Abstract
Mission-Based Policing offers a progressive and transformative approach to policing that entails efficiency, foresight, and development. Through the use of various practical operational aspects, this text attempts to bridge the gap between research and practice by examining the following aspects: A counterinsurgency-based approach to policing that emphasizes the use of specific deployment goals and command-driven police measures within high-crime areas. The significance of establishing an organizational approach to policing that focuses on addressing serious crime while establishing a protective impression within the community. The value associated with strategic deployment and problem solving with respect to addressing serious crime. The importance of fostering community-based support through the establishment of a long-term systemic approach designed to eliminate serious levels of crime as well as a neighborhood recovery agenda. The importance of establishing security-based strategies through the use of a sequential system based upon staging and tactical operations. An understanding of the historical and research-based literature related to the prevalence and location of high-crime areas. The shortcomings and criticisms associated with the use of mission-based policing.
In Chapter 1, The Unasked Question, the authors delve into a fundamental policing approach that is designed to geographically diminish serious crime. This leads into a discussion regarding the existence of a model of policing that encompasses a number of contemporary measures within the area of urban security. Within this approach, the collaborative necessity of effectiveness and legitimacy is explored through the use of military-based counterinsurgency measures. From this perspective, the core elements of mission-based policing are examined. This includes the mission of lower crime rates and empowering communities through the use of problem solving and command-driven strategies. The chapter concludes with a discussion regarding the necessity and priority of addressing high-crime areas through tactical officer deployment.
Chapter 2, entitled The Relationship between Police and Crime, the temporary operational role of addressing serous crime among police is examined. This includes the prioritization of calls for service, additional negative factors associated with such (i.e., misleading measurement, drained resources, etc.), and the inherent deficiencies associated with the traditional operations approach to addressing serious crime areas. The need for an increased amount of police deployed in high-crime areas is emphasized. This includes the necessity of direct command control measures based upon crime-fighting objectives. In a similar fashion, the chapter concludes with a descriptive role of police detectives, which emphasizes their lack of effectiveness in addressing serious crime.
In Chapter 3, Redesigning American Policing—Principles 1 and 2: Focus and Effectiveness, the significance of organizational specificity with respect to the use of comparing statistics (COMPSTAT) in order to measure and address serious criminal activity is examined. This includes the use as well as the criticisms associated the use of COMPSTAT. This leads into the importance of deploying officers in high-crime areas through the use of problem-oriented policing. From this perspective, police officers are viewed as guardians who provide various levels of deterrence (i.e., background, directed patrols, etc.) along with perceived legitimacy among citizens. The chapter concludes with a discussion related to the significance of legitimacy in relation to reducing crime, fostering community cooperation, and the perception of fair treatment.
This includes the use as well as the criticisms associated the use of COMPSTAT. This leads into the importance of deploying officers in high-crime areas through the use of problem-oriented policing. From this perspective, police officers are viewed as guardians who provide various levels of deterrence (i.e., background, directed patrols, etc.) along with perceived legitimacy among citizens. The chapter concludes with a discussion related to the significance of legitimacy in relation to reducing crime, fostering community cooperation, and the perception of fair treatment.
In Chapter 4, Redesigning American Policing—Principles 3 and 4: Deployment and Integrity, the prioritization of combating serious crime is presented by introducing a layered police officer deployment model that includes hot zones, at-risk areas, and safe zones. This approach incorporates the use of officers who possess specialized skills along with the use of crime mapping which provides support in the area of response time and hot zone location. This leads into a discussion regarding the principle of mission integrity in which officers are expected to dissipate crime in hot zone areas through the use of command-driven crime prevention efforts. It also requires the use of planning, group deployment, collection of data, and intelligence analysis. The chapter concludes with a brief comparison of hot spot and mission-based policing models.
Chapter 5, The Principle of Mission’s End: Logical Lines of Operation, provides a systematic military-based model for reducing crime. In terms of policing, the contextual setting of diminishing crime levels within certain areas involves a number of specific strategies. In an effort to develop an action plan, the role of information operations is discussed with an emphasis on the various types of data structures available as well as the importance of fostering legitimacy within the community. This leads into a discussion regarding the need for intelligence-based security operations that are designed to facilitate problem-solving measures. The chapter concludes with the role establishing and restoring essential services within certain communities through the efforts of a grant program sponsored by the National Institute of Justice.
In Chapter 6, The Integration of Urban Planning, Economic Development, and Security, the stabilization of community well-being is discussed through the use of neighborhood reinvestment measures. Specifically, the use of business improvement districts is illustrated within a community located in North Omaha. This includes a zone action plan that encompasses a number of specific goals. In order to attract business and residential investments, hot zone security measures are implemented to preserve existing and establish the new construction of housing. In addition, problem-oriented policing solutions for construction site theft as well as many other types of crimes are offered. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the need for cooperation between police and various municipal efforts toward the goal of establishing long-term economic recovery within high-crime areas.
Chapter 7, Model Integration and Staging Lines of Operation, the process of employing counterinsurgency logic into effective policing practices is explored through four stages of establishing certain lines of police-based operations. Stage 1 includes the development of information for the purpose of officer deployment and community-based economic development. Stage 2 requires the management of information (i.e., media campaign, neighborhood meetings, etc.). Stage 3 involves remaining focused within the established strategic model. Stage 4 is based upon the goal of developing local economic opportunity and support. The chapter concludes with a number of state and national recommendations along with an illustrative design of a security model for a high-crime area (i.e., hot zone).
In Chapter 8, Hot Spots and Police Districts, the historical and contemporary research associated with crime location is discussed for the purpose of providing both context and relevance to the existence of crime. This includes a number of reasons why police are not able to employ the use of location-based analytical measures in an effort to reduce crime. The definition and classification aspects of hot spots are identified along with a number of figures for illustration. From an operational standpoint, a hypothetical example in which Omaha, NE is provided. This includes a series of figures that are comprised of various data (i.e., population, district boundaries, etc.) as well as distinct areas of high crime. The chapter concludes by stressing the importance of identifying crime within concentrated areas and the use efficient officer deployment measures.
Chapter 9, Toward a Mission-Based Command and Deployment Structure, a specific traditional police model based in Omaha is used in order to illustrate the various components of a mission-based policing approach. To begin this assessment, the current fundamental operational structures (i.e., commands, deployments, etc.) that exist within the Omaha police department are presented. In an effort to promote organizational redesign measures, the authors emphasize the relocation of officers within both command-driven and hot spot deployment units. After a detailed explanation regarding the advantages associated with the suggestive policing measures, the chapter concludes with a discussion regarding the application of the five principles of mission-based policing.
In Chapter 10, Anticipated Problems, the authors address a number of concerns regarding the use of mission-based policing. This includes, but is not limited to, the perception of legitimacy, the potential of increased victimization, and the use of an untested policing model. The answer to these potential problems is based upon command integrity, mission focus, and neighborhood recovery measures. The chapter concludes by offering the potential viability of the mission-based policing model by emphasizing its approach to addressing serious crime that appeals to both conservative and liberal crime control agendas.
Mission-Based Policing provides a comprehensive and practical approach to incorporating effective crime-control strategies within police departments. Through the use of military-based counterinsurgency tactics, the authors have presented a credible argument for the evaluation and redesign of deployment measures within policing. In addition to strategic and operational insight, the text offers a unique approach to law enforcement through the use of substantive collaborative community-based reinvestment measures. From an academic perspective, the text distinctly highlights a number of relative research aspects that attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practical application. Mission-Based Policing is a well-written manuscript that is ideal for policy makers within the area of policing, graduate students, and those interested in the discipline of criminal justice.