STRATIFIED POLICING: AN ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL FOR PROACTIVE CRIME REDUCTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
By Roberto Santos and Rachel Santos, Published December 2020
For individual copies go to online book sellers.
For bulk orders, go directly to the publisher:Rowman & LIttlefield
Implementing effective crime reduction requires deliberate thought and effort to integrate processes into the police organization, its culture, and the day-to-day work. Stratified Policing: An Organizational Model for Proactive Crime Reduction and Accountability provides police leaders a clear path for institutionalization of crime reduction modeled after current police processes. It sets up an organization to more easily incorporate evidence-based strategies into everyday operations with the goal of changing a police organization from reactive to proactive. Stratified Policing incorporates what works for crime reduction and how to realistically make it work in police practice. The book details the specific and adaptable framework that infuses small changes by rank and division into daily activities that build on each other resulting in a comprehensive and focused approach for crime reduction. It also lays out a multifaceted accountability process that is fair and transparent. Importantly, the book dedicates entire chapters to methods for developing crime reduction goals, addressing immediate, short-term, and long-term crime and disorder problems, and implementing a stratified accountability meeting structure. Chapters include recommendations supported by research and grounded in what is realistic in police practice for application of evidence-based strategies, assignment of responsibility and accountability, crime analysis products, and assessment measures for impact on crime and disorder.
"A key criticism of criminology is that it fails to provide clear and direct guidance to the police about how they should organize to carry out crime prevention. This book, written by two scholars who have real-life experience in the field, does just that. It summarizes the science of crime and crime prevention, and then develops a practical approach-stratified policing-that can be used to organize successful proactive policing. This is an important book for police, and one that should also be read by police scholars." -David Weisburd, PhD, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University
"I have had the honor of working directly with Dr. Roberto Santos and Dr. Rachel Santos for more than a decade. Their combined contributions to the development of essential and effective crime analysis practices to guide the deployment of police and community resources in rapid response to emerging crime patterns as well as to solve difficult crime problems, all supported by an accountability structure within police organizations, has been a major contribution to the fields of modern policing and crime prevention. This book should be on the desk of all law enforcement professionals dedicated to improving public safety by reducing crime and its harm." -Richard S. Biehl, Director and Chief of Police, Dayton, OH Police Department
"Read this book. When I found stratified policing, I was looking for something foundational to bring crime reduction, community engagement, and accountability into the daily business of a police department. Working with Roberto and Rachel, we crafted a model of stratified policing that works specifically for my department. We have experienced substantial reductions in crime and continue to do so while having a community that supports our efforts. If you want a blueprint for effectively integrating evidence-based practices in your agency, this is it." -Chief Scott C. Booth, Danville, VA Police Department
"Stratified Policing has been a very effective crime reduction strategy for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. As the chief of police over the last 8 years, we have sustained the principles of Stratified Policing and have seen a steady downward trend resulting in a 53 percent reduction in index crime incidents. We have also achieved a 39 percent increase in our index crime clearance rate from 28.6 percent to 47.2 percent. During this time period, our population has increased by approximately 14 percent to 191,000 citizens. At this point, I can't imagine serving our community without Stratified Policing." -Chief John A. Bolduc, Port St. Lucie, FL Police Department
"Stratified Policing is a critically important book for American policing. It represents the true integration of police science with police practice. By reengineering the way police agencies utilize and integrate accountability, crime analysis, and evidence-based practice Santos and Santos explain how police leaders can focus the collective power of their agencies and generate sustainable proactive responses that make their communities safer. Stratified Policing is an insightful and indispensable guide for law enforcement executives seeking to maximize the effectiveness and legitimacy of their agency's crime fighting efforts." -Tom "Tad" Hughes, JD, PhD, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Southern Policing Institute, University of Louisville
"What the authors have articulated in this book is an evidence-based approach to crime reduction that capitalizes on measurable outcomes. By empowering all levels of an organization with the responsibility, and frankly the motivation to become engaged, we see significant improvements in individual law enforcement officer performance. The Stratified Policing approach provides a significant return on investment. The Walton County Sheriff's Office is consistently recognized for our success in crime reduction which can largely be attributed to our adherence to the Stratified Policing model developed by the authors." -Sheriff Michael Adkinson, Walton County, FL Sheriff's Office
"The Stratified Policing model has proven to be effective in a Statewide Police Agency. The flexibility of the model has allowed Troop Commanders of each region to draw from proven evidence-based approaches to shape and modify their policing strategies to meet the needs of their community. Stratified Policing provides clear processes that have helped the Delaware State Police achieve significant reductions in crime while maintaining a strong positive relationship with the community." -Nathaniel McQueen, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, State of Delaware and retired Delaware State Police Superintendent
Roberto Santos and Rachel Santos have provided training for law enforcement agencies, consortiums, governments, universities, and non-profit organizations in a wide range of topics including Stratified Policing, proactive crime reduction, evidence-based policing, problem solving, crime analysis and mapping, statistics and research methods, accountability and leadership, proactive community engagement, and crime prevention. The agencies and organizations have included:
With over 50 years of combined experience working with police, Roberto and Rachel Santos have developed a proven three-phased process that is tailored based on an agency's organizational structure, current priorities, resources, and crime/disorder levels. In the first phase, they take a systematic approach to the assessment of the agency to help develop a tailored implementation plan. They then collaborate with the department to develop a comprehensive crime reduction policy, select appropriate evidence-based strategies, and create crime analysis products specific to the jurisdiction's crime problems. In the second phase, training is conducted for crime analyst(s), and all ranks tailored based on the policy, the crime problems, and community concerns. In the third phase, after the training, they continue the partnership with in-depth assistance for several months, during which they provide real-time personalized assistance for all aspects of implementation to help the agency fully adopt and sustain Stratified Policing processes, so that crime reduction is effective for the police department and the community.
