NCJ Number
69429
Date Published
1979
Length
79 pages
Annotation
THE MANUAL DESCRIBES PROCEDURES FOR USING POLICE/PLAN, A POLICE RESOURCE ALLOCATION PLANNING SYSTEM DEVELOPED FOR THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS PROGRAMMABLE 59 CALCULATOR.
Abstract
PATROL/PLAN, THE PRINCIPAL COMPONENT OF THE SYSTEM, IS A PLANNING TOOL USED FOR EVALUATING AND IMPROVING THE DEPLOYMENT OF POLICE FIELD OPERATIONS BY TIME AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA. WITH PATROL/PLAN, A PLANNER CAN ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF VARYING THE NUMBER OF IN-SERVICE PATROL UNITS, THE CALL-FOR-SERVICE RATE, THE AMOUNT OF NON-CALL FOR SERVICE (CFS) ACTIVITY, THE DISPATCHING POLICY, ETC. ON SUCH FIELD PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AS UNIT WORKLOAD, AVERAGE TRAVEL TIME, THE PERCENTAGE OF TIME THAT ALL UNITS ARE BUSY, AND PATROL INTERVAL. THE PROCEDURES DESCRIBED ARE ILLUSTRATED THROUGH THE SOLUTION TO A TYPICAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION PROBLEM CONFRONTING SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE POLICE DEPARTMENTS. TRAINING EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS, A GLOSSARY OF PATROL/PLAN TERMINOLOGY, AND A SUMMARY OF PATROL/PLAN INPUTS AND OUTPUTS ARE APPENDED. FIELD EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT POLICE/PLAN CAN BE USED BY PERSONS WITH NO PRIOR DATA PROCESSING EXPERIENCE AND CAN BRING SOPHISTICATED PLANNING CAPABILITIES WITHIN THEIR REACH OF SMALL OR MEDIUM-SIZE POLICE DEPARTMENTS. THE MANUAL INCLUDES NUMEROUS CHARTS AND PROBLEM SOLUTION FIGURES. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)