While teacher performance is much discussed, little is said about law enforcement effectiveness. As policymakers face budget pressures, they should examine law enforcement spending to prioritize activities that prevent and solve the crimes that most harm victims.
In the Texas Department of Public Safety‘s budget, Goal C. is to “Prevent and Reduce Crime.” However, the sole performance measure within this goal for each division is the number of arrests. It doesn’t matter if the arrest is of a drug kingpin or murderer, or a person with a joint. Similarly, in the proposed 2009-10 budget for the Dallas Police Department, performance measures for the narcotics division are total arrests, investigations conducted, and operations/investigations per full-time equivalent employee.
The San Antonio Police Department‘s proposed budget commendably includes targeted clearance rates for property crime (11.5%) and violent crime (32.8%), although these numbers suggest too many resources may be devoted to arrests for the most minor crimes as opposed to solving more crimes that severely harm victims.
Fort Worth is the best among major Texas cities. Four of its five police department budget performance measures, are result- and victim-oriented. They are the serious violent and property crime rate, percent of violent crimes solved, percent of property crimes solved, and rate of traffic fatality accidents. (You’ll notice that arrests are not included.) Outside of Texas, Washington D.C. has measured victim satisfaction.
Many policing activities are actually proven to prevent crime, leading to fewer arrests.
State agencies like DPS can propose new performance measures in the spring and many Texas cities are adopting their budgets, presenting an opportunity to improve law enforcement effectiveness through better performance measures.
– Marc Levin