NCJ Number
72627
Date Published
1980
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This empirical study explores the relationship between client-oriented police service and the size of patrols in 11 departments serving 42 urban neighborhoods.
Abstract
'Service style policing' is defined as a pattern of police policies that are responsive to the consumer; courteous, caring officers are the hallmark of this service style. The police departments under study were located within three major metropolitan areas: Rochester, N.Y., St. Louis, and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. Partial correlation and multiple regression were used to assess the relationship between the scale of police patrol and several indicators of the service style. The variables under study were (1) population size of the area in which officers spend most of their time (primary assignment areas), (2) the number of officer-initiated encounters in which at least one citizen present was in need of assistance, (3) the number of officer-initiated encounters in which only suspects were present (representative of police aggressiveness), (4) the degree to which officers initated encounters that had no direct relationship to crime problems, and (5) the frequency with which officers conducted home security checks. Results indicate that smaller primary assignment areas encourage more frequent relationships between officers and citizens and may facilitate the expression of sympathy for victims of serious crimes and disorders. On the whole, the relation between organizational scale and service-style policing is more ambiguous in high violence neighborhoods than in low violence neighborhoods. The study suggests a cautious approach to reducing the scale of policing since minor increments of change may not be worth the administrative effort involved. The study is supported by statistical data and presents footnotes and 29 references.