SIZE AND SHAPE, AND MAKE USE OF FACTS ABOUT THE POLICE RESPONSE SYSTEM. HOWEVER, MATHEMATICAL METHODS REQUIRE TIME-CONSUMING CALCULATIONS AND CAN LEAD TO INACCURACIES; MOREOVER, POLICE DEPARTMENTS DO NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY COMPUTERS OR TRAINED STAFF TO USE THESE METHODS. HOWEVER, A CAPACITY FOR MATHEMATICAL PATROL ALLOCATION METHODS SHOULD BE DEVELOPED SINCE THEY CAN HELP POLICE DETER CRIME BY PROVIDING THEM WITH MEASURABLE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND OBJECTIVES, AS WELL AS BETTER ALLOCATION OF PATROL RESOURCES. NOTES ARE INCLUDED.