STRATIFIED POLICING: AN ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL FOR PROACTIVE CRIME REDUCTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
By Roberto Santos and Rachel Santos, Published December 2020
For individual copies go to online book sellers.
For bulk orders, go directly to the publisher:
Implementing effective crime reduction requires deliberate thought and effort to integrate processes into the police organization, its culture, and the day-to-day work. Stratified Policing: An Organizational Model for Proactive Crime Reduction and Accountability provides police leaders a clear path for institutionalization of crime reduction modeled after current police processes. It sets up an organization to more easily incorporate evidence-based strategies into everyday operations with the goal of changing a police organization from reactive to proactive. Stratified Policing incorporates what works for crime reduction and how to realistically make it work in police practice. The book details the specific and adaptable framework that infuses small changes by rank and division into daily activities that build on each other resulting in a comprehensive and focused approach for crime reduction. It also lays out a multifaceted accountability process that is fair and transparent. Importantly, the book dedicates entire chapters to methods for developing crime reduction goals, addressing immediate, short-term, and long-term crime and disorder problems, and implementing a stratified accountability meeting structure. Chapters include recommendations supported by research and grounded in what is realistic in police practice for application of evidence-based strategies, assignment of responsibility and accountability, crime analysis products, and assessment measures for impact on crime and disorder.
鈥淎 key criticism of criminology is that it fails to provide clear and direct guidance to the police about how they should organize to carry out crime prevention. This book, written by two scholars who have real-life experience in the field, does just that. It summarizes the science of crime and crime prevention, and then develops a practical approach鈥攕tratified policing鈥攖hat can be used to organize successful proactive policing. This is an important book for police, and one that should also be read by police scholars.鈥� 鈥擠avid Weisburd, PhD, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University
鈥淚 have had the honor of working directly with Dr. Roberto Santos and Dr. Rachel Santos
for more than a decade. Their combined contributions to the development of essential
and effective crime analysis practices to guide the deployment of police and community
resources in rapid response to emerging crime patterns as well as to solve difficult
crime problems, all supported by an accountability structure within police organizations,
has been a major contribution to the fields of modern policing and crime prevention.
This book should be on the desk of all law enforcement professionals dedicated to
improving public safety by reducing crime and its harm.鈥� 鈥擱ichard S. Biehl, Director and Chief of Police, Dayton, OH Police Department
鈥淩ead this book. When I found stratified policing, I was looking for something foundational to bring crime reduction, community engagement, and accountability into the daily business of a police department. Working with Roberto and Rachel, we crafted a model of stratified policing that works specifically for my department. We have experienced substantial reductions in crime and continue to do so while having a community that supports our efforts. If you want a blueprint for effectively integrating evidence-based practices in your agency, this is it. 鈥擟hief Scott C. Booth, Danville, VA Police Department
"Stratified Policing has been a very effective crime reduction strategy for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. As the chief of police over the last 8 years, we have sustained the principles of Stratified Policing and have seen a steady downward trend resulting in a 53 percent reduction in index crime incidents. We have also achieved a 39 percent increase in our index crime clearance rate from 28.6 percent to 47.2 percent. During this time period, our population has increased by approximately 14 percent to 191,000 citizens. At this point, I can't imagine serving our community without Stratified Policing." 鈥�Chief John A. Bolduc, Port St. Lucie, FL Police Department
鈥淪tratified Policing is a critically important book for American policing. It represents the true integration of police science with police practice. By reengineering the way police agencies utilize and integrate accountability, crime analysis, and evidence-based practice Santos and Santos explain how police leaders can focus the collective power of their agencies and generate sustainable proactive responses that make their communities safer. Stratified Policing is an insightful and indispensable guide for law enforcement executives seeking to maximize the effectiveness and legitimacy of their agency鈥檚 crime fighting efforts.鈥� 鈥擳om 鈥淭ad鈥� Hughes, JD, PhD, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Southern Policing Institute, University of Louisville
鈥淲hat the authors have articulated in this book is an evidence-based approach to crime
reduction that capitalizes on measurable outcomes. By empowering all levels of an
organization with the responsibility, and frankly the motivation to become engaged,
we see significant improvements in individual law enforcement officer performance.
