You are a data analyst in the Police Department of Formdale (imaginary city), California.

Introduction

Formdale City Police Department (FCPD) was established in 1942 shortly after Formdale acquired the status of a city. It is one of the key organs of the California Department of Justice alongside other city police departments like Sacramento and Los Angeles. This police department functions in law enforcement by pursuing criminals, investigating crimes, and presenting evidence to court for trial. The city also plays an important role in maintaining street order and ensuring the security of all residents in Formdale. Among the crimes that the police department deals with include armed robbery, homicides, drug and substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and burglary. Over the last few years, the police department has collaborated with the community in developing safe neighborhoods. This has been possible through recruiting informants and laying dragnets for criminals.

Like other police departments in the United States, Formdale police department has a hierarchical leadership structure. At the head of the department is the commissioner who sits on the board of management. Below the commissioner is the chief of police who deals with administrative functions in the department. The chief of police commands the inspector who, in turn, supervises the lower ranks of police officers made up of colonels, lieutenants, corporals, sergeants, and field officers. This report offers a detailed description of Formdale police department. Specifically, it explains the characteristics of the workforce in the department including their years of experience, education levels, ethnicity, age group, and gender. Moreover, it discusses the crime rates in Formdale and the public satisfaction with the police departments. It ends up with the conclusions and recommendations made from the observed data. Through this report, the members of the community will learn about what the police is doing to engage them in reducing crime. This engagement is necessary for general crime control and the reduction of violent behaviors in the community (Mazerolle et al., 2020).

Department and Workforce Characteristics

Formdale City Police Department employs both uniformed and ununiformed officers to run its daily operations. Civilian staff in police departments perform support and clerical duties necessary for proper documentation, investigation, and reporting. Diversity is apparent in the departmental workforce. Civilian staff in the police help to reduce the cost of operations as well as to increase efficiency. In the police force, the duties that do not require core policing capabilities are better performed by civilians. Civilians work in the police department in laboratories and other areas that require non-combat expertise (Kiedrowski, Rudell, & Petrunik, 2017). Among the uniformed personnel, there are mixed genders, age groups, ethnicities and people with different education levels. One of the graphical representations below represents the cultural diversity in Formdale police force.

Workforce Composition

Among the 161 employees in this department, 49 are civilians while 112 are police officers holding different positions in the service. The decision to employ non-sworn civilians in the police force is based on cost-saving alternatives. When a law enforcement department replaces police officers in the back office with civilians, the wage bill decreases especially if the new employees are low-salaried (Kiedrowski, Rudell, & Petrunik, 2017).

The civilians employed to work in these sections have background training in the various duties they perform in the office. Since police officers may lack this training, the department is required to train them for optimum performance. This training is costly and affects the operating budget of the department. At the same time, the officers attending specialized training still receive their salaries although they are not working in their respective stations. Upon graduation, these officers may ask for salary increments, which may further affect the departmental wage bill. Employing civilians with the necessary training is, therefore, a plausible method of cost-saving by the Formdale Police Department. 

Education and Years of Experience

The performance of an individual is usually a function of their education and experience. Job experience is defined in both the number of years that a person has stayed in a job and the number of events that cumulatively build knowledge about the performance of a task (Hunter, 2017). Many organizations use job experience as one of the criteria to assess the qualifications of a candidate for a specific job. The assumption that these employers use is that experience matches the current needs of the workplace. In other words, the experience in a person acts as fuel to propel a new workplace through the infant stages. Employers prefer hiring people with adequate experience to avoid the training that is usually expensive for the company. The chart below shows the years of experience that different employees in FCPD have. As deduced from the graph, the majority of police officers and other personnel in the department have been in service for between 5 and 15 years.

