Application of Operational Police Strategy

Student’s Name
Institution
Application of Operational Police Strategy
In the course of their duty, police officers interact with the communities they serve in various ways.
The report aims to identify sexual assault as the most urgent crime that requires attention by
Queensland police service and identify ways in which policing strategies can be employed to reduce such
crimes (Hanson & Bussière, 1996). Apart from the conventional forms of policing outlined in this
report, a reemergence of the term “community policing” and community policing initiatives have been
applied extensively in Queensland state as well as many other regions. The community highly depends on
the police to maintain order and assist during emergency response. On the other hand, the police relies
upon the community to report crime incidences and share any information that is vital for them to solve
crimes and satisfactorily address community concerns. In recent decades, the police-community
relationship has been established as both parties have realized the importance of working together as a
team for the purpose of meeting each other’s expectations. In general, the implementation of reactive
policing strategies, away from centralized police departments forms the main agenda for community
policing. More decentralized police structures emphasize a proactive, problem-solving approach, the
police are able to work in correlation with the communities of their jurisdiction. The report advocates
for community policing as the main strategy in dealing with cases of sexual assault in Queensland
(Mastrofski, 2006).
Identification and definition of crime/disorder problem.
Broadhurst and Mailer (1991) define sexual abuse as unwanted sexual activity where the perpetrators
brutally attack, make threats or intentionally offend victims who are unable to give consent. In most
cases, the perpetrators are known by the victims. The victims’ immediate reaction to sexual abuse
include tremor, fear or disbelief. In the long-term, the symptoms include anxiety, distress or post-
traumatic stress disorder. Even though efforts to treat sexual offenders are still unpromising,
psychological care for the victims such as group therapy and interventions are widely applied and very
effective.
Use of statistical data to discuss ‘urgency’ of crime/disorder problem.
Sexual abuse is a major social problem. Though there is no clear evidence that sexual abuse has been on
the rise, increased reporting rates appear partly to indicate that victims and others secondary
survivors (parents and guardians) are more willing to report allegations of sexual abuse. Undeniably,
most of the allegations remain unreported until long after they have been committed. In the statistical
report by Snyder (2000), the main challenge in handling sexual offences, therefore, is the
unpredictable variability in the reported rates since offences that occurred decades ago are still
being reported to police. An increase in crime statistics does not always depict an increase in
victimization, due to the fact that offences are counted against the period in which they are reported,
rather than when they are perpetrated. Therefore, there is the need for community sensitization and
awareness for victims of sexual offences to promptly report to the police without fear and ensure that
evidence for the offence is gathered as early as possible.
From the Queensland police official statistics, the rate of sexual offences for 2014/15 increased by
10% compared with the previous financial year. This is equivalent to a rate of 123 offences reported
per 100,000 persons. The increased rate can be attributed to higher rape cases at 14%, attempted rape
offences and other sexual offences at 7%. There are more female victims than male in the Sexual Offence
category, which raises concern for persecution of the perpetrators; 82% of victims were female in
2014/15 statistics report. The most targeted age group for sexual offences are females aged between ten
and nineteen years, comprising 44% of total victims. For the largest percentage of victims, about 75%,
the offender was known to them, whereas for 35% of solved cases the offender was a family member.
Overall, 125 female committed sexual offences in 2014/15 Queensland report. Thus, 95% of offenders were
male.
The report depicts uniqueness in age distribution for male offenders; which is almost uniform across
all age groups with the exception of fifteen to nineteen year olds. For older male age groups, the
number of offenders is only slightly lower, males aged fifty years and above represent 20% of all
sexual offenders. For those proceeded against, 59% were arrested and 9% were served with a notice to
appear. The above calculations are done using the number of victims per 100,000 persons. Age is defined
by the victim’s age at the time when the offence was reported to police, rather than their age when the
offence actually occurred (The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Population by Age and Sex, Australian
States and Territories, December 2014).
