Week 10- Paradigms and Practices Part II

that generic strategies crime reduction can be applied throughout a jurisdiction regardless of the level of crime the nature of crime or other variations

- because of its reliance on the traditional law enforcement powers of police in preventing crime

- relies pretty generally on one size fits all application of reactive strategies that are all about suppressing crime

- based on the assumption that generic strategies crime reduction can be applied throughout a jurisdiction regardless of the level of crime the nature of crime or other variations

- this model has also been criticized because of its reliance on the traditional law enforcement powers of police in preventing crime

new models of policing don't entirely leave the other ones behind but which represent refined thinking which is what helps us transition into the evidence based policing conversation

explain that scholars have increasingly criticized what has come to be considered the standard model of police practices

the entire point of this paper is to problematize the standard model and broaden our view of policing approaches

police departments relying upon the standard model generally employ a limited range of approaches which are overwhelmingly oriented toward enforcement

suggests that the main tools available to the police are there legitimates use of force and that those tools that are deemed legitimate are found in their law enforcement powers

2 axes
- level of focus - relates to the strategy the policing strategy from low to high
- diversity of approaches - so whether it's low on that diversity meaning that it sticks pretty closely to just law enforcement up to a wide array approaches some of which don't involve actually applying the law
- situates these four policing strategies on the axis

- standard model
- community policing
- problem oriented policing
- hot spots policing

- low level of focus, low diversity of approaches
- we also learned we haven't totally left it behind and there's a persistent pull of professional policing that still has some of the essence of the standard model within it
- Police practice has been centered on standard strategies that rely on the coercive powers of the police.
- There is little evidence to suggest that this standard model of policing will lead to communities that feel and are safe

- low level of focus, high diversity of approaches
- Community policing will make citizens feel safer but will not necessarily impact upon crime and disorder
- when you widen the range of outcomes that you're interested in to include feelings of safety well then community policing can be framed in terms of success in that regard but that if you're strictly speaking in terms of reductions in crime well then the impacts are less robust

- mid diversity of approaches, high levels of focus
- Demands that police focus on geography
- place based analysis of crime are the guiding factor
- identify specific jurisdictions where crime is concentrated and then focus resource is on that locale
- The strongest evidence is in regard to focus and surrounds such tactics as hot-spots policing

- high diveristy of approaches, high level of focus
- Differs in that it's about identifying a specific problem
- the problem itself is what is identified and then specific resources that are tailored to that
- it's tailored tools and resources and
that means that the toolbox is a little bit more varied than just traditional law enforcement practices and it could include some of the community policing approaches depending on what the problem entails
- What is known about the effects of problem-oriented policing suggests its promise for reducing crime, disorder, and fear.

Using rigorous scientific method and empirical evidence (i.e. research, evaluation, analysis) in law enforcement decision making
- particularly as it relates to Crime Control effectiveness of police, but hope for expansion to account for other goals as well, including:
1.) reducing excessive use of force
2.) racial profiling
3.) eliminating internal corruption
4.) strengthening oversight

better science

false- EDP does not discount traditional policy making approaches but advocates of EDP encourage individuals in policing and policy making to apply scientific testing to police enforcement activities and lawmaking to improve outcomes

the main idea here is that police officers and policy makers need knowledge and information not just weapons and equipment not just boots on the ground as is commonly said in policing

while the traditional tools laws procedures and protection associated with policing are necessary for police officers to perform their job effectively tactics and strategies that are derived from research and analysis are just as important

- these are what allow officers to make good decisions and understand what works and what doesn't in the field

EBP focuses on knowledge and centralizes the role of crime analysis in everyday policing

- the hope is ultimately to get to more efficient policing so that you're not exerting resources in ways that evidence does not support

the end game of evidence based policing is to help police service members be proactive rather than reactive and to assist policymakers in enacting prudent and forward looking laws and regulations
- some obstacles to implementation of evidence based policing within the institution of policing

1.) research to practice
2.) research partnerships
3.) organization culture

- Transforming research findings into tangible strategies is difficult
- research knowledge often is not written in ways that make it straight forward for officers to receive or use in practice

police prejudices about researchers leads to a communication gap between researchers and practitioners. Close doors, no access.

that generic strategies crime reduction can be applied throughout a jurisdiction regardless of the level of crime the nature of crime or other variations

that generic strategies crime reduction can be applied throughout a jurisdiction regardless of the level of crime the nature of crime or other variations

- Type or scope of target
- Specificity of prevention mechanism
- Level of proactivity

standard traditional models of policing have not been effective so this is very much in line with Weisburd and Eck shared in their article

- when you position all of the evidence the standard traditional model is not going to be effective

community policing strategies are effective in reducing crime disorder or fear of crime while others are not

- this is slightly different from the Weisburd and Eck reading which suggested that community policing strategies did not have an effect on reducing crime and disorder but that there was an increase in the sense of safety

- definitely more comprehensive review of the evidence there are some of the studies that are reflected by some of those dots that relate to community strategies that actually did have some modest effects

next that policing strategies that are more focused and tailored to specific types of crimes criminals and places are more effective
- so again just like that Weisburd and Eck summarized in the chart the more focused the approach more tailored the approach the more effective it was

