On the issue of tactical distribution of police patrol squads using the discrete method

Koynov Maxim Yurevich Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Order Protection of Tyumen Institute for Internal Affairs Officers Professional Training 625049, Russia, Tyumen region, Tyumen, Amurskaya str., 75 koynovmax@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The protection of public order is a common task, and to solve it it is necessary to mobilize the full potential of the forces and means available in the internal affairs bodies, as well as to attract other resources available to States. It should be noted that recently, according to statistical data, there has been a stabilization of crime registration in public places in Russia, which indicates a systematic improvement in public safety. So in 2020, 620 thousand such crimes were committed, in 2021 - 581.3, in 2022 - 590.6, in the past period of 2023 from January to July - 407.4, respectively ^[1-5]. At the same time, such street crime registration rates in large cities and regional centers should be considered quite high.

Public safety on the streets of cities depends on numerous negative factors, such as the difficult social and economic situation in large cities, which is superimposed by migration problems, and the ongoing urbanization of district centers. However, society must defend its fundamental right to a safe environment and actively participate in its formation and peaceful protection. Practice shows that effective prevention, detection and suppression of offenses is possible only in the case of the direct presence of police squads on the streets, squares, and other public places, and the level of interaction between such squads should be high enough. Such a level of interaction cannot be achieved without improving the working methods of police squads patrolling city streets and other public places ^{[6, p.28]}.

Research methods

The research is based on universal dialectical, logical, statistical, formal legal, comparative legal methods.

Description of the study

One of the directions for improving law enforcement is the use of a discrete method of distributing patrol squads by areas of responsibility. Currently, the main legal act regulating the organization of the activities of police squads patrolling in the service area is the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated June 28, 2021 No. 495 "On approval of the Instruction on the organization of the activities of units of the patrol and guard service of the police of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia" (hereinafter - the Instruction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia). In accordance with this regulatory legal act, police squads serve to protect public order on patrol routes assigned to them. Such patrol routes are most often circular areas of terrain that should not exceed 10 kilometers for a car patrol or 2 kilometers for a foot patrol. At the same time, the concept of a patrol route is given in paragraph 27 of section 3 of the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated November 25, 2019 No. 879 "On Approval of the Instruction on the Organization of Law Enforcement activities in the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation on the streets and other public places" (hereinafter referred to as the OP Instruction). A patrol route is a section of territory (terrain) where an outfit performs its assigned duties using vehicles or on foot. At the same time, it is indicated that the boundaries of the route's area of responsibility correspond to the boundaries of the patrol route. It follows from this concept that offenses committed outside the path of the police squad are not included in the patrol's area of responsibility. The patrol reacts to offenses committed in the adjacent territory with the patrol route, beyond the border of the area of responsibility, only with the permission or at the direction of the operational duty officer of the squad management group. This state of affairs contributes to the fact that police squads are reluctant to respond to offenses committed in the adjacent territory, since if an offense occurs during the absence of a police squad on the patrol route, this will affect the accounting of the patrol's performance and reduce its statistical data.

The discrete method of distributing police squads involves eliminating the dependence of squads on rigidly fixed boundaries of patrol routes, offering instead the use of areas of responsibility with sufficiently broad powers in responding to incidents within the areas of responsibility.

In order to clarify the basic properties of the proposed method, a definition of discreteness should be given. There is a generally accepted mathematical definition of discreteness - these are phenomena consisting of separate stable elements in a system, the state of which does not change regardless of the impact on them, occurring at regular intervals ^[7]. A good example of discreteness is the movement of the second hand in a mechanical watch. Using the term discrete modeling of the distribution of patrol squads, the authors strive to create a stable system of response to offenses, similar to the work of a well-coordinated mechanism, where each element of the mechanism is responsible for working in a certain area of responsibility.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the main factor in the effectiveness of patrols is the speed of response to incoming calls. This pattern is confirmed by numerous studies conducted both in Russia and abroad.

