NCJ Number
187760
Journal
On Good Authority Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 1-4
Date Published
August 1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes a study of factors contributing to public awareness and involvement in Chicago's community policing initiative.
Abstract
The study used survey data collected from Chicago residents to measure levels of awareness during 1996, 1997, and 1998. Public awareness of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) increased steadily during those years, from 53 percent to 79 percent. Demographic categories of survey participants included race, language, age, property ownership, income, education, and gender. In 1998, the most dramatic differences in awareness were linked to language and formal education. Overall, 61 percent of those surveyed knew that CAPS meetings were being held to address crime in their neighborhoods. The article discusses promotional efforts to increase public awareness; community meeting attendance and attendance patterns; and training sessions for civilian beat leaders, beat officers, and sergeants on how to conduct effective beat meetings. Civilian leadership was the predominant factor in meetings' effectiveness. A total of 659 CAPS activists interviewed in 1998 were confident about the program and optimistic about its future. Data were also collected from 1,030 officers; more than half considered their relationship with community residents attending beat meetings to be very congenial, and 42 percent considered the relationship somewhat congenial. Figures