Police Crime Control Strategies

POLICE CRIME CONTROL STRATEGIES is a practical, realistic, one-of-a-kind book that provides readers with a balanced assessment of approaches to police crime reduction. Written by an expert in the field of law enforcement, this book covers the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of approaches including crime-specific, community-oriented, problem-oriented, hot spot targeting, concentrated patrol deployment, broken windows enforcement, and intelligence-guided. Opening chapters trace the accumulating evidence for the substantial impact upon crime that focused police efforts can have. Community and problem-oriented programs are reviewed in the context of their employment for crime reduction. State-of-the-art strategies are organized by three targeting foci: geographic, offense, and offender. The role of investigative units in proactive crime reduction is critically assessed and Compstat as a framework receives special attention. Also discussed are crime strategy meetings, and staffing and deployment for crime control. Care is taken to review both the successes and failures of structured efforts both in suburban environments and major cities so that readers are provided with an unbiased overview of policing in the real world.

Larry T. Hoover, Ph.D., received his doctorate from Michigan State University. He has been on the criminal justice faculty at Sam Houston State University since 1977 and currently directs its Police Research Center. A former police officer in Lansing, Michigan and training coordinator with the Michigan Law Enforcement Officer's Training Council, he also served on the faculty at Michigan State University from 1972 to 1977. Dr. Hoover, a past president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, is the recipient of numerous awards and the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. His current endeavors include the administration of a statewide police information management system (CRIMES), presiding over a Major Cities Chiefs' Seminar Series sponsored by the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, and directing the Texas Major Cities Research Initiative.