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A PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH TO

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The project submitted by the Merseyside Police Problem Solving Team details howthe Force have moved to the Compstat performance management system, supportedby problem oriented policing.

Performance management had been measured by a system of monthly performanceindicator books and crime statistics. This system was supplemented by quarterlyperformance reviews for Area Commanders, supported by visits from various officersthat would examine some of the systems within the Area. This system tended toreview Areas in isolation.

The system was thought to lack focus and there was an issue in relation to complianceand identifying good practice.

The Compstat process consists of a meeting of all Area Command Teams and ischaired by either an Assistant Chief Constable or Chief Superintendent. One or twoof the Areas present will be subject of a review as described below.

In August 1999 a Problem solving team was established for a period of twelvemonths. The Team, who had developed a strategy to `embed problem solving into thephilosophy of the Force', saw the Compstat process as the idea vehicle to achievetheir aim.

The team are used as a review team, to research systems and processes within Areasand identify good practice for dissemination throughout the Force.

The Comp stat process was initially viewed as a negative process and Areas wereguarded. about the value of the system. In order to assist them to develop responses tothe Areas of concern, the Problem Solving Team offer their services in the followingways: -

ID As problems are identified, the Team address the issues either during the visits orat a later stage. This includes developing specific training courses or publishingdetailed documents in relation to POPIn order to address specific issues, the Team, at the request of the Area, willconduct non prejudicial reviews

d To improve performance, internally or externally, the Team offer a facilitationservice using the SARA process.

The impact of the above has been a more focused method of measuring performance,improvement in relation to crime performance as evidenced by crime statistics and agreater appreciation of how POP can improve Area performance.

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A Problem Solving Approachto

Performance Management

2000 Tilley Award(Structure)

Submitted by Inspector A.C. Fisher

Merseyside PoliceHope Street Police Station

Hope StreetLiverpool LI 9BZ

Tel 0151 777 5536Fax0151 777 5539

E-MallMerpopteamgmers inet. co. uk

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Contents

Page

Introduction 3

Scanning 5

Analysis 6

Performance management structure 8

Response 9

Support 12

Assessment 17

Conclusions 20

Appendices

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1 A Problem Solving approach to performance management -- Merseyside Police 2

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1Introduction

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This project describes howMerseyside Police hasdeveloped a method of

measuring

Force

and

Areaperformance against targets,supporting the process with reviews toidentify good practice and areas forimprovement through the use of theSARA model. It also examines howthe Force is using problem orientedpolicing to solve problems identified asa result the performance ofmeasurement system.

Merseyside Police is a MetropolitanForce with a demographic breakdownas shown below: -

v Population 1,409371

v Merseyside covers 250 squaremiles

':• The Force has a policeestablishment of 4084 and asupport staff establishment of 1564

Some of these are shown below: -

New Government with new agenda"tough on crime, tough on thecauses of crime"

v Implementation of proposedlegislation i.e. the Crime andDisorder Bill and Best ValueBecoming an intelligence ledorganisation

v The murder of a high profilecriminal, leading to an increase infirearms activity within the Force

The traditional view of ProblemOriented Policing (POP) sees it as aparticular style well suited to clearlyidentified operational problems, oftenat a local or community based level.

When Merseyside Police adopted aPOP approach in early 1998, it wasmade clear that POP (or ProblemSolving Policing as it is referred to inthe Force) should be seen as aphilosophy, which would underpin allaspects of the Force.

Officers and staff of Merseyside Policehave been encouraged from day one toconsider how problem solving could beutilised in all aspects of their work.Problem solving has been adopted as ameans to address both operational andstructural issues.

This holistic approach is encouragedby senior managers in the Force andhas been the subject of a supportingletter from Professor HermanGoldstein (Appendix 1).

Officers inMerseyside havebeen encouragedfrom day one toconsider how problemsolving could beutilised in all aspectsof their work

v The Merseyside Police Force isdivided into four Districts, which

are in turn dividedinto eleven policingAreas (BasicCommand Units)

In JuneMerseysidebeganthe implementationof ProblemOriented Policing

the organisation. A number offivers led the Force in this direction.

1998,Police

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Merseyside Police undertook afull evaluation at the end of a

twelve-monthimplementation process. Theevaluation identified that there was stillwork to do if problem solving was tobe embedded into the Force.

