Computer support for community-oriented policing.Community-oriented policing A philosophy that combines traditional aspects of law enforcement with prevention measures, problem-solving, community engagement, and community partnerships. From the 1930s to the 1960s, U.S. law enforcement relied on a professional policing model. (COP) is an integral part of the Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,284. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south of downtown Washington, DC. , Police Department's daily operations. As part of the COP approach, personnel from the department are assigned to each of the city's civic associations to keep citizens apprised of citywide crime statistics, as well as the crime figures for each community within the city. The community liaison officers also listen to citizen concerns and act as their advocates in local public safety-related matters. These liaison officers--drawn from all ranks within the department--forward monthly written reports to the chief that summarize sum·ma·rize intr. & tr.v. sum·ma·rized, sum·ma·riz·ing, sum·ma·riz·es To make a summary or make a summary of. sum the concerns of their respective communities and highlight the actions taken or recommended by the officers. Until recently, however, liaison officers found that their efforts to obtain timely, neighborhood-specific crime and incident statistics were frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: by the complexity of the department' s computerized records management system. Therefore, after a careful review of the mainframe records management database, department managers decided to develop a separate personal computer (PC) database application that used periodic downloads from the main records manager as its data source. Department managers christened the new system Quick Query (QQ).(1) The primary purpose of this system is to improve information-sharing with community associations by supplying timely statistics and detailed information concerning reported incidents to liaison and patrol officers, investigators, supervisors, and commanders. DESIGNING THE SYSTEM In designing the Quick Query system, planners understood the importance of maintaining user control over timeframes covered by the queries, types of incidents culled from the system, and the geographic limits of the searches. Because this program would be the first contact with a PC for many officers, it was also important that the user interface be simple, intuitive, and powerful. Accordingly, the program was designed to be fully menu-driven. In fact, after typing in their personal serial numbers, users can perform all other functions using only six keys (four cursor keys The keyboard keys that move the pointer, or cursor, on screen. They include the up, down, left and right arrow, home, end, pageUp and pageDown keys. , the escape key, and the enter key.) The system is also largely data-driven--meaning that the program receives much of its "run-time" information from the data supplied to it via the department's mainframe database. For example, when QQ prompts the user for a date range, the system checks the user supplied dates against the range of dates available in the current database. If the user selects a timeframe outside the acceptable range, the program prompts the operator for a valid date. MAIN MENUS Quick Query provides users with a wide range of information. The main menu offers six options: Beats, geosearch, places, streets, utility, and codes. Beats The beats submenu An additional list of options within a single menu selection. There can be many levels of submenus. A submenu can have a submenu, which can have its submenu and so on. However, there is a practical limit as the more levels that have to be reached, the more confusing the interface. has become a favorite of uniformed patrol personnel. For the first time, patrol officers can obtain summaries or more detailed information concerning all reported incidents for a particular beat. For this search, officers maintain the ability to select desired date and time ranges. The officers may also target specific types of incidents, such as burglaries or larcenies. The advantages of placing this type of information in the hands of patrol officers can be profound. In effect. this program allows every patrol officer to be a crime analyst. Officers possess intimate knowledge of the people, streets, and alleyways of their assigned beats. In short, the Quick Query system provides patrol officers with the necessary means to not only record but also to analyze crime on their beats. Geosearch The department's records program geographically encodes (geocodes) all incidents by subcensus tract (a subdivision of the U.S. Census Tract A census tract, census area, or census district is a particular community defined for the purpose of taking a census. Usually these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county. Boundary) based on address. These geocodes, plus the four-digit Uniform Crime Report (UCR (Under Color Removal) A method for reducing the amount of printing ink used. It substitutes black for gray color (equal amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow). Thus black ink is used instead of the three CMY inks. See GCR and dot gain. ) code and the report date, make up the key elements necessary to compute To perform mathematical operations or general computer processing. For an explanation of "The 3 C's," or how the computer processes data, see computer. , sort, and track the criminal activity in any community. Users can opt to search by census (or subcensus) tract, which provides a scrolled scroll n. 1. a. A roll, as of parchment or papyrus, used especially for writing a document. b. An ancient book or volume written on such a roll. 2. A list or schedule of names. 