In the recent years, various large-scale correctional studies (such as, Broadhurst & Mailer, 1991;
Hanson & Bussiere, 1996) indicate that imprisoned sexual offenders have a likelihood of previous
convictions for nonsexual offences than for sexual offences. After their release from jail, they are
more likely to commit new nonsexual offences than they are to commit sexual offences. In these
findings, it is clear that sexual offenders, including sexual offenders against children, are more
versatile in their criminal activities than is widely perceived. However, it still remains as highly
specialized treatment programs for sexual offender. Preventive bodies and initiatives for sexual abuse
continue largely to ignore the increasingly available knowledge from the broader crime prevention
literature.

Description of relevant characteristics of crime/disorder problem.
Sexual assault results in psychological, emotional, and physical effects on a victim, which are not
always easy to deal with. Many perpetrators of sexual abuse are in a position of trust or responsible
for the child’s care, such as a family member, teacher, clergy member, or coach. In the early onset,
sexual offenders tend to begin committing sexual assaults as adolescents (Snyder, 2000). Before
allegations becoming known or victims persecuting them, they are likely to have committed many more
offences. Sexual offenders are likely to experience multiple paraphilias, which involves varying
sexually deviant interests and urges. It is widely accepted notion that sexual offending, unlike
nonsexual offending, is a specialized form of criminal activity. Thus, creates an emphasis on sexual
deviance as the central feature of interest. Similarly, clinical programs have been implemented to
handle the changes in deviant sexual preferences of known sexual offenders.
Identification of police strategies.
Community policing or third party policing and the standard model of policing; increasing police
numbers, patrol operations and rapid response policing are the most appropriate techniques in handling
cases of sexual assault. The incidents are unpredictable but can be determined where they mostly occur,
especially in slum areas. Involving main community influencers such as; community members or groups,
the media, other government agencies and religious leaders ensures that harmony between the police and
the community is reinforced (Mazerolle et al., 2013).
Definition of police strategies.
Cordner (2014) defines community policing as a strategy that aims at dealing with crimes by delivering
police services using traditional law enforcement tactics, as well as prevention, problem-solving,
community engagement, and partnerships. Various scholars define community-oriented policing in
different aspects. However, it is generally agreed that there are three key components to the community
policing philosophy. These include the development and dependency on effective partnerships with the
community and other non-governmental bodies, the use of problem- solving strategies, and the
revolutionized police organization and culture to support the new policy. Essentially, community-
oriented strategy is based on law enforcement and the community working together with the police to
identify and address issues of crime and social disorder.
Standard model strategies developed largely during the reform era beginning from 1930s. They are often
viewed as traditional police approaches when addressing crime (Sousa & Kelling, 2006). Even though
traditional policies, they still control much of current police activity. Weisburd and Eck (2004, p.49)
clarify on the standard model by focusing on its five aspects. These include; random patrol for all
areas in the community, prompt response to emergency calls for service through 911 calls, generally
applied intensive enforcement and arrest policies, generalized investigations of crime and higher
number of police agencies.
Description of key theoretical elements of police strategies.
The standard model is characterized by its reliance on law enforcement and a lack of focus. General
patrolling deter offenders, rapid responses to a wide variety of calls for police service, follow-up
investigations of crimes, and other law enforcement activities that make little distinction among the
characteristics of the people, places, times, or situations.
Although there is no clear definition of community policing, most practitioners and researchers would
agree that there are various theoretical elements that encompass the community policing framework. The
underlying philosophy is that improving the quality and quantity of contacts between the community and
the police can increase the quality of life in a specific community (Eck, Chainey, Cameron & Wilson,
2005, p.8). In discussing community policing in Queensland, the theoretical elements and principles can
be grouped into three general categories that have been identified as the most common features of
police services that have adopted community policing framework: community partnership or engagement; a
problem-solving orientation; and a focus on administrative decentralization (National Research Council,
2003).
Identification of steps involved in application of operational police strategies.
