Enhancing Patrol Management Strategy and Deployment Efficiency of Police Managers by Utilizing Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) Technology

摘要

This dissertation focuses on the largest expenditure of police resources---patrol deployment. Police departments and administrators have the daunting task of deploying patrol officers to not only respond efficiently and effectively to citizen calls for help, but also in ways that deter would-be offenders and assure the public that safety and order is being maintained. The approach to deployment across the history of American policing has taken various forms with different motivations. In this study I will examine an innovative approach to patrol deployment---the use of an information technology known as automatic vehicle locator (AVL) systems within a specific managerial environment (Compstat) to direct patrol to high crime places. In this analysis, I document the variety of responses by police managers to such information, which was translated into a reporting instrument I developed, and discuss what that heterogeneity might mean to patrol deployment in a Compstat environment.