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2 - Three Tiers for Evidence-Based Policing

Targeting “Minimalist” Policing with a Risk-Adjusted Disparity Index

from Part I - Taking Stock of Evidence-Based Policing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2023

By
Lawrence W. Sherman
Edited by
David Weisburd ,
Tal Jonathan-Zamir ,
Gali Perry  and
Badi Hasisi
David Weisburd
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and George Mason University, Virginia
Tal Jonathan-Zamir
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gali Perry
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Badi Hasisi
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Summary

As the COVID19 Pandemic disrupted the world in 2020, it produced a new strategy of using geographic “Tiers” in public health, especially in the UK: the idea that the intrusiveness of prevention policies should be proportionate to the geographically varying risk of harm from the virus, with greater intrusiveness targeted selectively on only the highest-risk locations in order to cause minimal disruption. A Tiered policing system to prevent serious violence could apply the same principles, especially with proactive strategies such as stop and search. While such strategies can be effective when targeted on very violent hot spots, they can also minimize collateral damage if they are largely restricted to hot spots. This chapter shows how police legitimacy in democracies could be enhanced by confining most highly-intrusive policing, such as stop and search, to “highest-tier” areas for serious violent victimizations, possibly limited to 5% of all places in a city. Equality of intrusive protection across racial groups within the most violent Tier could be tracked and regulated by a Risk-Adjusted Disparity (RAD) Index. In lower tier areas, reducing proactive policing could reduce friction between police and community, and provide the greatest benefit yet offered by evidence-based policing.

Keywords

Tiered PolicingRAD IndexStop & SearchHomicide VictimisationDe-Funding PoliceProportional PolicingCoupling of Intrusion to Risk
Type
Chapter
Information
The Future of Evidence-Based Policing , pp. 19 - 43
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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