On the Modeling of Police Patrol Operations

An analytical approach to several operational problems of urban police departments is introduced. In particular, the focus is on urban police patrol forces and the two important activities of a patrol car (or patrol unit) 1) answering a call for police service, 2) performing crime preventive patrol. After reviewing the traditional allocation method, a patrol travel time model and a preventive patrol model are developed. The first depicts the time required for a patrol unit to travel from its position at time of dispatch until arrival at the scene of the incident. The second relates the frequency of patrols to physical parameters and can be used to estimate the probability that a patrolling unit will intercept a crime while in progress. Applications of the models are discussed.