Sherman (1996) defines four key steps involved in applying community policing and strategic policing.
The first step is problem identification and prioritization, as well as incorporation of community
input. The sexual offenders are well known to the survivors and the community at large. Broadhurst and
Mailer’s (1991) analysis indicate that it is easier to engage the community leaders, in arresting the
perpetrators and getting the right information for carrying out criminal investigations and
persecution. The second step is to study information about offenders, victims, and crime locations. The
third step is to implement strategies that address the highly sensitive character of priority problems
by going beyond the use of traditional police enforcement tactics and applying new resources that were
developed by the community to support problem-solving efforts. The fourth step is to evaluate the
effectiveness of the strategy through self-assessments to be able to indicate how appropriate the plan
has been conducted and highlight any positive accomplishments.
Use of research evidence to support elements of the police strategies.
In some of the earliest research to address police effectiveness in using the standard model,
there has been no supportive evidence on effect on crime, disorder, or fear of crime. It may be very
useful to apply random patrol, rapid response, follow-up investigations, and arrest policies for other
purposes, but none of these policies contribute on crime or disorder reduction. There is no solid
evidence that more police officers to carry out the traditional policing practices will affect crime.
To result in crime reduction, research by Mazerolle et al. (2013) strongly suggests that police
strategies must include two elements. The strategy must apply various approaches to crime and disorder;
policing must address crime and disorder using a greater range of tools than simply enforcing the law.
Public involvement and tackling crimes beyond law enforcement can have modest crime and disorder
reduction effects. The higher the level of police-citizen relation, the more likely it is that they
will have an effect on crime.
Application of police strategies to the crime/disorder problem chosen.
Community policing most appropriately addresses sexual violence cases, since the perpetrators are known
in most cases. It is easier to deal with public/private agencies in addressing perpetrators and finding
a lasting solution for the victims, especially children. In the long run, the community becomes more
harmonized (Lum & Koper, 2014).
Discussion of the validity and effectiveness of the operational strategies in respect to the
crime/disorder problem chosen.
Random preventive patrol (or random beat patrol) has shown little or no evidence of
effectiveness as a crime fighting tool for police. The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment,
conducted by Pate and colleagues (1974), is the most influential and well-known study in random
preventive patrol or beat patrol. From the research, changes in the amount of preventive patrol across
beats are insignificant to the rate of crime reporting, number of victims in a given period, or the
level of citizen satisfaction. The study conclusively shows that routine preventive patrol is an
ineffective method of improving police efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, hot spots policing is the
alternative and effective strategy because it applies the fact that crime is strongly concentrated in a
small number of places across cities.
Rapid response to 911 calls also appears to yield little impact on sexual assaults. The
methodology can sometimes lead to the apprehension of suspects, particularly calls for an ongoing
robbery or burglary. However, no evidence has been gathered to support the argument that rapid response
to most calls increases apprehension rates or decreases crime (Weisburd & Eck, 2004). In cases of
sexual violence, victims or other citizens tend to delay in reporting after the incident occurs thus
rapid response becomes least applicable. The victims shy away from disclosing the acts of violence.
However, police should not ignore 911 calls, but they should instead not expect reducing crime rates
simply by decreasing response times to the vast majority of calls.
Increasing the number of arrests do not particularly result in crime reduction. As Sherman and
Eck (2002, p.310) note, “the evidence in support of the reactive arrest hypothesis is remarkably un-
encouraging at both the community and individual levels of analysis.” There are no strong basis to
conclude that arrest is an effective crime control strategy because of mixed evidence on interventions
that rely primarily on arrest.
Various researches unanimously support that hot spot policing using geographically concentrated
enforcement is a highly effective measure in handling crimes against persons and also for property
theft. In the short run, focus on patrol at small high-crime places, such as street corners and block
faces, provides a modest effect on crime reduction and stabilizing the social disorder caused by sexual
violence. This essentially reduces the rate of random sexual assaults.
Use of research evidence and research findings to support the operational strategy being recommended
for implementation.
