Creative Community Policing Initiatives in Columbia, South Carolina (From Policing and Community Partnerships, P 45-76, 2000, Dennis J. Stevens, ed., --See NCJ-194083)

• NCJ Number: 194087
• Author(s): Carroy U. Ferguson
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice Hall Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examines community-policing initiatives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Abstract

Columbia’s first challenge for community policing initiatives was embracing the importance of community involvement. The catalysts behind its community policing agenda were the crime problem, the neighborhood concerns, the role of churches, and the police leadership. In 1994, Columbia was one of 16 sites invited by the Federal Government to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to combat crime called Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP). The role of the police community mobilization officers was and is the most innovative aspect of its community policing initiatives and CCP efforts. Each of the police community mobilization officers lives in the targeted neighborhoods and has a separate office in the assigned neighborhood. Their role entails mobilizing and empowering residents to become more actively involved in CCP efforts and implementing activities to reduce crime and related problems. Emerging out of these efforts were a number of community-based, prevention-oriented programs, such as parenting programs, adolescent pregnancy prevention, domestic violence programs, youth diversion, recreational programs, drug prevention, and drug court. There is a continuing process to reorganize the Columbia Police Department’s infrastructure to provide the necessary tools and personnel to implement community-policing jurisdiction-wide. A systematic evaluation of Columbia’s initiatives shows that Columbia seems to have established a common vision for community policing among police and community leaders, bureaucrats, and citizens. The elements of longevity of contacts and familiarity among key players appear to be important factors. Implications that can be drawn from this analysis are: (1) for community policing to work, key players from police, city, and the community must be brought together to develop a common vision and a plan of implementation; (2) a broad community atmosphere must be created for establishing community policing among police department personnel, city officials, community residents, schools, and public and private social services agencies; and (3) sufficient resources must be made available to successfully implement community policing. 13 references, appendix