Summary
This report identifies a new approach to measuring the efficiency of the police, enabling police forces to better understand their relative strengths and weaknesses and where to look for advice on best practice. Key recommendations of the report include: 1. Moving the focus of evaluation from input measures to delivery of outcomes; 2. Using a comparatively small number of Best Value outcome measures in two efficiency-measuring techniques - Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis - to estimate the relative efficiency of each police force.
Forces would be ranked into bands of relative efficiency, with forces in the lower bands being asked to make up about half of the gap between themselves and the top performing forces. Top forces would be given comparatively smaller targets; 3. Integrating this work into the Best Value initiative by using selected Best Value Performance Indicators, and using the results and the efficiency targets in revised Best Value Performance Plans; 4. Developing the techniques and applying them to the police in a fully open and transparent process over the rest of 2000. The techniques should be piloted in a few forces in late 2000, before being rolled out in to all forces in mid-2001.
Contents
Part 1. 1. Introduction. -- 2. What do we mean by “efficiency”? -- 3. The use of police efficiency measures in England and Wales. -- 4. Input and outcome measures. -- 5. A better measure of police efficiency. -- 6. Presentation and analysis of the results of SFA and DEA. -- 7. Incentives. -- 8. Benefits. -- 9. Implementation. -- 10. Application to the wider state sector. -- 11. Evaluation. -- 13. People consulted. -- Part 2. Technical annexes. -- Annex A. Outcome measures. -- Annex B. Ancillary techniques for understanding measured police service efficiency. -- Annex C. SFA and DEA—a technical explanation. -- Annex D. Summary of advice on SFA and DEA from economics and econometric specialists.