Law Enforcement Uniformed Patrol Concepts and Tactics Copyright

Traditional Methods There are three traditional methods of uniformed patrol: Random Routine Patrol n

Random Patrol n The police officer drives around a designated geographic area. Copyright 2005

Rapid Response to Citizens’ 911 calls n The police officer receives a call from

Retroactive Investigation of Past Crimes by Detectives n If the call involves a crime,

Kansas City Study First attempt to actually test the effectiveness of random routine patrol.

Random Routine Patrol n Assumptions: n Creates an omnipresence n Deters Crime n Enables

Kansas City Study During 1972 -73, Kansas City Department conducted an experiment to test

Kansas City Study n n Fifteen patrol beats in Kansas City’s South Patrol were

Kansas City Study n n Outside patrol units handled calls in the reactive beats,

Kansas City Study n Conclusions: adding or subtracting police patrols from an area made

Kansas City Study n It had been commonly believed that putting more officers on

Kansas City Study n n James Q. Wilson: “…All it shows is that changes

O. W. Wilson, “…Despite the conclusions of researchers, the valuable police patrol cannot be

Alternative Patrol Strategies n n n n Directed Patrol Split Force High intensity patrol

Directed Patrol involves officers receiving specific instructions on what duties to perform while not

Split Force n One portion of the patrol force handling all calls dispatched to

High intensity patrol A form of split force used by the Houston Police Department,

Differential Response to Calls for Service n An alternative to rapid response to calls

Uniformed tactical operations Aggressive Patrol Tactics Involves stopping numerous people and vehicles in an

Decoy operations An officer by dressing and playing The role of a potential crime

Sting operations n Involve using various undercover methods to apprehend thieves and recover stolen

Stake Outs n A stakeout consists of a group of heavily armed officers who

Code enforcement teams n Many cities use civil, as well as criminal, laws to

Uniformed Patrol Concepts and Tactics Find more about police tactics at www. police-writers. com

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Traditional Methods There are three traditional methods of uniformed patrol: Random Routine Patrol n Rapid Response to Citizens’ 911 Calls n Retroactive Investigation of Past Crimes by Detectives n Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Rapid Response to Citizens’ 911 calls n The police officer receives a call from the police dispatcher, then responds to the call. Photograph provided by Gary Allen, 9 -1 -1 Dispatch Monthly Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Retroactive Investigation of Past Crimes by Detectives n If the call involves a crime, the police officer conducts a preliminary investigation and often refers the case to a detective who then conducts a follow up investigation of the crime Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study First attempt to actually test the effectiveness of random routine patrol. Photograph provided by Woodcrest Vehicles, Riverside, CA Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Random Routine Patrol n Assumptions: n Creates an omnipresence n Deters Crime n Enables police officers to catch criminals in the act also known as preventive patrol, involves a police officer driving within a community when they are not on an assignment from the radio dispatcher or supervisor Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study During 1972 -73, Kansas City Department conducted an experiment to test the effects of routine preventive control. This year long experiment has been both influential and controversial. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study n n Fifteen patrol beats in Kansas City’s South Patrol were used. Five of those beats were assigned to a control group with no changes in normal patrol staffing or tactics. Five other beats were chose as reactive beats, and all preventive patrolling was eliminated. The reactive beats and the proactive beats were all experimental groups. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study n n Outside patrol units handled calls in the reactive beats, and units left the beats once they had handled the calls. During the experiment all activities during the 15 beats was monitored. Prior to the outset of the experiments researchers collected data on reported crime, arrests, traffic accidents, response times citizen. Attitudes, citizen and business victimization for each of the 15 beats. No one in the community was advised during the entire year of the experiment Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study n Conclusions: adding or subtracting police patrols from an area made NO difference in the community. n No change in crime. n No change in citizen fear of crime. n No change in community attitude toward police. n No change in police response time. n No change in traffic accidents. n Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study n It had been commonly believed that putting more officers on patrol would cause a decrease in crime, and taking away police would cause an increase in crime. The Kansas City Study demonstrated this was wrong. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Kansas City Study n n James Q. Wilson: “…All it shows is that changes in the amount of random preventive patrol in marked cars does not, by itself, seem to affect…how much crime occurs or how safe people feel. ” Joseph D. Mc. Namara: “…the experiment seemed to show that police officers uncommitted time-(responding to calls or selfinitiated police time) which is approximately 50%, could be used more effectively. ” Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

O. W. Wilson, “…Despite the conclusions of researchers, the valuable police patrol cannot be measured by a statistical study like the Kansas City one and must be based on historical experience. ” n To date, only one other attempt has be made to replicate the Kansas City Study, in Albuquerque, New Mexico- which yielded similar results. n Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Alternative Patrol Strategies n n n n Directed Patrol Split Force High intensity patrol Differential Response to Calls for Service Uniformed tactical operations Decoy operations Stake out and sting operations Code enforcement teams Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Directed Patrol involves officers receiving specific instructions on what duties to perform while not responding to calls. Based on: n n n crime analysis specific problems complaints received from the community Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Split Force n One portion of the patrol force handling all calls dispatched to patrol units, while the other only performs directed patrol assignments. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

High intensity patrol A form of split force used by the Houston Police Department, placed more officers in different parts of the city during peak crime hours. Problems HIP- directed not to answer 911 calls and stay in designated areas, not enough regular patrol officers, therefore 911 calls would pile up. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Differential Response to Calls for Service n An alternative to rapid response to calls for service which matches the response to calls to 911 to the severity of the request. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Uniformed tactical operations Aggressive Patrol Tactics Involves stopping numerous people and vehicles in an attempt to find evidence that they may have committed a crime or may be committing a crime. Studies have indicated that aggressive patrol tactics such as in the field of interrogations could n n n Reduce the crime rates Increase arrests rates Create problems with the community Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Sting operations n Involve using various undercover methods to apprehend thieves and recover stolen property. n Sting operations can account for a large number or arrests and the recovery of a significant amount of stolen property. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Stake Outs n A stakeout consists of a group of heavily armed officers who conceal themselves in a or about a location waiting for a crime to occur or a suspect to arrive Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

Code enforcement teams n Many cities use civil, as well as criminal, laws to force landlords and others in control of premises to correct illegal conditions. Copyright 2005 -2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster