NCJ Number
95260
Date Published
1983
Length
73 pages
Annotation
Initial results from field tests of a differential response program implemented by the Garden Grove Police Department (California) indicated that 38 percent of all reports could be diverted from patrol response without loss of citizen satisfaction.
Abstract
The executive summary of Garden Grove's 8-month implementation phase of police differential response (PDR) begins with a brief history of the city and its police department. The rationales underlying PDR and the goals of the test program -- handling calls for service more efficiently and maintaining or improving citizen satisfaction -- are outlined. The summary then reviews required planning and coordination efforts before the implementation phase: analysis of calls for service, determining key factors needed to differentiate calls, examining existing call intake and dispatch procedures and practices, establishing an expeditor unit to process calls by telephone as an alternative to mobile response, and training communications staff, uniformed patrol officers, and personnel selected to be expeditors. A 5-day preliminary test of the PDR program validated most of the procedures and identified minor problems. The description of the implementation phase addresses call classification and call intake procedures, a process which randomly assigned noncritical calls for service to the traditional and the new response alternatives, the activities of the expeditor unit, and development of a training manual. During the first 6 months, the unit handled 2,555 calls, taking 2,325 formal crime reports. It handled 18 percent of the new crime reports for the department during the implementation phase. Statistical analysis suggested that diversion of calls gave field units more time for random patrol. The report discusses problems encountered and plans for a postimplementation phase which will test a split-force, priority patrol scheme. A map and charts are supplied.