Effects of Directed Patrol - A National Quasi-Experiment in Pontiac (From Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement, P 37-58, 1981, James J Fyfe, ed. - See NCJ-86875)

• NCJ Number: 86877
• Author(s): G W Cordner
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Revised version of paper presented at the 1980 Conference of the American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, California.

Annotation

Data from directed patrol programs conducted in Pontiac, Mich. between May 1978 and October 1979 during three different periods suggest that aggressive patrol practices result in somewhat less suppressible crime, at least in small targeted areas.

Abstract

The average weekly changes in total city crime varied little among the three periods, so changes in target areas could be attributed to directed patrol efforts. All three periods saw decreased crime averages in the targeted areas. However, changes for the Pre-Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) and CETA periods were nearly identical despite the vastly higher level of directed patrol activity during the CETA phase. The average weekly change for the post-CETA period showed a much smaller decrease, suggested a diminishing effect of the patrol strategy. Multivariate analysis indicated that directed patrol involving proactive arrests, vehicle stops, and field interrogations had some impact on crime, but could not explain all changes from week to week in target crimes in target areas. While directed patrol may allow police to allocate limited resources more effectively, proactive policing also increases conflicts between police and citizens and often contradicts popular notions of freedom and democracy. The article contains tables, 5 footnotes, and 34 references. For related material, see NCJ-86875.