NCJ Number
179864
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article discusses cheap and meaningful ways of measuring crime.
Abstract
Measuring crime in and of itself implies at least three articles of faith: (1) There is value in the standardization of what is being measured; (2) Mathematics makes it possible to recognize and specify differences in exceptionally precise terms; and (3) What is measured is worth measuring. The article presents three specific solutions to three general problems: Problem 1 -- Measuring Police Competence: the consequences of a good definition; Measuring What Ought Not To Be Happening: the systematic and standardized use and distribution of calls for service and dispatch data; and Measuring What the Police Are Doing About What Ought Not To Be Happening: surveying consumers. Problem 2 -- Measuring Police Skill: good policing yields good measurement. Problem 3 -- Measuring Police Integrity: overcoming the fear of finding out what you want to know. Figures, notes, references