Summary
This report discusses arrest quality as a measure of police performance. A small number of officers are responsible for the majority of arrests that end in conviction; however, there is no substantial evidence for attributing variation in officer performance to personal or demographic characteristics. A sample of High Conviction Rate (HCR) and Low Conviction Rate (LCR) officers was surveyed in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. The study found that officers responding to crime calls should be fully aware of the importance of recovering tangible evidence and enlisting the cooperation of persons who have witnessed or know about the crime. HCR officers indicated that they tended to focus greater attention on locating and dealing with witnesses than LCR officers. HCR officers were more willing to use both a direct, factual line of questioning and a psychological, indirect approach; LCR officers preferred the indirect approach. Furthermore, HCR officers reported success in improving witness cooperation by locating additional witnesses in order to create mutual support. The lack of difference in the demographic and attitudinal portions of the interviews rules out policy recommendations in areas such as recruitment, selection, and screening. However, the study recommends that officers receive feedback from the courts in order to improve the quality of their arrests.