A Decade of Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing: Characteristics of the Goldstein Award Winners

Abstract

Each year, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) accepts nominations for the prestigious Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. This article examines problem-oriented initiatives that have been selected by PERF as innovations deserving recognition. The authors review the characteristics of these projects beginning in 1993, the inaugural year of the Goldstein Award. They review such characteristics as the nature of the problem, the nature of the intervention, and the integration of SARA (scanning, analysis, response, & assessment) model principles. These characteristics are examined to provide insight into what is being presented as innovative, award-winning practices in problem-oriented policing. The responses examined are framed in the context of programmatic and techniquelevel innovations. Discussion is given to the prospect of these innovative approaches becoming institutional practices.