Since its inception, the American police have faced many challenges and continue to face other policing challenges. One of the long-term challenges it has faced is finding effective ways of reducing crime. This challenge has led to the conducting of various experiments to determine if certain police experiments are effective in reducing crime rates in communities. The Kansas City Preventive Experiment and the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment are some of the experiments that have had a significant impact on policy practice, even as policing continues to change and evolve. Therefore, this paper conducts a detailed analysis of the police and society using the two experiments to find unique approaches to crime prevention.
Summary of the two Experiments
The Kansas experiment investigated the effect of preventive patrol on crime, reporting and arrests, community attitudes, response time, and traffic accidents. Preventive patrols are a way of eliminating or reducing opportunities that criminals can use to commit crimes. Generally, it sought to provide answers as to whether randomly patrolling an area in marked police cars could deter criminals from committing an offense and whether increasing the number of police officers in an area reduces crime rates (Kelling et al., 1974). The experiment concluded that the patrol level had no significant effect on crime rates in the area. Additionally, the effect of the level of patrol on the citizen’s satisfaction with policing and their fear of crime was insignificant.
As for the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment, it sought to evaluate whether foot patrols in urban areas are effective. According to the study’s findings, foot patrols did not affect crime rates (Pate, 1981). However, the residents reported their awareness of the foot patrols and opined that crime rates had diminished due to the foot patrols. As for commercial respondents, they did not show any awareness of the foot patrols and opined that the crime rate had increased. The residents’ and commercial respondents’ contradictory responses were explained in the study as probably arising from the fact that the foot patrols were mainly done at night when businesses were closed. Besides, the commercial residents were more concerned with police unrest and multiple layoffs towards the end of the experiment. Additionally, those residing in areas with steady foot patrol coverage reported reducing their protective measures compared to areas with no preprogram foot patrol coverage. Lastly, there was an improved feeling of safety among the residents.
How the Approaches Have Helped Shape and Change Traditional Patrol
The experiments paved the way for a new way of policing that involved science extensively. The Kansas City Preventive Experiment made most of the US police departments pay more attention to serving the public and maintaining order instead of law enforcement. It questioned random preventive policing, a technique that could have qualified as the bedrock of American policing during that period. Policing should not just be primarily about law enforcement but should also seek to serve the public and maintain order. Science is now seen as the best way to inform police practices. It encouraged the conduct of further research aimed at improving policing. For instance, because specific areas have very high crime rates, studies have shown that increasing police patrols and the time spent in hotspot areas can significantly reduce crime rates (Katz & Walker, 2017).
One unique fact about the Newark experiment is that it also evaluated the effect of the police getting more familiar with the community. Furthermore, although its findings with those of the Kansas experiment are largely similar, the residents felt safer under the Newark experiment (Pate, 1981). Despite concluding that foot patrols are ineffective in reducing crime rates, they helped develop the concept of community policing, where police officers were expected to develop relationships with the community members. Community policing helps establish rapport with members of the community and understand them. It is important to note that the Kansas experiment was significantly different from the Newark experiment as it did not focus on the mode of police patrols. Besides, the patrols were mainly conducted using marked police cars, which may have inhibited close interactions between the community and the police.
Integration of One Approach into a Police Department
While the Kansas experiment questions the value of random patrols, it does not necessarily mean that all patrol types cannot reduce crime. Nonetheless, the experiment establishes that an increase in the number of police officers in a given area does not necessarily reduce crime rates (Kelling et al., 1974). Although police patrols may not reduce crime rates in communities, it is reasonable to have some areas with higher patrol levels than others as every community or neighborhood cannot have the same level of patrols. It necessitates effective deployment of the police force. Additionally, while both the Kansas and Newark experiments were modeled as preventive patrol studies, the Newark experiment focused on foot patrol. As noted earlier, the police officers’ increased visibility through foot patrol had some interesting effects.
The Newark experiment introduced the police to the likely effect of community policing. During the 1960s civil rights movement, it became apparent that the police-community relations were wanting (Katz & Walker, 2017). The police were even seen as a source of racial discrimination and tension, especially considering reports of harsh treatment of minorities compared to whites and the hostility between minorities and the police during that period. As efforts to improve the relationship between the police and the community increased, the Kansas experiment was conducted. However, it found no significant relationship between routine preventive patrols and community satisfaction with the police service. The Newark experiment established that there was an improved feeling of safety among residents associated with an increase in foot patrols in their neighborhoods.
The Types of Communities that the Approaches Would Work Best In
Both experiments were on preventive patrol. They could be useful in high crime areas or what is commonly known as hotspots where crime rates are consistently higher than the national average. Particularly, the foot patrols are likely to make the residents of unsafe neighborhoods feel safer even as the police seek more effective ways to reduce crime rates in such neighborhoods. Considering the Newark Foot Patrol experiment was based in an urban setting where the residents felt safer despite the extremely difficult circumstances in an urban setting, the approach could best suit such a setting (Pate, 1981). Additionally, the Newark experiment could work best in high-crime neighborhoods where minorities reside. As reported in the Newark experiment, the community members’ positive attitudes towards police officers increased with increased foot patrols. Besides, the officers reported a more positive relationship with the community members, which is needed in such neighborhoods. The approaches might not work in low-crime white and middle-class neighborhoods.
In conclusion, while preventive patrols, if correctly designed, can help improve community-police relationships, they can also be tailored towards identifying and addressing underlying issues in communities. An improved relationship between the police and communities is vital to forging useful partnerships. The police would be able to develop more effective solutions in the communities they serve. Citizen input on neighborhood challenges is a crucial step towards solving those challenges. As a result, preventive patrols can impact crime reduction, contrary to the findings of both studies. However, a close relationship between community members and the police can also increase patronage and corruption. Consequently, measures must be taken to minimize such an eventuality.
References
Katz, C. M., & Walker, S. (2017). The police in America: An introduction. McGraw-Hill Education.
Kelling, G., Pate, T., Dieckman, D., & Brown, C. E. (1974). The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment. Washington, DC: National Policing Institute. https://www.policinginstitute.org/publication/the-kansas-city-preventive-patrol-experiment/
Pate, A. (1981). The Newark foot patrol experiment. Washington, DC: National Policing Institute. https://www.policinginstitute.org/publication/the-newark-foot-patrol-experiment/
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