Compstat and Community Policing:
Are They Compatible?


James Willis & Stephen Mastrofski


With Tammy Kochel 



Research questions on community 
policing and Compstat 

* Extent of implementation? 
* Compatibility? 


Organizational theories and police 
reforms 

* Theory X: CS 
- Top-down control 
- Accountability 

* Theory Y: CP 
- Bottom-up initiative 
- Creativity 


Community policing v. Compstat 
doctrines 

Reform Element / Community Policing / Compstat 
Mission / Community is central / Community is peripheral 
Policing methods / Community is central / Community is peripheral 
Performance accountability / Peripheral or nonexistent / Highest priority 
Decentralize decision making / Lowest level in org. / Middle managers
Organizational flexibility / Linked to community / Linked to mission
Data-driven / Valued / Essential 
Innovative problem-solving / Valued / Valued 



Our prior field work on Compstat and 
community policing 

* Police Foundation study funded by NIJ 
* In-depth study of 3 departments in 2000-2001  
* All had adopted by CP and CS 
* CS in place for at least 2 years 


Community policing and Compstat in 
practice 

Reform Element / What we observed / Relationship between CS and CP 
Mission /
Mission in 2 PDs was vague or unstated 
1 PD - focus on CS and CP generated resistance /
CS independent of CP or incompatible 

Policing methods / 
CS did not involve community 
CP structures not incorporated into CS /
CS independent of CP 

Performance accountability /
CS strongly implemented at DC level 
Little impact on CP /
CS independent of CP 

Decentralize decision making /
Both CS and CP supported, but CS was for DCs and CP for 
specialists and rank and file /
CS and CP somewhat compatible, possibly independent 


Community policing and Compstat in 
practice (cont.) 

Reform Element / What we observed / Relationship between CS and CP 
Organizational flexibility /
Flexibility limited by bureaucracy & politics 
CS harnessed to crime; CP harnessed to neighborhood concerns /
CS and CP somewhat compatible 

Data-driven /
Improved data availability and utility 
CS data of little relevance to CP and vice versa /
CS independent of CP 

Innovative problem-solving /
CS accountability limited innovation /
CS independent of CP 


National survey on community policing 
and Compstat 

* Funded by COPS 
* Municipal and county departments with 100+ sworn 
* Conducted spring/summer 2006 
* Sample pool: 566 departments 
* Completed surveys to date: 338 (59.7%) 


Adoption of reforms
Question: How much is this reform a part of the agencys 
organization and operations? 

Pie chart for Community Policing

Minor = 6% 
Planning = 0%
No Part = 3% 
Moderate = 31% 
Major = 60% 

Pie chart for Compstat

Major = 31% 
Planning = 11% 
Moderate = 19% 
No Part = 29% 
Minor = 10% 



Community policing and Compstat adoption profile for U.S.A. 

Percent of Departments Pie Chart 


Minor or no adoption 27% 

Lopsided hybrids 27% 

Strong hybrid 25% 

Moderate hybrids 21% 


Implementation of community policing 
elements Bar graph

Question: To what extent has your agency implemented this approach? 

Officers more caring to public 90%
Partnership w/other orgs 75 %
Community work w/police 65 %
Multi-faceted mission 60%
Delegate nbhd authority to officers 55%
Help citizen collective action 50 %
Community groups get a say 45%
Many non-law enforce. svcs 40%

% mostly or completely implemented 





Implementation of Compstat elements 
Bar Graph

Hotspots policing 85%
Delegate authority to geog. cmdrs 70%
Crime stats for operational decisions 70%
Broken windows policing 60%
Concentrate on single mission 35%
Set specific crime reduction target 35%
Replace mid-mgrs if not meet goals 20%

% mostly or completely implemented 



Implementation of shared CP and CS 
elements 

Teamwork btw units 75%

Problem-oriented policing 60%

Use data to ID probs & evaluate 60%

New crime reduction methods 55%


% mostly or completely implemented 


Most popular reasons to adopt 
community policing and Compstat 

* Community policing 
- Increase citizen satisfaction 
- Responsive to neighborhoods 
- Reduce fear of crime 
- Reduce serious crime 
- Increase citizen participation 

* Compstat 
- Reduce serious crime 
- Responsive to neighborhoods 
- Increase service efficiency 
- Reduce fear of crime 
- Reduce minor offenses 


High intensity challenges to 
implementation 

How challenging is this feature of community policing/Compstat?

