Grassroots and Persistent: The Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety

A guiding principle is that CANS be run by and for the citizens of Chicago's communities. CANS has offered training, technical and organizing assistance, research, and education to communities. During its early years, CANS assisted groups in Chicago's neighborhoods and public housing sites. These groups organized more than 1,000 block watches, apartment watches, and school safety zones. CANS issued a report in 1988 arguing that, reducing the number of calls to which police officers were dispatched would free the officers to work with the community to solve persistent neighborhood crime problems. The report introduced the idea of community policing to the public, and the CANS Community Policing Task Force initiated a campaign to implement community policing in Chicago. In 1992, the Chicago Police Department launched the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) in five prototype districts. An evaluation of CAPS after a year showed significant improvements in two high-crime, low-income police districts. Based on resident perceptions, major crimes and drug and gang activity appeared to decline. In addition, in two of three high-crime police districts, residents perceived police officers treated them less aggressively. The nature and scope of CAPS are examined, along with grass roots organizing by CANS to sustain community policing. Other efforts of CANS are noted that concern energizing and training citizens with regard to their role in community policing, pioneering computerized crime mapping, conducting in-depth studies on significant crime issues, and supporting neighborhood initiatives. 4 notes and 1 photograph