The Team, comprising of an Inspector,Detective Sergeant and a Constable,was established in August 1999 andhas a life span of twelve months. Inorder to provide a focus, the Teamdeveloped a strategy with an objectiveto `embed problem solving into thephilosophy of the Force'.

As the role of the Team developed, itbecame obvious that they had animportant role in reviewingperformance at Area level.

If this could be allied in some way to amore widespread acceptance of, andunderstanding of problem solvingpolicing, then dual benefits could beachieved.

...as the role of theTeam developed, itbecame obviousthat theyplayed animportant role inreviewingperformance atArea level.

The evaluation made thirty tworecommendations that had to beaddressed: if problem solving was to besuccessfully embedded into theorganisation. In order to address therecommendations, a support team (theProblem Solving Team) was

established to adviseand assist officers andstaff in adopting theproblem solvingapproach.

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Scanning

The independent evaluation ofproblem solving within theForce identified variable levels

of commitment to the approach bysenior and middle managers.

With added pressure externally fromthe Government and internally fromChief Officers to improveperformance, the requirement toimplement a robust yet supportiveperformance management system wasfelt to be a major structural problemfacing the Force.

Over recent years, Merseyside Policehas utilised a number of methods toanalyse performance.

1. Crime rate and detection figuresare published monthly. This is inthe form of two sheets of paperwith statistics in relation torecorded crime and detection for allAreas of the Force.

2. Performance in relation to keyperformance indicators waspublished and distributedthroughout the Force on a fourweekly basis. Comparisons weremade between the current monthand the previous month, togetherwith the current month with thesame month the previous year..The PI document contained figuresin relation to performance againstForce targets together with figuresin relation to Areas against theirown targets. The documentcontained a mix of data and charts.Once again, data in relation to all

Areas was published so thatcomparisons could be made

3. More recently, the Force hasadopted a `traffic light' system toexamine the performance of theForce and of individual Areas.Once again, comparisons weremade against targets in order toestablish whether Areas areachieving the targets that they areset and how they contribute to theachievement of Force targets.

There remained an issue in relation tocompliance. Area Commanders(Superintendents) were subject toquarterly reviews by the AssistantChief Constable (Operations). Thiswas supported by visits to the Area byan inspection team who would reviewissues as directed by the A.C.C.

This system of review was found to beun-coordinated and often lacked focus.

A more robust system was requiredthat involved reviews under consistentthemes by a consistent team. Thiswould have the skills and knowledgeto examine the structures, systems andprocesses that would support theForces efforts to reduce crime anddisorder and improve detection rates.


1 Analysis

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Publication of the `traffic light'data gave Areas an indication ofhow they were performing

against achieving targets. However,there was still a missing link in termsof how the Force ensured that Areaswere `doing the right things and doingthings right'.

If one Area was attaining successagainst its targets, or failing toachieve their targets, were they able toidentify why?

Did they pass on the reasons forsuccess or failures to other Areas?

If so, how?

Were Areas examining their internalstructures and processes to ensure theintegrity of their systems?

The use of the quarterly review systemwith the ACC lent itself to examinationof Areas performance in isolation.

Senior managers within the Force thatwere involved in performancemeasurement recognised that the

performance management processneeded to be formalised.

It was also acknowledged thatmanagers within the Force needed tobe offered as much support as possibleto improve and maintain performance.Whatever system was implemented tomeasure performance needed astructure to support it

The requirement was, therefore, toadopt an approach which would meetthe following objectives:

d To ident and disseminate goodpractice

1D To identify the causes of poorperformance

© To assist in the identification ofappropriate responses

1] To assess the impact of suchresponses

© To provide a support structure thatwould assist Areas determineappropriate responses

It is clear to see that such objectivesembody problem solving principlesand it was important that the approachadopted should be rooted in problemsolving, ensuring the Forcescommitment to that method ofworking.

...there was amissing link in termsof how the Forceensured that Areaswere `doing the rightthings and doingthings right'

A failure to achieve targets oftenresulted in short terminitiatives to bring theArea back on line toachieve targets. Therewas little scope to identifylonger term patterns andtrends

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Amonthly digest of

management information(traffic light data) identifies

Area performance in relation to anumber of indicators.

The standard of performance iscoloured as shown below. An exampleof the `traffic light system is shown atAppenix 2)

Red indicators result in pressure toquickly address the situation.

