Over the past several months, the Golden Valley Police Department (GVPD) has integrated a new performance management tool called CompStat to track data and redeploy resources in its efforts to reduce crime and achieve other department goals.
Developed by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s, CompStat has an established and proven track record in reducing crimes and improving the overall operating systems of several major metropolitan police departments, including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Newark, explains Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green.
“CompStat has been used by larger police departments around the United States for decades, and it’s now a tool that fits well within a department the size of Golden Valley,” adds Green. "Just like these major city police departments, the GVPD is custom-tailoring CompStat to fit the needs of our community. It provides a basic road map for proactively fighting crime rather than just reacting to it.”
CompStat operates on four main components:
- accurate and timely sharing of intelligence and/or information across all levels of the organization
- effective tactics that consider the use of every resource, both internal and external, in responding to a problem
- rapid and strategic response and deployment of necessary resources to identified problem areas
- relentless follow-up and evaluation of achieved results and assessment of their value to the organization’s overall operation
Green says the GVPD reviews CompStat data and staff performance during its weekly meetings, focusing on trends, issues, and concerns that have arisen in Golden Valley, as well as what strategies or best practices have been working.
“This continuous cycle of reviewing, strategizing, taking action, and being held accountable for results helps us in future decision-making,” says Green. "Using CompStat, we deploy resources where they are needed most in an effort to achieve results toward our mission to be the safest first-ring suburb of Minneapolis and one of the best places to live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.”
Watch the City website for upcoming stories and more information about the GVPD’s use of CompStat.