This thesis contains three parts. The first one offers the theoretical basement, where the history of the police from their beginning in the early 19th century to this day is shown. The emphasis however is laid on the last 40 years, which gave birth to a multitude of innovations, such as community, problem-oriented, hot-spots or zero-tolerance policing. Those innovations are described in detail and are critically commented. At the end of this section, I present a scheme, where all the approaches are classified as strategic or methodic innovations, but united under a model called "modern policing". The fact that the innovations are not competitive but rather complementary is the most important finding of this examination.
The second part of this work deals with a unique survey about the implementation of four innovations and eight problem- and community-oriented activities in 85 Swiss police forces. This explorative study shows that in the last 15 years the Swiss police forces have increasingly adopted innovative approaches. The most frequent innovation is community policing, which has been implemented all over the country. Due to the results, we can also assume that the implementation of the innovations is mostly substantial and profound. However, particularly in the area of problem-solving there is still a need for improvements.
The third section consists of a scientific evaluation of a temporary special unit of the municipal police Zurich, which, during nine months, fought against public drug dealing and illegal prostitution in a particular neighborhood called Langstrasse. The effects of this hot-spot project were measured with police data, observations and several population surveys. In general, the special unit achieved a positive outcome and helped to defuse the hot-spot. Additionally, a survey conducted within the police department showed that the personal attitude towards the special unit differed widely between the policemen. We found significant differences between both police regions East and West, rank-and-file and higher ranking officers, different ages and the personal connection to the special unit. In fact, the higher the rank, the lower the age, and the closer the relationship, the more positive the officers were towards the unit.