Areas for review are chosen by theChief Superintendent withresponsibility for performancemanagement. This is done byexamination of the `traffic light data'in order to identify Areas that failing tomeet targets (SCANNING). Currently,the areas for examination are:

Robbery

•'• Violence

•~ Burglary dwelling

The information contained in theindicators provides a comparison of thepresent month with the previous twomonths and against annual targets.

Information contained within the`traffic light' system highlightsperformance under five target headingsas shown below.

6% above target

3% above target

On target

3% below target

6% below target

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he structure of performance management and the process of choosing Areas tobe subject of Compstat is shown below.

PERFORMANCE

MANAGEMENT

4 weekly information fromManagement and Information

Analysis Department

Area Commanders quarterlyperformance review with

ACC (Ops)

Comp stat — every 2weeks

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Internal SARAfacilitation

External multiagency SARAfacilitation

Non prejudicedvisits


1Response

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The Chief Superintendent withresponsibility for performancemanagement and the ACC Ops)

decided that the Force would movetowards the Compstat approach toperformance management.

Under this approach, the CommandTeam of an Operational Area(Superintendent, Operations Manager,Crime Manager and AdministrationManager) is requested to prepare apresentation about a particular issue.

As a result of their knowledge ofproblem solving and its impact onperformance, the Problem SolvingTeam was asked to act as the reviewarm of the Compstat process. TheTeam immediately recognised this asan opportunity to develop their roleand use the process to assist inembedding problem solving into thephilosophy of the Force.

In order to allow Areas to pass throughthe process as quickly as possible,Compstat reviews are undertakenevery two weeks, with two Areas beingreviewed during the same process.

In order to gather relevant information,the Problem Solving Team visit anArea for a day and gather evidence ofgood/poor performance in relation tostructures, systems and processes thatinvolve the prevention, investigationand detection of crime (ANALYSIS).

Key individuals are interviewed andsupporting data in relation to crimestatistics and intelligence managementare used as the basis for much of theexamination e.g. the number of piecesof information received via theCrimestoppers system, how this isrecorded and resulted.

Much of the research work isundertaken with Area intelligenceunits. The units are responsible for therecording and researching ofintelligence. The intelligence is gradedand disseminated, usually via bulletinsor target packages.

One of the key rolesof the units is toanalyse informationas part of the SARAprocess and identifyhot spots, preparetarget packages anddirect patrols toareas identified asrequiring extrapolice attention. As the hub ofproblem solving policing within eachArea, the Team had a uniqueopportunity to examine how Areaswhere performing in this area and offerguidance where required.

The Teamimmediately

recognised thisas an opportunity

to develop theirrole and use theprocess to assist

in embeddingproblem solving


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Once the review has been conducted, required to deliver a presentation basedthe Team briefs the Area Command on the Team's report, indicating whatTeam on their findings. A report responses they have or intend tocontaining all relevant details is then implement.prepared. and based on this. The Teambrief the senior officer presiding overthe Compstat meeting (usually anAssistant Chief Constable). On theday of the meeting, the Area is

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Three typical examples offindings within Areas are shownbelow: -

I. The structures and systems toprocess and track informationare rigorously examined. It isoften found that informationfrom a wide range of sourcescomes into the Area and isgenerally given to a section orindividual to deal with.

Due to a lack of formalisedtracking systems, thisinformation is either not actedupon, or if it is acted upon, theresult would not be known. Thisinformation included offendersidentified by fingerprints, DNAor as a result of a witnessnaming the offender. Systemsto deal with this informationwhich may have led to detectionof crime are generally poor.

2. Areas regularly prepare targetpackages in relation to volumecrime or offenders believed tobe responsible for crime. Targetpackages contain a great dealof scanning, but little or noanalysis. Areas would oftenidentify times, dates andlocations of crimes, but

crucially, did not ask thequestion "why" crimes werebeing committed at theidentified times, dates andlocations.

This often resulted in shallowand non-specific responsessuch as `high visibility policing'.

3. Standards ofreporting/recording crime areoften poor. information inrelation to victim details andinvestigation processes wereoften missing. This led to a lackof offender/victim profiling andimpacted on analysis of crime.

The Compstat process can be seen asbeing very negative. Aspects of goodwork are highlighted, however, with araison d'etre to improve performancein relation to reducing crime anddisorder. The process tends toconcentrate on getting the basicsystems and processes right.

It is for this reason that supportsystems have been put in place to assistAreas in developing their responses tothe Compstat process.

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S upport is provided by theProblem Solving Team in threeways.

