RESPONSE SPEEDS AND RESPONSE TIMES OF URBAN POLICE CONTROL CARS IN OTTAWA, CANADA

• NCJ Number: 38238
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (FALL 1976) Pages: 191-202
• Author(s): W J BROWN; F R LIPSETT
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Pergamon Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESULTS OF A STUDY WHICH MEASURED THE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME AND RESPONSE SPEED FOR URBAN AND SUBURBAN POLICE CARS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF PATROL OPERATIONS FOR THE OTTAWA (CANADA) POLICE FORCE.

Abstract

RECORDERS WERE INSTALLED IN THE CARS AND RECORDS OF DISPATCH DELAY, TRAVEL TIME, DISTANCE, RESPONSE TIME, SERVICE TIME, AND PERCENTAGE OF TIME PER SHIFT ANSWERING CALLS, WERE KEPT. CURVES (WHICH MAY BE OF GENERAL APPLICATION) WERE FITTED TO THE DATA FOR EACH PARAMETER. THE MOST PROBABLE AVERAGE SPEED OF THE DOWNTOWN CAR WAS 16 MILES PER HOUR, AND OF THE SUBURBAN CARS, 25 MILES PER HOUR AND 27 MILES PER HOUR. THE STUDY FOUND THAT BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT AVERAGE DISTANCES, THE RESPONSE TIMES WERE COMPARABLE. GOOD AGREEMENT WAS FOUND BETWEEN AVERAGE TRAVEL TIMES CALCULATED FROM A FORMULA GIVEN BY R. C. LARSON AND TRAVEL TIMES FOUND EXPERIMENTALLY IN THE PRESENT WORK. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)