Chapter Outline – Field Operations

I. The Patrol Function a. Historical Development

i. Terrorism and Patrol b. Patrol Methods c. Use of Patrol Resources

i. Resource Determination ii. Resource Allocation

iii. Computerized Crime Mapping II. Selected Research on Patrol Operations

a. Random Patrol b. Response Time c. Differential Response to Calls

III. Directed Patrol, Hot Spots, and Enforcement a. Proactive Arrests and Crackdowns b. Guns and Gang Violence

i. Zero Tolerance and Quality-of-Life Policing ii. Juvenile Curfews

IV. Reactive Arrests and Domestic Violence V. Police Pursuits VI. The Investigative Function

a. Historical Development i. Terrorism and Investigation

b. Resource Determination and Allocation VII. Selected Research on Investigative Operations

a. Investigative Effectiveness b. Career Criminal Programs c. Bias Crime Programs d. Detective–Patrol Relationships e. Enticement and Entrapment

VIII. Summary IX. Critical Thinking Questions X. References XI. Suggested Websites for Further Study

Lecture Outline

I. The Patrol Function a. Goals of patrol

i. Crime prevention and deterrence ii. Apprehension of offenders

iii. Creation of a sense of community security and satisfaction iv. Provision of non–crime-related services v. Traffic control

vi. Identifying and solving community problems with respect to crime and disorder

b. Patrol officers perform three functions i. Law enforcement

1. make arrests, issue citations, conduct investigations ii. Order maintenance

1. loud parties, underage drinking, neighborhood disputes iii. Social services

1. take reports, provide information, assist the public c. Historical development

i. Two developments in the 1930s changed the nature of patrol 1. greatly increased use of patrol car 2. development of Uniform Crime Report

ii. Crime suppression 1. traditionally regarded as the most important patrol function 2. more area could be covered and response time shortened 3. create the impression of a police “omnipresence” 4. further isolated the officer from the community

iii. Development of radio and telephone 1. changed patrol from proactive to reactive

iv. Patrol is once again attempting to regain knowledge and awareness of the neighborhood

1. changed emphasis from incident oriented to problem oriented 2. changed emphasis from responding to problems to solving

problems that relate to or cause crime v. Terrorism and patrol

1. target oriented a. assess likely targets in their districts

2. event analysis a. police should be aware of important celebrations,

ideologies, and anniversaries of known activists, terrorists

b. use the SARA model d. Patrol methods

i. Two most dominant methods are by foot and by automobile 1. one-officer versus two-officer units

a. one-officer units produced more arrests, fewer citizen complaints, less expensive

2. foot patrol a. resurgence of foot patrol in the 1970s and 1980s b. may effect a slight reduction in crime c. primarily reduces citizens’ fears of crime and changes

the nature of police–citizen interactions

ii. Use of motorcycles, motor scooters, three-wheeled vehicles, planes, bicycles, helicopters, horses, boats

e. Use of patrol resources i. Resource determination

1. comparative approach a. involves comparing one or more cities, using a ratio of

police officers per 100,000 population unit ii. Resource allocation

1. two important variables for determining allocation a. location and time

i. dividing the community into beats ii. shifts

2. the greater the number of problems or calls for service, the smaller the size of the beat and the more concentrated the resources

iii. Computerized crime mapping 1. assists officers in deciding where to concentrate their patrol

efforts 2. ICAM

a. Information Collection for Automated Mapping b. developed to help beat officers focus on problem

solving

II. Selected Research on Patrol Operations a. Random patrol

i. Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment (1974) 1. reactive beats, proactive beats, control beats 2. the three patrol conditions did not affect crime rates, citizens’

attitudes toward the police, feelings of security, rates of reported crime

b. Response time i. The average citizen waits so long (approximately six minutes) to call

the police ii. Police could respond differentially to calls

1. not all calls have the same level of importance c. Differential response to calls

i. Differential police response (DPR) 1. classify calls according to the degree of seriousness

a. an immediate response by a sworn officer b. a delayed response by a sworn officer c. no direct police response

III. Directed Patrol, Hot Spots, and Enforcement a. Directed patrol

i. More proactive, uses uncommitted time for a specified activity, and is based on crime and problem analysis

ii. Identify hot spots and hot times for crime and allocate personnel accordingly

iii. SMART (Specialized Multiagency Response Team) b. Proactive arrests and crackdowns

i. Proactive arrests are initiated by the police and focus on a narrow set of high-risk targets

ii. Crackdowns are intensive, short-term increases in officer presence and arrests for specific types of offenses or for all offenses in specific areas

iii. Residual deterrence 1. some crime reduction continues even after the crackdown has

ended iv. deterrence decay

1. a lessening of the crime deterrent effect 2. crackdowns might be more effective if they are limited in

duration and rotated across crime targets or target areas c. Guns and gang violence

i. Kansas City Gun Experiment (1995) 1. specific deterrence was where the goal was to focus on the

seizure of illegal weapons from targeted offenders 2. general deterrence was where the goal was to maximize motor

vehicle stops as a sign of increased police presence 3. specific deterrence strategies appear to be more effective than

general deterrence strategies ii. Boston Gun Project (1996)

1. cease-fire strategy a. an attempt to deter the particular problem of gang-

related violence d. Zero-tolerance and quality-of-life policing

i. Based on broken-windows theory ii. Quality-of-life policing

e. Juvenile curfews i. Studies indicate that curfews have an impact on some crimes

IV. Reactive Arrests and Domestic Violence

a. Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (1984) i. Arrests, mediation, or separation

ii. Implemented mandatory-arrest policies 1. arrest generally increases violence among unemployed suspects

while decreasing it among employed suspects 2. arrests increases violence, regardless of individual employment

status, in communities with high levels of unemployment and single-parent households

3. offenders who flee before police arrive are substantially deterred when warrants are issued for their arrest

b. Police pursuits i. Departments need policies regarding police pursuits

1. violent-felony-only pursuit policy 2. restrictive policy 3. judgmental policy

ii. Foot pursuits

V. The Investigative Function a. Historical development

i. Bow Street Runners 1. first police investigators

ii. Due process revolution iii. Terrorism and investigation

1. needs to be proactive 2. investigation remains highly individualized and disjointed from

the rest of the department b. Resource determination and allocation

i. Traditionally, many departments have used a 10 percent of total sworn personnel criterion

ii. One-person assignments generally appear to be the most appropriate for the vast majority of investigative units

VI. Selected Research on Investigative Operations

a. Investigative effectiveness i. Eck suggests four guiding principles to improve effectiveness:

1. abandon crime control through apprehension as a principle goal of investigations

2. detectives should focus in justice 3. focus on crime patterns 4. crime prevention through problem solving should be

emphasized ii. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)

iii. DNA b. Career criminal programs

i. Some research suggests that between 7 and 10 percent of individuals are responsible for committing 50 to 60 percent of crimes

ii. Repeat Offender Project (ROP) c. Bias crime programs

i. One study found that bias crime clearances were higher in departments where police responses to these crimes emphasized specialized investigations and arrest

d. Detective–patrol relationships i. Different status between investigators and patrol officers

e. Enticement and entrapment i. When the police provide both the opportunity and the intent to commit

a crime ii. Sting operations