Tullio Caputo

Reconsidering sustainability: some implications for community-based crime prevention:

This paper examines the experiences of a community that has successfully sustained its crime prevention through social development activities for over a decade. It explores how a broad philosophical approach to sustainability can be applied to community-based initiatives such as crime prevention. In this regard, traditional situational crime prevention strategies are compared with crime prevention through social development. The evidence from the case study community illustrates the importance for sustainability of such factors as bottom-up decision-making, flexibility, inclusion and integration. The findings suggest that crime prevention through social development provides a framework for developing sustainable community-based crime prevention activities. The implications of these findings are considered with respect to the sustainability of other community-based initiatives.

Addressing role and value in policing: toward a sustainable policing framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the sustainability of policing organizations and propose approaches to enhance their sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses an action research approach involving the researchers and partners from the main national policing bodies in Canada and six police service research sites. Findings – This paper presents a Sustainable Policing Framework (SPF) intended to enhance the sustainability of policing services. Practical implications – The SPF the authors present can be implemented by police service organizations to assist with organizational development as the external environment changes. Originality/value – No other approaches to police sustainability that involve a framework similar to the one that is presented are known. This paper provides specific tools for police services to deploy to address their sustainability concerns.

The inescapably ethical foundation of sustainability

In this paper, we show how various authors have discussed the idea of sustainability and linked it to ethics and ethical behaviour. We further show that ideas of sustainability are closely linked to the notion of sameness through time. We discuss sameness in an object-predicate framework and show that in this context, it requires selecting clear criteria, with behaviours adopted to meet those criteria. An important insight from the object-predicate framework is that selection of the criteria for sameness is shown to rest entirely on the value judgements of those making the selection. We provide a detailed example that demonstrates this, and argue that given the prominence of value judgements in assessments of sameness (and in this sense, of sustainability), ethics are unavoidably at its foundation. Examining ideas of sustainability in this way may provide insights into how we might become better able to meet the conception of sustainable development articulated in the Brundtland Report.

Assessing what police officers do “on the job”: toward a “public values” approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a test in a policing context of a performance assessment tool that is based on a “public values” approach. The Capability, Importance, and Value (CIV) Tool allows police organizations to examine the roles their members carry out to determine whether they are being capably done, are important, and deliver value to stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Five focus groups were conducted with front line officers from a large Canadian police service. The focus group process incorporated elements of Appreciative Inquiry and Structured Brainstorming. Findings Valuable information can be collected from front line police officers with the CIV Tool. Police organizations could use this information to improve performance while ensuring that the roles undertaken by their members align with broader organizational goals and objectives including providing value to stakeholders. Research limitations/implications This study was designed as a limited test of the CIV Tool. More extensive testing is required with a larger sample that includes police investigators and members of other specialty units. Practical implications The CIV Tool can serve to augment existing police performance measurement strategies. It can help to identify which roles contribute to achieving organizational goals and which do not. Based on this information, ameliorative action can be taken. Social implications A “public values” approach places emphasis on stakeholder needs and expectations. Addressing these directly can result in enhanced performance as well as greater police transparency, responsiveness, and accountability. Originality/value Ongoing police performance assessment based on a “public values” approach is uncommon in policing. Its use has important implications for police organizations and their stakeholders.

Leading policing in Europe: an empirical study of strategic police leadership

The chapters in this book “focus on how knowledge obtained from education, training, and scientific research pertains to current police practices” (p. 7). Importantly, this book helps to address those who are mired in the ‘experience is the best teacher’ mentality. Although it is possible that this book will appeal primarily to those who already understand and have experienced the benefits of collaborative policing, this text should be used as an example of the practicality of constructive and continual dialogue between all criminal justice stakeholders. It should be manditory for police leadership and management courses. Similarly, it should be used by academics wishing to develop and sustain effective and meaningful collaborations with the police. Academics must realize that police need cost-effective solutions as all police organizations are being asked to do more with less, are being held to a higher level of accountability to ensure that they are meeting public safety goals and objectives, and are operating in a climate where virtually every aspect of policing is taking longer and is more complicated than in the past. Tenure as a police manager is usually short and contentious. Academics can assist in quickly accessing and addressing the agency’s needs, provide practical and timely feedback, while not necessarily thinking about how this research will be parlayed into a longitudinal, methodologically complicated journal article or book. Although too numerious to mention, this book uses many examples where all the goals of the participants are met through collaboration, which is the ultimate goal. This book should be seen as a practical guide for attaining the best policing and public safety outcome for a community through education and collaboration. In this endevour, Kratcoski and Edelbacher’s book does an outstanding job of informing the practitioner and academic alike of the importance and benefits of collaborative policing.