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Offering a balanced approach to problem-solving issues in a complex and changing world, this book focuses specifically on the subject of problem solving in policing. Featured selections include chapters on domestic security, disorderly youth, auto theft, prostitution, gang delinquency and crime in public housing. Other notable selections discuss the role of supervising police personnel engaged in problem solving, advances in using this approach in criminal investigations, solving serial crimes, preparing for terrorism, and developing patrol officers as effective first responders to active viol

In a laboratory experiment subjects worked on two case problems using one of five different strategies. The first problem required subjects to generate ideas to solve the problem (idea generation phase), whereas subjects were given a standardized set of alterna tives to solve the second case and asked to select the best alterna tives (idea evaluation phase). Results suggested that the more the problem-solving strategy approached one of an individual work ing alone, the greater the number of "good" ideas generated. In idea evaluation, the interactive strategies did not differ from each other in terms of decision quality. Group performance was inferior to the best individual working alone and approximated the level of the average individual working alone. Reasons for process losses were discussed.

Organizations use a plethora of methods and tools to help their members solve problems effectively. Yet the specifics of how individuals solve problems remain largely unexplored. We propose and test a cognitive model of problem solving that integrates dual process theories into the attention-based view. The model suggests that diverse problem-solving strategies emerge in response to how individuals deliberate. Three studies provide observational and causal evidence in support of our model. The first study explores the strategies managers use to solve problems. We use think-aloud protocols combined with content, sequence, and cluster analyses to extract the key differences in how experienced managers solve problems. Two problem-solving strategies emerge from the data: one emphasizes mental activities related to framing, and the other emphasizes mental activities related to implementation. In the second study, we use a mixed factorial experimental design and mouse-tracking analysis to uncover the causal mechanism that explains the emergence of these two strategies. We then retest our hypotheses in a third, preregistered, study. We find that manipulating attention toward mental activities related to framing increases deliberation aimed at restructuring the problem elements. In contrast, directing attention toward mental activities related to implementation increases deliberation on the potential contingencies and consequences of the solution. Our findings provide empirical evidence about how problems are actually solved and support the idea that attentional processes are malleable enough to affect the choice of problem-solving strategies. History: This paper has been accepted for the Organization Science Special Issue on Experiments in Organizational Theory. Funding: For Study 1, funding from EC NEST-2006-PATH-Cul, CID-Cultural and Innovation Dynamics: FP6-043345 is gratefully acknowledged. Supplemental Material: The supplemental material is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2019.13213 .