Citation

Wooditch A. J. Quant. Criminol. 2023; 39(1): 161-185.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10940-021-09527-4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Random police patrol, which spreads resources in an unfocused way across a city, remains a dominant strategy despite widespread acceptance that it is ineffective at preventing crime. Research also suggests that patrol officers could make better use of unallocated time if they were to engage in hot spots policing rather than random patrol. Paired with knowledge that police officers have a considerable amount of unallocated patrol time, it may be a relatively untapped resource with substantial crime prevention potential.

Methods

The present study employs an agent-based model informed by routine activity and rational choice theories to simulate whether significant reductions in street robbery can be achieved if officers increase dosage of police presence at hot spots during their unallocated patrol time rather than randomly patrolling a large geographic area.

Results

The findings suggest that if departments achieve one-third of a patrol officer's time be dedicated to proactive activities, substantial crime reductions in a large geographic area may be obtained.

Conclusions

Potential savings can be realized using existing resources if police are able to increase the portion of time officers engage in hot spots policing, and police departments should make staffing and hiring decisions that maintain necessary levels of downtime.

Language: en

Keywords

Agent-based modeling; Crime trends; Discretionary time; Downtime; Hot spots policing; Police; Unallocated patrol time