Selected analytic techniques and management strategies of a field test program to improve the utilization of police patrol resources are detailed. This program test design forms the basis for the field test, sponsored by the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (NILECJ). The goal of each field test effort is to determine the effectiveness of the elements or program strategies outlined in the document in various settings and to examine their applicability to other jurisdictions. A number of police departments have already experimented with one or more of the elements of the patrol management program. From this previous experimentation, NILECJ has created a composite of the best approaches in the field, which are to be implemented in three police departments in cities with populations ranging from 200,000 to 450,000. The primary objectives are to assess the impact of this configuration of techniques and strategies on patrol efficiency and to determine whether the program merits widespread replication. Traditional patrol allocation strategies are reviewed and evaluated. Then a program design is outlined, with techniques and strategy options for the program's two major processes: allocating resources (matching resource allocations to workload conditions) and undertaking directed activity (analyzing crime and service-oriented problems and developing strategies to solve those problems). An evaluation design is presented for use in determining the degree to which the test program achieved its objectives and in identifying conditions which inhibit or facilitate its successful implementation. The criteria used by NILECJ in selecting suitable test sites are briefly outlined, and a selected bibliography is provided.

Intended for the staff of police departments, the handbook supplements the other materials of the Managing Patrol Operations (MPO) training workshops, focusing on the management of the patrol function in municipal police departments. The handbook introduces the purpose, activities, rationale, development, and logic of the MPO training program. One chapter offers suggestions for preparing for the delivery of the program in local departments, while another presents instructions and guidelines to be followed in the actual delivery. For each of the 15 workshop sessions, the handbook presents a summary explanation of objectives, time requirements, audiovisual equipment needs, MPO resource package references, methods of presentation, room arrangements, sequence of session activities, and a presentation outline for use by the instructor. An appendix lists various diagrams of how space used in the training is to be arranged. Sample evaluation forms, which can be used at the conclusion of each training day, are provided to assess the effectiveness of the event. The concluding portion contains a detailed description of the Criminal Justice Research Utilization Program and a description of current efforts to test, in three police departments, the MPO program as a management improvement system.

Contains an inventory of evaluation reports produced by and for selected Federal agencies, including GAO evaluation reports that relate to the programs of those agencies.