Problem‐oriented Policing and Crime Prevention

Citation

Kooi, B.R. (2009), "Problem‐oriented Policing and Crime Prevention", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 806-808. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510911000830

Problem‐oriented Policing and Crime Prevention should be used as a supplement in every undergraduate and/or graduate police course across the country. The foreword in the second edition of this book begins with a review from Professor Ronald Clarke (Rutgers University), who has written extensively on rational choice theory and situational crime prevention (SCP). Also included is the foreword from the first edition of this book by Professor Herman Goldstein, who introduced the concept of problem‐oriented policing (POP) in 1979 in a journal publication in Crime and Delinquency entitled “Improving policing: a problem‐oriented approach”. Both Clarke and Goldstein provide high praise for Braga's efforts in bringing together an international multitude of reports, projects, and publications related to the union of POP and SCP. The Clarke and Goldstein forewords also aptly demonstrate the need for a second edition, which greatly expands the first edition. Despite adding depth to the original book publication, the second edition still maintains a concise 242 pages that can be covered adequately in a one‐semester course. Moreover, the book is an excellent read and resource compilation for any academic, police or security administrator who is researching crime prevention, police‐community partnerships, problem‐oriented policing, repeat offending, repeat victimization, or crime analysis/mapping.

Dr Braga begins the book by briefing readers on the history of policing America and demonstrating why police organizations were primarily equipped to be incident‐driven and reactive. In doing so, the foundation that underlies environmental criminology is introduced with a focus on opportunistic‐reducing initiatives as an alternative to traditional law enforcement. The book is transparent in demonstrating theories related to crime opportunity while ignoring models that attempt to explain why offenders commit illegal acts. Theories and projects directed towards how offenders commit their acts appear much more relevant to police and security administrators rather than determining the motivation of offenders. This pragmatic focus is useful for students and practitioners since intervention is more easily discernable. Braga exemplifies intervention modeled after a set of stages known as the SARA model that was originally developed in Newport News, Virginia, in the first agency‐wide evaluation of a problem‐oriented police project:

1. 1.

   scanning – the identification of an issue and determining whether it is a problem;

2. 2.

   analysis – data collection on the problem to determine its scope, nature, and causes;

3. 3.

   response – the use of the information from the analysis to design an appropriate response, which can involve other agencies outside the normal police arena; and

4. 4.

   assessment – evaluation of the impact of the response on the problem it was supposed to solve, the results of which can be used to re‐examine the problem and change responses or to maintain positive conditions.

After detailing specific uses of the SARA process, Dr Braga demonstrates how similar techniques utilized within situational crime prevention are used to develop a more thorough response within POP. Readers will grasp how a thorough analysis will begin to reveal what type of response is necessary for a given problem. SCP offers five appropriate goals to consider when targeting practical responses that evolve from the POP analysis. These include:

1. 1.

   increasing the effort offenders must make;

2. 2.

   increasing the risks that offenders face;

3. 3.

   reducing the rewards of offending;

4. 4.

   reducing the provocations of offending; and

5. 5.

   removing the excuses used by offenders.

Each of these five goals forms the basis for the more extensive 25 techniques of SCP. These response‐driven techniques offer students, practitioners, administrators, and community organizers a model for adding depth in creatively responding to problems. Readers new to these models as well as those with experience in POP and SCP will be enlightened by the succinct summaries and actual use of these models.

Following a thorough review of POP and SCP subsequent chapters relate to the problem analysis triangle and three options for intervention:

1. 1.

   reducing opportunities for crime/disorder in problem‐plagued (i.e. hotspot) places (e.g. transitional housing, bars);

2. 2.

   directed initiatives toward repeat offenders; and

3. 3.

   directed initiatives toward repeat victims.

Readers will enjoy references made to specific agency uses of POP, SCP, and the problem‐analysis triangle. Moreover, some may be surprised to learn that not all of these intervening agencies include the police and involve numerous community‐based partnerships. In addition to specific initiatives, academic theorists will be pleased by the adequate discussion on theoretical perspectives that lend support for analyzing places, offenders, and victims. Specific discussion informs readers about rational choice, routine activities, environmental criminology, and broken windows. The foundation of these theories is then utilized to discuss various strategies that have had impact on disorder and crime at problem places and with repeat offenders/victims.

Since Dr Braga played a lead role in assessing the impact of the Boston Gun Project and subsequent initiatives, there is no surprise in finding a thorough discussion of Operation Ceasefire and Pulling Levers Strategies. Dr Braga currently serves as the Chief Policy Advisor to the Boston Police Commissioner and is a senior research associate in Harvard University's Program in Criminal Justice Management. Links between these initiatives and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) are discussed throughout the text in relation to the federal effort aimed at reducing the availability of guns for youth and criminals. The foundational understanding of these initiatives is critical for both undergraduate and graduate school education in criminal justice.

The author concludes with ideas for correcting deficiencies in current approaches to problem‐oriented policing. These suggestions focus on improving crime analysis, addressing organizational change that is absent with most CompStat models, enhancing the measurement of police performance, and securing productive police‐community partnerships. Overall, the book is likely to compliment one's course material without repeating much of what one will find in a traditional introductory police textbook. As noted by the publisher, this is the only textbook recommended by the Center for Problem‐Oriented Policing through its Model POP Curriculum. Incidentally, a POP course curriculum can be found online (see www.popcenter.org/learning/model_curriculum/) and serves as a great complement to Dr Braga's text and/or all policing‐related course material.