Proactive Tactics Police officers use many different methods in their duties to protect and serve citizens.
Among these methods are the traditional and alternative methods. However, these are not the only methods that officers use. Officials use proactive tactics to further their means. The first tactic is called decoy operations. Decoy operations entail police officers to blend in with civilians and catch criminals in the middle of committing a crime and reducing local crimes. People do not assume that an officer would be in a crowd watching out for the safety of others.
Police also use decoy vehicles, or what we refer to as unmarked police cars. Civilians are less likely to speed or drive aggressively because they know there are unmarked cars around. Decoy operations are effective because crimes that are about to be committed are stopped in the act and people know that there is a possibility that they are being watched and may be less likely to do anything. Another proactive tactic is the stakeout operation. A stakeout operation occurs when there is a pattern of criminal activity or if they receive a tip that something is going to happen and they hide and wait for the suspect to appear and do their crime.The point is to catch the criminal before he does any damage.
This tactic is effective but it is dangerous because it has cost many lives because instead of giving up the criminal may decide to have a shoot out instead, and you have to take into account if there is a possibility of hostages. The third tactic is called the sting operation. The sting operation is another undercover method that assists in some cases where they need to recover stolen property and find the burglars.Officers would set up situations such as getting the word out that they are regular people that will buy stolen items to lure people in.
We see this on the internet as well. Police have gone onto Myspace and made fake profiles as fifteen year old girls to catch pedophiles. This tactic is very effective because officers have actually caught men and women that have tried to get with these young kids. I also think this tactic is the most important to implement because it’s easier for officers to come up with a strategy because they are controlling the situation when criminals walk into their trap.
