Theory and Practice in Urban Police Response - A Case Study of Syracuse, New York (From Crime - A Spatial Perspective, P 276-289, 1980, Daniel E Georges-Abeyie and Keith D Harries, Ed. - See NCJ-74011)

• NCJ Number: 74027
• Author(s): R A Sanders
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Columbia University Press
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The principal causes and goals of recent police reform initiatives in police departments are examined, with attention given to the recently completed reorganization plans for the Syracuse Police Department (New York).

Abstract

Contemporary urban police reorganization strategies may be placed into three qualitatively different but overlapping categories: (1) increasing police information-handling capacity, (2) police image alteration, and (3) increasing police productivity (effectiveness and efficiency). In Syracuse, N.Y., police reorganization has been spurred by the need for innovative action against a rapidly rising demand for police services. The Syracuse Police Department established a crime control team (CCT) on an experimental basis in 1967. A corps of highly trained officers with expanded work definitions assumed policing responsibility for 7 of the 23 beats for the city. Based in part on the success of CCT, the department explored the feasibility of reorganization along the lines of zone patrol theory. Within the department's internal organization, four broad areas were identified for improvement: (1) the decentralization of decisionmaking, (2) the consolidation of line functions, (3) increasing reliance upon computer technology and scientific police deployment, and (4) the location of command responsibility with middle-echelon command personnel for 8 hours a day for given subareas of the city. The article includes 16 notes and graphic data. For related papers, see NCJ 74011.