Key Performance Indicators for the Police

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By Diane Chinn

eHow Contributor

Police departments measure accountability with key performance

indicators. (Image: police motorbikes image by Jeff Dalton from
Fotolia.com)

Common management wisdom is that what gets measured gets done.

Regularly monitoring and measuring key performance indicators (KPI)
keeps an organization focused on what is important to its success, its
clients and its stakeholders. KPIs are diagnostic tools used to analyze
operational areas and provide actionable data that management can use
to improve services and align operations with organizational objectives
and track progress toward goals.

KPIs and Police Services

Just like every other organization, police departments have executives who are responsible for daily operations and
strategic planning. Police departments also have stakeholders -- such as the citizens they serve, the city council,
and the court system -- and all have a vested interest in seeing that the police department runs effectively and
efficiently.

The US Department of Justice has identified several dimensions of police operations that serve as KPIs including
crime rate, crime resolution rate, safety in personal and public spaces and effective, efficient and fair use of
resources, along with and community and customer service.

Crime Rate
The crime rate is the most often discussed KPI in policing. It is the ratio of the number of crimes in an area to the
population; expressed per 1,000 people per year. For example, with a population of 1.2 million in 2009, the violent
crime rate in San Diego, California was 5.56 per 1,000 people and the property crime rate was 37.77 per 1,000
people. KPIs for crime rates include violent crimes, property crimes, arson, domestic burglary, auto theft and the
total value of stolen property.

Resolution Rate
Novels, movies and TV police shows sometimes refer to a detectives solve rate another name for crime
resolution rate. This KPI is the number of crimes solved as a percentage of the total number of crimes committed.
Another KPI in this dimension is the number of firearms investigations, such as unregistered handguns, referred for
criminal prosecutions.

Safety in Public
People want to be safe in their homes, schools, workplaces, at malls, parks, and other public places. KPIs in this
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dimension include the number of drunken driving arrests and other vehicle-related incidents, home burglary rates,
percentage of missing children recovered within 72 hours of an Amber Alert, crimes against businesses and crimes
against people and property.

Resources
The KPIs in the area of effective, efficient and fair use of resource measure how well a police department uses its
resources. They include the percentage of total police staff on active crime duty, the average and total street time per
police officer, distribution of crime duty officers by area, average time to complete a crime report, percentage of
officers who attend regular firearms practice and the percent who fail the annual fire arms qualification test.

Community Service
Police work is about protecting and serving the public so that citizens have confidence in police departments ability
to protect the community and deter crime. Many police departments have response time standards for various types
of calls. A KPI for this dimension is the percentage of emergencies responded to within the allotted time. Other KPIs
include the number of community meetings hosted by police officers, the number of rings to answer 911 calls and
the number of complaints.

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KPI Procedures
By Diane Chinn

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Like X-rays, KPIs are diagnostic tools used to evaluate the

condition of a business. (Image: Hemera
Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images)

In business, what gets measured gets done. Key performance indicators

(KPIs) help a team, department or organization focus on important
success factors. Businesses monitor KPIs to monitor operations. KPIs
give management actionable data it can use to improve services, align
operations with organizational objectives and track progress toward
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goals. KPIs are included in balanced scorecards or strategic plans and report current performance, year-to-date and
trend data for each KPI through management dashboards, reports, charts or spreadsheets.

Definition
Each KPI must be clearly defined if it is to be an effective management tool. The definition includes a description of
what is being measured and why. The "why" component makes the business case for the KPI -- why it is important
and how it is tied to the organizations strategic goals. The business case defines the current situation and how it
affects products or services. The definition also describes how making progress toward or achieving a goal will
affect the customer, team, department or organization, along with any associated risks.

Attributes
KPIs include a number of attributes that must be identified and documented, including the start and end dates, unit
of measurement and formula and data sources for the KPI; how it is linked to strategic initiatives and goals; and how
it relates to quality management. The attributes include the KPI sponsor, the position or person responsible for
tracking it and those who will benefit from it.

Categories
KPIs are often categorized based on the main areas of business operations -- customer indicators, financial
performance, internal processes and learning and growth. Customer indicators may include the number of
customers per reporting period, number of new customers, number of complaints, call abandon rate or customer
satisfaction scores. Financial KPIs may include profit per project, percent of accounts paid in full, market share,
performance compared to budget, number of billing disputes and average production cost per item. Internal process
KPIs may include new product/service time to market, research and development cost as a percent of revenue or
average number of quality checks compared to the target number. Learning and growth KPIs may include average
training hours per employee, training cost per employee or trainer-to-employee ratio.

Procedure
Organizational KPIs are determined by senior management, while departments and teams develop their own, which
are aligned with organizational KPIs. The KPI procedure begins by identifying the indicators linked to strategic goals
and initiatives. Data elements and resources are identified, along with collection and reporting methods. A formula is
developed that summarizes the KPI; for example, average call time equals the total length of all calls divided by the
number of calls. A reporting or display method, such as a dashboard or chart, is developed for each KPI and the
results are evaluated each month by the team, department or management to identify problems and opportunities
for improvement.

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