Intelligence-led Policing - Critical Developments

Critical Developments

Prior to intelligence led policing a responsive strategy was the main method of policing. However as reported crime outgrew police resources in the UK there was a demand gap (as shown in the figure below) and a call for a new strategy that would more efficiently use the resources available at the time (Anderson 1994)

An early development of intelligence led policing was located in the UK. There they understood that they were spending too much time responding to offenders and not tackling the problem of repeat offenders.Therefore, Reports by the Audit Commission in 1993 and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in 1997 advocated increased use of intelligence, surveillance and informants to target recidivist offenders so that police could be more effective in fighting crime, and the call was quickly taken up by some police forces, most noticeably Kent Constabulary. (Ratcliffe,2008) Intelligence led policing was not a major proponent of policing styles until the September 11th terrorist attacks. Prior to these attacks the majority of all branches of the government would often not divulge any information to each other. The main assumptions of this theory can be described by Ratcliffe’s 3i format. As shown by the figure below,the three I’s call for close cooperation between police chiefs and intelligence analysts in order to facilitate a strategy that will impact the criminal environment. (Ratcliffe,2008)