Directed patrol strategies and racial disparities in U.S. policing

Policing Strategies in the U.S.

Directed patrol

Directive police patrols predict crimes that might occur by offering locations that are at a great risk of crimes during each patrol, shift day and night. This policing strategy has various advantages. Putting police officers in the ? by 500? prediction "boxes" creates a suppression and deterrence impact, thus prevents crime from happening. In turn, all these reduce arrests. We have seen cases where criminals were interjected and stopped from doing crimes or exiting a scene when a crime is committed. Reduced criminal arrests mean a decreased city costs regarding jails, departments, and courts. This frees up resources for throughout to concentrate on community problems and dwell deeper into solving issues rather than on increasing prison population.

Directed patrols try to understand criminal activities in a specified location or hot spot. A hot spot is defined as an area that holds a higher than an average number of disorder or criminal events. The appropriate interpretation of these hot spots is as crucial as the technology and data within directed patrols. Sometimes, these hot spots are improperly interpreted, leading to misallocation of police patrols. For instance, flaws in data entry create incorrect crime maps, resulting in a misallocation of police services. The police department can avoid or lessen such problems by adopting better incident mapping technology.

Studies illustrate that even with intensified computer technology; it is highly challenging to identify hot spot crime areas. This argument is important because it might be impossible to identify these hot spot areas without the use of proper technology. As a result, police departments should advance their technology to identify high crime locations in an efficient manner.

Discrimination and Disparity

'Discrimination' refers to the different treatment given to persons based on ethnicity, race, economic status or sexual orientation. On the contrary, treatment must be based on the actual qualifications or behavior of each person. I have never experienced discrimination, but I had an opportunity to witness a form of institutionalized discrimination. I found that police were normally conducting directed patrols in the minority or poor neighborhoods much often due to high crime rates. As a result, higher rates of arrest tend to exist in the minority and poor locations. The disparity in the arrest rates of minority/poor versus middle-class areas results from the practices of law enforcement.

In comparison, 'disparity' is defined as a difference, but it does not always entail discrimination. A typical example of disparity within the police department is seen in the sentencing guidelines. In the 90s, the sentencing guidelines and the sentencing reform of 2020 created massive disparities. Research proves that the establishment of the guidelines led to an increased disparity between white and black following the choice made by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. One major disparity emerging from the sentencing guidelines that is applied today is the longer sentences for drug crimes on crack cocaine, which promotes racial disparity because it is cheaper to obtain crack cocaine than it is to obtain powder cocaine.

Body Worn Cameras or Dash Cams

Dash cameras have demonstrated to have some advantages within the police department. A recent study by the University of Cambridge found that these gadgets prevent violence. It is argued that when police wear body camera, both respondents and police are less likely to use violence. The findings of the study reveal a decrease in the application of force by roughly 50%. Thus, body cameras would make our streets safer for both the public and police officers. The requirement to record each interaction with the population is expected to reduce complaints regarding the unnecessary use of force by police officers. This is because interactions are recorded so that everyone can see.

Constantly wearing body cameras tend to hold police officers accountable for their inappropriate and appropriate behavior. Body cameras are likely to prevent cases such as Baltimore and Ferguson where the public could not know what exactly happened.

For the body cameras to work, police officers must physically activate the camera after they exit their patrol car. They must manually activate the recording equipment when recording statements or interact with civilians during investigations. Nevertheless, officers can decide when to activate the camera and for how long they will store the footage. For instance, officers can deactivate the camera when interviewing victims of sexual assault to uphold the victim's privacy.

Another drawback of body camera relates to costs. The equipment is too expensive. The possible expenses involved in their utility include the cost of the gadget, regular maintenance, cost of maintaining the video footage and storing data collected.

A closer look at both the pros and cons makes it clear that the pros of using dash cameras outweigh the cons. Following the recent cases of officers' involvement in shootings and brutality in Baltimore, South Carolina, and Missouri, it is imperative for police departments to adopt their use quickly.