The efficiency of police stations in the city of Ankara: an application of data envelopment analysis

Abstract

PurposePolice organizations' main goal is providing the security of the neighborhoods for citizens. This paper aims to investigate how efficiently the police stations in the city of Ankara work. It also seeks to determine how the efficiency of police organizations can be measured by using data envelopment analysis (DEA).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses DEA to measure the efficiency of police stations in the city of Ankara in Turkey. DEA measures the relative efficiency of decision‐making units (DMUs) based on their inputs and outputs.FindingsThe results showed that ten of 19 police stations in Ankara were efficient. In other words, 52.6 percent of police stations were found to be efficient.Research limitations/implicationsAll police stations in Ankara could not be included in the study. Since DEA analysis the relative efficiency of DMUs, including all police stations in Ankara, may have given a broader perspective for police managers.Practical implicationsInefficient police stations in this study should either reduce the number of incidents that occurred in the precinct or solve those crimes and increase the number of solved incidents. Preventing crimes may be achieved by employing community policing strategies, thus, police managers should focus on adopting community policing strategies.Originality/valueThe results of the DEA analysis can be used to help police stations in Ankara to be more efficient. Furthermore, applying DEA may be a new approach to measuring the efficiency of police services.