CompStat and Smart Policing

CompStat

• A crime management tool used by many agencies since 1994
• Developed by the New York City Police Department
• CompStat's emphasis on examining data to direct police resources has been very successful
• Some describe it as "revolutionizing law enforcement management and practice"
• Others call it "perhaps the single most important organizational/administrative innovation in policing during the latter half of the 20th century"
• Police commanders must generate frequent crime activity reports
• Officers must proactively consider ways to deal with crime in terms of suppression, intervention, and prevention.
• At CompStat meetings, commanders must explain the tactics they have used to address crime patterns
• They must explain the resources they have and need
• They must state with whom they have collaborated

Smart Policing

• A more recent concept and offshoot of CompStat
• Emphasizes the use of data and analytics, improved crime analysis, performance measurement, and evaluation research
• In June 2009, the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) began soliciting grant proposals for "smart policing" initiatives (SPI)
• The goal was to identify or confirm effective crime-reduction techniques that other agencies could replicate
• Research partnerships were the most important element of SPI, emphasized by the BJA
• Police and academics worked together to test solutions informed by crime science theories and sound evaluation
• As of 2009, the BJA made its first 10 SPI awards to police agencies
• Grants have been awarded to dozens of local law enforcement agencies conducting SPI projects
• Smart policing programs can significantly reduce violent crime (Philadelphia)
• Creative use of crime analytics and crime analysis resources, coupled with targeted problem-solving approaches, can reduce violent crime in historically violent police districts (Los Angeles)
• Problem-solving teams can prevent violence in stubborn chronic hot spots (Boston) and reduce service calls and property crime at troubled high-traffic convenience stores (Glendale, Arizona)

Intelligence-Led Policing

• Originated in Great Britain
• Police believed that a relatively small number of people were responsible for a comparatively large percentage of crimes
• Officers could reduce crime more effectively by focusing on the most prevalent offenses occurring in their jurisdiction
• Intelligence is information
• "Information plus analysis equals intelligence," and without analysis, there is no intelligence
• Intelligence is what is produced after the collected data were evaluated and analyzed by a trained intelligence professional
• Crime analysts monitor crime in the jurisdiction to determine which crime is occurring