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Session Submission Summary

Outcomes from Portland’s Field Experiment with Directed Community Engagement Patrols

Thu, Nov 17, 11:00am to 12:20pm, Hilton, Grand Salon 7, 1st Level

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

While much has been learned over the past decade about policing in crime “hot spots”, many practical and theoretical questions remain. This includes identifying efficient methods for directing supplemental police resources to targeted areas and ensuring treatment fidelity, determining the patrol dosage necessary to achieve crime reductions, evaluating the impact of different actions officers take once they arrive, and assessing community reactions to the increased presence of police in these locations. The current panel will present quantitative findings from Portland Oregon’s recent randomized field experiment, known locally as the Neighborhood Involvement Locations (Ni-Loc) program. Ninety high crime areas were randomly assigned to receive none, two, or four supplemental patrols over a three month period. Officers were encouraged to have non-investigative contact with the public in an effort to improve police-community relations. More than 15,000 patrols were pre-programmed into the agency’s computer aided dispatch (CAD) system for the study. Session papers will address the impact of patrol frequency on crime and calls for service, changes in officers’ behaviors (i.e., did traffic stops decrease and community engagement increase?), community attitudes towards the police in treatment versus control sites, and the degree of compliance achieved among patrol officers by using the CAD system.

Sub Unit

Individual Presentations

Chair