Stop And Frisk Case Study

tactics used in the world. Sometimes even though it may look like there was a reduction in crime, it is not always clear on if there was a sole explanation to an overall decrease in crime or if there were multiple justifications for the decline. In the case of stop and frisks, at least in New York City, the negatives outweigh the positives. “The New York City policy of aggressive stops and frisks had an extremely negative impact on its principle targets” which have “major implications for crime reduction.” (109) Those implications being the legitimacy of the criminal justice system itself.

While stop and frisks may not have had the impact that was expected, that can not be said for the other improvements. Such as the progress that was made

through the system known as problem-oriented policing. The main idea of problem-oriented policing, or POP for short, “that instead of trying to attack “crime” in a global and unfocused way, the police should identify particular problems (for example, open-air drug dealing or residential burglaries, and so on), examine the underlying causes, and develop strategies specifically designed to address them.” (111) One of the main model that POP uses is the SARA model. Which stands for scanning, analysis, response, and assessment. But like with most police tactics, this is not the only model POP has used in its hopes to reduce crime. Such as the system Oakland used. Which was the Specialized Multi-Agency Response Team, or SMART. This program was used to target known hot spots of drug activity in Oakland, California. “The evaluation of SMART found that it reduced the level of drug activity in the target areas and did not displace crime to nearby area.” (111) The last part of that finding is the most important aspect of this program. Since unlike crackdowns for example, which simply moved the crime to a different part of the city, SMART was able to overcome that hurdle. “Additionally, it had a “diffusion” effect of improving the quality of life in areas surrounding the target beats.” (111) That outcome is the result of all the other attempted tactics. By learning what worked and what did not, the Oakland Police Department was able to come up with a program that accomplished what they set out to do. That being the reduction of crime in a given area without moving it somewhere else.