Is problem‐oriented policing effective in reducing crime and disorder?

Abstract

Research Summary We conducted a Campbell systematic review to examine the effectiveness of problem‐oriented policing (POP) in reducing crime and disorder. After an exhaustive search strategy that identified more than 5,500 articles and reports, we found only ten methodologically rigorous evaluations that met our inclusion criteria. Using meta‐analytic techniques, we found an overall modest but statistically significant impact of POP on crime and disorder. We also report on our analysis of pre/post comparison studies. Although these studies are less methodologically rigorous, they are more numerous. The results of these studies indicate an overwhelmingly positive impact from POP. Policy Implications POP has been adopted widely across police agencies and has been identified as effective by many policing scholars. Our study supports the overall commitment of police to POP but suggests that we should not necessarily expect large crime and disorder control benefits from this approach. Moreover, funders and the police need to invest much greater effort and resources to identify the specific approaches and tactics that work best in combating specific types of crime problems. We conclude that the evidence base in this area is deficient given the strong investment in POP being made by the government and police agencies.

Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

“…To address these questions, a related literature that is found mostly in criminology has studied the effect of changes in the intensity of policing on crime with a distinct focus on the crime-reducing effect of various "best practices." In particular, declines in crime that are not attributable to spatial displacement have been linked to the adoption of "hot spots" policing (Sherman and Rogan 1995, Sherman and Weisburd 1995, Braga 2001, Braga 2005, Weisburd 2005, Braga and Bond 2008, and Berk and MacDonald 2010, "problem-oriented" policing (Braga et al 1999;Braga et al 2001;and Weisburd et al 2010), and a variety of other proactive approaches. Similarly, a large research literature that has examined the local impact of police crackdowns has consistently found large and immediate (but typically not lasting) reductions in crime in the aftermath of hyper-intensive policing (Sherman 1990).…”

Closing Knowledge Gaps: Toward Evidence-Based Crime Prevention Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean

“…6 In a randomized trial involving Jersey City, New Jersey, Braga et al (1999) identified 24 Experiment (Weisburd and Green, 1995) provides more direct support for the added benefit of the application of problem solving approaches in hot-spot policing (Weisburd et al, 2010). In this study, a similar number of narcotics detectives were assigned to treatment and control hot spots.…”

Gating Alleys to Reduce Crime: A Meta-Analysis and Realist Synthesis

“…We acknowledge that there is some controversy surrounding some aspects of this metric, such as whether the computed statistic is in fact a risk ratio or an odds ratio, 6 and whether it sufficiently deals with over-dispersion in the data (see Marchant, 2004Marchant, , 2005. To address this, we use an approach adopted elsewhere (Farrington et al, 2007;Weisburd, Telep, Hinkle, & Eck, 2008) of multiplying the standard error by an inflation factor (IF, in this case two) when calculating confidence intervals.…”