NCJ Number
194084
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the community component of community policing in Chicago’s (Illinois) Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS).
Abstract
The four defining principles of community policing are: (1) community policing relies on organizational decentralization and a reorientation of patrol facilitating communication between the police and the public; (2) a commitment to broadly focused, problem-oriented policing; (3) the requirement that police be responsive to citizens’ demands when they decide what local problems are and set their priorities; and (4) a commitment to help neighborhoods solve crime problems on their own, through community organizations and crime prevention programs. The four key lessons learned through the CAPS program are that: (1) community support must be won; (2) effective community involvement depends on an organized community; (3) training is as critical for the community as it is for the police; and (4) there is a real risk of inequitable outcomes. The best-off elements of the community will take to community policing pretty naturally, but those who really need it may be last to come on board – if they come on at all. The mainstay of CAPS marketing has been a large media campaign touting the existence of CAPS and beat meetings. The dynamics that contribute to more effective meetings are structural features (regular schedule, regular location), organizational features (agendas and network-building activities), and process features (action components). What can be done to encourage community “buy in” include the following: (1) creating meaningful roles for the community and train residents on these roles; (2) customizing program marketing geared to the various factions of the community; (3) getting residents beyond the awareness stage; (4) focusing recruitment efforts on community organizations; and (5) knowing what would constitute a model meeting in the community. 17 references