The police are expected to enforce the law, prevent crime, maintain order, keep the peace, resolve conflicts, solve problems, and protect the rights of individuals, just to name a few. Kelling and Moore (1988) stated that the functions performed by the police are influenced by law and community authorization. Thus, the functions to be performed by the police can depend upon where, when and who is asked. It is also possible for the functions expected to be carried out by the police to vary by jurisdiction. For the purposes of this writing, crime prevention will be the function used to evaluate the effectiveness of the police.
The police are often expected to carryout multiple and sometimes conflicting functions (Kelling & Moore, 1988). The key to evaluating the effectiveness of the police and their activities is in identifying the expected goals of the police. Specifically, the function the police carryout in the performance of their duties has a direct impact on the community being served. To determine which policing practices are most effective, the primary function of the police must first be defined. After identifying the primary function, other factors, such as the causes of crime and police response to crime, should be considered. For instance, the policing agency must determine if their function is proactive or reactive in nature. After this determination, the policing agency must select the primary policing practice to be implemented. The focus of this writing is to make a policy recommendation supporting either random or directed patrol as a primary policing strategy. First, factors that affect crime and the ability to control it will be introduced. Then, this paper will define and compare random and directed patrol practices through literature reviews. Then, empirical evidence will be presented in the discussion that explores the ability of these practices to control crime. In the conclusion, a recommendation supported by the evidence will be presented for which policing strategy should be implemented as the primary method to control criminal activity.
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