Such studies are currently a general trend towards improving law enforcement around the world. In Russian science, such studies were carried out by P.N. Kurlovich, N.E. Kazinsky, B.I. Larionov and others, similar studies were conducted abroad by Holing de la Cruz, Simon Eckbert, Jennifer Bachner and others. Thus, the analysis of foreign practice of modeling the management of forces and means, as well as the classification of modeling techniques, was carried out by P.N. Kurlovich in his works ^{[8, p.333]}. One of the patrol squad management models he studied using a problem-oriented approach is currently being actively implemented by the police departments of the United States of America. A similar study in this area was conducted by the University of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico City ^[9]. A leading researcher at the University of Holing de la Cruz, having conducted large-scale modeling in three patrol districts of Mexico City, formulated a method for the discrete distribution of police patrol squads and justified a system of effective response to committed offenses. Within the framework of this experiment, the task was to determine the qualitative impact on the effectiveness of police patrol units to stabilize the criminal situation of the following factors:

1. the number of patrol units;

2. information and technical support of patrol units;

3. independence of decision-making on prompt response to offenses.

During the experiment, different approaches to the system of patrolling territories by police units were implemented in three different districts.

In the first district, a "reactionary approach" was applied - the maximum number of outfits was exhibited, while police outfits were strictly tied to patrol routes and could not independently go beyond the boundaries of the patrol route without the permission of the squad control center. Information about offenses was received only by the police patrol unit where such an offense was committed. The outfit could not independently respond to offenses outside its competence, all actions were coordinated with the decision-making center.

In the second area, a "discrete approach" was used - a small number of outfits were exhibited, while the outfits were tied only to the areas of deployment, independently choosing the route in the patrol area of responsibility. Information about the committed offenses was transmitted to all patrol squads, and the patrols themselves made decisions on responding to offenses with notification to the center. A wide level of competence in responding to offenses was delegated to the patrol unit. The Squad Control Center only coordinated the interaction between patrol squads, giving freedom of choice in tactics.

In the third area, patrolling was carried out according to the existing regulations of the patrol service of the police and was called "control".

An analysis of the results of the experiment on various approaches to patrol duty showed that a larger number of patrol squads did not significantly reduce the level of criminogenic situation in the serviced area, and the same number of offenses were recorded in both the first and second districts ^{[10, p.119]}.

At the same time, the ability to independently respond to offenses in the second district showed a significant increase in the efficiency of decision-making, as a result, greater efficiency in suppressing and detecting offenses in hot pursuit. Over a long period of time, during the experiment, the dynamics of a decrease in the number of offenses in the second patrol area was traced (offenders intuitively felt the activity of patrol squads and went to the area of less tactical freedom of patrols).

The possibility of increasing the territory controlled by patrol units and providing them with greater freedom in responding promptly to offenses, as well as expanded powers, made it possible to ensure public safety more effectively. It should also be taken into account that the positive dynamics in stabilizing the criminal situation was achieved with fewer forces and means in the second district, which should allow the saved forces to be used to ensure law and order in other areas of public safety. Using the proposed model of discrete distribution of patrol units, the authors of the study intend to calculate the possibilities of its application in the conditions of large Russian cities.

It should be noted that the prototype for using the discrete method during the experiment was modern algorithms for the operation of taxi services and fast courier delivery centers. In the absence of digital technologies and Internet communication capabilities, the work of taxi companies was based on the standard division of the serviced territory into equivalent sections, several taxi cars were assigned to each section. When receiving a call, the dispatcher transmitted information only to those taxis that were in the area of the call. Due to the fact that taxi drivers, wanting to get the maximum benefit, chose the busiest sections of traffic, such as a railway station, as the place of movement, therefore, several cars accumulated at once in one place, to the detriment of the rest of the territory. When receiving a call from a place remote from the passenger traffic, the subscriber had to wait for a long time. This scheme did not take into account the location of a taxi at a specific point and sometimes a taxi was sent to the subscriber's waiting place from the far side of the serviced area, whereas a taxi was already nearby, but on another site. The use of mathematical traffic models and algorithms in taxi companies for operational purposes and determining the most effective routes for free taxis to call places, as well as the possibility of obtaining information about calling several taxis at once, made it possible to reduce the waiting time for subscribers to several minutes ^{[11, p.358]}.

K.K. Panayotov and A.N. Panayotova were engaged in the development of algorithms for the movement of transport in passenger transportation, and their proposed transportation optimization system takes into account ^{[12, p.121]}:

1. Forecasting passenger traffic volumes and compliance with the classification of traffic definitions;

2. modeling the process of choosing the optimal route to the destination;

3. Automated collection and processing of incoming information on passenger traffic volumes.

Similar solutions to the development of algorithms for the movement of patrols are possible when using a discrete method of distributing police squads.

