Allocation of police posts in a medium-sized city: a multiple criteria approach

• Main Authors: Charles Miller Gois de Oliveira, Breno Barros Telles do Carmo, Maria Elisabeth Pinheiro Moreira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual Paulista 2015-09-01
• Series: GEPROS: Gestão da Produção, Operações e Sistemas
• Subjects: Public security; Multiple criteria approach to support decision-making; Police post allocation
• Online Access: http://www.gepros.feb.unesp.br/index.php/gepros/article/view/1233/661

Changes in violent crime rates implies a need for strategies to protect the population. Public safety policies should be focused on preventive security, which has the potential to reduce crime rates. The allocation of the police observation posts contributes to an increase in safety. However, given limited resources, the number of observation units has reduced in most Brazilian cities. Therefore, efficient allocation of these resources is necessary to ensure rational use of security agents. Several aspects influence decisions related to where to install these units, complicating this process. The multiple criteria approach is appropriate in this type of decision-making process, because it allows the decision maker to generate and consolidate knowledge. The results indicate that the most suitable neighborhoods are those with higher rates of violence and greater social gaps. This work presents some benefits to the area of public security, since it formalizes tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. The information contained in this study may be made available to other public administrators who need to make this kind of decision.