5A - Planning considerations

PLANNING FOR PATROL OPERATION

Fundamental considerations

The basic goal of the patrol unit/force is to safeguard the public/community.

Providing public protection can be done through:


o Preventive Enforcement (progressive and continuous patrolling)
o Selective Enforcement (research and investigation)

 Leaders should define the essence (and priority) of the patrol operation.

 Crime prevention/deterrence
 Crime suppression
 Police intervention

Always consider the fundamental theories of crime deterrence.

 Police visibility
 Police omnipresence
 Low profile theory

The essence of visibility & omnipresence is crime deterrence:

1. In crime prevention, the psychological tool of the police is VISIBILITY and OMNIPRESENCE.
2. Visibility and omnipresence is applied by the police for the purpose of:

 making their presence felt;

 giving a feeling of security to law abiding citizens; and
 providing a feeling of fear to would be offenders.

The primary objective of patrol activity is “to prevent the commission of crime”.

How? By destroying the opportunity of potential offenders thru constant and alert patrolling

Anatomy of the Crime:

Crime takes place if the 3 elements or ingredients are present at the same time and place.

 Instrumentality
 Motive
  Opportunity 

Once Crime took place, it can be further explained by using the interaction of these 3 factors:

 Criminal tendency
 Total situation
 Resistance to temptation

Instrumentality – the means or instrument used in the commission of the crime.

Motive – the reason or cause why a person or group of persons will perpetrate a crime; purpose or aim of
doing something.

Opportunity – chance or ‘twist of fate’; consist of the acts (whether by omission or commission) by a
person (the victim) that enables another person or group of persons (the offender/s) to perpetrate the
crime.

 Opportunity is synonymous with carelessness, acts of indiscretion, and lack of crime prevention-
consciousness on the part of the victim

Illustrative examples are:

                        Leaving one’s home or car unattended for a long time

                        Walking all alone in a well-known crime prone alley

                        Wearing expensive jewelries in slum area