What is a discrete method of distributing police squads in relation to the activities of the patrol service in Russia?:

Firstly, this is a departure from the standard strictly regulated patrol routes with a car patrol pattern from point A to point B, in accordance with paragraph 126 of the Instruction of the PPSP, the length of such a route cannot exceed 10 kilometers. Instead, it is proposed to establish patrol areas of responsibility that have several points of movement in the territory, but provide the patrol with a certain freedom of movement between points. At the same time, this scheme allows you to get a larger service area than the standard looped patrol route, limited by a distance of 10 kilometers.

Secondly, the use of traffic points in the area of responsibility of the autopatrol will allow to "saturate" remote areas of the serviced territory due to the fact that certain areas can be serviced by several patrols at once. At the same time, traffic between points should be calculated mathematically, taking into account traffic congestion, the operational situation, the number of police squads and other factors.

Thirdly, in order to effectively respond to a committed offense, provide the squads with the opportunity to independently make decisions about accepting a call, while patrols in the border area of responsibility also have the opportunity to respond to a call. After receiving information about the incident and accepting the call, a message is automatically sent to the squad control center, which remains under general control and, if it is advisable to send another squad to the scene of the incident, the center remains authorized to cancel the call and maneuver with forces and means.

Fourthly, the creation of traffic algorithms between serviced points in the area of responsibility should allow all patrols to be evenly distributed and not create excessive saturation of patrols in one of the points and a lack of them in the other. The prototype of such traffic algorithms should be taxi driving algorithms using analytical systems of taxi companies. At the same time, the patrol has the right to independently choose the movement in the area of responsibility. To optimize the algorithms, it is possible to divide the area of responsibility into several sectors of movement. At the same time, the task force control center is only charged with developing several optimal routes to the scene of the incident and transferring them to patrols.

Fifthly, the use of a discrete method of distributing police squads becomes effective only if innovative technologies are introduced into the activities of the patrol and post police service. This includes equipping police patrol crews with access to the Safe City hardware and software complex, obtaining information about the positioning of other outfits, obtaining calculations of the optimal route to the place of commission of an offense, the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles as means of monitoring the operational situation in the area of responsibility, and others.

Conclusion and conclusion

Therefore, it can be stated that in order to ensure the effectiveness of the patrol and post service of the police, it is necessary to transform the system of distribution of police squads. One of the models for improving such activities is the use of the method of discrete distribution of police squads in the serviced area. To do this, both legal and tactical regulation of the activity under study should be carried out.

Regulation of the rules for the distribution of police squads in the serviced territory will require amendments to paragraph 27 of Section 3 "Organization of law enforcement", Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated November 25, 2019 No. 879 "On approval of the Instruction on the Organization of Law Enforcement activities in the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation on streets and other public places", replacing the provisions "On patrol route" to "use of areas of responsibility of patrols on motor vehicles", divided into several sectors with an established algorithm for movement between them. In paragraph 126 of section 3 "Organization of the service of the PPP units" of the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated June 28, 2021 No. 495 "On approval of the Instruction on the organization of the activities of the patrol and post service units of the Police of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia", replace the borders and the length of patrol routes with the radius of the patrol zone, with the responsibility of the patrol for the inner perimeter of the serviced territory.

The development of algorithms for the movement of patrols, taking into account traffic congestion, the operational situation, the number of police squads and other factors, should be carried out by using the analytical capabilities of the Safe City hardware and software complex, these systems are already actively used in a number of regions of the Russian Federation. The legal framework does not require regulation due to the existence of the Concept of building and developing the hardware and software complex "Safe City", operating in accordance with the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 3, 2014 No. 2446-R.

Also, it is possible to fully reveal the possibilities of the discrete method only through the technical re-equipment of patrol cars, their equipment with remote positioning systems, access to the services of the hardware and software complex "Safe City" and other innovative technologies. What should be reflected in the content of the interstate standard GOST 34600-2019 "Operational and service vehicles for patrolling and going to the scene of incidents of the duty units of law enforcement agencies. Technical requirements" (put into effect by Order of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology dated October 30, 2019 N 1167-st).

The result of the improvements carried out in the distribution of police squads should be the appearance in large regional centers of a flexible management structure for motor vehicle patrols based on a discrete method. Autonomous patrols organized into tactical groups become the basis of such a management structure. The control centers remain responsible for coordinating such groups, providing information and technical support, geo-positioning, and, if necessary, maneuvering law enforcement forces and means based on operational analytics and information processing.