Overt Police Patrol to Reduce Crime in the UK - Essay Example

OVERT POLICE PATROL IS AS A MEANS OF REDUCING CRIME IN THE UK Introduction Combating Crime in the UK through Overt Police Patrol Police patrol is extensively modeled in the urban setting, but these urban models are not usually appropriate for application to rural settings (Birge and Pollock 1989). There is a demand for special consideration in terms of the length of travel time and the nature of calls for service in rural areas. However, it does not mean that police patrol forces do not operate in rural environments, such as small towns and countries. They in fact do, but there is a need for them to provide the community with prompt and effective emergency services whenever requested, just like fire departments and emergency ambulance services (ibid). Over the past forty years, police activities and policies have been a realm of extensive review and reform in UK, particularly in England and Wales. These extensive review and reform called for community policing, police accountability, police response to public disaster and crime, and the impact of public perception of police on the media. The study of Sharp (2005) suggests that there is a need for a better understanding of the theories that apply to police practice in general. Similarly, there is a relevance and applicability of recent theoretical developments in British surveillance studies, supporting how policing activities may be made effective. In this sense, the surveillance solution occupies the central stage in the midst of new policy initiatives for an attempt to modernize the criminal justice system (Clive 2006). Crawford (1999) analyzed current criminal justice discourses and practices relating to the actions in the community, as well as prevention and partnerships. Important subject matters that influence the strength of overt police patrol in countering and reducing crimes are government strategies originating from both the state and outside it (ibid). These strategies reflect the extent to which sociopolitical landscape may be transformed in connection with crime control and prevention. Police Accountability, Community Partnership, and Combating Crime in the UK Police accountability has been considered in combating terrorism and crimes in the UK, after the killing of an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes who was wrongly suspected as a suicide bomber by the Metropolitan Police. Traditional policing in the UK have been based on the construct of reasonableness, compromise, and respect for the individual's rights, in which a central tenet is the rare use of coercive force, premised on the continuum that ranges from negotiation to lethal consequences (Kennison and Loumansky 2007). Developed policies in order to combat crimes and terrorism denote a preferred option to restrict police to shoot to kill. There is a general consensus that a robust and overt response are required to combat terrorism and crimes, thus, a balance among liberty, security, and police accountability is an issue raised (ibid). It implies that overt police activities have a corresponding requirement for accountability, which is assessed in the context of operational policy-making. Kennison and Loumansky conclude that the nature and structure of policing is transforming from being covert, reasonable, and understated towards zero tolerance, military, and overt style in the quest to combat terrorist crimes. It implies that traditional reactive policing styles have given way to a proactive military style with overt displays, which tend to overlook civil rights. Hence, there is a need for the public to trust their police, because a trustworthy police system is one that acknowledges the civil rights of people. In its annual report (2004-2005), Hampshire Police Authority stressed that a year of rapid growth in its capacity to meets its objectives in terms of policing has transpired with the appointment of a Community Consultation Officer and a Performance Officer. In 2000, challenging targets were set in reducing domestic burglary and vehicle crime by 30 percent. In the annual report of 2004-05, it was estimated that the targets were fewer than 9 burglaries per 1,000 households, and 10 vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents (ibid). The long-term target of the government is to reduce the statistics from 1,143 in 1994 - 1998 to one that records 734 in 2010. The 2004-2005 figure of 913 manifests that Hampshire is well on target (ibid). Similarly, the British Crime Survey (BCS) conducted a study about private households' victimization in 2001 covering the main crime counting element and other crime-related issues. The main points that emerged in the survey suggest the following: Overall levels of crime are stable at 11.3 million; risk of crime is increased by 1 percentage point (statistically significant); violence is stable at 5% increase (not statistically significant); all personal crimes are stable at 2% (not statistically significant); all household crimes are stable at 5% (not statistically significant); vandalism is up by 10 percent (statistically significant); domestic burglary is stable with 1% decrease; vehicle theft is stable at 2% decrease; and theft from the person is stable (no change). The commitment of the government is seen in the persistence of Hampshire Police Authority to take a new and innovative approach to consultation in connection to crime. Hampshire achieves to be in the forefront of modernizing how communities may be engaged in battling crimes towards its reduction. It has promoted a move away from the old style public meetings towards a more focused way of engaging with groups and involving them in policies that combat crime. On one hand, Miller, et al. (2000) suggest that while searches play some role in tackling crime which lead to around 1/10 of arrests in the national scope, there appears to be only a small impact on