NCJ Number
48127
Date Published
1978
Length
14 pages
Annotation
A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLICING IN THE U.S. IS PRESENTED, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THREE POPULAR PERFORMANCE MEASURES: RESPONSE TIME, PATROL WORKLOAD, AND PATROL FREQUENCY.
Abstract
BEFORE THE MID-1800'S, THE U.S. HAD NO ACTUAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS. POLICE WORK WAS A PART-TIME JOB, SERVICES WERE IRREGULAR, AND SUPERVISION WAS LAX. THE USE OF LEGAL FORCE WAS USUALLY A DIRECT RESPONSE TO A CITIZEN'S CALL FOR HELP. DETECTION WAS LARGELY A PRIVATE MATTER. BY THE 1830'S, A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS WITH THE OLD SYSTEM BECAME EVIDENT. INCREASED IMMIGRATION AND A LARGER POOR POPULATION BROUGHT AN INCREASE IN CRIME; THE INCREASED HETEROGENEITY DESTROYED COMMUNITY COHESION AND DECREASED CITIZENS' WILLINGNESS TO HELP THE PART-TIME CONSTABLES IN MAKING ARRESTS. REPORTS WERE BEGINNING TO ADVOCATE 'CITY POLICE', AND CITIZENS AND CITY OFFICIALS BEGAN TO STRESS THE PREVENTION OF CRIMES. NEW POLICE FORCES WERE CREATED TO SUPPLEMENT THE CONSTABLES AND NIGHT WATCHMEN, AND THEIR DUTIES WERE TO MAINTAIN ORDER AND ENFORCE CITY ORDINANCES. CITIES WERE DIVIDED INTO DISTRICTS, AND PATROLMEN WERE GIVEN BEATS WITHIN THE DISTRICT. THIS SYSTEM, WHILE MORE EFFICIENT THAN ANY PREVIOUS FORCE, STILL HAD PROBLEMS WITH INADEQUATE COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION AND THE LACK OF SPECIFIC CRIME PREVENTION PLANNING. THE INSTALLATION OF A CALL BOX SYSTEM IN CHICAGO IN 1880 PROVED SUCCESSFUL, AND IT GREATLY IMPROVED THE RESPONSE TIME OF THE CITY'S PATROLMEN TO A CRIME SCENE. BY THE EARLY 1900'S, THE IDEA OF PREVENTIVE PATROL WAS WIDELY ACCEPTED, ALTHOUGH THERE WAS STILL NO COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING OF POLICE FORCES. STUDIES SHOWED POOR DISTRIBUTION OF WORKLOADS AND SERVICES IN MANY CITIES. SCIENTIFIC METHODS BEGAN TO BE DEVELOPED FOR DETERMINING WHERE PATROLMEN SHOULD BE POSTED AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE EQUIPPED. FORMULAS BASED ON NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS IN A DISTRICT, TYPES OF CRIMES REPORTED, AND OTHER FACTORS HELPED IN DISTRIBUTING PATROL DISTRICTS AND MANPOWER MORE EQUITABLY AND EFFICIENTLY. FROM THE FIRST EFFORTS AT QUANTITATIVELY BASED PATROL ALLOCATION, RESPONSE TIME HAS BEEN USED AS A SUBSTITUTE MEASURE FOR RESPONSE EFFECTIVENESS AND PATROL FREQUENCY FOR PREVENTIVE PATROL INTENSITY. WORKLOAD HAS BEEN USED MOSTLY AS A MEASURE OF THE EQUITY OF WORK DISTRIBUTION AMONG MEMBERS OF THE FORCE. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (VDA)