Comstat Transforms American Policing - Research Paper Example

Comstat transforms American Policing In the words of Detective Jeff Godown, Officer in Charge of the Compstat Unit in LA Police Department, the Compstat policing model is described as “not a quick-fix answer to crime but rather a process of organized problem solving that, when coupled with commitment and consistency, inexorably leads to the positive outcome of recurring incremental reductions in crime.” Over the years, this model has been praised for its sophistication, and for the meticulous methodological procedure it follows in collecting data about crime and deploying strategies in tackling it. Initially introduced in New York City, the Compstat model of policing was so successful as a response to crime that it spread across America, and many other police departments have even developed their own versions of crime control processes based on the Compstat model. This essay will attempt to outline some of the more striking strengths of using the Compstat model for policing. One strength of the Compstat model is that it is flexible; “While Compstat has gained renown as a method used by police for reducing crime, its overall flexibility and adaptability make it a suitable tool for managing virtually any organizational function in many types oforganizations,” (Henry, 2006). As stated earlier, the success of the Compstat program in the New York police departments led to many other police departments across America adopting the model and sometimes altering it a little to form their own versions of it; according to the University of Maryland’s official website on Implementing and Institutionalizing Compstat in Maryland, “In 1999 and 2000, over a third of agencies with 100 or more officers reported implementing a “CompStat-like” program,” and “In fact, due to CompStat’s flexibility, Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley used this model to create CitiStat when he was Mayor of Baltimore and now StateStat for the state of Maryland, innovatively expanding the CompStat model as a means to oversee and manage multiple government agencies.” Clearly, the Comstatmodel is advantageous not only because it is an ideal solution for tackling crime, but also because the processes it entails can easily be adapted and modified by other police departments. Quoting Director Jeff Godown again, Compstat is a “philosophy of crime control. It is less about procuring state-of-the-art equipment than about adopting a state of mind that police really do count in reducing crime.” The fact that no specialized equipment or computer software are a prerequisite for implementing the Compstat program makes it easier for different police departments across different cities to make use of it; as Godown said, it is basically just a “philosophy” that needs to be followed. Venturing further into his address on the “Compstat Process: Four Principles for Managing Crime Reduction,” it is learnt that many members of the law enforcement sector have had “the opportunity to attend training sessions and/or workshops on the principles, practices, policies, and procedures,” of Compstat, and that “the CompStat process is not a single state-of-the-art computer equipped with a special software program”; therefore, not only is the Compstat model adept at tackling the issue of crime, it is flexible, adaptable, and can be used by any police force in any part of the country. According to HabibOzdemir in his article on “Compstat: Strategic Police Management for Effective Crime Deterrance in New York City,” the best quality of the Compstat model is the importance given to accountability. For Samuel Walker, he has expressed in his paper that “accountability is a vital element of American policing,” and “lawfulness and legitimacy, in turn, are essential if the police are to achieve their goals of reducing crime and disorder.” Returning to Ozdemir’s paper, “Compstat makes operational commanders accountable for being aware of their decisions and empirical results of their jurisdictions,” and how “Compstat seeks to develop an organizational internal accountability system in a police administration.” Internal accountability is taken very seriously within the Compstat model, and statistical data from Ozdemir’s paper shows that those police officers who do not have appropriate knowledge of the crime in their district and those who are unable to reduce the crime rate in their district, are replaced, and those police officers who do manage to reduce crime in their districts are given promotion. Ozdemir further states that “internal accountability is one of the core aspects of Compstat,” and “removal from their posts in cases of failure to prevent crime is an effective tool to force and motivate them to do their job.” The fact that Compstat places so much emphasis on accountability is a useful because it can potentially lead to the creation of an efficient and responsible police force. Godown also stresses that “CompStat builds accountability into tactical strategies. Command officers assigned to a CompStat review know in advance that their crime reduction/problem-solving activities and tactics will be reviewed in light of conventional wisdom and knowledge as well as the results of their plans”; questioning police officers about their decisions will instill in them a feeling that they alone are answerable for their actions, which would ideally force them to act responsibly and to take their job seriously. Another striking feature of the Compstat model is the emphasis it places on “relentless follow up and assessment”; this is something that can lead to effective and thoroughly thought out decisions.Ozdemir states in his paper that “departments need to evaluate their past tactics and criticize what worked and what did not,” and that “by doing so, organizations will see beneficial strategies and keep using and developing them,” whereas failures “will make managers discover new tactics and interact with successful units, departments or agencies to build effectiveness and efficacy.” Compstat keeps a close eye on the proceedings of its police officers by carefully recording all the decisions they make; in 1996, NYPD Compstat staff developed a recording system that would store all such decisions, in “abbreviated or summarized versions,” (Ozdemir, 2011). Returning once more to Godown, “an essential element in any operational plan is the need to assess critically what, if any, impact the implementation of the plan has had on targeted goals,” and the way that Compstat makes available all records of any decision made by police officers and the result of it, ensures that it is possible to come up with better, tested solutions to problems. Having a whole database of all decisions made and their results would encourage police officers to consult these and use them for comparison with crimes that are occurring, and basically allow them to make well-informed and critical decisions. As Godown cleverly states, “The bottom line with the CompStat process is that it is driven by results;” there is meticulous and relentless emphasis on studying the correlation between a law enforcement strategy and the level of crime, and on finding those strategies that are successful at reducing crime and continuing to develop them, and finding those strategies that are unable to produce appropriate results so that those strategies are not undertaken again. The Compstat model also makes use of middle managers, which is believed to boost efficiency. Dr.VincentE.Henry