NCJ Number
210349
Date Published
January 2004
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This final report describes a research project undertaken by the Savannah Police Department on the problem of loud car stereos in the city.
Abstract
The project, supported by funding from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), was designed to apply the information from selected Problem-Oriented Guides for Police (POP Guide) to actual crime and disorder problems, in this case, the problem of loud car stereos in the city. The project took place from September 2001 to January 2003 and after careful selection of the target problem (loud car stereos) by the department, the Loud Car Stereos POP Guide was distributed to project members. Data on the problem of loud car stereos was gathered from the community via survey of merchants and citizens; the four main findings were: (1) loud car stereos are of considerable concern to citizens but is an underreported problem; (2) the problem is concentrated around the downtown area, especially on weekend nights; (3) offenders are highly motivated to play their car stereos loudly; and (4) the overwhelming majority of offenders are young, Black males. The goal of the project next was to implement the response strategies outlined in the POP Guide, yet due to a lack of motivation and effective management, no new responses were developed or implemented to deal with loud car stereos during the study period. The project was nonetheless considered successful because of the effective application of the problem-oriented approach to the data collection and analysis process. Appendixes