NCJ Number
84146
Date Published
1981
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Concern for cost-effectiveness in policing has called into question the validity of the crime control model and has encouraged the emergence of a collective goods model of policing, which offers a broader perspective of police functions and a less centralized structure.
Abstract
The crime control model of police organization and functions devotes most of the resources of police agencies to crime prevention and criminal apprehension; however, neither the aggregate expenditure for police personnel nor the per capita ratio of police to citizenry has been shown to be related to crime levels. Moreover, the documented activities of the patrol workforce appear to be only partially related to crimefighting. The strategies of rapid police response time and case investigation have also not proven to be effective in deterring or increasing apprehension of offenders, and the centralized paramilitary organization of the police which symbolizes the war on crime is not reflective of the actual functions and discretion that compose the real world of policing. The collective goods model of policing views the police department as a multipurpose public bureaucracy responsible for numerous functions, some of which are crime-related. These functions include order maintenance, crime prevention, public safety, conflict management, and a host of social services not provided regularly by other municipal agencies. Team policing, a decentralized structure that makes the police more responsive to the needs of persons in given neighborhoods appears more appropriate than a centralized structure for the collective goods model. Such a model is more in line with what the police actually do and offers the possibility of greater cost-effectiveness. A total of 65 notes are listed.