Appendix: Analysis of Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing Reports Involving Sting Operations

This table reports the findings of project reports submitted to the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing competition. As such, they are designed in a standard way based on the SARA model, and procedures followed are generally in compliance with the award criteria. However, more than half of the studies did not report data to back up their claims that the targeted crime had been reduced. Many assumed success because of the numbers of arrests or convictions that followed the sting. Even taking that into account, close to half reported that the sting operation did not work to reduce crime in the long run, though there were often temporary reductions.

List of Project Reports Reviewed (all available on The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing web site at www.popcenter.org)

Aurora Police Department (Colorado, USA), 1996, The Prostitution Dilemma

Austin Police Department (Texas, USA), 1999, South Congress Prostitution Problem

Boulder Police Department (Colorado, USA), 1997, Underage Alcohol Abuse: A Reformation, The Boulder Experience 

Calgary Police Service (Alberta, Canada), 2000, A Multi-Discipline Approach to Management and Control of Prostitution

Chico Police Department (California, USA), 1995, Alcoholic Beverage Control Grant

El Paso Police Department (Texas, USA), 2001, Auto Theft Prevention Task Force

El Paso Police Department (Texas, USA), 1996, San Jacinto Park Renovation Action Plan

Fontana Police Department (California, USA), 2003, Fontana Serious Traffic Offender Program

Fresno Police Department (California, USA), 1999, Prostitution Abatement and Rehabilitation First Offender Program

Hollywood Police Department (California, USA), 1998, Federal Highway Project

Lancashire Constabulary (UK), 2003, Putting the Brakes on Lorry Trailer Theft

Lauderhill Police Department (Florida, USA), 1996, Mission Lake Plaza Combating an Open-Air Drug Market in a Shopping Complex

Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (Florida, USA), 1997, A Task Force Approach to Organized Prostitution

Michigan State University Police Department (Michigan, USA), 1998, Illegal Alcohol Sales and Keg Tracking

National City Police Department (California, USA), 1997, Roosevelt Avenue Project (Antiprostitution Effort)

New Rochelle Police Department (New York, USA), 2004, Q-TIP (Quality-of-Life Targeted Intervention Patrol)

Paducah Police Department (Kentucky, USA), 2006, The Set Operation Deterring Street Crime and Violence

Redondo Beach Police Department (California, USA), 1998, Operation Bull Market: Targeting Habitual Offenders

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Williams Lake Detachment (British Columbia, Canada), 1997, Williams Lake Auto Theft Project

Sacramento Police Department (California, USA), 2003, Graffiti Reduction

Sacramento Police Department (California, USA), 1998, Oak Park Revitalization Program

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (Califorinia, USA), 1993, Foothill Corridor Project

San Diego Police Department (California, USA), 1995. Varda Car

Stockton Police Department (California, USA), 2003, Project Black Flag

Tucson Police Department (Arizona, USA), 1999, Pimps, Prostitutes, and Pushers

Wichita Police Department (Kansas, USA), 1996, South Central Prostitution Project