Historically, police agencies have measured their performance against a restricted set of crime-focused indicators, but modern police officers must be prepared to take on a wide variety of roles. Performance measures should be multidimensional to capture this complexity. This report describes some key considerations in designing measures to evaluate law enforcement agencies and includes a detailed review of some international best practices.

Selected International Best Practices in Police Performance Measurement

Robert C. Davis

ResearchPublished May 7, 2012

Historically, police agencies have measured their performance against a very restricted set of crime-focused indicators, such as crime rates, arrests, and response times. However, modern police officers must be prepared to take on a wide variety of roles, from problem-solver to counselor and provider of first aid, among many others. Therefore, performance measures should be multidimensional to capture the complexity inherent in modern policing. In this era of tight budgets and deep cuts in municipal services, local officials have prioritized police performance improvement and the collection of measurable evidence to justify budget requests. Police departments also benefit from measuring performance; the results can help officials monitor department operations, promote adherence to policies and strategic plans, and detect patterns of bias or misconduct. By defining what is measured, executives send a signal to their command about what activities are valued and what results are considered important. Performance measures can also help track the progress of individual officers, the efficient use of funds, and many other indicators of organizational health. This report describes some of the key considerations involved in designing measures to evaluate law enforcement agencies. It also includes a framework for measuring performance and a detailed review of some international best practices.

Key Findings

Well-Developed Performance Measurement Approaches Capture the Complexity of Modern Policing

  • Policing experts have suggested that the best measurement approaches use a mix of outputs (measures of internal performance correlated with desirable policing outcomes) and outcomes (societal advantages provided by the police).
  • Surveys are a useful tool and produce results that can be interpreted more clearly than administrative records and statistics.
  • Comparing performance across police agencies shows how well local agencies are performing relative to similar agencies. An even better approach is to employ "synthetic controls" to draw a virtual comparison agency based on the performance of several agencies.
  • Tying performance to incentives has proved to be an effective way of getting results, but it could also lead officers to "game the system."

A Basic Framework for Measuring Police Performance Can Serve as a Basis for Identifying Best Practices

  • A RAND study identified police agencies that incorporated best practices along 18 dimensions of police activity, including performance measurement.
  • Four locales, in particular, can serve as models for other agencies that are seeking to develop or reexamine their own performance measurement systems: England and Wales, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Recommendations

  • Police departments can learn from what has been successful in other municipalities and countries, but it will be important that performance measurement systems reflect the unique local context.
  • National police performance standards should be flexible and relatively few in number. Local police forces should be able to set their own performance goals in response to the needs of local residents.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2012
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 22
  • Paperback Price: $15.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-6980-1
  • Document Number: TR-1153-MOI

Citation

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Davis, Robert C., Selected International Best Practices in Police Performance Measurement, RAND Corporation, TR-1153-MOI, 2012. As of September 19, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1153.html
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Davis, Robert C., Selected International Best Practices in Police Performance Measurement. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2012. https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1153.html. Also available in print form.
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This research was conducted under the auspices of the RAND Center on Quality Policing (CQP) within the Safety and Justice Program of RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (ISE).

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