In the police force, years of experience translate to efficiency in operations. The police force is a unique place of work since critical skills like decision-making, restraint, and resilience are required. A police officer requires experience to make a quick judgment whose outcome could have devastating outcomes. For instance, when faced with a threat to his or her life, a police officer needs to quickly assess the situation and substantiate the threat before acting. Since one of the dimensions of experience is the encounter with multiple events, it is expected that an experienced police officer would have encountered a similar confrontation before. In addition to critical decision-making, experience is necessary for effective leadership. As seen in the Formdale police department, officers holding administrative positions have many years of experience as compared to ordinary personnel. Leadership comes with experience, and it is prudent to place people with sufficient experience in administrative positions. 

The value of education in the workplace cannot be overemphasized. Every career requires expertise that is primarily acquired in school. In the police force, for example, shooting, crime bursting, and criminal investigation are gained in the police college. However, it is important to acknowledge that the police force is fundamentally criminal justice. Therefore, education on social work and psychology is important for police officers. For administrative posts, higher education in management is necessary for effective leadership in the police force. Research on the implication of education in the implementation of de-policing shows that officers with a bachelor’s degree and above are welcoming to a change that would help eliminate the use of force by the police (Nix. Wolfe, & Campbell, 2017). 

The level of education among police officers is a significant determinant of culture change. There is a heightened call to replace the traditional police culture with a more inclusive and citizen-friendly approach to policing.  Police officers with more education “may be more able to appreciate the social and economic conditions that can produce crime and disorder, allowing them to hold more positive attitudes toward the citizens they police” (Silver, Bilach, Roche, & Bontrager, 2017). According to the graph below, Formdale police department employs officers with high education in an aim to achieve the revolutionary trends proposed in the police force. 

According to the graph, more that 90% of police officers working in this department have undergraduate degrees. The data available does not delineate the specifics of the background training. Although, arguably, a police department will look for people with training that incorporates some aspects of social work. Social studies equip a person with knowledge of crime and make them better suited to work in the police force. For the officers with another kind of training like sciences, sociology is often included as part of a common training. In other words, all the police officers working in this department have an education that increases their efficiency in maintaining law and order. The officers with graduate education occupy higher ranks and are tasked with administration and command of the lower cadres. 

Gender

FCPD employs both men and women in sworn and unsworn services. The graph below shows that male police officers make up the largest composition of the force, although the number of women serving in this department depicts gender inclusivity. 

The police force is one of the areas where male domination is rampant. It is understandable, from a biological perspective, that the work of the police requires resilience and energy, meaning that men are better positioned to take up these jobs. However, women are necessary in the police not only for affirmative action but also for the handling of gender-sensitive cases. Women police officers are an emblem of gender equality. Countries around the world are striving to include women in all careers that are traditionally deemed male-dominated. Although the proportion of female officers in the police force is below the recommended number, the officers already available is a gesture in the right direction (Lučić-Ćatić, 2020). It is, however, regrettable that women in the police force face myriad challenges like cessation from work once they are pregnant (Lučić-Ćatić, 2020).

Ethnicity 

FCPD employs officers from across five major ethnic groups in the United States. According to the available data, the majority of the officers are White, followed by Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and American Indian/Alaska Natives in that order.

The finding above has significant implications for racial justice in the country. The majority of cases of police brutality experienced in the past involved a black victim and a White officer. A common argument in these cases is that the police force is white-dominated and rarely represents the interests of the other races in the US population. In response to this allegation, there have been proposals to employ more Black people to the police force. The effectiveness of this recommendation is, however, questionable. While conforming to the organizational behavior, Black police officers may mete violence against people of their race (Nicholson-Crotty, Nicholson-Crotty, & Fernandez, 2017). Data from independent researchers and institutions suggest that the proposal may work in reducing the citizen-police confrontations that usually turn fatal. Through a representative bureaucracy theory, Nicholson-Crotty, Nicholson-Crotty, & Fernandez (2017) conclude that more black officers in the police units will reduce violent treatment and harassment of African Americans by White police officers.  

