Beyond crime rates and community surveys: A new approach to police accountability and performance measurement

In this conceptual piece, we argue that the current approach to police performance measurement typically based on the use of traditional police metrics has failed to achieve the desired results and that a different strategy is required. Traditional police metrics have a narrow focus on crime and the police response to it. They provide little information on how well police organizations are performing. Importantly, traditional police metrics do not incorporate input from police stakeholders in goal identification, nor do they use specifically designed indicators to assess progress towards achieving these goals. Following an analysis of the criticisms levelled at the use of traditional police metrics, and subsequent attempts to address these issues, we argue that a networked governance approach represents a more promising foundation for undertaking police organizational performance assessment. Such an approach would engage stakeholders more directly in goal identification and performance assessment, and potentially lead to more successful, responsive and accountable policing

An Evaluation of Bylaw and Policy Changes on Pharmacy Robberies in British Columbia

On 15 September 2015, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia (BC) implemented a set of by-law and security policy changes in an effort to reduce robberies and burglaries in BC pharmacies. Prior to these by-law and security policy changes, pharmacy robberies were increasing in BC for approximately 5 years. After implementation, pharmacy robberies decreased significantly. In this paper, we evaluate the potential impact of the by-law and security policy changes on pharmacy robberies in four regions within BC. We find strong evidence supporting that the reduction in pharmacy robberies is a result of this by-law and accompanying security policy changes. Specifically, there was an immediate and substantial drop in pharmacy robberies within Vancouver, with a change in trend (now decreasing instead of increasing) for the Interior and Lower Mainland less Vancouver. These results should be considered support for maintaining these by-laws and security policy changes in BC and potential implementation in other areas of Canada experiencing similar issues

Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody: An event perspective of the community safety partnership making process in Canada

Community safety partnerships are becoming an important part of policing and crime prevention in Canada. These types of partnerships have long existed. However, with recent pressures on police services to respond to more complex social issues, alongside scrutiny of policing budgets, increasing attention is being paid to partnership creation. Much has been written about community safety partnerships. This literature, however, largely ignores the transactional phase of partnership-making. This phase is important for understanding how community safety partnerships emerge, develop and sustain themselves. Furthermore, little is written on the Canadian context, despite significant differences in Canadian police organizations and communities compared to the United Kingdom and the United States. The current study seeks to examine the community safety partnership making process through an event perspective. Findings from this study have implications for theories of partnerships, as well as practical implications for partnership making and the organizational structure of policing in Canada

The Impact of the 'Not Now, Not Ever' Recommendations on Police-Reported Domestic Violence in Queensland, Australia

In 2014, a taskforce was assembled to address increasing rates of domestic violence in Queensland, Australia. The Not Now, Not Ever report outlines a strategy to address domestic violence through 121 recommendations. This plan for reform resulted in a series of changes, particularly for agencies such as the Queensland Police Service (QPS). This study examines the impact of the recommendations on police-recorded domestic violence incidents in the state. Findings indicate that the changes resulted in an initial significant increase, followed by a significant decreasing trend in police-recorded incidents. However, this impact is not experienced equally across regions and districts

Introduction: Rural crime prevention in theory and context

This chapter introduces some of the issues of rural crime and its prevention by defining concepts, examining international trends and summarising current rural crime issues. It integrates the contributions of each chapter of the book, weaving them into these narratives where appropriate to allow readers to understand both the current state of rural crime prevention and how each chapter supports pushing these conversations forward. Rural crime has long been overlooked in the field of crime prevention: sustained academic interrogation is necessary, therefore, to reduce the extensive economic and social costs of rural crime as well as to uncover some of the myths and challenges regarding the prevention of rural crime. Developing effective tactics and techniques to prevent, reduce, control and working to eliminate non-urban crime requires that a solid knowledge basis be built in this field

Concentrations and Specialization of Mental Health-Related Calls for Police Service

Over the past two decades, research has consistently shown that criminal activity concentrates at places. Places also exhibit specialization in criminal activity, largely based on criminal opportunities. However, recent research has also shown that criminal events are only a relatively small fraction of calls for police service, generally 20–30%. The authors investigate the spatial concentrations and spatial specialization of mental health–related calls for police service in a number of municipalities in British Columbia. Overall, the authors find that mental health–related calls are more concentrated in space than criminal events and that specialization relates to social- and health-related services for the mentally ill

Assessing what police officers do “on the job”: toward a “public values” approach

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a test in a policing context of a performance assessment tool that is based on a “public values” approach. The Capability, Importance, and Value (CIV) Tool allows police organizations to examine the roles their members carry out to determine whether they are being capably done, are important, and deliver value to stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: Five focus groups were conducted with front line officers from a large Canadian police service. The focus group process incorporated elements of Appreciative Inquiry and Structured Brainstorming. Findings: Valuable information can be collected from front line police officers with the CIV Tool. Police organizations could use this information to improve performance while ensuring that the roles undertaken by their members align with broader organizational goals and objectives including providing value to stakeholders. Research limitations/implications: This study was designed as a limited test of the CIV Tool. More extensive testing is required with a larger sample that includes police investigators and members of other specialty units. Practical implications: The CIV Tool can serve to augment existing police performance measurement strategies. It can help to identify which roles contribute to achieving organizational goals and which do not. Based on this information, ameliorative action can be taken. Social implications: A “public values” approach places emphasis on stakeholder needs and expectations. Addressing these directly can result in enhanced performance as well as greater police transparency, responsiveness, and accountability. Originality/value: Ongoing police performance assessment based on a “public values” approach is uncommon in policing. Its use has important implications for police organizations and their stakeholders

Variations in Mental Health Act Calls to Police: an Analysis of Hourly and Intra-week Patterns

Purpose – Investigating the day of week and hour of day temporal patterns of crime typically show that (late) nights and weekends are the prime time for criminal activity. Though instructive, mental-health-related calls for service are a significant component of police service to the community that have not been a part of this research. The purpose of this paper is to analyze calls for police service that relate to mental health, using intimate partner/domestic related calls for police service for context. Design/methodology/approach – Approximately 20,000 mental health related and 20,000 intimate partner/domestic related calls for police service are analyzed. Intra-week and intra-day temporal patterns are analyzed using circular statistics. Findings – Mental-health-related calls for police service have a distinct temporal pattern for both days of the week and hours of the day. Specifically, these calls for police service peak during the middle of the week and in the mid-afternoon. Originality/value – This is the first analysis regarding the temporal patterns of police calls for service for mental health-related calls. The results have implications for police resourcing and scheduling, especially in the context of special teams for addressing mental health-related calls for police service