Patrol Strategies
Read the article titled “Proactive Patrolling through the Use of Patrol Scripts”, located here. You may also view the article at here. Review the three (3) elements of the crime triangle and give your opinion as to how they contribute to crime.
Compare and contrast the main relative strengths and weaknesses of foot patrol and automobile patrol. Explore how police can combine these two (2) patrol methods to enhance the effectiveness of patrol efforts. Support your response.
Imagine that you are the director of an inner-city school district’s school police. Propose how you would implement at least one (1) of the patrol strategies discussed in the textbook to improve the overall safety and security for the students that attend schools in your district.
RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT:
In order for any crime to occur based on the crime triangle, there must be the present of time and place, offender and the target who is the victim. When the offender meets the victim in a given place at a specified time this implies that an offense will take place (Rivero & Pepper, 2015). The present of the victim in the location and time acts as the motive for the offender to conduct an offense as the time and location offer both the means and opportunity for crime to occur. This implies that a crime cannot be present without the victim, location, time or the offender each contributes as either an opportunity, means or motive (Rivero & Pepper, 2015).
Foot patrol is characterized by convenience, based on the fact that the officers can access almost every part of their patrol region. However, it is a risky one since the officers are exposed to dangers of sites that are well known by offenders and they might use this to attack those (Roberts, 2003). In addition, foot control lacks the ability to carry adequate resources as it depends on human energy. On the other hand, automobile patrol is fast in patrolling but lacks adequate mobility since some areas cannot be accessed by cars and motorbikes tends to be riskier due to lack of enough protection. The police departments can combine both foot and automobile control in increasing patrols effectiveness in that the division can be done evenly based on the ability of each strategy to enhance both safety of the officers and combat crimes (Roberts, 2003).