Place-based Policing in Milwaukee, WI
Mentor 1
Tina Freiburger
Mentor 2
Aleks Snowden
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
24-4-2015 2:30 PM
End Date
24-4-2015 3:45 PM
Description
Problem-oriented policing (POP) is an approach that focuses on policing interventions that are specific to a crime problem in a particular area. POP programs often include entities outside of the criminal justice system in an effort to develop a multidimensional solution to a problem. In partnership with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), the current study examined the effectiveness of POP on crime rates in the city of Milwaukee. The study utilizing a blocked randomized design in which hotspot crime areas were matched on crime rates, geographical size, and qualitative characteristics of the areas. For the matching official crime data and interviews with patrol officers in each area were used to create pairs of hotspots. After the matching was completed, one hot spot in each pair was randomly assigned to the treatment group and received problem-oriented policing strategies. The other hot spot in the pair was assigned to the control group and only received routine traditional policing strategies during the assessment period. / / To assess the effectiveness of the POP interventions, two outcomes were examined. The first was physical disorder and was assessed through systematic observations of the areas before and after the POP interventions in both areas. The second outcome examined was crime rates. For this outcome, official crime data was analyzed before and after the strategies and compared in the treatment and control groups. / / The results indicate the ability of POP to affect crime rates and rates of physical disorder in Milwaukee, WI. They also provide insight into the implementation of POP in the seven districts across the city.
Place-based Policing in Milwaukee, WI
Union Wisconsin Room
Problem-oriented policing (POP) is an approach that focuses on policing interventions that are specific to a crime problem in a particular area. POP programs often include entities outside of the criminal justice system in an effort to develop a multidimensional solution to a problem. In partnership with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), the current study examined the effectiveness of POP on crime rates in the city of Milwaukee. The study utilizing a blocked randomized design in which hotspot crime areas were matched on crime rates, geographical size, and qualitative characteristics of the areas. For the matching official crime data and interviews with patrol officers in each area were used to create pairs of hotspots. After the matching was completed, one hot spot in each pair was randomly assigned to the treatment group and received problem-oriented policing strategies. The other hot spot in the pair was assigned to the control group and only received routine traditional policing strategies during the assessment period. / / To assess the effectiveness of the POP interventions, two outcomes were examined. The first was physical disorder and was assessed through systematic observations of the areas before and after the POP interventions in both areas. The second outcome examined was crime rates. For this outcome, official crime data was analyzed before and after the strategies and compared in the treatment and control groups. / / The results indicate the ability of POP to affect crime rates and rates of physical disorder in Milwaukee, WI. They also provide insight into the implementation of POP in the seven districts across the city.