1. Identifying Areas for improvementduring the process and addressingthem either at the time or at a later

stage

2. Non prejudiced visits to Areas

3. Facilitation exercises using theSARA model (internal and

external)

1.Identifying Areas forimprovement

Intelligence Units within Areas areessential to the SARA process,particularly the analysis phase. MostAreas have developed systems torecord information; however, thesystems tend to be un-coordinated andlack quality assurance.

As the Team identifies good practice,they disseminate it either during Areavisits, or at the Compstat meeting. Forexample, one Area developed asophisticated Access database that isable to track information in relation tointelligence received from a variety ofsources..

This is linked to information relating toidentification arising from fingerprints,DNA and named offenders. Thissystem provides a full feedback loopand enables Areas to identify thepercentage of named offenders dealtwith within a target period (80% within14 days).

The Problem Solving Team hashighlighted this system as goodpractice, resulting in all Areas adoptingthe system, immediately improvingtheir ability to record, track and resultinformation.

It's official- copsTips rulesOK

The Team has prepared twomethods to assistIntelligence Units within

Areas with the analysis ofinformation. The first, `Cops tips'was developed from a publicationfrom the U.S. department of JusticeOffice of Community OrientedPolicing Services.

The ProblemSolving Teamapplied for andreceivedpermission to re-write some of thedocument so thatit is pertinent toUK policing. Thebooklet describes, in simple terms,how to successfully use problemsolving to address local issues. Itexamines the SARA process withexamples and concludes with actualcase studies. The booklet waspublished and distributed to everyoperational officer in Merseysideand has met with great criticalacclaim.

The second method was todevelop a structured trainingpackage for analysts, to enable

them to go through the SARA process,establishing minimum standards foreach element.


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In developing a training package amixture of fictional and factualdata was prepared and the analysts,

who were split into groups, were askedthree simple questions: -

1. What information do you needfor good scanning/analysis?

2. Where can you get theinformation?

3. How do you use it?

A system of paper feeds was used oncethe participants had identified whatinformation was required. Eachsyndicate would present its findings tothe others and each session was fullydebriefed to enable extraction of asmuch information as possible.

The result of this process is that Areaanalysts have now identified the linkbetween the SARA process and theiroutput in terms of target packages andresponses to crime and disorderproblems. Packages are now fullyanalysed and researched.

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12. Non prejudiced visits

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As Areas undertook theCompstat process, theyrealised that the Problem

Solving Team was able to offer anindependent examination of the Area.As a result, the Team offered to reviewsystems within Areas at the request ofthe Command Team.

The review would be closed and thefmdings reported to the CommandTeam only i.e. not through theCompstat process.

The reviews, termed non-prejudicialfollow the SARA model, reflecting theCompstat process.

The Team SCAN within the bounds ofits remit e.g. examine processesrelating to autocrime. Issues identifiedas problems or blockages are identifiedand ANALYSED to ascertain whythey present a problem. As with theCompstat process, the RESPONSEelement is the responsibility of theArea. Where possible, the Team mayrecommend solutions or ideas toenhance performance, however, it isleft to the Area to decide whether toimplement the suggestions. Areashave asked the Team to return a shorttime later to ASSESS whether thechanges that have been made have hadan impact.

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The reviews,termed non-prejudicial, followthe SARA model,reflecting theCompstatprocess

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3. SARA Facilitation

At. the onset of the 12 monthperiod, the Problem SolvingTeam offered their services to

Areas/Departments within the Force asfacilitators. The Team uses the SARAmodel to address issues raised by theArea/Department concerned.

This was one of the earliest facilitationexercises undertaken with multipleagencies and resulted in a service levelpartnership and a robust system ofcommunication that had not previouslyexisted.

Shortly after this, the Team were askedto facilitate joint agency meetingsrelating to improving the efficiency ofthe Criminal Justice System andproviding a more coordinatedapproach to dealing with prostitution.

♦ Youth service• Probation service♦ Outreach workers♦ Local Authority♦ Housing offices• Health Service♦ And many other smaller agencies

The system that the Problem SolvingTeam use is as follows: -

3 Identify and agree the problem orobjective to be addressed.

3 Utilise participants knowledge toscan for relevant information.. Thisenables representatives of variousorganisation

to

gain

anappreciation of differentinformation that they may nototherwise have been aware of.

