Police patrol methods have remained reactive in nature over the decades largely for two reasons, first patrol is considered the most visible form of policing to the public, seeing police actively patrolling in their communities, and second the lack of empirical research proving the most effective way to allocate and employ patrol. For more than a century now police have been actively patrolling the streets of cities and towns across the United States. It has been widely accepted by law enforcement, the public, and politicians that visible police presence deters, or at least denies, would be criminals the opportunity to commit crime (Kelling, Pate, Dieckman, & Brown, 1974). The belief that police presence on the streets and in neighborhoods creates a perception that police are in all places at once has been largely accepted. Additionally, the public feels safer and sees their taxes working for them. For police departments working with limited resources placing officers on patrol, whether on foot, bicycle, or in a car, it is the quickest way to respond to calls for service. If police are already in the area, they serve two purposes deterrence and faster response. Despite …show more content…
It was not until the Kansas City preventive patrol experiment and the broken windows essay in the 1970s, that academic research began to illustrate the problems of allocation and patrol (Harcourt & Ludwig, 2006). While these studies did begin to change how law enforcement and police researchers viewed the best way to employ officers in the field, much of police resources are still dedicated to a reactive presence. With improvements in technology and increased attention on rising crime rates and the limited resources of police departments, research and development is likely to improve allocation and patrol