Aggressive Patrol Case Study

Patrol officers are dedicated to order maintenance, or peace keeping. They have the responsibility of determining the best approach to dealing with different situations that occur in their jurisdictions. For instance, an officer that sees numerous vehicles speeding in a school zone while children are present can address this issue in several different ways. One option is to implement the aggressive patrol method and give out citations to every vehicle that is found speeding. Another option is to implement community policing and visit with groups of neighborhood residents to inform them of the need to slow down in school zones and the consequences that could occur if the speeding persists. Both are effective methods that would put a stop to these traffic violations, but the officer must decide which strategy would bring about the best outcome. The aggressive patrolling strategy would achieve the targeted outcome for a short amount of time. If drivers pass a vehicle that is pulled over by a patrol officer, they are less likely to violate traffic laws in fear that they will be pulled over themselves. This strategy depicts law violations as an issue that will not be tolerated by law enforcement. However, only those …show more content…
However, this strategy has more influence in the long term compared to the aggressive patrolling method. Traffic violations in school zones would decrease in response to the newly acquired information that patrol officers would give neighborhood residents, but it does not solve the immediate problem. By educating the public on the dangers that speeding can impose on young children, residents become more aware of how their actions can have a direct effect on the lives of school-aged kids. This awareness causes drivers to be more proactive in that they will pay closer attention to their surroundings and to speed limit signs, and therefore reducing the traffic violations in school