EFFECT OF PAC-TAC (POLICE AND CITIZENS - TOGETHER AGAINST CRIME) ON COMMUNITY ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POLICE IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - REPORT OF A SURVEY

• NCJ Number: 18537
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 117 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Rochester Police Dept
• Corporate Author: Stochastic Systems Research Corporation
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESULTS OF A SURVEY BASED ON 589 INTERVIEWS IN TEN PAC-TAC BEAT AREAS AND FIVE CONTROL AREAS, UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF AN OVERALL EVALUATION OF THIS POLICE-CIVILIAN PATROL TEAM DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

Abstract

THIS PROJECT, DEVELOPED JOINTLY BY THE ROCHESTER POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE ROCHESTER-MONROE COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE PILOT CITY PROGRAM IS AN EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM IN WHICH POLICE AND CIVILIANS WORKING AS TAX-PERSON TEAMS PATROL FIXED AREAS ON FOOT. THE CIVILIANS ARE TRAINED, UNIFORMED, AND PAID PART-TIME WORKERS EMPLOYED IN A PARA-POLICE ROLE. THE TWIN OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM ARE TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME BY MEANS OF VISIBLE FOOT PATROL AND TO IMPROVE POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS. THE PROJECT BACKGROUND, SURVEY DESIGN, AND ADMINISTRATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ARE DISCUSSED. PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF AND CONTACT WITH PAC-TAC WAS ASSESSED. ALTHOUGH PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROGRAM WAS WIDESPREAD, FEW INSTANCES OF CONTACT WERE REPORTED. ROCHESTER RESIDENTS WERE FOUND TO BE OVERWHELMINGLY IN FAVOR OF CONTINUING AND EXPANDING THE PAC-TAC PROGRAM. HOWEVER, THE SURVEY RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT EXPECTATIONS OF THE PROGRAM WERE HIGHER THAN PERCEIVED ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN MAKING NEIGHBORHOODS SAFER. THE DATA COLLECTED IN THIS SURVEY PROVIDED NO EVIDENCE THAT THE PRESENCE OF PAC-TAC IN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS SINCE MID-1973 HAD MODIFIED THE ATTITUDES OF RESIDENTS IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS, COMPARED TO RESIDENTS OF NON-PAC-TAC NEIGHBORHOODS.