* Not at all 
* Somewhat 
* Moderately 
* Very 
* Extremely 


Community policings most widespread challenges 

* Organization culture 
- Officers support 
- Officers accept greater community role 
- Officers try innovative prob-solving 
- Support of mid managers 
- Mid managers take prob-solving initiative 
- Officers accept community priorities 

* Technology 
- Data on officer CP performance 

* Resources 
- Sufficient resources to do CP right 
- Doing CP and meeting CFS and CID demands 

>30% of departments experienced these as very or extremely 
challenging. 


Compstats most widespread challenges 

* Conflicting Demands 
- Thorough crime analysis & rapid problem response 
- Reduce crime & be innovative 
- Cmdrs help each other but individually accountable 
- Respond to community priorities & focus on mission 
- Being innovative but risking failure 

* Technology 
- Compatible data systems 
- Timely crime analysis reports 
- Managers w/ability & desire to do Compstat 
- Hire well-trained crime analysis staff 

* Organization culture 
- Getting police to use crime maps 

>30% of departments experienced these as very or extremely 
challenging. 


Success in overcoming community 
policings most widespread challenges 

* Organization culture 
- Officers support (45) 
- Officers accept greater community role (38) 
- Officers try innovative prob-solving (40) 
- Support of mid managers (52) 
- Mid managers take prob-solving initiative (40) 
- Officers accept community priorities (41) 

* Technology 
- Data on officer CP performance (28) 

* Resources 
- Sufficient resources to do CP right (30) 
- Doing CP and meeting CFS and CID demands (39) 

(% of departments very or extremely successful in overcoming the challenge)



Success in overcoming Compstats 
most widespread challenges 

* Conflicting Demands 
- Thorough crime analysis & rapid problem response (38) 
- Reduce crime & be innovative (42) 
- Cmdrs help each other but individually accountable (52) 
- Respond to community priorities & focus on mission (48) 
- Being innovative but risking failure (48) 

* Technology 
- Compatible data systems (41) 
- Timely crime analysis reports (58) 
- Managers w/ability & desire to do Compstat (54) 
- Hire well-trained crime analysis staff (54) 

* Organization culture 
- Getting police to use crime maps (56) 

(% of departments very or extremely successful in overcoming the challenge) 


Leader views on CP and CS compatibility in general 
Pie Chart

1% Absolutely incompatible

5% Somewhat incompatible 

3% No influence

49% Absolutely compatible 

42% Somewhat compatible 



Self-reported challenges of CP and CS 
implementation in same agency 

* Resource demands 
* Getting acceptance from officers, supervisors, & middle-managers 
* Missions conflict 
- Community priorities v. crime stats 
- Employees perceive mission conflicts 
- Satisfy community v. crime stat reduction 


Sample quotes on CP/CS conflict 

Coordinating COP and CS goals. Officers who work COP resist merging with CS.

Fear that the agency will become stat-driven, as quality of life issues dont 
always create big numbers.
 
Getting everyone to understand that data produced through CS cannot alter 
partnerships developed through CP

With CS an emphasis is placed more on officer accountability to serious 
crime v. neighborhood problems.
 
CS emphasizes management from above, while CP seems to be the opposite direction.



Self-reported benefits of CP and CS together 

* CS shows what & where problems are; CP provides effective strategies 

* Increased community satisfaction/support/engagement 

* Reduced crime, neighborhood problems 

* Greater internal & external accountability and communications 

* CP & CS provide complementary information to the department



Effect of department features on overcoming CP implementation challenges 

Table
Department Feature / Effect

Number sworn / None 
 
CP model department / None 
PERF membership / None 
No. professional meetings in last 3 years / None 
Pre-COPS adoption of CP / None 
Strong hybrid department / None 
CALEA-accredited / Positive 

N=252 departments adopting CP 



Effect of department features on overcoming CS implementation challenges 

Table
Department Feature / Effect 

Number sworn / None 
CS model department / None 
PERF membership / None 
No. professional meetings in last 3 years / None 
No. of years since CS implemented / Positive 
Strong hybrid department / Positive 
CALEA-accredited / Positive 

N=168 departments adopting CS



Conclusions about community policing and Compstat 

* Widespread dual implementation 
* Some shared goals, some unique 
* Both are unevenly implemented 
* Evidence of conflict 
* Need to acknowledge challenges of dual implementation and focus on them 
* Reason for optimism, but requires hard work