Employing Creative Closure Strategies
Kiaira Knox
Intro to Policing
Professor Williams
7/22/13

The law enforcement community plays a major part in our everyday lives. They not only have to enforce the laws, they also have to help the community. With so much responsibility on their shoulders, some things start to slip through the cracks, and officers have to start working overtime. To try and improve on this, the Anne Arundel County Police Department started an experimental integrated patrol strategy called Employing Creative Closure Strategies in its western patrol district. The experiment was limited to the midnight shift patrol squad.
Under the traditional model of law enforcement officers are responsible for patrolling the streets, reporting broken sidewalks, potholes, street and traffic lights that need to be replaced. Under the new program called “Employing Creative Closure Strategies,” patrol officers work with sergeants and lieutenants to review crime data and come up with the best solution to problems. This allows officers to display their expertise in areas such as criminal investigation, traffic enforcement, drug suppression and routine patrol.
Of course, as with any organization, changes will be met with resistance. Resistance will most likely come from the senior members of the team who feel like they have seen it all (like Sam Skeptic). To overcome this resistance, I would make sure that my officers understand that the new procedure is only an experiment, and if it does not work, I would ensure that we would go back to the previous method of operation.
The areas that would have the least resistance would be the areas that involved collaborating with other officers to help solve cases. For example if an officer needed a search warrant or a stakeout, their supervisor would pair him or her with another patrol officer to help. That way an officer won’t be left with more work than he or she can handle, and the case could possibly be solved quicker.
After fourteen months of using this new experiment, the midnight shift patrol squad solved 21 breaking and entering cases, 23 armed robberies, 27 vehicle thefts, 2 rapes, 20 simple assaults, 34 non-vehicle thefts, 1 carjacking, 1 abduction, and 139 destruction of property cases. They also issued 3,657 traffic citations compared to 2,010 in 1995, as well as apprehending 365 drunk drivers compared to 200 in 1995.
The major factors for the success of this experiment are the willingness of all the officers to participate and work together, including proactive patrolling, and brainstorming responses for the best outcome. This experiment demonstrates that an administrative philosophy that sets guidelines but also encourages solutions by their commonality is infinitely more desirable than a system that discourages, (intentionally or unintentionally), the innovative and creative worker. Together with effective measures that substantiate police successes, a new administrative philosophy can emerge.

Reference
Johnson, R. A. (1997, November 1). case study of a law enforcement experiment in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Retrieved July 20, 2013, from The Free Library website: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ Integrated+patrol.-a020445887