Tagged: police strategies

The power of communities in crime prevention: Insights from Baltimore

by · Apr 12, 2024 11:08 am

Crime tends to be concentrated in specific areas within cities, with about 50% of crime occurring on just 5% of streets. One police strategy that can help combat this is known as “hot-spot policing,” which has been shown to reduce violent crime in multiple studies.  Another factor that can help reduce crime in an area is when citizens exercise “informal social control.” Informal social control refers to the ability of community members to regulate behavior and maintain order through cohesive relationships, mutual trust, and willingness to intervene.  It involves residents taking actions to prevent and address crime and disorder in their neighborhoods.

One common assumption is that the chatoic and disordered nature of high-crime hot spots renders residents incapable of playing a significant role in crime prevention. However, a new study conducted in Baltimore seems to reveal otherwise.

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Unveiling the impact of depolicing on crime: Insights from Denver’s neighborhoods

by · Mar 1, 2024 3:45 pm

A new research study published in Criminology examined the impact of sudden and sustained reductions in proactive policing (i.e., “de-policing”) on violent crime across neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado, leveraging the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest after the murder of George Floyd as exogenous shocks. The study utilized multilevel models to analyze the impact of large-scale reductions in police stops and drug-related arrests on violent and property crime in the city.

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PA state police data shows no racial profiling in traffic stops: Study

by · May 25, 2023 12:35 pm

The question of racial bias in police traffic stops is a highly debated issue. Some analyses have shown that certain racial or ethnic groups are disproportionately represented in traffic stops, leading many people to allege racial profiling and discrimination. However, it is not accurate or fair to claim that all police traffic stops are inherently racist. Other factors can contribute to racial disparities in police stops, including differences in driving behavior, geographic location, and crime rates in specific areas. As more research is conducted on this topic, it becomes more apparent how much context and other factors can play a role in traffic stop decisions. For example,  research that adequately accounts for the impact of contextual and situational factors has found that racial disparities may not be as pronounced as previously thought, and that they are often explained by other factors unrelated to race.

This was the case in a recent study examining traffic stops in Pennsylvania, which found no evidence of racial profiling. According to the full-length report, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) stopped more than 440,000 drivers in 2022, 78.5% of whom white. In comparison, 14.4% were Black, and 8.2% were Hispanic. To conduct the study, the PSP partnered with Dr. Robin Engel and the National Police Foundation to ensure that the evaluation was independent and external to the department. Overall, these data should inspire public confidence in the police. It also suggests that PSP’s approach could serve as a promising model for other agencies.

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Policing to protect the population

by · Mar 7, 2022 2:27 pm

Law enforcement training often does not rely on the best scientific evidence, and there is much disagreement about what the best strategies and tactics are. In 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) convened a working group to assess the scientific evidence on police training. The main questions the committee sought to answer were: 1) What are the core knowledge and skills needed for police to promote the rule of law and protect the population?; and 2) What is known about mechanisms (e.g., basic and continuing education or other capacity building programs) for developing these core skills? The answers to these questions were recently published and are discussed below. 

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Efforts to re-fund police amidst rising crime

by · Feb 24, 2022 3:40 pm

Amidst a surge in crime over the last two years, including homicide spikes in both 2020 and 2021, the national conversation is finally moving back toward re-funding the police. On May 8, 2021, President Biden submitted his FY22 budget proposal, which allocated $1.3 billion to law enforcement agencies. According to the budget request, the money would support community policing programs, specialized training and resources, and the hiring of new officers. In a statement made on February 3rd, 2022, the White House re-iterated this point and further urged Congress to direct more funds toward community policing efforts and to provide local departments with federal tools and resources to help them address violent crime. This is a step in the right direction, but given how vague the language is, it is hard to predict how effective his plan will be.

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Antecedents and consequences of de-policing

by · Nov 12, 2021 10:47 am

De-policing is a term that refers to a reduction in proactive policing strategies, and it tends to coincide with officers’ fears of becoming ‘the next viral incident’ and/or criminal prosecution. The de-policing effect seemed to start around 2014 after a viral shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and hence, it is sometimes referred to as the “Ferguson Effect.” Since then, increased circulation of viral videos from body-worn camera footage and cell phone videos on the internet seem to have exacerbated the effect. The Manhattan Institute released a report recently discussing the research on de-policing effects and qualitative findings from interviews with police officers, and main findings indicated that de-policing seems to be associated with low police morale/motivation and fear of becoming involved in a viral use of force incident. Officer morale also decreases when officers feel less supported by their communities.

Simultaneously, there has been criticism of officers pulling back and being less proactive, saying that it is correlated to recent increases in homicides and violent crime. On September 27, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) released preliminary findings that revealed that violent crime is up, with a violent crime rate of 387.8 per 100,000 — a 5.2% increase when compared with 2019 rates (380.8 per 100,000). The violent crime increase appears to be driven by increases in aggravated assaults (+12.0%) and murders (+29.4%), whereas rates for other violent crimes (i.e., robbery, rape) decreased from 2019 to 2020 (-9.3% and -12.0%, respectively). While overall crime rates are lower than they have been in previous years, homicides and shootings are higher than normal, and this trend appears to be continuing into 2021. As stated above, many argue that the “de-policing effect” increases violent crime in certain cities. Additionally, the “defund the police” movement does not help this problem, as it simply limits law enforcement access to technology and/or other resources that could effectively reduce crime.

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