Defining Police Strategies: Problem Solving, Problem-Oriented Policing and Community-Oriented Policing (From Problem-Oriented Policing: Crime-Specific Problems Critical Issues and Making POP Work, P 315-329, 1998, T. O'Connor Shelley and A.C. Grant, eds.)

During the scanning stage, officers often fail to specify the problems they are addressing. Either they undertake a project that is too small to fit the definition of problem-oriented policing but that satisfies the criteria for problem-solving; or they address a problem with a response that is too ambitious and broad in its objectives and that more closely relates to the definition of community-oriented policing. Officers who are using the SARA model of problem-oriented policing often skip the "analysis" phase or conduct an analysis that is too rudimentary. Often the "responses" in current problem-oriented policing projects are variations of conventional police practices (e.g., crackdowns, surveillance, and arrests). "Assessment" is one of the most crucial yet underused parts of problem-oriented policing projects. Assessment is the key to facilitating an active exchange of experiences among different departments. The most important requirement for improving problem-oriented policing is for police departments to improve their research and analysis units. The second most important requirement is for officers involved in problem-oriented policing to become more familiar with the field of environmental criminology, particularly the work on situational crime prevention. 1 table, a 14-item bibliography