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Policing Operations

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Policing Operations Introduction Reactive patrols and proactive patrols are mainstays of American police agencies. Reactive patrols provide the required rapid law enforcement response to citizen requests for assistance and other emergencies. Meanwhile, proactive patrols provide the necessary planning and allocation of police resources to effectively respond to specific, ongoing problems such as "white collar crime" and the "victimless crimes" of drug transactions behind closed doors. Careful examinations of each patrol type and the effects of using exclusively reactive patrols or exclusively proactive patrols show that a balanced approach using both types of patrols gives the best law enforcement response to the needs of the community. Reactive Patrols A "Reactive Patrol" is a police response to a call for service (City of Shoreline, WA, 2012), usually from a citizen request. This is the type of patrol in which, for example, a citizen sees or experiences a crime and calls 911 for immediate police assistance, and then the police respond during or immediately after the crime is committed. One example of a reactive patrol occurs during a domestic disturbance, in which: one or both of a household's members call 911 because he/she/they are being attacked by another household member; 911 routes the call to the police station; the police station dispatches one or more patrol cars to the household; the patrol officers arrive at the household, stop any ongoing disturbance and

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