What do we really know about police patrol? A systematic review of routine police patrol research
Purpose: Research on routine police patrol has experienced little attention in criminology for the past four decades. Despite the fact that little is known about this mode of policing, a consensus seems to prevail regarding its ineffectiveness for crime deterrence and crime prevention. To emphasize...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| In: | Year: 2020 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Summary: | Purpose: Research on routine police patrol has experienced little attention in criminology for the past four decades. Despite the fact that little is known about this mode of policing, a consensus seems to prevail regarding its ineffectiveness for crime deterrence and crime prevention. To emphasize this gap of research, this study systematically reviews existing literature on routine police patrol. Methods: A systematic review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines of scientific studies (n=4) was conducted. Evidence was synthesized quantitatively (e.g., tabular) and qualitatively (e.g., narrative argumentation). Results: The synthesized results provide no ground for the diagnosed ineffectiveness of routine police patrol, that seems to be believed throughout criminological studies. Despite the outdated character of the majority of reviewed studies, results show inconsistencies and fail to clearly establish positive or negative quantitative crime deterrent effects. Conclusion: Contemporary research does not adequately understand the effects of routine police patrol and builds leading police research on a limited number of methodically flawed studies from the mid 1970’s. Future research should establish the effectiveness of this mode of policing and optimal spatial allocation of police officers following a sound methodological framework |
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| DOI: | 10.31235/osf.io/gkdfp |