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                            Library & Multimedia
 Measuring Performance in a Modern Police Organization
NCJ Number
              248476

Author(s)
          Malcolm K. Sparrow
Date Published

March 2015
Length
              40 pages
Annotation
              After reviewing and critiquing some of the traditional measures of police performance that focus on lowering the number of reported crimes, this paper promotes the features of a broader framework for measuring police performance in a risk-control or harm-reduction setting.
Abstract
              The overall message of this paper is that police executives need a more sophisticated understanding of how to use different types of information in understanding the condition of their organizations and what is happening in the communities they serve. The recommended broader framework for measuring and reporting police performance pertains to the mission of a police agency, the dimensions of police performance, and a clear understanding of the metrics that capture the multidimensional features of police work. Regarding the latter aspect of data collection related to police performance, this paper examines integrity issues related to CompStat and crime reporting by the New York City Police Department and the implications for CompStat-like systems. The author presents a tool for diagnosing whether and in which ways an existing CompStat implementation might be too narrow a measure of police performance, and opportunities are discussed for developing more sophisticated concepts of police performance and more nuanced organizational responses to a broader range of issues across the six dimensions presented. Primary reference sources are cited for a fuller discussion of each dimension of the recommended broader framework for conceiving and measuring the performance of a police agency. 105 resource citations
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2011-IJ-CX-0025


  
  
        
  Agencies
        NIJ


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Legislation/Policy Analysis
                                Issue Overview
                                Conference Material


  
  
        
  Award
        An Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
    
  
  
Date Published: March 1, 2015
    
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