Crime Statistics in Formdale

Formdale City keeps statistics on crime to allow the police department to make informed decisions on the areas that need more focus. Walden University (2021) cites that crime statistics are important for predictive policing, budgetary formation, community engagement, and resource allocation. Predictive policing means the assessment of risk to identify areas that are prone to crime. Through this strategy, the police can institute preventive measures or brace themselves for a surge in criminal activity. Moreover, statistics help to illuminate the severity of the situation and allocate the necessary resources that are sufficient for the specific intervention. This implies that the budgetary allocation should go in tandem with the workforce, weaponry, and tactical response required for a particular locality. When the police recognize the rampancy of crime in a certain neighborhood, they can begin engaging the community members in an aim to curb the delinquency identified. The following section describes the statistics of crime in Formdale City.

Types of Crime Reported in Formdale

General

Between 2019 and 2019, FCPD received 66 criminal activities involving the police in various areas across the city. The crimes ranged from stalking to armed robbery and homicide.   According to the following graph, the most commonly reported crime in his city is gun violence. The second most common type of crime reported to the police involves traffic or motor vehicle, while the third is attempted crime. According to this data, there are significant cases of public disturbance that include domestic abuse and street racing. Only two cases of drug-related crime were reported for the two years.

This data is inconsistent with the national crime rates reported by Pew Research. According to this research firm, the most common crime in 2019 was theft while the least was murder. In Formdale, two cases of homicide were reported in the two years. For the purpose of this analysis, theft, and burglary have been classified under civil disorder, which only takes a small bar in the above graph. The inconsistency between Formdale and national statistics is an indication of a problem at the local level. For instance, unlike in the national statistics where motor-vehicle-related crimes come fourth, this crime is the most prevalent in Formdale. The New York Times reported that an increase in auto theft cases in the last year was due to a combination of car locking technology and social changes occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. As people stayed home and asked for supplies from outside, many car drivers were parking their vehicles as they delivered orders to customers. If the vehicle is keyless and the driver leaves the fob in the car, a burglar could easily open the car and run away with it (Nir, 2021). The rise in car theft in Formdale could as well point to a thriving motor vehicle syndicate operating in the city. 

Gun violence

Gun violence is also rampant in the city. The types of gun violence reported to the police include armed robbery, illegal gun possession, and indiscriminate firing of guns. In the United States, crimes involving firearms have resulted in fatal outcomes that often involve the police. In Formdale City, two police officers were shot while confronting offenders wielding guns. The problem in Formdale is a representation of the loose gun control rules in the country. Over time, the government has made laws aimed at regulating gun ownership among the public while safeguarding American’s right to gun possession. At the same time, the government has made efforts to reduce street crime and withdraw firearms from the hands of irresponsible people (Oraka et al., 2019). Regardless of these efforts, cases of gun violence still appear in the media. From the statistics gathered by the FCPD, more effort is needed to ensure that people do not lose lives or property in the hands of armed robbers. Around-the-clock surveillance, community partnership, and youth empowerment would go a long way in resolving gun violence in the city. 

Drug and Substance Abuse-related Crime

Drug violence in Formdale is lower compared to other crimes. According to the 2019-2020 data, only two cases of drug violence were reported to the police. Drug violence can arise when street gangs fight over the market where drugs or abuse are sold. It could also arise when a person using drugs becomes violent against their family members or the public. Drug violence in the United States has a racial trajectory. According to Lewis, Hoffman, Garcia, and Nixon (2018), “higher proportions of Caucasians (67.38%) reported problem alcohol use relative to African Americans (58.64%; OR=0.69, 95% CI [0.52–0.91]).” Moreover, “African Americans endorsed both regular (90.94%) and problem use (82.97%) of cocaine at higher rates than Caucasians.” Scientific data also showed that Whites have higher problematic use of “amphetamines, narcotics, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, hallucinogens, and pain medications.” The graph below represents the percentage composition of ethnic groups in Formdale.

In line with Lewis et al. (2018), the drug problem in Formdale would be low since half of the population is Black. Observably, the percentage of Whites in the city is far below the national statistics. Other studies have associated the Black population with problematic drug use. Keyes et al. (2018), for instance, cited that marijuana use among adolescents was higher in the black population compared to the white segment. It means, therefore, that the observed trend in Formdale is suggestive of community and police collaboration in reducing drug use in the country. 

