NCJ Number
55277
Date Published
1978
Length
34 pages
Annotation
THE POLICE ROLE IN DETERRING CRIME IS EXAMINED FROM THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVES, WITH REFERENCE TO DATA FROM POLICE PATROL EXPERIMENTS AND STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF POLICE EXPENDITURES AND MANPOWER ON CRIME.
Abstract
REASONS FOR STUDYING THE DETERRENT EFFECTS OF POLICE ARE OUTLINED, AND THE ECONOMIC MODEL UNDERLYING THE DETERRENCE CONCEPT IS REVIEWED. PROBLEMS IN APPLYING DETERRENCE THINKING TO POLICE PRACTICES, PARTICULARLY THE QUESTION OF WHETHER DETERRENCE MECHANISMS ARE DIRECTED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC OR TO SMALL SEGMENTS OF THE PUBLIC, ARE DISCUSSED. IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT A RELATIVELY SMALL, WELL INFORMED SUBSET OF THE POPULATION ACCOUNTS FOR THE COMMISSION OF MOST CRIMES, AND THAT REAL INCREASES IN THE RISK OF APPREHENSION, NOT JUST HIGH VISIBILITY PATROL AND RELATED STRATEGIES, ARE REQUIRED TO DETER THESE POTENTIAL OFFENDERS. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PUBLIC'S DEMANDS ON POLICE ARE DISCUSSED. ORGANIZATIONAL REALITIES THAT LIMIT POLICE DETERRENCE ACTIVITIES ARE NOTED. PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS DIRECTED TO THE GENERALLY REACTIVE NATURE OF POLICING -- THE FOCUS ON RESPONDING TO REQUESTS BY CITIZENS. DATA FROM MAJOR STUDIES COMPARING POLICE EXPENDITURE AND MANPOWER LEVELS WITH CRIME RATES ACROSS JURISDICTIONS ARE SUMMARIZED, TOGETHER WITH FINDINGS FROM STUDIES OF THE IMPACT OF MANPOWER OR TACTICAL CHANGES WITHIN JURISDICTIONS (E.G., POLICE PATROL AND OTHER EXPERIMENTS IN NEW YORK CITY, KANSAS CITY, AND SAN DIEGO). IT IS CONCLUDED THAT POLICE HAVE A DEFINITE IMPACT ON RATES AND THAT CHANGES IN MANPOWER AND TACTICS CAN HAVE A MEASURABLE, SIGNIFICANT EFFECT. HOWEVER, THAT EFFECT IS MEDIATED BY ACTUAL ARREST RATES, WHICH IN TURN MAY BE INFLUENCED BY ORGANIZATIONAL VARIABLES (E.G., THE POLICE CHIEF'S STYLE AND ORIENTATION, THE GENERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ORIENTATION OF THE DEPARTMENT) AS WELL AS BY SPECIFIC POLICING TECHNIQUES. SUPPORTING DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)