Police Strategy Focuses on Crime 'Hotspots'

The has announced a new summer policing strategy that Chief Kyle Heagney says will identify and address so-called crime and disorder hotspots.

Called the Problem-Oriented-Policing Initiative, it is strategy taken from the nonprofit Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. It emphasizes the use of crime analysis, according to a press release from the Attleboro police.

"In a traditional police response, the patrol officer would be dispatched repeatedly to a hotspot location and deal with the symptoms of the problem, such as making an arrest or restoring the peace and then quickly get back in service," the release states. "However, Problem-Oriented-Policing attempts to discover the root cause of the problem and come up with effective ways of solving it."

The strategy will include a mix of crime analysis and different types of "patrol strategies and officers," according to the release. This includes uniformed foot patrol officers, plain clothes officers, bicycle patrol and traffic unit officers. 

"My goal is to improve efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of our department's crime reduction effort," said Heagney, according to the release. "I want to empower these officers to think outside the box and break free from the traditional response in dealing with repeat problems."

He continued, "We to need critically evaluate those locations that are constantly requiring calls for service. The underlying root causes requiring repeated dispatches to these hotspots must be evaluated and addressed. We need to fix those problems and not merely treat the symptoms. The current traditional method of deploying police officers is not effective."

Lt. James Keane will be the commanding officer for the program.