in his paper “Managing Crime and Quality of Life Using Compstat: Specific Issues in Implementation and Practice,” states that “middle managers are in a far better position to make everyday operational decisions than headquarters executives. Middle managers are (or should be) far better acquainted with the crime and quality of life problems within their jurisdiction, andthey are better acquainted with the strengths and abilities of the individual officers working for them.” James J. Willis in his paper “Enhancing Police Legitimacy by Integrating Compstat and Community Policing,” claims that “Compstat is a highly focused strategic management system concentrating on reducing serious crime by decentralizing decision-making to middle managers operating out of districts, by holding these managers accountable for performance, and by increasing the police organization's capacity to identify, understand, and monitor responses to crime problems.” By allocating power to middle managers, there is more accountability and efficiency brought into the policing system; Gennaro Vito in his paper “Community Policing: The Middle Man’s Perspective,” states that decentralization “forces officers and the department to commit themselves to problem-solving.” Furthermore, W A. Kerstetter states in his paper “Patrol Decentralization,” that “the decentralization of authority is the key structural element in team policing. Patrol decentralization involves the delegation of authority to units that are geographically rather than temporally organized”; with Compstat, organizational power is given“to the commanders of geographic units while they are held to be accountable to accomplish organizational goals. Operational commanders have the power of decision-making in dealing with matters in their area of responsibility. In addition, differentiated units and specialists give assistance to increase performance under the command of geographic units.Decentralized police management allows district commanders to allocate forces efficiently,” (Ozdemir, 2011). It is clear therefore that having middle managers and allocating them to their specific geographical creates a better informed police force that can easily and quickly detect crimes in their own areas and come up with solutions to them. Another facet of the Compstat model that makes it such a valuable tool for policing is its adherence to the principle of accurate and timely intelligence. Godown claims that “at the core of each activity is the use of computer-generated and other statistical data that are gathered in as close to real time as possible and subsequently presented in various formats in hard copy and electronically at CompStat meetings; formats include charts, graphs, maps, command profiles,and crime snapshot reports. The analysis of this information by command and staff officers then triggers action on identified problems.” He further states that “the CompStat process is driven by information and data; as such, it is necessary for all information to be as timely and accurate as possible. Without accurate and timely data sources, management decisions could be rendered ineffectual.”Ozdemir also has something to offer on the importance Compstat places on timely and accurate data; “If all police know specific information on crimes, offenders, time, and locations, then they can easily focus their efforts on certain problems,” and “In NYPD, the computer capabilities, crime-mapping software, created overlay maps showing crime activity in the city. The computer generated maps included narcotics complaints, time, day of the week, location of the crime events, and information regarding police deployment and arrest activity (Silverman, 1999). These characteristics led NYPD to strategic management in fighting and preventing crime.” Clearly, the way that Compstat is able to collect enormous amounts of data on crimes using computers, and the way that it is able to keep updating its information enables police officers to have at their disposal highly accurate data about crimes; the maps and profiles that the computers are able to design because of this wealth of knowledge makes it all the more easier for police officers to have as much detailed information as possible when deciding what course of action to take. It would be worthwhile to mention the speed with which resources are allocated using the Compstat model. For Ozdemir, “Classical policing is driven by calls for service (Walker & Katz, 2002). The police have given only reaction to calls in order to make arrests. However, reactive policing did not contribute to public order.” He also mentions that “Administrators evaluate accurate statistics and discuss at Compstat meetings crime related problems. Upon defining specific situations, commanders can send officers to specific areas in order to tackle problems,” and “by being able to quickly organize and deploy resources in the field in a timely manner, the police can handle problems before they mature. Schick (2004) indicates that ―the Los Angeles experience has shown that the most effective plans require several different units working together, and the best results occur when patrol, investigators, and support personnel bring their capabilities to focus in a coordinated effort. Being at the right place, on the right time coupled with support of required units makes police forces achieve their responsibilities.” As it can be seen, Compstat triumphs in the way that it is able to detect crime a significant amount of time before they actually occur, and therefore allow police to take preventive rather than curative action in the face of crime. By the end of this essay, it should be clear that Compstat is a viable and highly useful model that can reform the police force in a constructive way. The stress it places on accountability, the production of accurate and timely data, on relentlessly following up on data, on decentralizing power within the police force, and on speed at which to allocate police forces, creates a situation where the law enforcement department behaves like a well-oiled machine. It is these features of a Compstat model that allow police force to gain an upper hand over crime. References Godown, Jeff. "The CompStat Process: Four Principles for Managing Crime Reduction." Police Chief Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. . Henry, Vincent E., Dr. Managing Crime and Quality of Life Using Compstat: Specific Issues in Implementation and Practice. N.p.: Http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pdf/RS_No68/No68_12VE_Henry2.pdf, n.d. PDF. Kerstetter, W. A. "Patrol Decentralization: An Assessment." NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. . Ozdemir, Habib. Compstat: Strategic Police Management for Effective Crime Deterrence in New York City. N.p.: WWW.DCAF.CH, Mar. 2011. PDF. Vito, Gennaro F. Community Policing: The Middle Manager's Perspective. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. https://louisville.edu/justiceadministration/faculty-staff/vita/g.vito/COP%20Middle%20Manager.pdf Walker, Samuel. Police Accountability: Current Issues and Research Needs. N.p.: n.p., May 2007. PDF. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/218583.pdf "What Is CompStat?" What Is CompStat? - COMPSTAT.UMD.EDU. University of Maryland, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. . Willis, James J. "Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management." Emerald.N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. . Read More