NCJ Number
77218
Date Published
1981
Length
71 pages
Annotation
The effectiveness of the San Jose (California) Police Department's new Operation Support Unit (OSU) in handling burglary unit cases is evaluated.
Abstract
The OSU screened burglary crime reports prior to their forwarding to the burglary unit in order to enhance them from available information sources and to determine which cases had little likelihood of investigative success. The evaluation was conducted 2 months after the unit began operations and included observations of burglary investigators' utilization of time 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the OSU's implementation; a pre- and postimplementation questionnaire designed to measure attitudes towards various components of the investigative job and its problems; an analysis of shifts in burglary-unit assignment practices resulting from OSU efforts; and an analysis of a sample of OSU-processed cases to determine the specific contents and results of OSU services. In addition, OSU and burglary unit staff members were interviewed before and after implementation. The results suggested that the OSU concept was successful. Investigators were able to shift their efforts to higher priority investigative work tasks, and a higher proportion of cases classified as assignable were being assigned and receiving followup investigation. Most low probability cases were screened out, and the great majority of the cases forwarded from OSU to the burglary unit were enhanced. About 11 percent of the OSU-processed cases included new solvability elements, and a direct link between OSU enrichment activities and ultimate case dispositions was perceived. Continued assessment is planned. Future evaluation approaches are recommended, and data tables are included. Appendixes contain a sample questionnaire and a suggested data collection sheet for measuring monthly OSU performance.