1. What management, organization, and technology factors make CompStat effective? CompStat (short for COMPuter STATistics or COMParative STATistics) originated in the New York City Police Department (NYPD)

in 1994 when William Bratton was police commissioner. CompStat is a comprehensive, city-wide database that records all reported crimes or complaints, arrests, and summonses issued in each of the city’s 76 precincts. City officials had previously believed that crime could not be prevented by better information and analytical tools but instead by using more foot patrols in neighborhoods along with the concept of “community policing” in which efforts were made to strengthen the involvement of community groups. In contrast, Bratton and Rudy Giuliani, then the mayor of New York City, believed that police could be more effective in reducing crime if operational decisions took place at the precinct level and if decision makers had better information.

Precinct commanders were in a better position than police headquarters to understand the specific needs of the communities they served and to direct the work of the 200 to 400 police officers they managed.

CompStat gave precinct commanders more authority and responsibility, but also more accountability