NCJ Number
69432
Date Published
1979
Length
665 pages
Annotation
THIS MANUAL DESCRIBES HOW TO USE THE PATROL/PLAN, BEAT/PLAN, AND DATA/PLAN PROGRAMS FOR POLICE RESOURCE ALLOCATION ON THE APPLE II MICROCOMPUTER.
Abstract
THE PROGRAMS COMPOSE THE POLICE/PLAN SYSTEM, THE PRINCIPAL PRODUCT OF THE LEAA-FUNDED PROJECT, EASY-TO-USE POLICE RESOURCE ALLOCATION PLANNING TOOLS -- PRACTICAL DERIVATIVES OF SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER-BASED PLANNING MODELS. THE PROJECT EXAMINED THE FEASIBILITY OF USING PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATORS AND MICROCOMPUTERS FOR POLICE RESOURCE ALLOCATION PLANNING. A SECTION IS DEVOTED TO THE DESCRIPTION AND USE OF THE APPLE II MICROCOMPUTER AND TO EACH OF THE THREE PROGRAMS. THE PATROL/PLAN PROGRAM IS A PLANNING TOOL USED TO EVALUATE AND IMPROVE THE DEPLOYMENT OF POLICE FIELD OPERATIONS UNITS BY TIME AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA. PLANNERS CAN ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF VARYING THE NUMBER OF INSERVICE PATROL UNITS, THE CALL-FOR-SERVICE RATE, THE DISPATCHING POLICY, AND OTHER ELEMENTS ON SUCH FIELD PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AS UNIT WORKLOAD, AVERAGE TRAVEL TIME, THE PERCENT OF TIME THAT ALL UNITS ARE BUSY, AND PATROL INTERVAL. BEAT/PLAN IS A PLANNING TOOL USED TO ASSIGN POLICE UNITS TO PATROL AREAS TERMED 'BEATS.' PLANNERS CAN COMPARE ESTIMATED FIELD PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AMONG ALTERNATIVE PLANS OR DESIGN A BEAT PLAN WHICH BALANCES A SELECTED CHARACTERISTIC AMONG THE BEATS. PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDE WORKLOAD, RESPONSE TIME, CROSS-BEAT DISPATCHING, PATROL INTERVAL, BEAT SIZE, AND NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE. FINALLY, DATA/PLAN IS USED TO TABULATE THE FIELD OPERATIONS DATA NEEDED AS INPUT TO THE OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM. DATA FREQUENTLY FOUND ON DISPATCH TICKETS CAN BE TABULATED TO YIELD SUCH INPUT DATA ITEMS AS AVERAGE CALL RATE, AVERAGE SERVICE TIMES, AMOUNT OF NON-CFS ACTIVITIES, AVERAGE TRAVEL TIME, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF CALL BY PRIORITY AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA. THE PROCEDURES DESCRIBED FOR ALL PROGRAMS ARE ILLUSTRATED THROUGH EXAMPLES. FLOW CHARTS, SAMPLE SCREEN DISPLAYS, AND DATA TABLES ARE INCLUDED. OTHER STUDY REPORTS ARE LISTED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)