NCJ Number
91559
Date Published
1979
Length
49 pages
Annotation
A program to improve the management of criminal investigations in Birmingham, Ala., did not achieve its two goals: increasing arrests for serious crimes and increasing cases accepted for prosecution.
Abstract
The program entailed the implementation of a variety of case screening techniques and the decentralization and reassignment to the four precincts of detectives who investigated crimes against property. At least 85 percent of the cases were screened out as needing no further investigation. The ratio of arrests to offenses maintained its previous pattern, fluctuating between 6 percent and 17 percent for burglary and continuing to decline for larceny. The decrease for larceny resulted from the use of a plainclothes robbery detail. The results for warrants showed little change until the end of the measurement period in September 1978, when the number of warrants issued dropped. Since the LEAA grant period ended, the department has continued the program much as before, since it believes that the program is a means of increasing overall effectiveness of investigations. Figures, data tables, and appendixes presenting additional data are provided.