Point of fact though is that most Police departments are small and mid size agencies that are not dealing with the violent crime issues that large PDs are.
And linking police arrest/clearance data with increased or decreased crime is erroneous IMO. It’s what happens in courts after the arrest that impacts crime rates. Especially in the age or bail reform and revolving court room doors….
I agree with the thrust and conclusion here. The devil’s advocate would say that once the low-hanging crime is resolved over time, the remaining marginal long-tail takes more effort to resolve per crime, explaining away the lack of productivity improvement. But that’s no excuse. If I was only 30% good at my job, I wouldn’t have a job. Why does this stand? Obscene.
I agree that the larger takeaway point is that policing should be subject to some basic performance measurement and then held accountable for the results...as is true for virtually every other industry.
Have you written on this topic? Curious to hear/read what suggestions you have. Bob Behn and Mark Moore at Harvard have written extensively on this topic. I agree in principle, but as a practitioner, for close to 30 years I can tell you it is not as simple as just creating benchmarks. And more importantly, be careful what you ask for!
Point of fact though is that most Police departments are small and mid size agencies that are not dealing with the violent crime issues that large PDs are.
And linking police arrest/clearance data with increased or decreased crime is erroneous IMO. It’s what happens in courts after the arrest that impacts crime rates. Especially in the age or bail reform and revolving court room doors….
I agree with the thrust and conclusion here. The devil’s advocate would say that once the low-hanging crime is resolved over time, the remaining marginal long-tail takes more effort to resolve per crime, explaining away the lack of productivity improvement. But that’s no excuse. If I was only 30% good at my job, I wouldn’t have a job. Why does this stand? Obscene.
I agree that the larger takeaway point is that policing should be subject to some basic performance measurement and then held accountable for the results...as is true for virtually every other industry.
Have you written on this topic? Curious to hear/read what suggestions you have. Bob Behn and Mark Moore at Harvard have written extensively on this topic. I agree in principle, but as a practitioner, for close to 30 years I can tell you it is not as simple as just creating benchmarks. And more importantly, be careful what you ask for!