Policing In America

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Policing In America
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What are some different methods of patrolling?
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Car Patrol

• Advantages
• 1. Frequent coverage
• 2. Surprise factor because patrolman can double
  back
• 3. Protection for officer in inclement weather

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Car Patrol

• Advantages
• 4. Equipment can be carried in the car
• 5. Traffic patrol
• 6. Transport prisoners

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Car Patrol

• Disadvantages
• 1. Patrolman spends time watching road and
  forgets to watch people and their activities
• 2. Patrolman forgets about interaction with
  people such as residents, business owners, etc.

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Car Patrol

• Types of Car Patrol
• 1. One man car
• A. Patrol area is reduced, better coverage
• B. Quicker response time
• C. More effective police observation

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Car Patrol

• 1. One man car
• D. More economical (need fewer officers)
• E. Need back-up officers when busy

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Car Patrol

• Types of Car Patrol
• 2. Two man car
• A. Number of situations when making multiple
  arrests
• B. Number of arrests with resistance
• C. Number of domestic situations or calls
  requiring a back-up

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Foot Patrol

• Advantages
• 1. More person to person contacts so improved
  community relations
• 2. Knows more people on beat so has more
  informants or other sources of information

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Foot Patrol

• Advantages
• 3. Can respond to numerous calls, especially low
  priority calls that do not need immediate
  response
• 4. Knows the area well and can therefore
  anticipate incidents before they are difficult to
  control

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Foot Patrol

• Disadvantages
• 1. Mobility and area of coverage is restricted
• 2. Inclement weather curtails activities
• 3. Capacity for pursuit is limited

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Foot Patrol

• Disadvantages
• 4. Inability to carry equipment such as shotguns,
  first aid kits, report forms, fire extinguishers
• 5. Supervision of officers is difficult

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Helicopter

• 1. Can conquer rugged, inaccessible terrain, or
  water that a car cannot
• 2. Incredibly fast response time
• 3. Criminals are less likely to act when observed
  by a helicopter

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Helicopter

• 4. Conspicuous- thousands can see it instead of
  hundredsomnipresence
• 5. Can provide lights at night during foot
  pursuits
• 6. Can observe roof tops, isolated areas that
  patrolman cannot see

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Helicopters

• 7. Suspects feel that they cannot escape the
  helicopter
• 8. At 50-60 MPH, can observe over 7 square miles
  where ground units can see only 1/5 of a square
  mile
• 9. Unequaled in high speed pursuits

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Reactive and Proactive Policing

• Reactive taking calls from the dispatcher and
  responding appropriately
• Proactive aggressive law enforcement style that
  may help reduce crime rates

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Proactive Policing

• community and problem-oriented policing
• stop cars and issue citations
• aggressively arrest and detain
  suspicious persons
• hot spots/crackdowns

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Proactive Policing

• Hot Spots and Crackdowns
• 1. Police focus their resources on the
  neighborhoods or locations in the city with the
  most crime
• 2. When in short duration and unpredictable, they
  are very effective

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Results of Proactive Policing

• 1. Increases community perceptions that police
  arrest a lot of criminals and that violators get
  caught
• 2. Arrest more suspects, get convictions, bad
  guys off the street, fewer criminals produce
  lower crime rates

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Problems With Proactive Policing

• 1. Breeds resentment in minority areas that have
  been targeted by police
• 2. Increase in racial conflict