DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03489
title: Evaluation of the Use of Computers in Patrol Cars by the San Francisco Police Department, 1999-2000
title: Archival Version

description: In an effort to reduce the workload of police officers
participating in problem-solving and community-oriented activities,
the San Francisco Police Department applied for and was awarded a
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Making Officer
Redeployment Effective (MORE) grant in 1995 to integrate Mobile
Computing Terminals (MCTs), or laptop computers, into its daily
operations. The National Institute of Justice funded an evaluation of
this COPS MORE initiative. The evaluation examined the efficacy of a
technological intervention to improve operational efficiency, service
quality, and the corresponding changes in officers' attitudes and
behaviors associated with integrating the use of MCTs for computerized
incident reporting into the work process. The two systematic methods
of data collection used for this research project were
pencil-and-paper surveys of officers' attitudes toward computers and
community policing and direct observation of the behavior of officers
on patrol, including measurements of time to complete reports and time
engaged in police activities.
description: The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has
 had a long-term community policing plan since 1989. The SFPD defines
 community policing as a philosophy, management style, and
 organizational strategy that promotes (1) proactive problem-solving
 and police-community partnerships, (2) full-service personalized
 policing in which the same officer patrols and works in the same area
 on a permanent basis, from a decentralized place, and (3) a high
 quality of life in San Francisco's neighborhoods through
 police-community partnerships that identify, prioritize, and solve
 problems. Because problem-solving involves a more intensive and
 long-term approach to crime prevention, departments implementing
 community policing are challenged to find methods of freeing up
 additional officer time to engage in problem-solving and
 community-oriented activities. In an effort to facilitate its workload
 reduction strategies, the SFPD applied for and was awarded a Community
 Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Making Officer Redeployment
 Effective (MORE) grant in June of 1995 to integrate innovative
 technology, namely Mobile Computing Terminals (MCTs) or laptop
 computers, into its daily police operations. The MCTs represented a
 potential time-saving device for officers on patrol. With funds from
 COPS MORE, the SFPD purchased 336 MCTs to replace the KDT-480 dumb
 terminals that were installed in patrol cars. Funding to purchase
 software that would enable the electronic submission of reports from
 the field was also provided. The installation of the MCTs into patrol
 cars and the electronic submission software were part of an
 administrative strategy to increase the efficiency of the work process
 by shifting the entire department to computerized incident reporting.
 Under the previous system, the Department estimated that two hours of
 each officer's shift was spent traveling to the district police
 station to access computer equipment to complete crime reports, or
 handwrite the standard seven-page report, as no portable computers
 were available for use in the field. The National Institute of Justice
 funded an evaluation of this COPS MORE initiative. The evaluation
 examined the efficacy of a technological intervention to improve
 operational efficiency, service quality, and the corresponding changes
 in officers' attitudes and behaviors associated with integrating MCTs
 into the work process. This project evaluated the effect of MCTs on
 two measures of organizational effectiveness that were operationalized
 as (1) the number of hours saved through implementation of MCTs and
(2) the allocation of time saved to community policing.
description: The two systematic methods of data collection used
 for this research project were pencil-and-paper surveys of officers'
 attitudes toward computers and community policing (Part 1) and direct
 observation of the behavior of officers on patrol, including
 measurements of time to complete reports and time engaged in police
 activities (Part 2). Of the 1,091 sworn members of the San Francisco
 Police Department, 819 participated in the survey and ride-along
 observational activities across the three time periods: 163 at Time 1,
 205 at Time 2, and 451 at Time 3. The 819 patrol officers were asked
 to complete surveys on computer attitudes and community policing (Part
 1) and a subset of 463 officers participated in the observational
 activities: 96 at Time 1, 185 at Time 2, and 182 at Time 3 (Part
 2). Patrol officers participated in the observational study if they
 were assigned to one of the shift and sector combinations that was
 randomly selected for a ride-along. The simplest quasi-experimental
 design would have been to observe the behavior of patrol officers in
 five stations that had received MCTs compared to officers in five
 stations that had not yet received them. However, the extraneous
 effects of observation potentially contaminate a design that simply
 compares an experimental group to a control group. Therefore, the
 researchers used the Solomon four-group design to estimate and control
 for the effects of observation. The basic unit of measurement and
 analysis was the ride-along. Random combinations of shift halves and
 sectors were used to develop the ride-along schedule. The shift half
 was a five-hour period that occurred either during the first half or
 the second half of the shift. During their shifts, officers were
 assigned to a district sector, and they patrolled that sector for the
 entire time. The shift halves and sectors that were randomly sampled
 at Time 1 were sampled again at the successive measurement
 periods. Time 1 was the pre-test period before the MCTs were
 installed. Time 2 was the post-test period during which some groups
 had MCTs and some groups did not, allowing the researchers to control
 for the effects of observation. Time 3 was the second post-test period
 during which all groups had MCTs. Due to the longitudinal nature of
 the study, it was not possible to measure individual patrol officers
 as the unit of analysis. Officers were rotated on a regular basis
 from one district station to another. The nature of police work
 differed significantly between district stations, so measuring the
 same officer at two different stations would introduce a confounding
 factor into the study. Within a district station, shift and sector
 provided a level of analysis that was consistent across the different
 measurement periods, and thus was less likely to introduce extraneous
 factors into the study. Prior to data collection activities at each
 district station, members of the research team attended roll call at
 all of the shifts in order to provide information about the study to
 patrol officers. At the beginning of a given ride-along, the study was
 explained to the patrol officer, and his or her informed consent was
 obtained. The officer was told that participation was voluntary and
 that he or she could withdraw from the study at any time. During the
 five-hour ride-along, the observer collected information on the amount
 of time the officer spent on various secondary activities. At the end
 of the ride-along, the officer was asked to complete the Computer
 Attitude and Community Policing Attitude Surveys. Survey responses and
 observational data were anonymous and could not be linked to the
 officers. Only the ride number identified the observations and
 surveys. Officers who did not participate in a ride-along were asked
 to complete the surveys and place them in a drop box at the district
station. These surveys were anonymous.
description: Survey variables for Parts 1 and 2 include
 officers' attitudes on the importance of access to state and federal
 databases, detailed analyses of crime patterns, maps of crime hot
 spots, information about community events, saving time writing
 reports, more time to spend on patrol, flexible technology, accurate
 technology, technology that is easy to understand, and dependable
 technology. Other survey questions captured the officers' attitudes
 toward community policing, such as the use of innovative solutions to
 crime problems, communication with the public, teamwork with other
 officers, knowledge of community resources, pressure because of the
 demands of community policing, amount of training in community
 policing, and rewards for practicing community policing. Officers were
 also asked whether they had ever used a personal computer and for what
 purposes and whether they had ever received formal training on
 computers. Demographic variables for Parts 1 and 2 include age, years
 employed by SFPD, level of education, county of residence, gender, and
 ethnic identity. Part 2 contains additional variables from the
 observational data collection, including time spent on report writing,
 on the computer, at the station, in the field, on calls for service,
on patrol, in court, and interacting with citizens.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: For Part 1 all sworn officers were asked to complete a
 self-administered survey. For Part 2 patrol officers participated in
 the observational study if they were assigned to one of the shift and
sector combinations that was randomly selected for a ride-along.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Police Officer Survey Data
DS2: Police Officer Survey Data and Observational Data
description: All sworn police officers of the San Francisco Police
Department in 1999 and 2000. Smallest Geographic Unit: police sector
description: The user guide, codebook, and data collection
instruments are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF)
files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.