Problem-Oriented Drug Enforcement: A Community-Based Approach for EffectivePolicing

摘要

Problem-oriented policing is a process for approaching persistent communityproblems that require a police response. Traditional policing expects almost instant identification of problems, with little analysis and immediate response. On a call for service at a notorious drug trouble spot, a traditional police officer might make an immediate arrest with little effort to measure long-term results. On a similar call, a problem-oriented officer might also make the same short-term response, but include an effort to determine why the scene was an almost constant trouble spot. This officer might determine that poor lighting encouraged drug activity on the corner. Getting the lighting upgraded might accomplish more lasting results. After early reports of success with this new approach to policing, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded a five-city demonstration project in which problem-solving strategies were brought to bear on the Nation's drug-control problem. Part I of this mono-graph reveals that researchers who served BJA in that effort discovered that those agencies in which change came most easily had some person or persons, ranging in rank from police chief to patrol officer, who became strong symbols of commitment to the methods and who promoted problem-oriented solutions by widely sharing examples of successes with other police officers and managers.