13.4 Community-Oriented Policing & Problem Solving

13.4 Community-Oriented Policing & Problem Solving

Traditional reactive policing—responding to 911 calls, conducting rapid enforcement, and making arrests after crimes occur—is insufficient by itself to address the root causes of crime and disorder in modern communities. Community-Oriented Policing (COP) and Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) represent strategic paradigms that shift law enforcement from reactive enforcement to proactive, collaborative problem-solving. By forming strong community partnerships, utilizing structured analytical frameworks like the SARA model and Crime Triangle, and applying Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Pennsylvania police officers can sustainably reduce crime, lower fear of crime, and improve quality of life.

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Philosophy of Community-Oriented Policing (COP)

Community-Oriented Policing (COP) is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies supporting the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

Three Key Components of COP

1. Community Partnerships: Collaborative relationships between law enforcement agencies and the individuals, community groups, business owners, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and public agencies they serve. COP recognizes that police cannot solve community problems alone.
2. Organizational Transformation: Aligning agency management, structure, culture, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem-solving. This includes decentralizing decision-making to beat officers and rewarding creative problem-solving.
3. Proactive Problem-Solving: Shifting officer focus from responding to isolated incidents to identifying and addressing underlying conditions that generate recurring calls for service.

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The SARA Model of Problem-Oriented Policing

Pioneered by Herman Goldstein, Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) focuses on identifying specific patterns of crime and disorder and developing customized solutions. The primary analytical tool of POP is the SARA Model, a four-stage problem-solving process:

1. Scanning (Identifying the Problem)

• Focus: Identifying recurring problems of concern to the public and police, prioritizing problems, and defining the initial problem scope.
• Key Actions: Analyzing call-for-service data, mapping crime clusters, reviewing incident reports, and gathering input from residents and business owners.
• Crucial Rule: A "problem" is defined as two or more related incidents that are similar in nature, cause harm, and are likely to recur.

2. Analysis (Understanding Conditions and Causes)

• Focus: Conducting an in-depth investigation into the causes, scope, and underlying conditions of the identified problem.
• Key Actions: Gathering detailed data on offenders, victims, locations, times, and environmental factors. Analysis seeks to answer why the problem persists rather than jumping immediately to enforcement solutions.
• Tools: Utilizing the Crime Triangle and stakeholder interviews.

3. Response (Developing Tailored Solutions)

• Focus: Formulating and implementing long-term, tailored interventions designed to eliminate, reduce, or relocate the problem.
• Key Actions: Brainstorming creative solutions beyond traditional arrests, such as altering physical environments, partnering with social service agencies, enforcing code violations, or modifying business practices.

4. Assessment (Evaluating Intervention Impact)

• Focus: Measuring the quantitative and qualitative effectiveness of the response.
• Key Actions: Comparing pre- and post-intervention crime data, surveying residents, determining if the problem was reduced or displaced, and adjusting strategies if goals were not achieved.

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The Crime Triangle (Problem Analysis Triangle)

The Crime Triangle (or Problem Analysis Triangle) is a foundational concept in problem-oriented policing. It posits that a crime or disorderly incident occurs only when three essential elements come together simultaneously:

1. Motivated Offender: An individual with the desire, capability, and intention to commit a crime.
2. Suitable Target / Victim: A person, object, or property that is vulnerable or attractive to the offender.
3. Location / Environment: A physical or virtual space where the offender and victim/target intersect.

Guardians, Handlers, and Managers

Problem solvers attempt to disrupt the triangle by introducing or strengthening protective controllers:

• Handlers: Persons who exercise control over the offender (e.g., parents, probation officers, mentors).
• Guardians: Persons or systems that protect the victim/target (e.g., security guards, neighbors, alarm systems).
• Managers: Persons responsible for controlling the location (e.g., property owners, business managers, store clerks).

If law enforcement can eliminate any one side of the Crime Triangle or activate an effective controller, the crime cannot occur.

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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental modifications. CPTED principles influence offender decision-making prior to criminal acts.

Four Core CPTED Principles

1. Natural Surveillance: Designing physical environments to maximize visibility by community members and police.
   • Tactics: Installing adequate street/porch lighting, trimming overgrown shrubbery, placing windows to face walkways and parking lots.
2. Territorial Reinforcement: Creating clear boundaries between public, semi-private, and private property to instill a sense of ownership among legitimate users.
   • Tactics: Fences, pavement designs, landscaping, signage, and defined property borders.
3. Natural Access Control: Guiding the flow of people into and out of a space while denying access to unauthorized individuals.
   • Tactics: Utilizing single entry points, deadbolt locks, security gates, and strategic bollards.
4. Maintenance and Image (Broken Windows Theory): Ensuring spaces are well-maintained, clean, and free of litter, graffiti, or damage.
   • Tactics: Promptly repairing broken windows, removing graffiti within 24 hours, and maintaining clean common areas. Under Wilson and Kelling's Broken Windows Theory, visible signs of decay signal a lack of social control, inviting further crime and disorder.

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SARA Model Stages & Operational Breakdown