Community policing is a highly effective technique that empowers citizens in preventing sexual violence
or the problems that lead to those crimes. The strategy aims to establish and maintain mutual trust, as
it enables the community to access wide and valuable information on law enforcement leading potentially
to the prevention and resolution of crimes. The tabular graph below represents the various strategies
adopted for community engagement.

Adapted from National Research Council (2003), Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence.
Committee to Review Research on Police Policy and Practice. Edited by Wesley Skogan and Kathleen Frydl.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Figure 6.1 and Table 6.1, pp. 248-249.
Braga and Weisburd (2010) denote that in the past several decades, community policing has been embraced
as the dominant policing strategy in many jurisdictions. Due to rising crimes and more diverse and
complex society, the traditional policing strategy has been termed as an effective approach in fighting
crimes and dealing with perpetrators of violence. In light of this, a new policing approach that places
great emphasis on building police-community relationships and the importance of community involvement
in problem identification and eradication efforts re-emerged under the banner of “community policing.”
Utilizing the rebranded strategy, police officers now do not use patrol cars, but instead interact with
and learn from the communities that they serve. The community is able to participate in the efforts to
fight crime and the responsibilities of patrol officers and police service structure are customized to
reflect community partnership. However, community policing has no one accepted definition thus requires
application of various programs and strategies to ensure success in crime prevention and minimization.
Traditional reactive policing and car patrol are ineffective methods of reducing crime, and also
creates barriers between the police and the community. High rates of arrests are produced, but only
represent a small percentage of major crimes and result in insignificant impact on crime rates.
Furthermore, car patrol negatively affect public perceptions of the police, especially if police-
community rapport has not been well developed. Police detectives cannot solve crimes entirely without
the help of the public. As discussed in the report, community policing is effective in creating
harmonious relationships with the community and acts as a way of creating positive attitude towards the
police. This relation essentially helps in crime reduction. Irrespective of the level of effect in
combatting crimes, community policing is the dominant policing strategy in many western jurisdictions
(Mastrofski, 2006).
References
Braga, A. A., & Weisburd, D. (2010). Policing problem places: Crime hot spots and effective prevention.
Oxford University Press.
Broadhurst, R. G., & Mailer, R. A. (1991). Sex offending and recidivism (Tech. Res. Rep. No. 3).
Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia, Crime Research Centre.
Cordner, G. (2014). Community Policing. The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing, 148.
Eck, J., Chainey, S., Cameron, J., & Wilson, R. (2005). Mapping crime: Understanding hotspots.
Hanson, R. K., & Bussière, M. T. (1996). Predictors of sexual offender recidivism: A meta-analysis.
(1996–04). Ottawa: Department of the Solicitor General of Canada.
Lum, C., & Koper, C. S. (2014). Evidence-based policing. In Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal
Justice (pp. 1426-1437). Springer New York.
Mastrofski, S. D. (2006). Community policing: A skeptical view. Police innovation. Contrasting
perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 44-73.
Mazerolle, L., Antrobus, E., Bennett, S., & Tyler, T. R. (2013). Shaping citizen perceptions of police
legitimacy: A randomized field trial of procedural justice. Criminology, 51(1), 33-63.
National Research Council (2003). Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence. Committee to
Review Research on Police Policy and Practice. Edited by Wesley Skogan and Kathleen Frydl. Washington,
DC: The National Academies Press.
Pate, T., Dieckman, D., & Brown, C. E. (1974). The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment: A summary
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Sherman, L. W., & Eck, J. E. (2002). 8 Policing for crime prevention. Evidence-based crime prevention,
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Sherman, L.W. (1996). Policing for crime prevention. In L.W. Sherman, D. Gottfredson, D. MacKenzie, J.
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Snyder, H. N. (2000). Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim,
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Weisburd, D., Telep, C. W., Hinkle, J. C., & Eck, J. E. (2010). Is problem‐oriented policing effective
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