Bogged down by data, police services need process rethink: study

Fighting and preventing crimes may not be the only activity in a typical day in the life of a police officer in Canada; it's also filing paperwork, tons of paperwork. Western professor Laura Huey and researchers at the department of sociology examined how police services' managerial and data collection practices - intended to provide transparency and accountability - often lead to inefficiencies, including increased paperwork, higher staffing costs and poor-quality crime statistics. Huey, along with co-authors Lorna Ferguson and Jacek Koziarski, recently published the paper, "The irrationalities of rationality in police data processes,' in Policing and Society , based on interviews from police personnel from two police services in Canada. "People have an idea that police officers are out proactively engaging in crime prevention and community engagement, but most police services in Canada today are overwhelmingly driven by calls for services," said Huey. There can often be a long line of unanswered calls for service. Delayed response times may lead to people not reporting crimes against property, such as burglary, so these will not be reflected in crime rates. The study found that when police do report to calls, they are required to complete a wide spectrum of reports, for their own purposes, as well as for use by other groups.