Managing Patrol Operations Program Test Design

National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

Jan. 1980 · Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

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Selected analytic techniques and management strategies of a field test program to improve the utilization of police patrol resources are detailed. This program test design forms the basis for the field test, sponsored by the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (NILECJ). The goal of each field test effort is to determine the effectiveness of the elements or program strategies outlined in the document in various settings and to examine their applicability to other jurisdictions. A number of police departments have already experimented with one or more of the elements of the patrol management program. From this previous experimentation, NILECJ has created a composite of the best approaches in the field, which are to be implemented in three police departments in cities with populations ranging from 200,000 to 450,000. The primary objectives are to assess the impact of this configuration of techniques and strategies on patrol efficiency and to determine whether the program merits widespread replication. Traditional patrol allocation strategies are reviewed and evaluated. Then a program design is outlined, with techniques and strategy options for the program's two major processes: allocating resources (matching resource allocations to workload conditions) and undertaking directed activity (analyzing crime and service-oriented problems and developing strategies to solve those problems). An evaluation design is presented for use in determining the degree to which the test program achieved its objectives and in identifying conditions which inhibit or facilitate its successful implementation. The criteria used by NILECJ in selecting suitable test sites are briefly outlined, and a selected bibliography is provided.