One of the more difficult aspects of measuring police performance is to determine if what you are doing is really working in the field. We refer to this as measuring outcomes versus outputs.
Unlike a sterile science lab, cops are often unable to use the basic scientific method of measuring conditions before hand, applying some type of intervention, and then measuring things afterward do determine if what you did made a difference. And because we try so many things at once, it is difficult to say which strategy (if any) changed things or if chance simply occurred. (Apologies to all of my former science teachers and statistics professors for simplifying this explanation.)
Take traffic safety for instance...
We rely on the Three Es - Education, Engineering, and Enforcement - to improve traffic safety in Lakeland. One of the ways we determine our success is the by the number traffic crashes reported to the police. The theory goes something like this; you educate drivers, you design safety roadway systems, and you give tickets to traffic violators. In the end we hope to have less crashes today than yesterday.
Something is working in Lakeland...
According to data from our CAD system, our Planning and Research Section reports traffic crashes of all types (from the least serious to the most serious) are down 4.6% for the first seven months of 2007 as compared to the same period last year. P&R examined data from the City of Lakeland's Traffic Operations for the more serious crashes that result in a report being written during the first six months of the year. That analysis found the more serious crashes in 2007 were down 17% from 2006 and estimated amount of property damage down 9%.
Think about it - more drivers on the roads and less crashes. Whether it's education, engineering, or enforcement, something is working in Lakeland.
-Asst Chief Bill LePere
The lack of wrecks could be due to all of the trains that hold the city at bay numerous times a day.
Posted by: LakelandTraveler | August 06, 2007 at 03:57 PM