the detection and prevention of recorded or reported crime. The report also indicates that searches tend to be perceived negatively by the public, and they produce negative impact on public confidence in the police. This is suggestive of searches undertaken by impolite police officers and their lack of adequate explanations for the search, although in principle, stops and searches are supported, provided they are used properly. The study of Miller, et al recommends ways in which police forces may minimize these negative impacts on local community confidence, alongside maximizing effective strategies against crime. It is emphasized that police forces should make an efficient and targeted use of searches based on intelligence and high levels of suspicion, along with focusing on serious crimes and on more profuse offenders in order to eliminate this impact. Robberies against person have risen at an unprecedented rate, with police record in 2001-2002 showing twice as the rate recorded in 1997-1998. Robbery forms the bulk of the street crime problem, and the government responded by putting it at the heart of its agenda for tackling crime (Burrows, et al. 2003). This has resulted in the creation of the Street Crime Initiative (SCI) in 2002. The framework in which SCI is built is based on safety partnerships between police forces and the community in addressing a wide range of major obstacles in bringing perpetrators to face justice (ibid). It is said that police forces and partnerships with the communities and agencies have tended to shape their responses in an increasing pattern within the context of a common set of management principles. Important principles need to be underpinned with expertise in problem solving and crime analysis, which involve the need for the problems to be clearly defined and for initiatives to be properly resourced (ibid). Police patrol helped in the intervention of the robbery problem through a strong partnership with the community. Typically, a number of complementary strands have been incorporated such as offender targeting, improving surveillance, high visibility policing, detection, crime prevention advice, implementing longer-term social interventions, and improving downstream criminal justice processes (Burrows, et al. 2003). The police forces are not the only ones that solely undertake all these activities, but also partnerships that work with a range of agencies. In order to combat crimes, involved agencies have an important part to play, such as transport companies, retailers, banks, local authorities, schools, education authorities, and universities (ibid). It is noteworthy to mention that there is no one activity that can solely hold the key to robbery reduction. The simple recognition that offenders are not likely to be detained by uniformed patrols largely explains the need to look at a numerous range of options and tactics, which became possible since the onset of the Street Crime Initiative. There is also a general consensus about high visibility policing, which may significantly play an important part in deterring offenders from a "hotspot (ibid)." Hence, the appropriate responses to the offense depends on whether a robbery hotspot is clearly identifiable, whether the identity of the offenders are clearly established, and whether a need appears to address more fundamental problems that may account to reducing incentives to commit robbery or providing diversionary activities in combating the crime (Burrows, et al. 2003). Matching tactics to local challenges for establishing the identity of offenders would include covert surveillance, stop and search as directed, rapid response initiatives, field questioning, use of known informants, informant hotlines, and targeted video surveillance. On the other hand, for purposes of deterring would-be offenders from operating in hotspots, the corresponding tactical options are high visibility or saturation policing, overt videoing, bus riding, plastic police officers, pulse patrols, security guards, and automatic number plate recognition (ibid). If the aim of intervention is to address aspects of the environment that facilitate robbery, the likely tactics are keeping areas open, removing trees and bushes, street closures, street lighting, redesigning bus stop or cash point locations, and partnership initiatives with transport police, transport services, local authorities, retailers, and banks (Burrows, et al, 2003). All of these are undertaken by the Street Crime Initiative. Problem solving, in which analysis is critical, is one widely advocated tactic, which is both an effective and efficient way for reducing crime. Prior to the adoption of Street Crime Initiative, an insufficient recognition by forces about the importance of analysis and a likewise lack of good practice on the ground was identified. However, the scope and breadth of data collected about robbery are found to have broadened since the onset of the initiative. Analysis has likewise improved with the crime pattern analysis and the quality of intelligence (Smith 2003). Smith says that effective crime analysis needs more than simple mapping, but also involves a need to explain why some locations regularly appear as hotspots, or why some victims are targeted and not others. These details, which seem to appear simple, must also be given attention to through a good police analysis. Thus, it considers qualitative information from victim statements alongside the hard coded data on location and time. The benefits of targeting resources are measured based on improved intelligence, publicity, increased use of partnerships, increased training for police personnel, and work based on improving community relations (Stockade and Gresham 1998). Significantly, the initiative is reported to have met its mandate of bringing street crime under control within six months with the help of police patrol forces (Burrows, et al., 2003). It was reported that