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Proactive policing

Introduction

Proactive policing is defined as the strategy of policing in which organizations of police

tend to develop and then implement with an intention to prevent or else minimize the acts of

crimes. Proactive policing tends to differ from traditional reactive approaches in policing that

concentrate primarily on responding to offences once they have occurred as well as answering

requests from citizens for services provided by police (Geller, pp. 343). Shifting from this

traditional reactive approaches to proactive policing started in the 1980s as well as 1990s as it is

widely adopted in the United States. Proactive policing came to emerge as a result crisis in

confidence that started in the 1960s due to social unrest, high crime rates, as well as growing

skepticism in regards to the effectiveness of the standard approaches related to policing that,

were aimed at reacting to crimes immediately after they occurred (Geller, pp. 340).

Strategies of proactive policing on crime prevention

Proactive policing contains several methods/strategies that are used in report reviews as

an attempt to provide effective evidence. Evidence has argued that proactive policing can play a

great role in reducing crimes if seriously adopted and well-practiced. Below are some of the

strategies that are based on proactive policing:

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Hot spots policing- this strategy tends to concentrate on the location where the crime

is basically concentrated on. Just for example, through police crackdowns in an attempt to deter/

respond effectively to vandalism, robberies, break-ins, drug dealings, prostitution etc. proactively

increasing patrols of police (Geller, pp. 339). Research studies argue that this strategy is very

crucial in producing the short-term reduction of crimes without displacing the crimes to the

surrounding areas.

Predictive policing- this intervention strategy employs sophisticated algorithms

(computer) in order to predict changing patterns of future offences/ crimes, therefore, promising

to identify specific locations where certain crimes may that occur next.

Problem-oriented policing- this strategy attempts to identify and analyze the key

causes of problems related to crimes and then responding with use of the variety of tactics in

order to minimize crimes and improve the lives of youths through providing them with

recreational opportunities.

Focused deterrence- focuses on deterring crimes among repeat offenders through

recognizing dynamics that are related to crimes and then implementing strategies of law

enforcement, social services actions, community mobilization in response to those crimes.

In third-party policing- in this strategy police attempt to persuade business owners,

property owners, and other organizations in the process of taking certain responsibilities to

minimize crimes in the society. This strategy is effective in producing short-term minimizations

of crimes ((Svensson, et al. pp. 398).

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Effects of proactive policing on crime prevention

• Law and legality- even though is aimed at minimizing criminal acts, it is believed to

violate certain constitutional standards especially in the USA (Svensson, et al. pp. 395). For

example, when police officers engage in stopping, searching, arresting people they may violate

constitutional standards (Fourth Amendment).

• Community reactions- research studies have argued that communities tend to respond

positively to police especially where hot spot policing strategy has been adopted by police to

capture crime offenders. However, studies indicate that these strategies rarely improve

community’s perception of the police officers hence their impacts on the community seems to be

short-term (Svensson, et al. pp. 393).

• Racial disparities/bias- recently police have been caught by cameras shouting as well

as abusive interactions between citizens and police have raised many questions in regards to

racial discriminations, basic fairness, as well as excessive use force against citizens that are non-

whites (blacks) in the USA. Research studies claimed that when police target high-risk places

there is a likelihood of mistreating people of color whenever they encounter them.

Conclusion

Research studies have argued that there is sufficient evidence to support the idea that

identifying and seriously practicing some strategies of proactive policing in the society may

greatly and effectively minimize crime and maintain peace and order in the society (Manski, et

al. pg. 9308). It is very crucial to enhance understanding on how these strategies may be

maximized in order to improve the relationship between the citizens and the police as well as

how they can reduce the chances of leading to violations of constitution standards by police.
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Work cited

Geller, Amanda. "Benefit-Cost Analysis in Policing Research: Assessing Crime-Control Benefits

of Proactive Enforcement Practices." Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis 8.3 (2017): 339-

347.

Manski, Charles F., and Daniel S. Nagin. "Assessing benefits, costs, and disparate racial impacts

of confrontational proactive policing." Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences114.35 (2017): 9308-9313.

Svensson, Jörgen Simon, and Sawitri Saharso. "Proactive policing and equal treatment of ethnic-

minority youths." Policing and Society 25.4 (2015): 393-408.

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