The management approach of the Compstat model

The perplexity commence of the Compstat pretenseThe guard department of New York has integrated the Compstat exemplification, which is a management lift that characters computer technology to follow up offense occurrences and process law gist officers rank the aras that ar intimately vulnerable to criminal activities. At the uniform clock, the model is useful in examining current abuse patterns, and aims at maximizing resources available to the constabulary officers in their scrap against evil. According to Vito, Walsh, Kunselman (2004), Compstat (Computerized Statistics) is a goal orientated strategic management process that uses information technology, operational strategy, and managerial right to control evil and law neighborhoods, (p.1).There argon four main principles of the Compstat model. The first one outlines the fatality for the natural law to unsay in good time, manufacture information on crime occurrences. In this case, patrol personnel per form crime epitome, that is, they identify the nature of the crime, the offender, the time of offense, and how the offender in bleeds to carry it out. To achieve this, constabulary personnel write reports on a periodic basis, giving statistical information on the arrests and summon they curb made during the week, complaints they stand received from the public concerning crime, crucial cases and the crime trends they have ob dish upd. The head of the Compstat Unit is in charge of receiving the weekly reports and redeeming(a) them in a database. With the help of these reports, constabulary officers piece of ass actualize comparisons amid trends in crime and identify similarities as well as differences, and the most appropriate strategies to address these.The second grammatical constituent requires that the police employ practicable strategies based on the intelligence they have, to pr nonethelesst and solve crimes. In this instance, they identify which crimes and crime zo nes imbibe quick intervention and make these their priority. At the same time, the police treasure the available strategies in terms of their short and long-term effectiveness, as well as involve other groups, which ar not necessarily police agencies. For instance, they involve religious, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, local political sympathies government and the community. The third element prescribes fast mobilization of material, financial and personnel resources to return key the crime patterns. This is because the model can identify potential crime situations in an bea, even before the residents alert the police on their suspicions. The fourth element demands progressive assessment of police personnel, departments, and material resources in target to undertake that crime trends reduce. Performance appraisals are possible finished reports that capture the profiles of separately commander of police and these enable the other police officers to compare t heir testify performance with that of their heads. With correct death penalty, the Compstat begin can attend to government politics to assess police departments and check for the improper use of material and financial resources, as well as poor performance.The other two principles of the Compstat model require that the police operate on clear objectives in their fight against crime and each officer is responsible for the overall triumph of the police force in cut back crime rates. The members of the police force should be aware of the goals they intend to achieve and these must at the same time, be attainable within the stipulated period. Goals dictate the rating of the performance of police personnel, depending on whether they have achieved them. The chief as well as the commanders of various police agencies therefore have the responsibility of communicating clear and precise instructions to their subjects, in order to ensure that the latter achieve the desired performance . This explains why there is need for regular briefs among the police force in order to equip them with the necessary information on what their leaders post of them.On a short-term basis, the Compstat model aims at reducing crime rates, while its long-term objective is to create a permanent budge in the community and improve peoples lives by ensuring a respectable environment. The measures to assess the effectiveness of the model on short-term basis would include examining weekly reports on the crimes occurring, in order to establish whether there are less(prenominal) or more offenses each day. Long-term effectiveness measures would involve the analysis of crime trends over a period such as a number of years, in order to establish whether the crime rates have gone down. At the same time, the weekly meetings to review crime reports put forward forums to assess whether the police departments are making progress in reducing crime rates. These meetings on performance appraisal of p olice personnel serve up both the immediate and long-term goals of the Compstat model. This is because if appraisals indicate that, some of the members of the force are not successful in reducing crime over a given period, the chief may take action such as re-training, retrenchment, or shifting to another department.The model is advantageous in that it promotes a consultative process in decision-making. It resurrects intelligence sharing among the police officers and departments, accountability as well as coordination and a team spirit. This is possible through the meetings involving all levels of management. In addition, charmks to enable the police maximize the available resources in their fight against crime. Moreover, holding every member of the force accountable for its success in fighting crime ensures that each plays his or her role, and that there is no blame game when results are not forthcoming.In addition, ensuring timely and correct information on potential crime zone s enables the police to act swiftly to prevent criminal activities. This is because they are aware of what is happening on the ground. At the same time, they are able to develop the right strategies and response to the crime trends they have already identified. This increases their chances of success rather than in cases where they act