Compstat in Australia: An analysis of the spatial and temporal impact

Mazerolle, Lorraine, McBroom, James and Rombouts, Sacha (2011) Compstat in Australia: An analysis of the spatial and temporal impact. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39 2: 128-136.


Author Mazerolle, Lorraine
McBroom, James
Rombouts, Sacha
Title Compstat in Australia: An analysis of the spatial and temporal impact
Journal name Journal of Criminal Justice  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank B)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2011-03
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.12.005
Volume number 39
Issue number 2
ISSN 0047-2352; 1873-6203
Start page 128
End page 136
Total pages 9
Place of publication East Park, Kidlington, Oxford, U.K.
Publisher Pergamon
Collection year 2012
Language eng
Formatted abstract Abstract: One of the major trends in policing sweeping across democratic societies since the mid-1990s is a management approach commonly known as COMPSTAT. Despite widespread global adoption, empirical evaluation of the impact of COMPSTAT lags behind popular accounts of its crime control benefits.

Purpose: This article evaluates the crime control impact of Queensland Police Service's version of COMPSTAT known as “Operational Performance Reviews” (OPRs).

Method: A mixed model analytic approach was used to assess the role of OPRs in explaining spatial and temporal variations in crime patterns across Queensland's 29 police districts.

Results: Analysis of the impact of OPRs on reported crime (specifically assaults, robberies and unlawful entries) suggests major differences between police districts, and that some districts are driving overall statewide crime reductions, whilst others confound positive effects of implementation of OPRs in Queensland.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the crime drop experienced throughout Queensland found in prior research (Mazerolle et al., 2007) is most likely attributable to a small number of police districts. The implication of these findings is that a number of districts could (and should) be called-upon during maturation of Queensland's OPRs to reduce specific crime problems in their districts and facilitate ongoing crime reductions across the state.

Research Highlights: ► Empirical evaluation of crime control impact for Australian version of COMPSTAT (OPRs). ► Mixed model approach assessing OPRs’ role in explaining crime variation (spatial and temporal). ► Major differences between 29 police districts (for assault, robbery, unlawful entry). ► Select few police districts driving statewide crime reductions. ► Police districts to be called-upon during maturation of OPRs to facilitate crime reduction.
© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ
Additional Notes Publication date: March-April 2011.

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Article
Collections: Institute for Social Science Research - Publications
Official 2012 Collection
 
Versions
Version Filter Type
Citation counts: TR Web of Science Citation Count  Cited 1 times in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Article | Citations
Scopus Citation Count Cited 1 times in Scopus Article | Citations
Google Scholar Search Google Scholar
Access Statistics: 66 Abstract Views  -  Detailed Statistics
Created: Thu, 07 Jul 2011, 13:38:25 EST by Anna Bartos on behalf of Institute for Social Science Research