What Works in Law Enforcement

Oct. 28, 2009 | By Larry Mantle

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This morning we aired our conversation with exiting LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, followed by an interview with UCLA Public Policy Professor Mark Kleiman. In both, we talked about what the best methods are for detering criminals and assuring a higher level of public safety.

For Chief Bratton, it's assigning officers based on statistical analysis of crime "hotspots," while paying attention to less serious quality of life crimes that might set the stage for more serious violations. Professor Kleiman didn't take issues with the Chief's perspective, but argued that it will take more than that to keep crime down and deal with overflowing prisons. His book "When Brute Force Fails" details how the threat of swift arrest and incarceration is ultimately necessary to keep the group of criminals responsible for the majority of crime from repeating their behavior again and again. This would require a significant change in our sentencing, courts, and prison systems. However, it's a very interesting argument, that claims human nature as one of its primary proofs.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the latest developments in technology and how they're helping older adults, and get an update on the solar industry -- which has been the "next big thing" for the past 40-years.

David Greene
3 weeks, 2 days ago

What is so appealing about Mark Kleiman's thesis is its common sense. If someone is pretty sure they will be punished they will probably take steps to avoid it. If they think being punished is unlikely, they probably won't, even if the punishment is severe.

The trick as Larry observed is in ensuring that the punishment is swift and certain, given the difficulty in controlling and changing things in this large complex society.

Fortunately, Mark Kleiman lists in his book very clear one to three sentence tactics for implementing his common sense approach. And he makes separate lists for police, the courts, corrections, juveniles, social services, etc..

The approach of Bratton, of data driven policing, and of Kleiman, of focused targets and certain sanctions could be a great help for crime reduction. I am glad you featured them both.

Auto Insurance Guy
1 week, 6 days ago

Ah!!! at last I found what I was looking for. Somtimes it takes so much effort to find even tiny useful piece of information.
Nice post. Thanks

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