The prospects for intelligence‐led policing: Some Historical and quantitative considerations

The 1993 report ‘Helping With Enquiries ‐ Tackling Crime Effectively’ was published by the Audit Commission, against a background of persistent rises in reported crime. Despite increased academic acceptance of the notion of limited police influence, this promoted the concept of intelligence‐led policing to tackle volume crime by the incapacit‐ation of prolific repeat offenders. This work reviews the literature appertaining to police effectiveness in tackling crime and summarises some experiments in intelligence‐led policing, primarily in the United States. Against a background of continuing scepticism, a recurring thread of uncertainty is identified in relation to the exploitation of intelligence. The Home Office repeat offender statistics used in the Commission's report are examined and are found to be an inadequate sole basis for its recommendations. Other factors are discussed which suggest that the strategy may nonetheless be relatively effective in some significant respects.