What research project evaluated police responses in Kansas City regarding patrol methods?

The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment is a significant study that examined the impact of different police patrol methods on crime rates and public perceptions of safety. Conducted in the early 1970s, this research was groundbreaking as it was one of the first studies to systematically analyze the effects of varying levels of police patrol presence on crime. The primary focus was to determine if increasing or decreasing police visibility would affect crime rates or citizens' feelings of safety.

The experiment involved three different areas in Kansas City, where researchers manipulated the levels of preventive patrol: one area had no patrol, another had increased patrol, and a third maintained the standard level of patrol. The findings indicated that changes in patrol levels had little impact on crime rates, challenging the prevailing belief that a higher police presence necessarily deters crime. This experiment significantly influenced policing strategies and policy by providing evidence that led to a reevaluation of traditional patrol methods and emphasized the need for more effective community policing approaches.

Other studies like the Chicago Police Study, Los Angeles Patrol Experiment, and Newark Police Experiment focused on different aspects of policing, such as the effectiveness of investigations, the dynamics of police-community relations, or specific interventions. However, none specifically evaluated the Kansas City police response regarding patrol methods in the same way as