This Space For Rent

Quiz According to Moore, what group should have the most say in what police are supposed to do? (A) Clients (B) Citizens (C) Offenders (D) Police Administrators (e.g., Chiefs) (E) All should have equal say (F) None of the above

Actual quiz answers! What is the bottom line?  The last person in the chain of command  Distinct line between police duties of officers vs business relations of the department  Qualitative data to illustrate how LE agencies use risk management in their effort of control theory  The lowest level of crime in an area  What procedures will be used  The most important part to follow

A “BOTTOM LINE” IN POLICING Moore Chapter 2

“Profit” of crime reduction “Crime reduction is the profit that a PD produces for a community’s citizens and taxpayers” –Bratton 2 key ideas here: (1) Police and citizens should use business concepts to recognize and pursue public value (2) Most important value is crime reduction

“Profit” of crime reduction Problems with crime reduction as “profit”: (1) Incorrect in a technical sense  Confusion of gross value with net value. (2) Incorrect in a philosophical sense  Police use both money and authority (3) Incorrect in a practical sense  Fails to ID all the important “customers” (4) Incorrect in a strategic sense  Fails to ID the full set of values a PD produces

Gross vs Net value What is gross value?  The revenues earned by selling goods/service What is net value?  The profits gained once production costs are subtracted from revenues [Revenues – Cost = profit/loss]

Net value of policing  Crime reduction is a revenue—it’s something produced by police as part of their operation How do we get to “profit”?  Need to subtract costs of crime reduction What costs are there? (1) Financial: $ costs of police operations (2) Authority: the ability to take away liberty  We give both $ and liberty away grudgingly, and want police to use them efficiently.

Values Financial values:  Efficiency and effectiveness Authority values:  Justice and fairness Very important question: How do justice and fairness “cost” anything?

“Customers” of the police  Those who transact with, and benefit from, PD operations The obvious customer: those who call the police for service Any others that matter? (1) Citizens (2) Offenders

Taxpayers/Citizens How are they “customers”? Not everyone calls the police for service.  They give up money (taxes) and authority (liberty) so police can do their job  They collectively (via an imperfect political process) decide what they want from police

Citizens vs Individual Assumption of business: provide quality service to paying customers  Police don’t have paying customers—no one who calls the police for service gets a bill (no direct measure of revenue)  If citizens (“we”) get to decide what police do, then collective and individual wants might conflict

Example Customer satisfaction, crime reduction, and “in service”  People want thoughtful and courteous responses to their calls for service  Society wants officers available for emergencies (“situational exigencies”)  Sometimes individual service is sacrificed for society’s demands that police reliably respond to emergencies So whose wants are more important?

Citizens vs Clients What is a client?  Someone rooted in his/her position in society  Have particular interests to be advanced What is a citizen?  Someone who considers who views things without consideration of their personal position within society  Society’s interests are advanced  Difficult to get into the citizen mind state, but very important when considering matters of justice

Who gets to decide what police do? Citizens or Clients?  Clients call police for service, and their satisfaction with service may/may not matter  Citizens don’t directly experience police service, but indirectly consume conditions produced through policing and judge performance via reports Whose is more important?  Citizen, b/c they are more like investors than clients, who are the direct “customers”.

Offenders as “customers” Why should we care about offenders? Service vs Obligation encounters: (1) Service encounter: police responding to client requests. Key outcome is satisfied “customer”. (2) Obligation encounter: the exercise of authority. Key outcome isn’t satisfaction (what offender thinks), but is judged by citizens in terms of proper use of authority, and that offenders are treated with respect and dignity.  Perceived fairness of obligation encounter is very important.