A tough nut to crack: Performance measurement in specialist policing

Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. Please note: minor revisions are occasionally made to publications after release. The online versions available on the AIC website will always include any revisions. v Foreword Foreword Globally, police forces are increasing their use of specialist units within their organisational structure. Specialist units are generally either technical in nature (eg forensics), or operational (eg drug or fraud squads) and require innovative performance measurement frameworks to properly evaluate their effectiveness within the broader policing context. In this report, the development of a performance measurement framework for Auckland Metropolitan Crime and Operational Support (AMCOS), a specialist policing unit of the New Zealand Police, is described. AMCOS encompasses a range of technical and niche units supporting policing operations in New Zealand. The performance framework, reflecting the roles and functions of the unit covers—forensic performance measures, operations support performance measures, intelligence performance measures and investigations performance measures. The authors have written at a practical level that will assist practitioners to develop similar frameworks that can meet the needs of their specialist units, but that also reflects on analytical and theoretical aspects of performance measurement systems. The AIC's Technical and Background Paper series is aimed at methodological research that informs best practice and this paper will provide police services with an insight into the development of a successful framework that has assisted NZ policing to monitor and improve its performance.