Managing Police Operations: Implementing the New York Crime Control Model – Compstat

Citation

Mesloh, C.M. (2002), "Managing Police Operations: Implementing the New York Crime Control Model – Compstat", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 440-442. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2002.25.2.440.1

Phyllis McDonald does an excellent job of explaining the CompStat model. As the first civilian female to enter the New York City Transit Police Department, she was able to document the sweeping changes that occurred under the management style of a new police chief, William Bratton (NYPD) who shaped and formed the CompStat system. Immediately following these changes, significant reductions in violent and nonviolent crime were linked to the CompStat. As she states in the preface, this book is also a “cookbook” for other agencies to implement similar changes.

Chapter one is a historical analysis of changes in police operations and attitudes toward police capacities. The Kansas City Patrol Experiment and the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment are cited in the evolution of patrol strategies. McDonald explains the purpose of this book is to facilitate further experimentation and, through use of the New York Police Department model, agencies have the ability to reduce crimes and improve the quality of life for those living there.

In chapter two, the author defines CompStat (or computer driven crime statistics) as a police management system based on five basic principles:

1. 1.

   (1) Specific objectives – three to five crime‐specific objectives are selected for the year by the top administration, sending a message to all divisions what areas are worthy of attention.

2. 2.

   (2) Timely and accurate intelligence – crime data collected from a variety of sources, when plotted on a map, visually illustrates citywide problems.

3. 3.

   (3) Effective strategies and tactics – patrol commanders are held accountable for all crimes within a geographic area and must utilize all of the available resources of the agencies to develop a comprehensive crime control strategy.

4. 4.

   (4) Rapid deployment of personnel and resources – tactical action plans frequently involve personnel from multiple units and functions are promptly deployed as a response to a specific problem.

5. 5.

   (5) Relentless follow‐up and assessment – an ongoing process of evaluation is essential to ensure that desired goals are met and re‐deploy resources as they are no longer needed in a particular problem solving assignment.

Crime data is compiled to identify recurring hot spots of crime and crime patterns. Based on this information, strategies are developed to effect change.

The third chapter is devoted to frequently asked questions about this crime control model. This section was obviously written for administrators rather than serious academics. It serves as a nuts and bolts overview of the CompStat system. These include planning and implementing the model, training and personnel issues, logistics regarding the CompStat meeting protocols and finally evaluating the results of the program.

Chapter four describes a step‐by‐step approach to implementing a crime control program. One of the greatest strengths of the book lies in this section. However, serious attention has been placed on the illustration of this model to the extent that practitioners could implement similar models if they were so inclined. The author proposes a two‐phase process: preparation and then implementation.

Preparation of the agency for the vast changes of CompStat is suggested through a series of meetings designed to explain the technical aspects of the program to those most effected. The command staff and administrator of the jurisdiction are the first to be briefed and given the opportunity to air their concerns as well as examine changes in staff assignments. Specific crime reduction goals are identified based upon the most serious problems of the jurisdiction. Department systems and facilities are assessed to ensure that crime data can be produced in a timely fashion and a meeting room is available to present the data to commanders responsible for specific geographic regions. Finally, the remaining police personnel are briefed and offered full explanations about the future changes in an attempt to reduce anxiety about the processes.

Implementation of the program begins with the set‐up (see p. 43) of the meeting room to accommodate the CompStat process. Under the direction of a meeting facilitator, patrol commanders provide a summary of events for the geographic region under their command. The meeting facilitator questions the commander to determine whether all resources to attack a problem were used and offers variations in tactics or approaches. This ensures that patrol commanders are properly evaluating issues for effectiveness and applies pressure to solve these problems.

Chapter five links the NYPD Crime Control Model to community policing strategies. This chapter, written by Sheldon Greenberg, suggests that community‐policing efforts are more efficient and effective under the CompStat system. McDonald suggests that officers and their communities quickly learn that they have the entire resources of the agency to draw from. However, it could just as easily be that officers and administrators are forced through a series of punishment and rewards in an attempt to achieve specific goals. The theoretical perspective that emerges is that CompStat reinforces the importance of developing well‐defined strategies and applying the resources prudently.

Chapter six discusses the strategies and tactics in the transition from traditional policing strategies to a “multidimensional approach to public safety” (p. 65). McDonald is able to provide only a weak link between a reduction in crime rates and CompStat. In doing so, she makes a significant stretch in linking citywide crime reduction trends to a change in management systems, while making no attempt to consider other possible causes. It is unclear whether crime (city and nationwide) was already on a decline prior to CompStat.

However, robbery in the New York City subway was reduced by 80 percent and all other crime by 72 percent over a five‐year period. By focusing on quality of life issues and strict enforcement of serious and minor offenses, it is suggested that the environment had been significantly altered in accordance with the principles identified in Wilson and Kelling’s “Broken Window Theory”.

Chapter seven attempts to explicate the long‐term significance of the NYPD Crime Control Model. McDonald suggests that because more than one third of the major cities in the USA have adopted the CompStat model, a number of implications for the future are likely. First, police managers will require more complex training and skills to meet program needs. Second, entry‐level training curriculum for police officers will need revision in order to meet the needs of the new procedures and operations. Finally, McDonald states that there will be a “clear and unmistakable demarcation between those departments managed at higher levels of complexity … and those departments operating in more traditional ways.” This seems an awkwardly bold statement as this system has not been truly time tested and seems to imply the existence of a caste system between management systems.

In chapter eight, police performance measurement is changed from outputs to outcomes. This paradigmatic shift alters the driving force of the agency. Public safety as an outcome becomes the strategic goal rather than the number of arrests or amounts of drugs seized. Outcome driven management chooses to focus on the problem rather than the individual incident. Cooperative strategies uniting disparate police units form a comprehensive approach to problem solving.

My overall assessment of this book is positive. Although McDonald fails to provide serious statistical evidence that CompStat is any more viable than any other police management system, this work offers a view of the complex management system that practitioners as well as academics can appreciate. Innovative managers do not have to implement this model to achieve results but through forced accountability, it may be one of the best models to help an administrator change the face and overall culture of an organization without the traditional police sub‐culture hindering efforts at reform. Although too small to be used as a class textbook (108 pages including the index), it would make a fine supplemental text within a police management class.