COMPSTAT The Ins and Outs of the Police Management Tool

Police Systems and Practices

CRIJ 2328

Hoyt Patterson
/28/2012

Abstract
The direction of this assignment is to answer four basic question, what is CompStat, Who developed it, How does it work, and most importantly how can it contribute to the success of police departments? After providing the answers to those questions above this paper will attempt to provide more incite as to why this model came about.

COMPSTAT The Ins and Outs of the Police Management Tool
In 1994, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton introduced an innovative data-driven management model called CompStat. This model has been credited with decreasing crime and increasing quality of life in New York City, and various cities throughout the country. The driving force behind the creation of CompStat’s methodology was Jack Maple. Jack Maple worked as a Lieutenant for New York City’s Transit Police and began tracking robberies in the subway by pinpointing them on several maps on his wall. Maple used his maps to track crime patterns and dispatched police officers accordingly. Maple however noticed by placing officers at these locations, the robberies were being displaced to other areas. At the time, Bill Bratton was head of the New York transit police department while Maple worked as a lieutenant. When Bratton was promoted to police commissioner he promoted Maple to Deputy Police Commissioner of Crime Control Strategies. Together the two men created the CompStat model, Wikipedia defines CompStat as a Systematic computerized way of using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map crime trends and identify problems. CompStat was designed and implemented to address and reduce criminal activity. CompStat is also an organizational management tool for police departments, whereas it is considered a multilayered dynamic approach to crime reduction, quality of life improvement, and personnel and resource management (Wikipedia, 2008)

The CompStat model requires four key, but yet very simple, strategies: Accurate and timely data, effective tactics, rapid deployment, and relentless follow up. Crime intelligence relies on data primarily from official sources, such as calls for service, crime, and arrest data. This data should be accurate and available as close to real-time as possible. Crime and disorder data is used to produce crime maps, trends, and other analysis. Afterwards, the command staff will use all this information to identify crime problems to be addressed. Effective tactics are tactics that will respond fully to the identified problem. Some of those tactics include law enforcement, government, and community partners at the local, state, and federal levels. A strategy meeting provides a collective process for developing tactics as well as accountability for developing these tactics. Rapid deployment is a means of heading off the problem before it continues or escalates. As such, the tactics should also be deployed in a timely manner. For years police departments have been driven by calls for service and respond with limited resources in a reactive manner. With the help of CompStat police departments are now armed with vital intelligence regarding emerging crime trends. Relentless follow up is problem-focused strategies that are normally judged by a reduction in or absence of the initial crime problem. This success or lack of provides knowledge of how to improve current and