NCJ Number
10482
Date Published
1973
Length
110 pages
Annotation
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS OF A STUDY OF THE DAILY ACTIVITIES, PROBLEMS AND RESPONSES OF A POLICE FORCE IN A MIDDLE SIZED CALIFORNIA CITY.
Abstract
THE STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN IN THE BELIEF THAT A MORE ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTIONING OF A POLICE FORCE WOULD PROVIDE CLEARER GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE, LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT. STATISTICS WERE COMPILED OVER A FIFTY-FOUR WEEK PERIOD AND REPRESENTED PATROL DIVISION RESPONSE TO 109 DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVENTS. THE EVENTS WERE GROUPED INTO THE FOLLOWING SIX MAJOR CATEGORIES - CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY, TRAFFIC ASSIGNMENTS, PATROLMAN INITIATED EVENTS, SOCIAL SERVICE EVENTS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES. THE GENERAL CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY IS THAT REAL POLICE ACTIVITY BEARS LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THE IMAGE OF THE POLICEMAN'S ROLE HELD BY THE PUBLIC AND BY THE POLICE THEMSELVES. PATROLMEN WERE FOUND TO SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME RECORDING AND REPORTING OFFENSES, WITH LITTLE TIME GIVEN TO ACTUAL CRIME DETECTION AND CRIMINAL APPREHENSION. THEIR ROLE WAS FOUND TO BE OF A MORE REACTIVE THAN PREVENTIVE NATURE. THE AUTHOR RECOMMENDS THAT, BECAUSE APPROXIMATELY TWO-THIRDS OF A PATROLMAN'S TIME IS SPENT ON ADMINISTRATIVE OR SOCIAL SERVICE TASKS, POLICEMEN RECEIVE MORE SOCIAL SERVICE TRAINING. HE FURTHER RECOMMENDS THAT ROUTINE TRAFFIC FUNCTIONS BE ASSIGNED TO A SPECIAL TRAFFIC FORCE, ALLOWING MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF FULLY-TRAINED POLICEMEN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED) (SNI ABSTRACT)