Offender Characteristics

Socio-demographic analysis of offenders in Formdale indicates that the majority of suspects in Formdale are Black people aged between 18 and 35 years. This data is constituent with the citywide population characteristics. Being 50% Black, it is expected that an offender is more likely to be Black than White. Surprisingly, there was no single suspect from races other than Black and White. 

Again, the above data is consistent with national statistics. In the past, higher criminality has been reported among the Black population than the rest of the ethnic groups in the country. An analysis of the prison population in the United States shows that Black people are overrepresented among inmates incarcerated in different facilities in the country. Specifically, Blacks make up “only 13% of the U.S. population, but they represent over 30% of those imprisoned, with one in four Black men incarcerated at some point in their lives” (Kovera, 2019). 

Regarding the age of criminals, data from the FCPD indicate that the majority of suspects implicated in various crimes are youth aged between 18 and 35 years. Juvenile delinquency is evident from the above data albeit in an insignificant proportion. Steffensmeier, Zhong, and Lu (2017) note that the age at which crime peaks in the United States is between the middle to late teens. This behavior continues through youth until a person “learns that gains from crime are not worth the risk or effort and that with age they have more to lose.” Some youthful populations that may have entered into crime dissociate from this behaviour as they leave for college, join the military, get into marriages, or acquire gainful employment. As the years go by, offenders appreciate that time is moving and they need to engage in more productive activities. At the same time, some offenders are imprisoned, and so the present data captures the older suspects that may have entered into crime late or those that have never entered the police dragnet. 

Most criminals identified by the FCPD are men. The chart below shows that only a small proportion of criminals are women. 

National statistics also indicate that most offenders in the country are men. This translated to a higher male population in US prisons. In the United States, there is less than 20% of arrests involving female offenders. The only crime where women surpass men is prostitution and related offenses (Jrank, 2021). The few female offenders are involved in less serious crimes as compared to those committed by men. Admittedly, men offenders engage in crimes such as homicides and aggravated assault while women take part in arguably petty offences like larceny theft and shoplifting. Women do not also become repeat offenders as many times as men do. Since drug abuse is correlated with offending, the rate of crime involving women is low since this gender does not consume substances of abuse as commonly as men do (Jrank, 2021). 

Various theories explain why criminality in men is higher than in women. Social learning theory, for instance, explains that men grow up in a society where most crimes are associated with the male gender. Additionally, strain theory explains that social pressures lead men to commit crimes. In the view of this theory, the upbringing of boys is more problematic than that of females. Men are more likely to encounter childhood abuse and other forms of mistreatment that predispose them to crime. The biological makeup of men has a role in their criminality. The natural desire to take control forces men to crimes as they seek assertion and approval from the community. In the criminal justice system, female offenders are considered an “at-risk” population while their male counterparts are termed “risky thrill-seekers” (Sarre et al., 2021). 

Various studies have attempted to explain the involvement of women in crime. Campanella (2019), for instance, does not explicitly explain why women are involved in criminal activities. She, however, cites that sociological and psychological factors that influence criminality are similar for both men and women. She also notes that over the last few decades, the entry of women into crime has continued to increase. As more women become educated and employed in the labor market, their criminal behavior tends to increase.  Opportunities in the labor market expose women to avenues through which they can embezzle money, for example, and engage in other types of crime related to their professions (Campaniello, 2021).

Crime in 2019 and 2020

The rate of crime in Formdale rose significantly from 2019 to 2020. The line graph below shows a sharp increase in the number of crimes reported for both years. 

According to the graph above, 26 cases were reported to the police in 2019 as compared to 41 in 2020. This variation represents a 58 % increase in criminality in one year. This worrying trend depicts a problem at social and economic levels. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019 peaked in 2020 across all nations in the world. The economic hardship occasioned by this pandemic contributed to high rates of layoffs and unemployment. Students did not graduate from universities and were forced to stay idle at home. In the United States, the panic created by the pandemic and the possibility of it escalating into an apocalypse caused widespread social unrest. Hate crimes against Chinese were experienced in the United States and elsewhere in the world (Gray & Hansen, 2020).

