Dear Editor,
I perused your editorial under the caption, ‘Police response’ in the Sunday Stabroek , July 19. You wrote ,“It must be noted that although there has been an upsurge in violent crimes ,there has been a corresponding upsurge in arrest. That is a relief for the citizenry, and is indicative of renewed energy on the part of the GPF for which they should be given credit.” I do not want to take away any credit from the police. I will never go along that line. The police deserve all the credit they can get. Generally, despite their acute human and other constraints they are doing a very good job. However, persons may have the impression that an upsurge in arrest means that the police are doing a good job and that the citizens will obtain relief. This may not be so. The vexed question is what yardstick must be employed to evaluate the performance of the police?
Wayne W Benne and Karen M Hess in their book Management And Supervision In
Enforcement note that people tend to use crime rates, number of arrests and clearance rates to measure how the police are doing. They submit that such measures have several problems. The writers posit that low crime rates do not necessarily mean that a police agency is efficient and effective; a high arrest rate does not necessarily show that the police are doing a good job; a high ratio of police officers to citizens does not necessarily mean high quality police services; responding quickly to calls for service does not necessarily indicate that a police agency is efficient.
Kramer and Fiedler argue that rather than looking at crime rates, number of arrests and response time, there should be an assessment as to whether the agency is effective in fulfilling its responsibility to the community. They explain that the agency should focus on its mission statement and consider what citizens expect from its protectors. Most citizens want to live in safe, orderly neighbourhoods. The police are considered effective when they produce the perception that crime is under control. Reduction of fear is a very important measure.
The writers opine that citizen approval or disapproval is generally reflected in letters of criticism or commendation, letters to the editors, public reaction to a single police-citizen incident, support for police proposed programmes, cooperation with incidents being investigated or response to police-initiated surveys.
They recommend that one way to assess approval or disapproval is through citizens surveys, which can measure trends and provide positive and negative feedback on the public’s impression of law enforcement .
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Conway
Former Assistant Commissioner
of Police
