A simulation model of New York City police department's response system

The urgency of studying police response systems was clearly demonstrated through the recent work done by the members of the Science and Technology Taskforce of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice1. A study was conducted in Los Angeles observing the occurrence of incidents in two districts. The results showed that a decrease in police response time was correlated with increased probability of criminal apprehension. The objective of the effort described here is to analyze the response system of an actual police department in a large urban area. New York City was chosen for this purpose. In the context of this study, the system is defined as that phase of police operations and resources concerning the response to requests for police assistance.