You are the Assistant Chief in the Centerville Police Department (CPD). The police chief has asked you to develop a patrol strategy and measure of success for the department which will best serve the needs of Centerville. The chief wants you to consider everything you know about the effectiveness of preventive patrol, directed patrol, and other considerations you deem important.
Here are some basic facts about Centerville that will help guide your patrol strategy:
- Centerville is a fairly large, suburban, working-class community near a major American city. Your police department includes 100 patrol officers.
- 50% of the population lives north of the railroad tracks; 50% lives south of the railroad tracks.
- 80% of the crime occurs north of the railroad tracks; 20% occurs south of the tracks.
- 20% of the tax base can be found north of the railroad tracks; 80% is south of the tracks (that is, most of the money paying for town services is generated in the south).
- Crime rates in town go up significantly at night; however, the population of the town goes up significantly during the day (due to an influx of reverse commuters and vibrant retail activity).
- On average, it takes ten minutes for an officer to arrive to a call when dispatched from the south side of town to the north, or vice versa; however, on average it takes only five minutes to arrive to a call when the officer is already on the correct side of the tracks for the call.
Assignment:
Write at least 2 pages (Times New Roman 12 font double-spaced – Word or PDF) for the chief’s consideration which outlines your patrol strategy for how patrol resources should be allocated in Centerville. In other words, where and when would you place your patrol officers in the community?
- Explain when, number of patrol officers, and how preventive patrol will be implemented (5 pts).
- Select at least two types of directed patrol strategies we learned in this chapter and explain when, number of patrol officers, and how they will be implemented (6 pts).
- Justify your overall approach (explain why) based on preventive and directed patrol, notions of fairness and equity, the importance of response times, and any other considerations you deem important (4 pts).
- Develop a specific plan for measuring success including when and how (what methods, formats) you will do so (5 pts).
Feel free to make additional assumptions about conditions within Centerville that are not presented in the assignment (for example, the type of crime that is prevalent in the city). However, if you do so, make sure you state those assumptions up front in your assignment as a note to the instructor.
