Lawrence Police Department - The COMPSTAT Process

The COMPSTAT Process

COMPSTAT is a crime analysis and police management process developed by the New York City Police Department in the mid 1990's. It was introduced to the Lawrence Police Department in January 1999, when John J. Romero became the Chief of Police after serving nearly 30 years with the NYPD.

COMPSTAT is process in which crime data and other essential police performance measures are collected, analyzed and mapped on a regular basis and police commanders are held accountable for their performance as measured by such data. It allows us to analyze problems, come up with solutions and then evaluate those solutions on a regular basis.

The basis premise of COMPSTAT is that with the assistance of statistical information:

Constant performance tracking is made possible,
enabling prompt and effective operational decision making,
for the purpose of providing effective delivery of services.

Four basic principles drive the COMPSTAT process:

Timely and accurate intelligence

Effective crime-fighting requires accurate and timely intelligence. Officers at all levels of the police department must understand when (time of day, day of week, week of year) various types of crimes have been committed as well as how, where, and by whom they have been committed.

Effective Tactics

Having collated, analyzed and mapped this crime intelligence, the department's commanders must develop effective tactics for dealing with the problems it reveals. In order to bring about permanent change in crime conditions, these tactics must be comprehensive, flexible, and adaptable to changing trends. They may also involve other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA and Massachusetts State Police, the District Attorney's office, the probation department, other city agencies as well as the public.

Rapid deployment of personnel and resources

Once a tactical plan has been developed, the deployment of personnel and resources must be rapid and focused. To be effective, the response to a crime or quality-of-life problem demands that patrol and special units coordinate their resources and expertise and act with a sense of urgency.

Relentless Follow-up and Assessment

All action must be relentlessly followed-up and assessed to ensure that the desired results has been achieved. This is the only way of ensuring that recurring or similar problems are dealt with effectively in the future.

Compstat in Lawrence

The Lawrence COMPSTAT process looks at eight (8) specific crimes that occur in the city. The eight crimes focused on are

Murder,
Rape,
Robbery,
Aggravated Assault,
Residential Burglary,
Commercial Burglary,
Felony Larceny and
Motor Vehicle Theft.

These crimes are tracked on a national level by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR). Every month the Chief and all his unit commanders go over the crimes that occurred on each patrol commander’s shift. Unit commanders also report on their activity. The group works together to learn about problems and implement solutions. The Chief and his deputies look daily at the tracked crime and address evolving problems as they arise.

Lawrence’s COMPSTAT process utilizes raw numbers, changes, charts, graphs and maps to obtain the full picture of crime in the city. Crime trends centering around specific crimes, times or locations are isolated very quickly. Furthermore, many years worth of crime information are utilized to see prior trends in order to predict future ones. This allows for even more effective deployment of manpower and resources.