Efficient police departments are often no more effective in reducing crime than inefficient police departments. The police, by themselves, are relatively weak actors in the social milieu that produce crime. Research shows that actions by the police to control crime are often statistically insignificant. The police are merely a part of the crime-fighting process. We should think of the police as tools.
Tools are useful instruments utilized in accomplishing goals and objectives.
The quality of the tool is important only in the context of other necessary materials. Merely purchasing an expensive hammer is no guarantee you will build a quality house. The tools and resource materials must be skillfully used together to produce quality results. Team policing is a tactic intended to help the police perform traditional crime fighting more efficiently. It focuses, but fails to specifically assign, accountability.