Problem-Oriented Policing: Elements, Processes, Implications

Basic Elements

The basic elements of problem-oriented policing are as follows:

• 1.
  Police business is understood as clusters of crime or disorder incidents, similar in one or more ways. These clusters of incidents are referred to as “problems.”
• 2.
  Problems are carefully analyzed, drawing on the knowledge and skills of crime analysts as well as field personnel.
• 3.
  The ultimate purpose of problem analysis is to discover new and more effective responses to problems.
• 4.
  Responses that work to prevent crime and disorder incidents, and not merely to react to them after they have occurred, are given high priority.
• 5.
  Response strategies that are not entirely dependent on the operations of the criminal justice system are encouraged.
• 6.
  Response strategies that engage the community, other public agencies, and the private sector in reducing the problem are emphasized.
• 7.
  New response strategies are implemented as fully as possible.
• 8.
  The impact that new response strategies have on the problem is carefully evaluated.
• 9.
  The results of the analysis, response implementation, and evaluation are reported so that others can benefit from the newly acquired knowledge.
• 10.
  The accumulated knowledge gained through this process contributes to the development of a larger body of knowledge that enhances professional policing.

Basic Premises

Problem-oriented policing builds upon some basic lessons learned about policing over the past several decades. The following paragraphs describe some of the most critical of these lessons.

The function of the police is, and always has been, much broader than merely enforcing criminal laws. Police are expected to address a wide range of community problems that threaten public safety and order. Enforcement of the criminal law, often thought to be the basic purpose of the police, is better understood as but one means to achieving the ends of public safety and order.

The police exercise a tremendous amount of discretion, at all levels of their hierarchy, in carrying out their function. Problem-oriented policing represents a significant effort to harness and guide that discretion toward more effective and fair policing.

The police, as an institution, operate not merely as the front end of the criminal justice system, but as a key institution in a web of social institutions that share responsibility for providing for public safety and order. Problem-oriented policing encourages police to collaborate both within and outside the criminal justice system to address public safety problems.

The police have, for various reasons, been compelled to rely excessively on the criminal justice system as a means for addressing crime and disorder. The overuse and misuse of the criminal law has contributed to major problems in policing. Problem-oriented policing promotes the use of alternatives to arrest as means of addressing problems.

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