Past, Present and Future Performance: Lessons and Prospects for the Measurement of Police Performance

Surveying trends and debates in the measurement of police performance since 1970, this article considers what lessons from the past should inform how we determine what constitutes ‘ good ’ or ‘ successful ’ policing. The tension between ‘ industrial ’ and community models of policing, and the performance measurement requirements of each, has formed a continuous backdrop to policing throughout the last 30 or so years. In this article Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, highlights the cyclical way in which these models rise and fall from favour and discusses the prospects for police performance management, suggesting some potentially fruitful approaches for the future.