A new approach in curbing crime trends has made a difference for the Delta police department.
Now entering its third year as a crime control model, COMPSTAT (also referred to as communitybased, intelligence-led, accountability-driven policing) is not a computer system, but rather a management philosophy as well as an organizational tool.
COMPSTAT was created by the New York City police department to combat high crime rates. It's now used in other big and small city departments across the U.S. as well as RCMP detachments and municipal departments in Canada.
The goals of COMPSTAT, initiated here in December 2009, are to efficiently gather accurate and timely intelligence on crime trends as well as create rapid deployment and "relentless" follow-up and assessment.
"We (sections of the department) meet once a month to discuss the priorities in Delta. We do it on a 28-day period, so when we prioritize things and identify issues that need to be addressed, we can measure what we've done based on that 28-day cycle," explained Delta police spokesperson Const. Ciaran Feenan.
Feenan said COMPSTAT includes constant reviews to see if a particular trend has been addressed and, if not, it will continue to be a priority for another 28-day cycle.
"There's a constant revisiting to make sure we have our resources in the proper places. It certainly allows us to identify crime trends in the community and allows us to move our resources appropriately to address the needs of the victims and the community," Feenan said.
He noted the model analyzes all crimes, from robberies to assaults to property offences.
"We're constantly analyzing all our crimes, instead of, for example, this month strictly focusing on residential break-and-enters.
Previously, if things were going on in a certain area we'd address it as a platoon and take on individual things ourselves. Now the statistics are telling us, 'Here's the issue. What resources are we going to be able to devote to that?'"
Feenan said Delta police had been using a similar model to COMPSTAT for some time.
"The community is reporting crime to us and we need the community to report incidents of crime in their neighbourhood. It's intelligence-based in that we are having the crime analyzed and it's leading us to where we need to put our resources, and it's holding those resources accountable on a 28-day cycle.
Whatever resources have been given to that trend is going to be held accountable for what the outcome is," Feenan said.
"It seems to be quite an effective tool for us," he added.
According to the police, COMPSTAT is "the driving force" behind information sharing among all levels of the department. This approach provides for an early warning system to identify emerging crime trends.
The department also notes the follow-up and assessment period allows police to master various deployment and investigative strategies.
