Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment (SARA) is a problem-solving process used in

problem-oriented policing Problem-oriented policing (POP), coined by University of Wisconsin–Madison professor Herman Goldstein, is a policing strategy that involves the identification and analysis of specific crime and disorder problems, in order to develop effective re ...

. It is one of the most popular methods in problem-oriented policing.

History

SARA was first proposed in 1987 by John E. Eck and William Spelman of the

Police Executive Research Forum The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a national membership organization of police executives primarily from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies in the United States. The organization is dedicated to improving polic ...

. Police interventions based on SARA increased as a result of the

broken windows theory In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory suggests that pol ...

of crime first proposed in the 1980s.

Method

SARA consists of four stages: *Scanning: The officer identifies an issue and determines if it represents a problem that needs to be addressed. *Analysis: The officer collects information about the problem from various sources to understand the causes and scope of the problem. *Response: The officer uses the information to create and implement and response. *Assessment: The response's effectiveness is evaluated. Results of the assessment can be used to inform to revise the response in the future. Eck and Spelman identified the "Analysis" stage as the most important of the four stages. The "Assessment" stage was noted as "often the most ignored part of the SARA model" by the Evidence-Based Policing App.

Variations

Transport for London created a revised approach to policing based on SARA, which they called SPATIAL. Scan, Prioritize, Analyse, Task, Intervene, Assess and Learn. Adding the step "Prioritize" was judged necessary, as limits to funding mean not all problems can be addressed.

References

{{reflist Law enforcement techniques