NCJ Number
13473
Date Published
1973
Length
87 pages
Annotation
EXAMINATION OF THE THEORY OF RANDOM SEARCH AND ITS APPLICATION TO CRIME PREVENTION AND CRIMINAL APPREHENSION THROUGH THE DESIGN OF INTERCEPTION PATROLS.
Abstract
THE THEORY OF RANDOM AREA SEARCH, AS FIRST APPLIED IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH DURING WORLD WAR II, WAS USED TO ATTACK THE PROBLEM OF GIVING AIR CRAFT AND SUBMARINES. FOR THE MUNICIPAL POLICE ADMINISTRATOR FOR WHOM THIS BOOK IS INTENDED, RANDOM SEARCH THEORY DESCRIBES THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTING A CRIME THAT TAKES PLACE WITHIN A GIVEN AREA BY AN OBSERVER MOVING CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH THE AREA IN A RANDOM MANNER. THE MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES OF RANDOM SEARCH ARE APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM OF PREVENTING OR INTERCEPTING STREET CRIMES OR OF MAKING AN IMMEDIATE APPREHENSION OF A CRIME PERPETRATOR. THE AUTHOR'S DISCUSSIONS OF THEORY, APPLICATION AND DESIGN OF INTERCEPTION PATROLS, ARE BASED ON SCIENTIFIC DATA DERIVED FROM EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED MAINLY BY THE SYRACUSE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S CRIME CONTROL TEAMS. THE BOOK TREATS THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF DESIGNING INTERCEPTION PATROLS AND CONSIDERS THE FACTORS OF FEASIBILITY FOR A CITY-WIDE INTERCEPTION PATROL, DETECTION ABILITY AND SPEED OF THE PATROL, TIMES REQUIRED TO COMMIT CRIMES, AND THE NECESSITY OF UTILIZING ONE-MAN PATROL UNITS. SPECIFIC TOPICS SUCH AS COMPUTER-DESIGNED PATROL ROUTES AND SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF BURGLARY ARE COVERED IN DETAIL. GRAPHS AND DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING PRINCIPLES OF THEORY AND DESIGN ARE PROVIDED. (SNI ABSTRACT)