Crime & communities
Tackling fear of crime & disorder in the community
Problem Oriented Policing
In many areas crime reduction was a role which the police alone had responsibility for. Between 1975 and 1995 recorded crime rose sharply and for most of that time the police were reacting to single incidents without looking at the underlying causes of the problems.
Problem Oriented Policing is a method of problem solving which was developed in the United States and has been adopted by police forces and other agencies across England and Wales.
POP is about identifying and solving underlying problems with communities, rather than simply responding to just individual incidents. It is where the police, communities and local agencies work together to identify specific problems that cause incidents and tackle them together.
In order to carry out POP effectively many police forces and other organisations have adopted a systematic way of managing crime reduction work. This approach is called SARA and there are four stages to this process.
Scanning: Where problems are identified using local knowledge and date from a wide range of organisations.
Analysis: Where the data is used to identify the problems caused.
Response: Where solutions are devised to the problem using the situation and social approaches described in the last section.
Assessment: Looking back to see if the solution worked and what lessons can be learnt.
Problem Oriented Policing can be used just as easily for both large problems and small ones. This example shows how POP can be put into practice.
Scanning: Shopkeepers and residents on an estate have been complaining about a group of youths congregating outside the local shops. The number of complaints about noise has increased in recent weeks and the police had attended a number of times.
Analysis: Further investigation of the problem shows that most of the incidents occur on Wednesday evening between nine and ten when a group of between 15 to 20 youths gather outside the shops. Most of the complaints have been from older residents who live opposite the shop and who feel intimidated by the noise from the group. Some under age members of the group have been seen drinking alcohol, which may have been bought from the local off-licence. There is a youth club which opens every Wednesday, which the youths attend.
Response: There were a number of responses to the problem. Firstly police spoke to the off-licence owner and warned him about selling alcohol to underage drinkers. The number of police patrols to the area were increased during the time that the youths congregated. Older residents were encouraged to keep notes of the kinds of incidents they saw, in case the information was needed at a later date. The youth workers at the club spoke to the group in an attempt to encourage the youths to go home immediately when the club closed. The police also spoke to the parents of the ring leaders of the group to get them to be more aware of the behaviour of their children.
Assessment: The situation was monitored for three months after the initial action was taken against the group. This was done by speaking to the residents about whether they felt the situation had improved. Random police patrols continued in the area on Wednesday nights and checks were made on the off-licence owner. After the initial action was taken the situation calmed down and no further action was required.
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Last update: Wednesday, October 18, 2006