Cars, Computers, and Compstat: How the Detroit Police Department Has Confronted Crime in Detroit Since 2013

Abstract

The data provided by the Detroit Police Department’s Reported Crimes and Year End Statistics since 2013 makes clear the fact that both crime and crime rates have decreased in Detroit (Detroit Police Department, 2017c, 2018, 2019b). The results of a comparison between Detroit and national crime statistics reveal that these reductions diverge from nationwide trends. This means that a unique factor is influencing crime in Detroit. The influence of a wide range of factors on Detroit’s crime trends, including strategic infrastructure work, incoming commercial enterprise, and philanthropic endeavors, must be acknowledged. In choosing a scope for this thesis, not all of the potential explanatory factors could be considered. I chose to analyze the Detroit Police Department’s impact on crime. As a prominent law enforcement agency in Detroit with explicit crime reduction goals, it is an appropriate place to pursue an explanation for the long-awaited reductions in Detroit’s crime rates. The data makes evident the DPD’s recent success in reaching its crime-fighting goals. Until recently, there has been little concrete data to determine whether crime reduction efforts have had an impact (Detroit Police Department, 2018, 2019b). This analysis is impacted in part by limited available crime data due to an inadequate records management system in the DPD, but of the data available, recent crime rate changes have been far more significant than those of the past (Craig, 2014; Detroit Police Department, 2018, 2019b; Duggan & Craig, 2016). Based on information from personal interviews and data analysis, I argue that recent reforms to the Detroit Police Department provide an important explanation for the DPD’s recent impact on crime in the city of Detroit. The impact of the Detroit Police Department’s reforms on crime rates can be explained by two particular outcomes of the reforms. First, the reforms have provided the DPD with the necessary resources, equipment, and technology to reach and operate at a modern standard of policing and to pursue their baseline law enforcement goals, pursuing reactive crime reduction efforts (i.e. investigating occurrences of crimes, apprehending suspects, and prosecuting offenders). However, the second outcome of these reforms allows a more progressive, preventative approach to crime, pursuing goals beyond the baseline approaches to crime. These higher-level goals utilize innovative, preventative approaches to reduce crime in Detroit, optimizing their new technology and the latest policing strategies in the hopes of stopping crime before it happens. The two-part upgrade in the Detroit Police Department has moved the Department into a strong position to fight crime. By improving the capabilities and techniques used by the DPD, their impact on crime has become measurable. Reforms in the DPD appear to have contributed to the DPD’s impact on crime. The conditions under which these reforms have been successful, such as progressive leadership and a previous state of near disrepair, dictate the external applicability of the lessons learned in Detroit. Though it is not easy, it is possible that the lessons may be applied to police departments with similar characteristics, such as Baltimore. Despite the limited applicability of the findings from this experience, the meaningful impacts of these reforms on crime provide positive support for the upgrades implemented and the new and improved Detroit Police Department.