Toledo, Ohio
Identifying Criminals through the Prolific Offender Surveillance and Apprehension Team (POSAT)
Project Overview
The Toledo Police Department organized a prolific offender unit, entitled the Special Intelligence Group (SIG), consisting of one sergeant, four detectives, and a crime analyst. This unit was trained and equipped to gather intelligence and conduct undercover surveillance of prolific serious offenders. The research partners developed and tested an empirically based Prolific and Priority Offender (PPO) Scoring Matrix – a risk assessment tool for identifying those most at risk of committing a new robbery, burglary, or aggravated assault offense within the next year.
Methods and Findings
Research Design
A quasi-experimental research design, examining the numbers of reported crimes within the geographic area identified as the “awareness space” of all of the prolific offenders as well examining reported crimes and calls for services within these areas.
Findings
- Implementation of the prolific offender program activities coincided with statistically significant reductions in the specific crimes targeted by the program.
- Robberies declined 3.9%, burglaries declined 20.1%, and aggravated assaults declined 16.1% in these specific geographical areas.
- Overall reports of crime decreased 1.3%, auto thefts decreased 8.5%, and thefts from autos decreased 14.1%, and total calls for police services decreased 3.1% within these awareness spaces after the project began.