Sparrow’s (2015:20) caution: “dangers of narrowness” in measuring police performance largely or entirely based on crime measures. Go beyond crime-control…

- thinking more broadly about evidence based policing well that will require efforts in two key areas

1.) expanded rigorous evidence base for interventions, policies, and programs focused on non-crime related outcomes
2.) ensuring practitioners and policy makers can understand, use, and access the expanded evidence base
- Telep & Lum (2014): Just 27% of respondents surveyed in agencies in four US cities had ever heard of the term “evidence-based policing”

E.g. reducing excessive use of force evidence for reducing racial profiling eliminating internal corruption strengthening oversight improved training which training methods are actually supported by evidence


- there is no doubt that designing interventions that tap into these broader areas and building the what in what works is more challenging than for evidence based crime prevention

- the goal of future research should be to examine the effectiveness of other things like administrative procedures, training, new technologies, and changing officers behaviors in desired ways

despite attempts at synthesizing the crime prevention literature in an accessible way like the free website resource that is attached to the matrix there are still gaps in police officer receptivtivity to research

organizational culture
- a common statement among police is that only they know what it's like to do this job

- for example a study by Telep and Lum found that just 27% of respondents surveyed in four US municipal agencies had ever heard the term evidence based policing

The authors find that little evidence supports the standard model of policing - low on both of these dimensions (diversity of approaches and level of focus)

Research evidence does support continued investment in police innovations that call for greater focus and tailoring of police efforts combined with an expansion of the tool box of policing beyond simple law enforcement

- Strongest evidence is found in the case of geographically focused police practices (hot spot policing)

Community policing practices are found to reduce fear of crime, but the authors do not find consistent evidence that community policing (when it is implemented without models of the problem oriented policing) affects either crime or disorder

The standard model with such standard practices as random preventive patrol or rapid response to police calls for service had little impact on crime or on fear of crime in American communities

This model relies generally on a “one-size-fits- all” application of reactive strategies to suppress crime and continues to be the dominant form of police practices in the United States.

Research designs that allow the researcher to make a stronger link between the interventions or programs examined and the outcomes observed are generally considered to provide more valid evidence than are designs that provide for a more ambiguous connection between cause and effect. In formal terms, the former designs are considered to have higher internal validity.

- best: quasi-experimental design; least: statistically controlled

1.) increasing the size of agencies
2.) random patrol of all parts of the community
3.) rapid responses to call for services
4.) generalized investigations of crime
5.) generally applied intensive enforcement and arrest policies

But the finding that removing all police will lead to more crime does not answer the primary question that most scholars and policy makers are concerned with—that is, whether marginal increases in the number of police officers will lead to reductions in crime, disorder, or fear.

- Evidence is contradictory
- Most say it does not affect crime rates

Evidence is weak
Studies are more than a quarter century old

No studies to date examine the direct impact of generalized improvements in police investigation techniques on crime, disorder, or fear of crime.

1.) Disorder policing
2.) Generalized field interrogations and traffic enforcement
3.) Mandatory and preferred arrest policies in domestic violence

- Broken Windows
- Research does not provide strong support

Limited evidence supports the effectiveness

the effects of arrest will vary by city, neighborhood, and offender characteristics

There has been increasing interest over the past two decades in police practices that target very specific types of criminals and crime places. In particular, policing crime hot spots has become a common police strategy for addressing public safety problems.

While only weak evidence suggests the effectiveness of targeting specific types of offenders, a strong body of evidence suggests that taking a focused geographic approach to crime problems can increase policing effectiveness in reducing crime and disorder.

1.) Police crack downs
2.) Hotspots policing
3.) focus on repeat offenders

Such tactics can be distinguished from more recent hot- spots policing approaches (described below) in that they are temporary concentrations of police resources that are not widely applied.

Sherman (1990) found strong evidence that crackdowns produce short-term deterrent effects, though research is not uniformly in support of this proposition

randomized field trials shows that policing that is focused on hot spots can result in meaningful reductions in crime and disorder

The effectiveness of the hot-spots policing approach has strong empirical support.

In policing, Weisburd (2008) points out that the best example of the disconnect between the evidence and its use in practice is the general failure of police agencies to regularly adopt hot spots, or place-targeted patrol, despite the strong evidence of the efficacy of this approach for crime and disorder reduction
Continued use of the DARE program without evidence

1) using the results of scientifically rigorous evaluations of law-enforcement tactics and strategies to guide decisions

(2) generating and applying analytic knowledge derived from an agency’s analysis of its own internal issues and crime problems.

What was innovative was his assertion that police should research and analysis more frequently, substantively, and directly, discontinuing the use of tactics that were not shown to be effective

Evidence based policing is.a decision making perspective not a panacea

It is grounded in the idea that policies and practices should be supported by research and analytics not blindly determined by them

It suggests that research is not ignored and that it as lease becomes a part of the conversation on what to do about reducing crime increasing legitimacy, or addressing internal problems

1.) the nature and type of target,

2.) the degree to which the strategy is reactive or proactive,

3.) strategy’s level of focus (the specificity of the prevention mechanism it used).

Has not been shown to reduce crime or even lead to increased chances of arrest in most situations

Most crimes 75% are discovered after the crime has been committed
- Plenty of time to escape