In India, massive retrenchment resulted in widespread unemployment and a general increase in the rate of crime (Uppal, 2020). In Mexico, the sale of drugs increased as drug peddlers ventured into the streets to vend their merchandise (De la Miyar et al., 2021). In Australia, there was a remarkable increase in civil and criminal offenses shortly after the lockdown was announced. Data shows that the post-COVID rates of home break-ins and motor vehicle theft increased dramatically. There were more cases of domestic violence reported in 2020 than in 2019 in Australia (Wang, Fung, & Weatherburn, 2021). The Australian data is consistent with statistics in other countries like the UK and the US (Wang et al., 2021). While the crime rates increased in Formdale in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restructuring of the department in 2020 resulted in better crime reporting mechanisms and documentation. It means, therefore, that measuring the effect of the pandemic on crime rates in Formdale accurately is impossible since this was not the only variable that affected the observed data. 

Community Engagement

Calls

Formdale City Police Department engages the community in crime reporting and satisfaction surveys.  The data below shows the number of calls to the department over 10 years. 

From the graph above, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of calls made to the police. This trend depicts the rise in police-community engagement. When the public understands the role of the police and their mandate, they usually notify them of various incidences through calls. The trend observed also demonstrates the rise in technological advances that make it possible for the caller to reach the police. It also means that the police service has restructured itself as an institution for public use, meaning there are more call centres. Another major deduction from this graph is that crime rates have increased in the community. The crimes are reported to the police, primarily through a call. 

Once the police are called, they usually respond in good time to help the people in need. The response time is an indicator of the efficiency of the police communication mechanisms. According to the chart below, it is clear that the time that police pick up the call has continued to increase over the last ten years.

In 2010, for example, the average time that the police answered a call was eight seconds as compared to 23 seconds in 2020. This translates to more than double increase in answer time over 10 years. The change has implications for public safety. When a police officer takes a lot of time to answer a call from a person in distress, the caller may be harmed or the situation deteriorates. If, for instance, a person is calling because they suspect that somebody is following them, the police need to answer immediately and avail help before the caller encounters harm.

The longer answer time also raises the turn-around time for police action.  The 911 system works through public service answering points (PSAPs) where all incoming calls are processed. The receiver may act as the responder or may dispatch another person for the caller (Neusteter et al., 2019). Usually, a person would dial 911 when they spot an emergency. When a caller wants to describe the nature of a burglar, for example, the police need to receive this call in the shortest time before the suspect changes location. From the trend, therefore, it is arguable that the response from the police has not been efficient due to longer answering times. 

Feedback from the Public

Formdale City Police Department encourages the public to give feedback on the quality of its services. According to a customer satisfaction survey conducted recently, there is a high level of distrust in the police from members of the minority groups.  The majority of respondents in this survey did not trust the police service.

The highest level of mistrust in the police is observed among the African-American community while the lowest is among the Whites in the country. The historical injustices meted against the Blacks by the police contribute to the trend observed in this cart. Violence against the black community by the police comes in the form of lethal force, restraint, car searches, verbal assault, and undue suspicion (Headly & Wright II, 2019).

The survey also revealed insightful feedback on neighborhood safety and general satisfaction with the services provided by the police. According to the chart below, most of the respondents were not satisfied with this service. 

The respondents did not specify what areas where they were not satisfied with, but it could cover any of the operations by the police. Low response rates as seen in the graphs above could be one of the reasons why the public is unsatisfied. It could also stem from the fact that the police are unfriendly to the people in every encounter. A study carried out to determine the interaction between the police and members of the community showed that people gauge their satisfaction with the police during encounters such as procedural justice (Wheelock, Stroshine, & O’Hear, 2019). When a person determines that the police officers are fair, unbiased, and courteous, they record high satisfaction levels as compared to those who are mistreated during this encounter (Wheelock, Stroshine, & O’Hear, 2019). 

Parting shot

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