3. listing of all valid geographic tracts available. A green pop-up calendar prompts users for the starting date. The system then defaults to the earliest date in the database. By using the cursor keys, operators choose the appropriate date. After users select a valid starting date, a red calendar appears on the screen with the cursor (1) The symbol used to point to some element on screen. On Windows, Mac and other graphics-based screens, it is also called a "pointer," and it changes shape as it is moved with the mouse into different areas of the application. positioned on the latest possible date in the database. Users select the appropriate ending date and then choose the types of incidents to be included as part of a particular query. The choices include: * All Part I crimes * Homicide homicide (hŏm`əsīd), in law, the taking of human life. Homicides that are neither justifiable nor excusable are considered crimes. A criminal homicide committed with malice is known as murder, otherwise it is called manslaughter. * Rape * Robbery * Aggravated assault A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he or she attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or attempts to cause or purposely or * Burglary burglary, at common law, the breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another at night with the intent to commit a felony, whether the intent is carried out or not. * Larceny larceny, in law, the unlawful taking and carrying away of the property of another, with intent to deprive the owner of its use or to appropriate it to the use of the perpetrator or of someone else. * Automobile theft * All reported incidents. Within each of these options, users are provided with additional fields by which to limit their search. For example, selecting Part I crimes yields the number of Part I offenses by category and the total number of offenses occurring during the time and place specified by the user. Two "hot" function key options are displayed at the bottom of this screen: Show detail and print summary. The first key option provides a scrollable window A window that contains more data than is visible at one time. Its contents can be scrolled (moved up, down, sideways within the window) in order to view the entire document, image or list of items. containing all the records meeting the user's selection criteria. While the detailed records are displayed, the user has an option to print. By selecting this option, users can obtain a hard-copy of the selected detailed records. The report contains the following fields: Incident number, report date, UCR code, disposition code, reporting officer's serial number, time of incident, and incident location. Places The places submenu is the cornerstone of the system's community policing aspects. Community liaison officers define their assigned communities in terms of subcensus tracts, or if necessary, by individual streets. When developing the Quick Query system, developers encoded these descriptions aS an integral part of the program. This allows liaison officers to select their respective civic organizations' names from a scrolled list. They may then choose a desired date range from an onscreen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. calendar, and in less than 60 seconds, receive a comprehensive hard copy summary of all reported incidents occurring within an association's geographic boundaries. Streets The streets submenu allows users to enter a street address from a range of addresses and obtain either a scrolled listing or a hard copy of all incidents for selected addresses. This is a particularly useful feature when documenting a specific "hot spot" of criminal activity. Utility The primary use of the utility submenu is to update the current PC database from the mainframe records management incident file. To make the system up to date and as easy to use as possible, planners are currently working to fully automate the data transfer process. Codes The codes submenu provides users with access to two "look up" tables. These tables contain listings of the UCR codes, as well as department disposition codes, both of which can be viewed onscreen or printed. These tables prove especially helpful to officers, few of whom are familiar with specific UCR or disposition code numbers. CONCLUSION Armed with the up-to-date information provided by the Quick Query system, patrol and liaison officers are better prepared to address the crime problems in their respective areas. Combining this data resource with the ideals of community-oriented policing enables the Alexandria Police Department to provide enhanced public safety services to all of its citizens. Endnote See footnote. Law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is a term used to describe any agency which enforces the law. This may be a local or state police, federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). interested in developing a system similar to the one in Alexandria may forward inquiries on agency letterhead to the Alexandria Police Department, 2003 Mill Road, Alexandria, VA 22314. Mr. Campbell is a crime analyst with the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department. |
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