tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1342890755364880195.post7859567900730634873..comments2017-04-20T16:52:48.178-07:00Comments on Unveiling Compstat: TURNAROUND: NYPD COMES AROUND ON CRIME STATISTICSJohn A. Eterno and Eli B. Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017435178621177994noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1342890755364880195.post-34250616087469339062010-04-18T12:28:36.296-07:002010-04-18T12:28:36.296-07:00Great job John and Eli. Keep up the good work and...Great job John and Eli. Keep up the good work and don't worry about how they try to bring you down. Just keep telling the truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1342890755364880195.post-71477229358173266252010-04-12T10:41:28.542-07:002010-04-12T10:41:28.542-07:00I strongly believe that Professor Silverman and Pr...I strongly believe that Professor Silverman and Professor Eterno not only performed a great service for our city but also for our nation. Compstat was a brilliant idea but like so many other great ideas they need tweaking over time. The information they provided was invaluable. We need to improve Compstat and those that are offended by the constructive criticism they provided - shame on them.<br /><br /> I. Michael BelitzI. Michael Belitznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1342890755364880195.post-81322186132666560052010-04-09T07:18:22.244-07:002010-04-09T07:18:22.244-07:00As Eli Silverman and John Eterno have pointed out,...As Eli Silverman and John Eterno have pointed out, the suspicions of statistical manipulation of crime figures have their echoes in the United Kingdom. The ‘New Public Management’ was applied to public services in the UK from the 1980s onwards. The ethos of targets and performance measurement that went with it was both revolutionary and somewhat painful. There are clear benefits. Management becomes more effective, accountability is improved through the availability of information and identified problems are explicitly addressed. But like any innovation, problems often accompany misuse and inadequate implementation.<br />. <br /><br />Target setting was a ‘top-down’ exercise and rather crude in the early days. The expression ‘what gets measured gets done’ was the vogue expression. It has a converse ‘what does not get measured does not get done’ and other matters, if not the subject of targets, did not ‘get done’. The champions of New Public Management tended to underestimate the ingenuity of individuals to engage in statistical chicanery, particularly when contracts and careers could be at stake. Pleasing statistics make pleasing ‘sound-bites’. Accounts of fiddling became rife and sometimes amazingly clever. Minor matters that would be resolved by traditional peace keeping became the subject of reports if there was the possibility of a detected crime. In the health service, a time target was set as the maximum for patients to be admitted to a hospital ward rather than waiting in corridors and other areas. One hospital declared a corridor to be a ward and therefore met the target. One police force demonstrated an astonishing reduction in vehicle crime until it was discovered that marginal offences were reduced to non-recordable categories.<br /><br />For the police service, the way to improve ethical recording, at significant cost, was the introduction of new bureaucratic controls. New protocols and rules were introduced to reduce officer discretion in crime recording and new roles introduced to audit and ‘gate keep’ the system. Layers of audit at national and local levels have increased dramatically. The accretion in non-operational posts has been significant. There are signs that matters are maturing. Top-down targets have been reduced and there is a new emphasis on local policing to give a greater priority to neighbourhood issues. Nevertheless, British policing has changed as a consequence. Central government has assumed more powers and chief officers, once legally ‘operationally independent’, are now, to quote McLaughlin (2007) ‘operationally responsible’.<br /><br />Ref: McLaughlin E (2007) ‘The New Policing’, London, Sage<br /><br />Alan Marlow<br />Visiting Professor, University of Bedfordshire<br />Former Chief Superintendent of PoliceAlan Marlownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1342890755364880195.post-66572521678434851792010-04-06T14:23:53.062-07:002010-04-06T14:23:53.062-07:00Since outsiders to particular controversies are le...Since outsiders to particular controversies are less engaged, they can often offer rational and non partial contributions. As an outsider with a background in legal history, criminology and philosophy, the debate surrounding the research findings of Drs. Eterno and Silverman is not surprising.<br /><br />While compstat was established as a police management system aimed at the optimal decline of crime by means of accountability, it is deeply anchored in the business model of competition characteristic of the liberal market economy. The goal of crime reduction claims absolute priority regardless of incidents that may raise ethical issues. Research which suggests that there is a downside to this approach is destined to evoke a strong response from the political and police establishment who are wedded to this approach. <br /><br />The fact that the police management disagrees with the methodology and validity of the research demonstrates that the research is serious enough to be reviewed by respected social scientists and criminologists who do not have a stake in this debate. There is a greater need for transparency. Thus far the police have not shared their data with respected outsiders including the New York City Commission to Combat Police Corruption which has been rebuffed after seeking audit material. <br /><br /> Dr Thomas Albert Gilly <br /><br /> Director ERCES, Paris & St Petersburg Editor -in-Chief Erces Online Quarterly Journal., Director of the International Research Branch of IISCB, Bulgaria, Advisor to the Department of International Affairs of Davydov's Law and Tax Enterprise, St Petersburg, Member of the International Advisory Board of the South Asian Society of Criminology, Member of the International Editorial Board of the International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences.Thomas Gillyhttp://www.erces.comnoreply@blogger.com