THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE CONCEPTUAL AND PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES OF DEFINING AND MEASURING POLICE OUTPUT.
POLICE SERVICES ARE AN INTERMEDIATE STEP IN THE PRODUCTION OF JUSTICE, AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS DEPENDS ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE COURT AND CORRECTIONS SYSTEMS AS WELL AS ON POLICE EFFORTS. SINCE IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT THE SOCIAL COSTS OF CRIME INCREASE WITH THE NUMBER OF OFFENSES, CRIME RATES CAN BE USED AS ONE MEASURE OF SYSTEM PRODUCTION AND EFFECTIVENESS. TO BE OF PRACTICAL USE, EACH MEASURE MUST HAVE AN ACCEPTED AND VALID FORMULA FOR COMPUTING OUTPUT, USE OBTAINABLE DATA AND BE OF SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO MEASURE CHANGES RESULTING FROM THE ACTIVITY BEING EVALUATED. THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF A NUMBER OF APPROACHES TO MEASURING POLICE OUTPUT ARE SURVEYED, AND COST-BENEFIT AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS ARE DISCUSSED IN DETAIL. AN OUTLINE OF THE TYPE OF EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS REQUIRED TO VALIDATE POTENTIAL MEASURES OF POLICE PRODUCTIVITY IS PROVIDED. THE REPORT CONCLUDES BY EXAMINING THE FUNDAMENTAL WAYS IN WHICH POLICE ACTIONS CAN AFFECT THE CRIME RATE, IN AN ATTEMPT TO ISOLATE THOSE CAPABILITIES WHICH ACCOUNT FOR MOST OF THE POLICE IMPACT.