Policy Text
TRAINING BULLETIN
Date of Issue / Revision:
16 Feb 01
CALEA Ref. Index Number: VIII-P
Alpha Index: Problem Solving
In Police Work
“Department Training Bulletins shall be used to advise members of current police techniques and
procedures and shall constitute official policy.”
Problem Solving in Police Work*
Problem Solving Defined
The goal of problem solving in police work is a reduction in calls for and an increase in
community satisfaction with police services.
A problem is a recurring incident or a matter of neighborhood concern. A problem can be a recurring crime or a quality-o f-life issue such as noise, blight, or traffic congestion.
Problem solving is a process.
Problem solving requires officers and employees to identify recurring incidents and
neighborhood concerns that generate calls fo r service. Problem solving requires officers
and employees to analyze such problems and concerns, implement solutions to the
individual situations, and, over time, evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented
solutions.
By successfully addressing the cause of a pr oblem or neighborhood concern, officers may
reduce calls for service and increase comm unity satisfaction with police services.
* Much of the information in this Training Bulletin is derived from Tackling Crime and
Other Public-Safety Problems: Case Studies in Problem-Solving by Rana Sampson and Michael S. Scott.
2 Problem Solving in Police Work, Index Number VIII-P
Problem Solving and Community Policing
There are many terms such as community po licing, problem-oriented policing, problem
solving, and neighborhood policing which ar e currently used in law enforcement to
describe policing methods.
What all these policing methods have in common is adherence to the principle that policing is a partnership between the police department and the community.
Problem solving examines service calls to see if they reveal a pattern or neighborhood
condition that the Department can address.
For example, if a neighborhood complains about continued narcotics activity on a street
corner even after many arrests have b een made, officers can use problem solving
techniques to address the situation.
Officers might take action to make the location unattractive to narcotics dealers, for
example, by increasing the street lighting or by making changes that affect the pattern of traffic.
In problem solving, officers are not asked to take on responsibilities of other public and private agencies. Officers are asked, however, to facilitate change by identifying recur-
ring incidents and by bringing people and groups together who can analyze such inci-dents and offer long-term solutions.
Making arrests is only one of the to ols officers possess to address crime and
quality-of-life issues in Oakland.
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16 Feb 01 ● Oakland Police Department
Implementation of Problem Solving. at the OPD
Department training in police problem solving was organized by the Bureau of Services.
The curriculum was custom designed by a team of OPD officers familiar with the
capabilities and needs of the Department. The training focused on how members and
employees identify problems and create useful solutions.
Every officer and many of the Department's civilian employees completed the training.
Personnel from other City agencies such as the Fire Department, the Community and
Economic Development Agency, and the Pub lic Works Agency as well as members of
the community attended the training and sat alongside OPD personnel in the classes.
The Academy incorporated problem solving into its permanent curriculum, and the
Bureau of Field Operations incorporated problem solving skills into its projects and
assignments.
Community policing squads and Neighborhood Services Coordinators are the link
between the Police Service Area Commanders and the community. Many but not all of
the problem solving projects emanate fr om the Neighborhood Crime Prevention
Councils. All field personnel can bring prob lems and potential projects to their Police
Service Area Commanders for potential assignments.
Problem solving projects are tracked and discussed at the weekly Crime Stop meetings.
Problem solving projects are evaluated us ing the SARA method identified below.
S
canning: Officers look at a location and the calls for service at the location and
identify the problem, the parties involved, and the crimes involved, if any.
Analysis: Officers gather detailed information about the problem and work to
understand the problem's scope, nature, and cause.
Response: Officers implement a solution. Implementation could involve breaking a
large problem into smaller problems.
Assessment: Officers evaluate a solution to s ee how well it worked and assess what they
can do differently in the future.