Objectives

Random police patrol, which spreads resources in an unfocused way across a city, remains a dominant strategy despite widespread acceptance that it is ineffective at preventing crime. Research also suggests that patrol officers could make better use of unallocated time if they were to engage in hot spots policing rather than random patrol. Paired with knowledge that police officers have a considerable amount of unallocated patrol time, it may be a relatively untapped resource with substantial crime prevention potential.

Methods

The present study employs an agent-based model informed by routine activity and rational choice theories to simulate whether significant reductions in street robbery can be achieved if officers increase dosage of police presence at hot spots during their unallocated patrol time rather than randomly patrolling a large geographic area.

Results

The findings suggest that if departments achieve one-third of a patrol officer’s time be dedicated to proactive activities, substantial crime reductions in a large geographic area may be obtained.

Conclusions

Potential savings can be realized using existing resources if police are able to increase the portion of time officers engage in hot spots policing, and police departments should make staffing and hiring decisions that maintain necessary levels of downtime.

中文翻译：

---

巡逻人员使用未分配时间进行日常预防犯罪的好处

目标

随机警察巡逻以不集中的方式在整个城市分配资源，尽管普遍认为它在预防犯罪方面无效，但它仍然是一种主导策略。研究还表明，如果巡逻人员参与热点警务而不是随机巡逻，他们可以更好地利用未分配的时间。了解警察有大量未分配的巡逻时间，这可能是一种相对未开发的资源，具有巨大的预防犯罪潜力。

方法

本研究采用基于日常活动和理性选择理论的基于代理的模型来模拟，如果警察在未分配的巡逻时间内增加在热点地区的警力，而不是随机巡逻大片地域，是否可以显着减少街头抢劫。区域。

结果

调查结果表明，如果部门将巡逻人员三分之一的时间用于积极主动的活动，则可能会在一个大的地理区域内大幅减少犯罪。

结论

如果警察能够增加警员参与热点警务的时间比例，则可以使用现有资源实现潜在的节省，并且警察部门应该做出人员配备和雇用决定，以保持必要的停机时间。