NCJ Number
153477
Journal
American Journal of Police Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (1994) Pages: 21-50
Date Published
1994
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Recent perspectives on police performance measurement are presented, with emphasis on the discussions at a workshop focusing on this issue.
Abstract
Measurement of the performance of individual police officers and of police agencies is receiving increasing attention from police managers. Changes in police roles as a result of community policing and other policing innovations make it particularly important to use assessment procedures that are valid, legal, reliable, useful, and equitable. Houston and Madison exemplify the differing approaches to performance measurement being taken in agencies that share a similar policing philosophy. At an NIJ-sponsored workshop hosted by the Houston Police Department, representatives of 10 police agencies spent 3 days discussing ways of measuring individual and organizational performance of new roles. Participants did not find simple answers to issues of performance measurement or believe that a single model will apply across agencies over time. However, a community policing philosophy suggests a model of performance that reflects the needs of both the officer and agency and the needs of the community or neighborhood in which the officer works. By tying performance measurement to the community, police executives will establish a dynamic process in which the revision of performance measurement will help employees remain aware that their job is to serve the community. Notes and 15 references