Problem-Oriented Policing to Reduce Crime in Nashville, TN

Introduction: Nashville's Crime Challenge

Today, Nashville, Tennessee is home to approximately 700,000 residents, the vast majority of whom are hard-working, taxpaying citizens who want to create an even better city for themselves, their families, and the enterprises that provide them with employment opportunities. One local booster enthuses that "there are major U.S. cities on the East Coast and the West Coast that attract millions of visitors each year. In the south, there's Nashville. More than just a country music hot spot, Nashville is a 'small town trapped in a big city' that makes tourists curious about all that it has to offer" (Kollar, 2017, para. 3). Moreover, the combination of world-class entertainment venues, restaurants, cultural and historic attractions, and a vibrant nightlife scene make Nashville a major tourist destination for much of the country. Notwithstanding these many positive attributes, however, Nashville currently suffers from one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation — an issue that directly motivates the study proposed here.

Law enforcement agencies have made substantial progress in reducing violent crime and property crime rates in many municipalities across the country, and the United States can be regarded as significantly safer for its citizens today compared to the alarmingly high crime rates of the 1990s (Gramlich, 2020). Nevertheless, pockets of high crime rates remain firmly in place in some American cities despite ongoing efforts by law enforcement agencies to address these trends. Combating property and violent crime is a challenging enterprise at any time, but the devastating effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have adversely affected employment levels in many cities, and a growing number of Americans face eviction and hunger. It is not surprising, then, that crime rates remain intractable in cities where unemployment rates were already a problem. This has been the case in Nashville, Tennessee, where unemployment skyrocketed from just under 5% to 15% during the height of the pandemic (Unemployment rate in Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, 2021). The overarching purpose of the study proposed here is to identify optimal strategies for implementing a problem-oriented policing intervention to help reduce crime rates in Nashville, both today and in the future.

Today, the City of Nashville, Tennessee is more dangerous to live in than 97% of all American cities of comparable size (Nashville crime rates, 2021), and recent violent and property crime statistics indicate that the problem is worsening, especially with respect to property crimes. Certainly, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected virtually every American community — increasing unemployment levels and contributing to mental health issues that likely account for some of these crimes — but it is also clear that Nashville city leaders face a serious and pressing challenge. One evidence-based law enforcement strategy that can help Nashville reduce its crime rates is problem-oriented policing. The purpose of this study is to propose a field test of a problem-oriented policing crime reduction program for Nashville that can be used to evaluate its appropriateness for city-wide implementation. To this end, a systematic review of the relevant literature is followed by the study's guiding research questions and the targeted subjects for study.

Background and Overview of Crime in Nashville

With a population of about 700,000 people, Nashville is Tennessee's state capital and the home of the world-famous entertainment venue the Grand Ole Opry. At present, however, Nashville is also a relatively dangerous place to live compared to national averages (Crime in Nashville, 2020). Like much of the rest of the country, property crime remains far more common in Nashville than violent crime (Gramlich, 2020), but one in every 90 residents is still likely to become a victim of violent crime each year, and another one in 24 is a probable victim of property crime (Nashville crime rates, 2021).

While the economic costs of property crimes are readily quantifiable, the costs associated with violent crimes transcend individual economic calculations and extend to harm entire neighborhoods and communities. In this regard, the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2020) emphasizes that "exposure to violence in a community can be experienced at various levels, including victimization, directly witnessing acts of violence, or hearing about events from other community members" (Crime and violence, 2020, para. 3).

Description of Problem-Oriented Policing

Although there are no magic law enforcement solutions that can completely eliminate violent crime (Giwa, 2018), a growing body of scholarship confirms that problem-oriented policing represents an evidence-based approach to combating this societal issue (Braga et al., 1999). In response to increasing violent crime problems in some American cities, a number of problem-oriented policing initiatives have been implemented over the past 40 years (Giwa, 2018). Originally developed by Herman Goldstein in the late 1970s, problem-oriented policing is a framework in which law enforcement authorities apply community-based strategies and tactics focused on providing proactive solutions to chronic sources of violent crime, rather than relying solely on conventional policing techniques (Hinkle, Weisburd & Telep, 2020). As originally conceptualized and currently applied in police departments across the country, the overarching objective of problem-oriented policing is to concentrate available law enforcement resources on improving community safety and reducing violent crime, rather than focusing strictly on quantifiable factors such as average response time to crime scenes and the number and types of arrests made during a set period (Reisig, 2010).

Nonetheless, problem-oriented policing strategies and tactics do draw on many of the same theoretical foundations as conventional law enforcement methods (Reisig, 2010). It is also critically important to maintain timely and accurate statistical analyses of crime rates in order to identify salient trends; however, proponents of problem-oriented policing maintain that it is equally essential to identify the specific sources of violent crimes and take directed actions to address them before they fully manifest (Reisig, 2010). Importantly, problem-oriented policing strategies and tactics do not replace conventional law enforcement methods but rather supplement and enhance them in ways that promote community safety in meaningful ways (Hinkle et al., 2020).

Although every law enforcement scenario differs, problem-oriented policing strategies and tactics generally revolve around the use of the Scan, Analysis, Response, and Assessment (SARA) model (Hinkle et al., 2020). The application of the SARA approach to problem-oriented policing in real-world settings has consistently demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing crimes in general and violent crimes in particular (Hinkle et al., 2020). Moreover, differences in outcomes achieved using problem-oriented policing strategies and tactics have been attributed to differences in implementation and to the specific types of violent crimes involved, rather than to any deficiency in the fundamental tenets of the approach itself (Hinkle et al., 2020).

Conclusion and Appendix: SARA Model Applied to Nashville

Nashville's elevated crime rates demand a comprehensive, evidence-based response. The problem-oriented policing framework — and particularly its SARA model — provides a structured, proven approach that complements conventional law enforcement while engaging community stakeholders in proactive crime prevention. The following appendix illustrates how each component of the SARA model can be applied directly to Nashville's most affected neighborhoods.

Scan: Increased police patrols of high-crime areas are most effective at night, while community-based interventions that include participation by community leaders are most effective during the daytime (Braga, 2008). Therefore, police departments should collaborate with community leaders in Nashville's historically high-crime neighborhoods — including West Meade, Salemtown, Heron Walk, Glencliff, and Bordeaux — to enhance relations and improve the ability of police to proactively prevent violent crimes rather than respond to them after the fact.

Analysis: This step involves narrowing the focus of problem-oriented policing interventions to specific high-crime areas. Research to learn as much as possible about each neighborhood is also essential at this stage.

Response: While conventional law enforcement analytical techniques draw on quantifiable metrics such as arrest type, time, and location, a problem-oriented policing intervention would also incorporate feedback from community leaders and other stakeholders to determine whether additional measures are required.

Assessment: Finally, any problem-oriented policing intervention must be evaluated on a regular basis to determine how effectively it achieved its intended outcomes, using benchmarked violent crime rates as the primary measure of success.

Source: Adapted from The SARA Model (2020), Arizona State University Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/sara-model-0

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