Police Officer Perceptions of Crime Hot Spots and the Applicability of Analytical Support of Policing

Abstract

One of the basic conditions for effective police work in the local environment is the disposal of information about the events that pose a threat to the safety and security of citizens in a particular location. Without such information, necessary measures and actions will not be taken, or if they are taken, they will not take place where and when needed. Answering the question as to the extent police officers know where crimes are committed is important, not only in terms of improving work efficiency of the police organization, but it can also be a significant indicator of (low)quality analytical support provided to police officers. In this context, this paper provides results of research on current police practices of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, specifically to answer the question as to extent the police officers know where crime areas (hotspots) are located, and the way in which they acquire information on relevant events at their patrol areas, as well as the influence of the crime analysis unit in their everyday work. Results showed that police officers believe that they are familiar with the locations of crime hotspots, although the analysis revealed that police officers' knowledge of hot spots do not correspond with real situations. We discovered that two key factors stand out - personal lack of interest of police officers, and inadequate analytical support of their work. In order to overcome the stated problems, it is necessary to decentralize the work of the department of analytics, to implement crime mapping in police practice, as well as to create adequate organizational prerequisites for better informing police officers.

Eden izmed temeljnih pogojev za učinkovito delo uslužbencev policije v lokalnem okolju je seznanjenost z informacijami o kakršnem koli dogajanju, ki pomeni grožnjo varnosti občanov na določeni lokaciji. Brez takšnih informacij ne bo potrebnega ukrepanja in delovanja ali pa do tega ne bo prišlo tam, kjer bi bilo potrebno, in v času, ko bi bilo potrebno. Odgovor na vprašanje, koliko so policisti seznanjeni s tem, kje se dogajajo kazniva dejanja, ni pomemben le zaradi izboljšanja učinkovitosti dela policijske organizacije, temveč je lahko pomemben kazalnik (ne)kakovosti analitične podpore njihovemu delu. V povezavi s tem v prispevku predstavimo izsledke raziskave o policijski praksi Ministrstva za notranje zadeve Republike Srbije, katere namen je bil odgovoriti na vprašanje, koliko policisti vedo, kje so kriminalne lokacije (kriminalna žarišča), kako pridobivajo informacije o varnostno pomembnem dogajanju na območju, za katero so pristojni, ter o prisotnosti analitične podpore pri njihovem vsakodnevnem delu. Po izsledkih raziskave policisti menijo, da so dobri poznavalci lokacij kriminalnih žarišč, vendar pa je analiza žarišč razkrila, da njihovo mnenje ne ustreza dejanskemu stanju. Ugotovili smo, da kot dva ključna dejavnika izstopata osebno nezanimanje policistov in pomanjkanje ustrezne analitične podpore njihovemu delu. Da bi se sedanja situacija izboljšala, je nujno treba decentralizirati delo službe za analitiko, vključiti kartiranje kriminalitete v policijsko prakso in ustvariti ustrezne organizacijske razmere za boljše obveščanje policistov.