robbery decreased by 10 percent within six months of the initiative being operative, the most rapid reduction of which occurred in Somerset and Avon, with their monthly crime counts falling to 50 percent of their former level. The dramatic results may have been caused by involving wide-ranging work in partnership with agencies, which is a characteristic of the initiative. Primarily, it focused on enhancing police operations in hotspot areas, which also involved agencies and communities in partnership to combat crimes in UK. Aside from enhancing police operations, the Street Crime Initiative has significantly dealt with a myriad of activities that expect to help countering crimes. The main elements of this involvement include the prioritization of the Crown Persecution Service in the handling of street crime offences and encouragement of magistrates by the Lord Chancellor to take a rigorous approach to bail decisions. The initiative also made the courts to generally deal with robbery cases as quickly as possible and provide 70 street crime courts in ten areas. Likewise, it also gave way to broaden the ways of dealing with youth offenders, as well as additional powers to remand young offenders into custody (Burrows, et al, 2003). In order to counter crimes, which normally involve young people, diversionary activities available for them were also boosted. Likewise, the initiative plowed sufficient results pertaining to negotiations with the mobile phone industry, leading to the introduction of new measures to prevent mobile phones from being reused. The overall trend in robberies across the forces of Metropolitan Police Service, Westmidland Police, and Greater Manchester Police went down in the six months of the operation of the initiative (ibid). The message that goes across is that while the initiative has undoubtedly served in broadening the scope and breadth of tactics that tackle street crimes, they have not in fact transformed their tactical responses, but enhanced them. They also continued to implement tactics - tried and tested - even before the onset of the SCI, and appropriated specific tactics suited to their individual policing philosophies (ibid). A wide consensus however, views the SCI as having transformed the strategic importance of tackling robbery, which led to new and direct forms of police accountability, pursuing radical changes in the manner that operational units responded. Thus, the impact of the initiative in terms of combating crimes in the UK involve improved systems of performance management and accountability, improved partnership working, broadened scope and breadth of data collected, higher premium placed on gathering and collating intelligence about suspects, enhanced analysis, and greater ability to identify bogus reports (Burrows, et al., 2003). Similarly, there is a more rigorously controlled process of allocating funds and additional resources, which is directed only to operational units demonstrating the nature and full extent of the presenting problem. Tactics tailored to address the problem were also proposed. Stop and search powers were given a wider exercise at hotspots, supported by improved intelligence, which enables officers to be better informed about their decision to make a stop. Likewise, the use of mass media also heightens the ability of overt police patrol to better control crimes in hotspot areas and in other areas. Conclusion Overt police patrol is a common police strategy employed by police departments in their pursuit to combat crimes in the UK. The continuous innovations of police forces in dealing with this task raked enormous techniques, which range from improvement of police accountability to enhancing crime analysis that better support problem solving. The introduction of the Street Crime Initiative (SCI) in UK reinforced these purposes, which also acknowledged the support of communities and agencies through partnership working in tackling and resolving crime. The wide-ranging activities and strategies employed by the initiative, which are not limited to overt police patrol activities, empowered communities in combating street crimes. The decrease in the number of crime occurrences as a result of the initiative proves the effective network partnership of the police forces with communities and appropriate agencies. References Birge, J. R. and Pollock, S. M. (1989) Modeling rural police patrol. Operational Research Society Ltd. Burrows, John, Helen Poole, Time Read, and Sarah Webb, 2003. Tackling personal robbery: lessons learnt from the police and community partnerships. Online Report 2002-2003. Clive, Norris, 2006. The intensification and bifurcation of surveillance in British criminal justice policy. European Journal on criminal Policy and Research. Vol. 13, No. 1-2, pp. 139-158. Crawford, Adam, 1999. Local governance of crime: appeals to community and partnerships. Oxford University Press, Inc. Hampshire Police Authority. Annual Report 2004/05 Kennison, Peter and Loumansky, Amanda, 2007. Shoot to kill: understanding police use of force in combating suicide terrorism. Crime, Law, and Social Change: Springer Netherlands. Vol. 47 (3), pp. 151-168. Miller, Joel, Bland, Nick, and Quinton, Paul. 2000. The impact of stops and searches on crime and the community. Police Research Series: Paper 127. London. Sharp, Douglas, 2005. Who needs theories in policing An introduction to a special issue on policing. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. Vol. 44 (5), pp. 449-459. Crime Statistics. Retrieved on June 21, 2008 from http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/sta_index.htm#British Smith, J., 2003. The nature of personal robbery in England and Wales. Home Office Research Study 254. London. Stockade, J. E. and Gresham, P. J., 1998. Tackling street robbery: a comparative evaluation of operation Eagle Eye. Police Research Group Crime Detection and Prevention Series Paper 87. London. Read More