Criminology

Patrol is used by law enforcement agencies as a deterrent to crime. Crime is anything which the society does not approve of. It can be a behavior which can either be an act of commission or omission. For an act to be considered as a crime, it must be announced publicly by the duly formed constitutional government bodies. Therefore, it is the society through the legislative bodies which passes the statutes which state the types of behaviors which does not serve the public interest. The authority to punish an individual for the crimes committed is vested on law enforcement bodies. Through patrol, law enforcement agency is able to eliminate or even reduce the chance of committing a crime or create the belief among the potential criminals that there exist no opportunity to commit crime.

Patrol is the most commonly used form of law enforcement which is made to reduce the opportunity which the criminals might have to commit criminal activities. The law enforcement officers who carry out intensive patrol service act as the communitys representative who have come together to ensure that no crime is being committed.  Offences which are reduced by police patrol include car stripping and street assaults among others. The word patrol is used to describe several law enforcement activities. It is very important in reducing the level of crime. Its impact goes far much beyond the impression created with the physical presence of police officers or even patrol vehicle. Patrol involves contact between the police officers carrying out the patrol and the people in their area of operation.

Police use various tactics when they are carrying out patrol in order to control criminal activities. Both individual and serial crimes occur when a motivated offender gets a suitable target in a time and place where there is poor security. This principle is important since it gives the police avenues for counteracting the criminal activity. The avenues include removal of the offender through apprehension tactics. Suitable target can be removed through target hardening tactics and avail capable security through apprehension tactic.

Apprehension tactics are applicable in situations where the motivated offender can be identified and captured or when the police officers are in a position to interrupt the criminal activity going on. These tactics work best in serial crimes. Examples of apprehension tactics include collection of evidence, rapid response, and planned response in situations where the police have information concerning the offender, silent alarms to the police, stakeouts, surveillance, informants, decoys, controlled buys, suspect-oriented, and hidden cameras.

Suppression tactics helps in scaring offenders away but does not catch them. Although it is not satisfying, it is suited in situations where there is no specific offender, in minor offences, when there is limited information about the offender, or when the next target place is not known. The tactics used here include security guards or dogs which provide visible security, saturation patrol where the police increase the frequency of patrolling the area, directed patrols where the police officers are direct at a particular location, phantom or scarecrow patrol cars which are parked at places where crimes are likely to be committed. Visible cameras help in reducing crime when placed in strategic places, killing markets and in this tactic police patrol areas where stolen goods are likely to be sold.
  
The third tactic used is target hardening tactics. It is used in situations where the target person has a greater influence than the offender or the place. It works well when potential targets are easily reached. The tactics used are security survey where area which are likely to be affected are visited and the people involved advised accordingly, property identification, warning signs, community organizations, silent alarms to the police, and general community and media information on crime.
 
Police patrol can be used as one method of suppressing criminal activities. For it to be used effectively there is need to engage the people on the ground, who would help in identifying the criminals and high risk areas. The methods of patrol used include foot and vehicular patrols. The three major tactics are apprehension, suppressions and target hardening.