Government Entrepreneurship: How COP, Direct Supervision, and a Business Plan Helped to Solve Santa Ana's Crime Problems

Much has been written about Community Oriented Policing for police agencies and about the Direct Supervision concept for jail operations. Each strategy is at the cutting edge of its respective discipline. This Commentary describes how the progressive City of Santa Ana implemented both strategies— along with a visionary business plan to operate its jail at minimal cost—to combat crime successfully. The City’s business plan relies on entrepreneurship that is too often lacking in government programs.

This approach has led to a number of innovations in law enforcement, corrections, and government service. Pay-to-Stay programs provide yet another example of how Santa Ana’s willingness to innovate helped it build ever more effective and efficient correctional facilities.