Police as problem solvers

by Hans Toch

Problem-oriented policing is examined from the perspective of the daily work of police officers, with emphasis on the results of a problem-oriented experiment in Oakland, Calif. and on the applicability of this and related approaches to drug-related crime. The analysis focuses on the evolution of the problem-oriented approach, the role of the problem-oriented police officer, and experiments with the approach in several jurisdictions. It also examines problem-oriented policing as an example of work reform and shows how this approach is congruent with what industrial psychologists know about work motivation and how to raise it. Issues related to organizational change and resistance to change when innovations are introduced are also examined. The Oakland experiment is detailed in terms of its planning, the establishment of the peer review panel, and the development of family crisis teams and family crisis management. Concluding chapters focus on current trends, including community-oriente