The following is a more detailed overview of this process. For more information, contact them directly at rsantos4@radford.edu (Roberto) or rsantos5@radford.edu (Rachel).
Organizational Assessment
To understand the policies, practices, and organizational culture of the agency and collect baseline measures for subsequent evaluation of Stratified Policing implementation, an organizational assessment is conducted and results in specific recommendations for tailoring the Stratified Policing organizational structure and implementing the proactive crime reduction strategies best suited for the agency. The assessment includes an examination of current crime analysis, data and technology capabilities, crime reduction practices, as well as the organizational structure and division, unit, and personnel functions. An organizational survey is conducted about current proactive crime reduction, crime prevention, and problem-solving practices, as well as communication, leadership, accountability, and transparency around those practices. Lastly, interviews and focus groups with personnel of all ranks, ride alongs as well as observation of crime reduction meetings are used to fully understand the agency and its crime reduction practices.
Recommendations for Implementation
The results from the assessment inform specific recommendations and a "road map" that is tailored for the agency to implement the Stratified Policing business model. The recommendations focus on the implementation of evidence-based policing strategies that are best suited to the community and the agency's resources as well as assignment of responsibilities and an accountability system that ensures sustainability and evaluation of effectiveness.
Assistance is provided to the agency's leadership in developing clear and specific crime reduction goals as well as a create a Stratified Policing policy that lays out the roles and expectations for personnel and the accountability meeting structure.
Stratified Training
Training is an important component of the implementation of the business model. It ensures that the different ranks and personnel understand the rational of Stratified Policing and its foundation in evidence-based policing and problem solving, become familiar with its components, as well as receive guidance on how to operationalize strategies within the business model. The training curriculum is tailored based on the crime/disorder problems in the jurisdiction and the department's implementation plan.
The training plan begins with a one-day session with the agency's crime analysts to go over the specific evidence-based products that drive the business model. This session is followed by ongoing "field training" with the analyst(s) to create and revise the products which are then used in the training of sworn personnel as examples of the concepts and focus of the operationalization workshop.
One to two days of training is then conducted for managers, commanders, and executives to provide an overview of the approach that explains the "why" of changes to be made in the agency. It includes specific discussions of how to operationalize processes and accountability laid out in the Stratified Policing business model based on the agency's current organizational structure, allocation of resources and specialized units, practices and crime analysis results. Shorter sessions are conducted for first-line supervisors, line-level officers, detectives, and specialized units based on their designated roles and responsibilities outlined in the agency's Stratified Policing policy.
Ongoing Assistance with Implementation
Systematic organizational change requires more than training, and it takes consistent reinforcement, application, and coaching to ensure that Stratified Policing becomes institutionalized throughout the agency. Depending on the needs of the department, Roberto and Rachel work closely with the Chief, command staff, and crime analysts to strengthen and sustain the processes, to guide refining of crime analysis products and processes as well as to provide feedback on the agency's accountability meetings as they are being implemented. They also provide advice on the selection and implementation of place-based and offender-focused approaches. The purpose is to support the agency as it works through institutionalizing crime reduction into its day to day operations.
Ongoing Collaboration
Once a partnership is established, they work with agencies on grant proposals for local or Federal grants to conduct research on Stratified Policing or crime reduction strategies; joint presentations at key policing conferences; and publishing collaborative articles in professional magazines. The goal is not only to assist an agency to implement Stratified Policing and be more effective in crime reduction but also to help disseminate results to other practitioners and researchers to improve policing overall.
The following are some of the recent Stratified Policing partner agencies: