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

Abstract

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.

Policing in pandemics: A systematic review and best practices for police response to COVID-19

“…We opted to use the former as it allows for the consideration of national disease outbreaks [ 82 ]. Police supply and demand : While there is no universal definition of the term police demand [ 5 ], we use the terms to refer to the need for and availability of police resources (i.e. officers or patrol units).…”

“…The decline of professionalism within an organisation can also impede decision-making and adversely impact organisational dynamics, leading to an increased administrative demand and failure demand within an organisation [ 5 , 75 ]. Crichton et al [ 116 ] find for example that decisionmakers under stress tend to apply standard procedures as reactive measures rather than anticipating future challenges.…”

“…Administrative delays and ancillary bureaucratic efforts further increase service demand. Furthermore, coordination and communication with external partners and the implementation of a data-driven approach can lead to a sharp increase in organisational demand [ 3 , 5 , 54 ].…”

“…In addition, many governments have taken emergency measures to protect their population and slow the spread of the virus. Such actions, including lockdowns, travel bans, and social distancing rules are often controlled and enforced by the police, creating additional service demand for law enforcement agencies [ 5 ]. This comes on top of existing duties as the police are expected to maintain order and continue neighbourhood policing operations [ 6 ], all while under a greater strain on resources [ 7 , 8 ].…”

How Do Police Officers Perceive the Challenges Posed by Covid-19: A Qualitative Case Study from Jammu Region in India

“…It can't be denied that the direct or indirect involvement of police personnel in handling the pandemic situation (Brooks & Lopez, 2020;Jones et al, 2020;Stogner et al, 2020) escalates the risk of their infection (Bates, 2020). Enforcement of lockdown and the things associated with them (Laufs et al, 2020) demand their physical presence and more public contact. Since they (including other front line workers) are the first ones to get exposed to infected people, there is a real threat if they already have serious health issues (Chen et al, 2020; National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, 2020).…”