The Stratified Policing approach provides a significant return on investment. The
Walton County Sheriff鈥檚 Office is consistently recognized for our success in crime
reduction which can largely be attributed to our adherence to the Stratified Policing
model developed by the authors.鈥� 鈥擲heriff Michael Adkinson, Walton County, FL Sheriff鈥檚 Office
鈥淭he Stratified Policing model has proven to be effective in a Statewide Police Agency. The flexibility of the model has allowed Troop Commanders of each region to draw from proven evidence-based approaches to shape and modify their policing strategies to meet the needs of their community. Stratified Policing provides clear processes that have helped the Delaware State Police achieve significant reductions in crime while maintaining a strong positive relationship with the community.鈥� 鈥擭athaniel McQueen, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, State of Delaware and retired Delaware State Police Superintendent
Dr. Roberto Santos and Dr. Rachel Santos have provided training for law enforcement agencies, consortiums, governments, universities, and non-profit organizations in a wide range of topics including Stratified Policing, proactive crime reduction, evidence-based policing, problem solving, crime analysis and mapping, statistics and research methods, accountability and leadership, proactive community engagement, and crime prevention. The agencies and organizations have included:
Drs. Roberto and Rachel Santos have developed a systematic process for implementing Stratified Policing into an agency and evaluating its impact on organizational culture and crime. The following is a brief overview of the assistance they provide. For more information, contact them directly at rsantos4@radford.edu (Roberto) or rsantos5@radford.edu (Rachel).
Organizational Assessment
To understand the policies, practices, and organizational culture of the agency and collect baseline measures for evaluation, an organizational assessment is conducted and results in specific recommendations for tailoring the Stratified Policing organizational structure and implementing the proactive crime reduction strategies best suited for the agency. The assessment includes an examination of current data and technology capabilities, crime analysis products, crime reduction policies and procedures, as well as the organizational structure and unit/personnel functions. An organizational survey is conducted about current crime reduction and problem solving practices, communication, leadership, accountability, and transparency and 鈥減rocess mapping鈥� is used to document observed processes the agency uses to address different levels of problems. Lastly, onsite interviews and focus groups with personnel, ride alongs as well as observation are used to fully understand the agency and its practices.
Recommendations for Implementation
The results from the assessment inform specific recommendations for the agency to implement Stratified Policing. The recommendations focus on the implementation of evidence-based policing strategies that are best suited to the community's problems and the agency's resources as well as an accountability system that ensures sustainability and evaluation of effectiveness.
Assistance is provided to the agency鈥檚 leadership in developing clear and specific crime reduction goals, as well as a practical and detailed plan that outlines the crime analysis, crime reduction responsibilities and accountability structure that will be implemented at each rank, unit, and division. Based on the plan, assistance is also provided writing a departmental crime reduction policy on which the training and implementation will be based.
Stratified Training
Training is very important in that it provides the underlying theory, research, and foundational concepts of Stratified Policing, specific processes that are outlined in the department鈥檚 policy, and the specific roles and responsibilities of each rank, unit, and division. The process begins with a one day training with the agency's crime analysts to go over the specific evidence-based products outlined in the Stratified Policing business model that drives implementation and is used for subsequent training. A one-day training is then conducted for managers, commanders, and executives to provide an overview of the approach and explains the "why" of changes to be made in the agency. For successful implementation, additional training is conducted that is tailored for each rank, unit, and division depending on the designated roles and responsibilities outlined in the agency鈥檚 policy.
Ongoing Assistance with Implementation
Other areas of assistance during implementation depend on the capabilities and needs of the department. They might include:
Ongoing Collaboration
Once a partnership is established, we work with agencies on grant proposals for local or Federal grants to conduct research on Stratified Policing or crime reduction strategies; joint presentations at key policing conferences; and publishing collaborative articles in professional magazines. The goal is not only to assist an agency to implement Stratified Policing and be more effective in crime reduction but also to help disseminate results to other practitioners and researchers to improve policing overall.
Drs. Roberto and Rachel Santos have partnered with local and county police departments, state police, and sheriff鈥檚 offices to implement the Stratified Policing business model. The following are many of their recent partners.