Service Time, Dispatch Time, and Demand for Police Services: Helping More by Serving Less

Maxfield, Michael G.

doi:10.2307/976012

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…More recent studies criticise this simplification and suggest that a more nuanced approach to measuring demand is needed (Taylor Griffiths et al 2015), since responding to calls for service (reactive policing) is only a small part of police officers' tasks. Suggestions include defining demand as the need for police presence due to both crime and non-crime related activities and also for the purpose of prevention or deterrence as well as 'self-generated' demand arising from administrative processes and errors (Maxfield 1982, Elliott-Davies et al 2016). To measure these, researchers have suggested Boulton et al (2017) Calls for service Brooks et al (2011) Calls for service Camacho-Collados and Liberatore 2015Crime Risk Past crime data / interviews with service coordinators and agents involved in public safety operations to identify characteristics of 'good' patrol sector partition Camacho-Collados et al…”

Section: 'Demand' In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Workload for individual officers Semi-structured focus groups Fleming and Grabosky (2009) Calls for service Greasley and Smith (2017) Calls for service Green (1984) Calls for service /service time required Groff et al 2015Calls for service / Crime prevention Heller and Markland (1970) Calls for service Systematic literature review to answer questions about effectiveness of police-mental health service models for responding to people with mental disorder and suspected offending or public safety problems. Maxfield (1982) Calls for service Mazerolle et al (2002) Calls for service / Public expectations Moore and Braga (2003) Calls for service / Crime prevention Sacks (2003) Calls for service / Crime prevention Sarac et al (1999) Calls for service Taylor and Huxley (1989) Calls for service Taylor Griffiths et al (2015) Calls for service Walley (2013) Calls for service Walley and Jennison-Phillips (2018) Need for policing and service (including failure demand)…”

Section: 'Demand' In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding the concept of ‘demand’ in policing: a scoping review and resulting implications for demand management

Laufs

Bowers

Birks

et al. 2020

Policing and Society

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As literature around policing and society grows, there is increased use of, and focus upon the concept of police 'demand'. The concept itself, however, is ill-defined and no consensus exists about how it should be measured. This paper addresses these issues by undertaking a scoping review of literature on the topic, and by exploring how demand has been conceptualised in both academic and practitioner communities. The review reveals that while key interdependencies between police demand and supply are widely discussed, they are often analysed in isolation. To add to the academic discussion of police demand, the paper introduces a comprehensive conceptualisation including the various forms police demand can take and the different manifestations of drivers for police demand. Subsequently, it outlines several approaches that might be levied to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of demand management approaches. These include the consideration of trade-offs that need to be considered. For example, there is a need to balance any resources allocated to deal with proactive demand reduction and that necessary for (reactive) response. Considering the dynamics of police demand andby necessitysupply through the lens of complex adaptive systems we propose potential ways forward that capitalise on this framing.

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Section: 'Demand' In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 'Demand' In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the concept of ‘demand’ in policing: a scoping review and resulting implications for demand management

Laufs

Bowers

Birks

et al. 2020

Policing and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, more recent discussions have discussed managing or diverting calls for individuals experiencing mental distress (Dawson, 2019;Neusteter et al, 2019b;Reuland, 2004) by having mental health experts at call centers to help with such calls. Another possible idea is to stop sending police to non-crime, disorder-related calls which might also free up officer time (Maxfield, 1982). Calltakers could also play an educational role by discouraging callers who call for non-public safety-related business.…”

Section: Calltakers: Constrained Gatekeepers Of the Criminal Justice Footprintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constrained Gatekeepers of the Criminal Justice Footprint: A Systematic Social Observation Study of 9-1-1 Calltakers and Dispatchers

et al. 2020

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This study examines the gatekeeping role that public safety communication specialists (911 calltakers and dispatchers) play in the criminal justice footprint using systematic observations of one of the largest public communication centers in the U.S. Findings indicate that public safety communications professionals can play a significant role in initially shaping the criminal justice footprint, and can help to prevent that footprint from growing. However, organizational constraints, liabilities, and rules, as well as the expectations and beliefs of citizens and activities of police officers, can also inhibit this gatekeeping function. Recent assertions that citizen calls for public safety services might be easily diverted or prevented to reduce this footprint rely on significant changes to several policies, practices, and assumptions that have yet to be easily realized.

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“…The "load shedding" hypothesis by Maxfield et al (1980; see also Maxfield, 1982) also has important implications for any study examining patrol officer productivity. Maxfield et al suggested that while variations in workload do not affect patrol officers' decisions to record serious crimes, workload does affect officers' decisions to record less serious crimes; it may also affect self-initiated activities as well (Herbert, 1998).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring how an area’s crime-to-cop ratios impact patrol officer productivity

Bonkiewicz¹

2016

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &Amp; Management

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how the combined crime rate and staffing levels of a patrol area affect patrol officers' productivity. Specifically, the author identified and analyzed two macro-level correlates of patrol officer productivity: reported violent crimes per officer and reported property crimes per officer (a beat's "crime-to-cop" ratios). Design/methodology/approach -Using hierarchical linear modeling, the author estimated the effects of a patrol area's violent crimes per officer ratio and property crimes per officer ratio on the annual number of traffic citations, warrants, misdemeanor arrests, and felony arrests generated by patrol officers (n ¼ 302). The author also examined the effect of these crime-to-cop ratios on a more advanced productivity metric. Findings -The results suggest that a patrol area's rate of property crimes per officer is associated with a moderate decrease in an officer's annual number of traffic citations, warrant arrests, and misdemeanor arrests; a patrol area's rate of violent crimes per officer is also associated with a moderate decrease in an officer's annual number of traffic citations; and a patrol area's rate of violent crimes per officer is associated with a moderate increase in an officer's annual number of warrant and misdemeanor arrests. Notably, the crime-to-cop ratios are not correlated with a more sophisticated patrol productivity metric.Research limitations/implications -The author analyzed data from a mid-sized US police department that uses a generalists policing style. It is unknown if these results translate to smaller or larger police departments, as well as those agencies practicing a specialized policing style. Practical implications -The findings suggest that police scholars should not only recognize how the crime-to-cop ratios of a patrol area might impact patrol officer productivity, but also incorporate more sophisticated metrics of patrol officer activity in future studies. These findings likewise signal to police practitioners that an area's crime-to-cop ratios should be considered when allocating officers and other resources across patrol areas. Originality/value -To the authors knowledge, this is the first study to identify and examine the link between a patrol area's crime-to-cop ratios and patrol officer productivity.

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Service Time, Dispatch Time, and Demand for Police Services: Helping More by Serving Less

Cited by 13 publications

References 3 publications

Understanding the concept of ‘demand’ in policing: a scoping review and resulting implications for demand management

Understanding the concept of ‘demand’ in policing: a scoping review and resulting implications for demand management

Constrained Gatekeepers of the Criminal Justice Footprint: A Systematic Social Observation Study of 9-1-1 Calltakers and Dispatchers

Exploring how an area’s crime-to-cop ratios impact patrol officer productivity

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