Patrol Distribution Essay

In order for patrol distribution to be effective, it must revolve around the goal of trying to satisfy the vast majority of citizens’ concerns within a jurisdiction (Fritsch et al., 2008). Patrol allocation should be taken into consideration in order to effectively distribute the patrol. Depending on the size of a police department and its jurisdiction, patrol allocation can help distribute the patrol by dividing the patrol jurisdiction into different areas and assigning officers to patrol some or each of these areas if necessary and if resources are available (Fritsch et al., 2008). The number of citizen calls that have been received in the past by the police department can help determine how many officers should be assigned in each area (Fritsch et al., 2008). To help determine where, when, and how patrol should be distributed, a patrol deployment should be
This is a big challenge for police administrator because when they make the shift schedules, they have to find a balance between keeping the morale of their officers high while at the same time take in consideration the never ending concerns that citizens demand from their police departments. Moore from FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin concluded in his research that the four 10-hour day work week provides a good balance for most police departments (1995). However, it was also noted that each police department is different, therefore the demands and concerns of each police department might be different from one another and their shift schedules and patrol distribution should be created accordingly to meet the demands and concerns of each police department (Moore, 1995).
2. Compare patrol allocation and distribution differences in a major urban city and a small rural community. What is similar, what is different, and