subsequently crisis. The Compstat approach to management promotes the belief that the police force is able to raze crime rates through employing the right strategies. Promoting continuous performance appraisal based on weekly reports enables the police force to establish its strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it renounces police to involve the community and other stakeholders in the fight against crime. This shows that the police are not working alone and are committed to ensuring a safe environment for all.On the other hand, the Compstat model has some disadvantages. One confinement of this model is that it is difficult to assess its success. Whe n crime rates reduce, it is hard for police officers to attribute this phenomenon only to the model. On the other hand, when the crime rates tick over or increase, it is difficult to tell whether failure lies only in the implementation of the models principles. Moreover, the Compstat model is susceptible to manipulation by police officers. For instance, due to impel to reduce crime rates, they may fail to keep reports of crimes in order to give a imitative impression of less crime occurrences in a given area. At the same time, police officers may use their subjective judgments to declare some crimes as minor, and therefore of less significance, in order to reduce the statistics on the major crimes.This sort of manipulation of statistics lead therefore give a false impression of progress in reduction of significant crimes. Similarly, communities whose crime rate reports show that the police have made progress in averting crimes, ordain receive less financial, material and person nel resources than those where the crime rates are still high. In case these reports are false, this implies that such communities go out suffer more from crime because the police will attend to them less. In addition, since evaluation of the performance of police personnel depends largely on the crime rate reports, members of the force are likely to manipulate these, in order to give a false impression of their success in fighting crime. Consequently, the performance appraisals will be faulty, given that their bases are not accurate. At the same time, there is a possibility of awarding uneffective police personnel, rather than those who deserve merit. This is because the ineffective members can manipulate crime reports to favor them, and they will get acknowledgment.As part of the implementation of the Compstat model, the chief of police will have to take other measures. These include having the current police force undergo refresher course courses on crime prevention and at the same time, recruit, and train reinvigorated officers in order to have sufficient and qualified personnel to serve the community. Police officers will also require training on the Compstat model in order to understand its functioning and crime analysis so that they are able to filter intelligence in an accurate manner. In this case, the chief will need to seek budgetary support from the government and non-governmental organizations. Apart from monetary aid, the chief will require the government to see to it that unemployment rates reduce through the creation of jobs. This is because crime rates tend to increase with high unemployment rates, as people have to find ship canal to feed themselves and their families. If they do not have jobs, they are likely to use up in criminal behavior such as theft and execution in order to earn a living.Another intervention infallible will be the integration of other police departments, such as traffic police, crime detectives, and forensic exper ts into the crime prevention department. This will service in spreading crime prevention to other areas and increase the backcloth of operation of the model. At the same time, the chief will need to advert commanders at different levels in order to ensure that there is decentalisation of the decision-making process. He will also create meeting rooms to allow for roundtable discussion sessions, as these are more likely to enhance the participation of all the police personnel in decisions concerning strategies to fight crime. Moreover, the chief will have to lay down the protocols that his officers will follow in the convening of briefings and other meetings as well as reporting procedures. This will ensure that there is no conflict in the lines of command because the police officers will be aware of to whom they should report.Since the Compstat model requires the use of technology, the chief will need to see to it that the police department has sufficient computer equipment as we ll as the necessary software programs such as systems to aid in identifying crime-prone areas, and databases to record crime occurrences. At the same time, a police website may be necessary to enhance community policing. This will enable the flow of information on crime rates from the public to the police, as well as reports from the latter to the community. In addition, the chief will need to ensure that the police officers clear any pending warrants of arrest and make the community aware that the force will not tolerate even the minor crimes. In this case, the chief will need to organize the force to carry out awareness initiatives among themselves and in the community.In conclusion, the chief can still adopt the Compstat model and modify it to suit the needs of his police department. He does not have to copy the model of the New York police department, because the situational needs of his department and that of the former are likely to be different. This is because the approach o utlines only the basic principles of management that the police force and other organizations need to follow to achieve the intended objectives. Its intent is to serve as a guide to managerial principles and not to provide a dogmatic approach to the running of organizations. The model is therefore flexible, and police personnel can adopt different strategies to fight crime, based on the needs of the community they are serving. According to the models principles, they will only need to ensure that they choose strategies that are efficient for the crimes they target. Consequently, the model is suitable and can work even in small law enforcement agencies.