Statistics ??: % CHL and % LEO vs TX Population

[Keith B]

OK folks, either debate without getting personal, or feeling you are being attacked if disagreed with or the thread will be locked.

[seamusTX]

OK. In a formal debate, every statement that is not universally accepted (for example, the sun rises in the east) must be supported by evidence. I failed to do that earlier.

Here is some evidence that police management techniques are more important than the sheer number of police officers:

http://us-state-policy.suite101.com/art ... ge_tactics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html ... h_cops.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The job of the opponent is to impeach the evidence (demonstrate that the authors are uninformed or biased) and offer contradictory evidence supporting his position.

- Jim

[Excaliber]

OK. In a formal debate, every statement that is not universally accepted (for example, the sun rises in the east) must be supported by evidence. I failed to do that earlier.

Here is some evidence that police management techniques are more important than the sheer number of police officers:

http://us-state-policy.suite101.com/art ... ge_tactics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html ... h_cops.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The job of the opponent is to impeach the evidence (demonstrate that the authors are uninformed or biased) and offer contradictory evidence supporting his position.

- Jim

The two articles in Jim's post are very consistent with my own experience.

When I started a burglary squad in my agency to address a major problem with that crime, we were able to use techniques we developed to interdict felons who had preyed on the city repeatedly over the years. In less than 36 months we reduced the burglary rate by 40% and had professional burglary teams from New York City afraid to set foot across the agency's boundaries because of the lengths we would go to to make cases that held up in court. A well publicized successful footprint tracking effort followed by a 5 mile multijurisdictional foot chase through neighborhoods, woods, a river, and a frozen pond during a heavy snowstorm, with forensic evidence obtained by matching casts made from footprints in snow at the scene to the boots worn by the arrested burglars at the end of the continuous footprint trail helped convince the miscreant population in the region that there were other cities where their trade could be practiced more profitably. (Bad guys do watch TV and hear about what appears in the papers.)

I also started the Community Policing unit in my agency to address intractable neighborhood problems in the downtown business district and public housing areas using the "broken windows" quality of life approach. Specially selected and trained officers patrolled their areas on foot, got to know the residents well, and used discretion and persistence on quality of life issues, as well as criminal enforcement, to effect major change. It took an average of around 4 - 6 months to change each of these areas from unpleasant / dangerous to generally quiet places where folks were comfortable walking about at any time of the day.

No additional officers were hired for the new assignments. The only difference was in how they were trained, tasked, led, and deployed. Simply increasing numbers of officers employed using standard patrol procedures and tactics had been tried previously and failed to deliver the expected improvements.

[stroo]

The articles, while interesting, prove nothing about whether or not the number of LEOs per capita reduces crime. They only demonstrate that police tactics are a factor in reducing crime. They don't even address the numbers of LEOs.

By the way, I fully agree that proper police tactics can make a significant difference in reducing crime.

Would you really argue that more LEOs properly trained would have no effect on crime?