..one of the earliestfacilitationexercisesundertaken withmultipleagencies._ resultedin a service levelpartnership

Response to this offerwas initially slow. TheCourt Support Serviceswas one of the firstDepartments to utilisethe skills of the Team.Their issue arose as aresult of changes inlegislation and policy

that required warrants issued byMagistrates Courts to be administeredby the Courts rather than MerseysidePolice.

Merseyside Policeoffers the Forcethe opportunity toaddress problemsusing S.A.R.A.facilitation.

d Information isgrouped intothemes and theparticipantssplit intosyndicates.Each syndicateis given atheme andadvised to askquestions to identify the causes ofthe problems. Findings arepresented to the whole group.

HEADLINE

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The three meetings mentioned aboveattracted people from many agenciesincluding:

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AssessmentCornpstat

In relation to the Comstat process,areas for improvement areidentified during the research stage

and during the meeting itself. PolicingAreas are encouraged to develop theirown responses to the issues that arise.The Problem Solving Team will assistwith the development of the response,however, they do not acceptresponsibihy for this element.

The Compstat process commenced inJanuary 2000 and the process is stilldeveloping. The system has receivedfocus since the visit of two officers toNew York to examine the structuresand systems that support theirCompstat reviews.

The result of the visit is a change instyle of the review. Compstat nowconcentrates on measuringperformance in relation to thefollowing: -

There is evidence that performanceagainst targets is improving. However,more interesting is the fact that Areasare reviewing their systems andprocesses to be able to manageinformation.

Assessment in relation to the Compstatprocess is carried out when the Area isnext chosen to undergo the review.

It is at this point that the improvementsas a result of the previous Compstat areexpected. Command Teams identifytheir responses to the previous reviewand highlight the impact of theresponses.

Although it is early to show animmediate impact, there have beenimprovements. Response toperformance measurement in Compstathas led to a number of short terminitiatives. These have centred aroundhigh visibility policing on times anddates and at locations that have beenidentified as being problem areas.

1â Burglary dwelling

â Violent crime

Robbery


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The impact of the initiatives sincethe implementation of Compstatis having a positive effect on the

reduction and detection of offences(Appendix 3). There have beenimprovements in the following areas: -

v Leveling of the trend in relation tocrime per 1000 people over a 12month period

An increase in the trend in relationto detection's over the same period

Reduction in the number ofrobberies, particularly since thestart of the Compstat process

v Reduction in the number ofburglary dwellings per 1000households over a twelve monthperiod

.;. A steady increase in the trend forthe number of detection's inrelation to burglary dwelling andviolent crime(Appendix 3)

Non prejudiced visits

The Problem Solving Team hasreceived numerous calls to conductnon prejudicial visits to examine newsystems that Areas have introduced toimprove performance. Results of thisinclude

v Improved quality assurance toidentify

detectable

offences

Improved scanning to identifyhotspots

4. Improved analysis in relationoffender targeting -- relatingoffenders to offences through useof the problem analysis triangle

4.

4.

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11 SARA Facilitation

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The process of using the SARAmodel to address problemsinternally and externally has

proven to be very popular.

Externally, the meetings have alwaysresulted in one of the parties involvedaccepting responsibility for driving theidentified responses.

Perhaps the most important element ofthe process, is that fact that peoplereadily identify themselves . as`Guardians' in relation to the problembeing addressed. The enthusiasm andmotivation to do something to address

the problem leads to very rewardingmeetings.

Internally, the facilitation process hasoften been used to address delicatematters. The process often centres onissues that should be being done, butfor various reasons are not.

One of the successes involves an Areathat was paying scant regard to usingproblem solving to address Areaproblems. The fact was identified bythe Problem Solving Team during aCompstat review.

As a result, the Area Command Teamasked the Team to facilitate a meetingto examine the issue and help in thedevelopment of a response. The Areaconcerned has now developed a fullProblem Solving Unit consisting of asergeant and three constables.

Systems have been put in place toallow the unit to SCAN to identifyproblems and liaise with the AreaIntelligence Unit to ANALYSE theinformation produced.

Feedback toCommandTeams is oftennegative,however, theprocess is seenas being verypositive

of managingseveral police

In the most recent examples, a YouthService Manager agreed to lead inestablishing a multi agency group todevelop a strategy to reduce youth

disorder within apolice District.

In a second, a memberof a volunteerorganisation agreed todraw together andchair meetings to

address the issueprostitution acrossAreas.

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