Problem Oriented Policing

What is Problem-Oriented Policing?

Problem-oriented policing is used as a strategy to not just deter crime and disorder, but general problems within the community as well. The problem with standard policing was brought to attention by Herman Goldstein. Goldstein realized that the “primarily reactive, incident-driven ‘standard model of policing’ ” needed to be replaced (Weisburd 2010: 140). Goldstein instead wanted to create a model that would focus on the underlying problems which led to crime and disorder (Weisburd 2010: 140). Problem-oriented policing is one of the most popular and commonly used policing strategies in the United States. Problem-oriented policing has been adopted by federal agencies and is used in international policing. A

The first study I will mention is the Glendale, Arizona study which focused on problem-oriented policing at convenience stores to reduce crime and disorder (White 2013: 305). The reason for the study was due to a spike in violent and property crime from 2005-2008 (2013: 306). As a result, a Smart Police Initiative (SPI) team was deployed to come up with a problem-oriented approach to this problem. The SPI team used the SARA model to analyze the problem and come up with a solution to hopefully impact it (2013: 306). The SPI team was made up of “a sector lieutenant, two specialized units, a civil community action officer, an analyst and a few researchers from Arizona State University” (2013: 306-307) together they determined that crime was the highest at the Circle K’s. The “116 Circle K stores in Phoenix represent 37% of all convenience stores in the city, but those locations are responsible for 68% of convenience store crime” (2013: 313) The team came up with a “three-pronged response plan that included engagement of Circle K leadership, prevention, suppression” (2013:

This included the SPI team giving recommendations to the leaders of circle K to help try and reduce crime. This response allowed the SPI team, loss prevention and detectives to identify repeat offenders though surveillance (2013: 313). The second response plan was the prevention plan. The SPI team determined that “juveniles commit approximately 25% of all crimes at Circle K stores” (2013: 313). To determine if the results of the study were successful, the authors compared the police service calls from 2008-2010 at all of the convenience stores (2013: 310). To combat this problem, the SPI put together a video public service announcement which featured “local high school students who acted and presented a message about the consequences of engaging in thefts” (2013: 314). This message was sent to “the Glendale middle and high school students in the weeks preceding prom” (2013: 314). The third response was the suppression response. This response was the most intense of the three. It consisted of an orchestrated team of prevention staff, civilian staff and researcher staff. The staff went undercover to try and catch criminals in the act of committing the crime. In order to do this, the operation lasted for “nine consecutive weekends in August and September of 2010” (2013: 314). This operation resulted in a total of 57 arrests. Out of those 57 arrests, fifteen were felony arrests (2013: 314). What made this part of the response