The Police and Weapons Offenses

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9765788
AutoresMark H Moore (0009-0009-6018-0211, Harvard University, autor correspondente)
Ano1980
Volume452
Fascículo1
Páginas22-32
Data de publicação1980-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
EditoraSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/000271628045200103
OpenAlexW2146400475
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14

To control violence committed among strangers in public locations, police departments have increasingly turned to tactics of "directed patrol" focused on particular dangerous places or activities. Arguably, a suitable focus for directed patrol is illegal carrying or possession of weapons in public locations. Questions arise concerning the methods of weapons enforcement, the effectiveness of such a focus, and its administrative feasibility. Preliminary results of em pirical investigations into police practices with respect to weapons enforcement reveal that weapons arrests typically occur as a by-product of other enforcement activities and that the most important factor determining aggregate levels of weapons arrests is the general proactivity of the police department. Further, some empirical results suggest that police departments can shift to proactive strategies—and increase the level of weapons arrests—without dramatically changing the demographic characteristics of those arrested. Crucial unanswered questions include the effectiveness of such a strategy in reducing violent crime and the adminis trative means of changing police strategies against weapons offenses

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