Assessing the Performance of Municipal Police Services Using Data Envelopment Analysis: An Exploratory Study

GOVERNMENT at all levels—federal, state, and local—is becoming increasingly interested in performance measurement. At the national level, federal departments are busily engaged in gearing up for implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-62). The Act requires federal departments to develop performance measures, with an emphasis on outcome performance measures, for their various programs beginning with FY 1998 (GAO 1995). At the state level, Florida, Texas, and Maine have launched their own major performance measurement initiatives (Texas State Auditor’s Office 1997; Florida Office 1997; State of Maine 1997). Several states (e.g., Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, and Minnesota) are busily engaged in statewide and community “benchmarking” programs (FCGAP 1996a). Three of the better known benchmarking efforts are “Oregon Options” (Oregon Progress Board 1994), “Minnesota Milestones” (Minnesota Planning 1996), and “Florida Benchmarks” (FCGAP 1996b). The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), in conjunction with a select group of state and local governments, has also been experimenting for some time now with performance measurement, or what Assessing the Performance of Municipal Police Services Using Data Envelopment Analysis: An Exploratory Study