NCJ Number
60298
Date Published
1978
Length
104 pages
Annotation
A NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE UNIT ESTABLISHED TO COMBAT CRIME IN WINNIPEG, CANADA IN 1977, BY INCREASING POLICE-PUBLIC RAPPORT, IS EVALUATED BY POLICE AND CITIZENS.
Abstract
GENERAL RATING OF THE POLICE BY INNER CITY RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS PEOPLE; BEFORE AND AFTER THE UNIT WAS INTRODUCED, IMPROVED. MORE PEOPLE SAW AND HAD TALKED WITH POLICE, MORE DESIRED INFORMAL COMMUNICATION WITH THEM, AND MORE WERE WILLING TO HELP BY APPEARING IN COURT OR REPORTING CRIME; HOWEVER, POLICE WERE VIEWED AS NO MORE RACIALLY UNBIASED THAN BEFORE. THERE WAS NO MAJOR DECREASE IN CITIZEN FEAR FOR PERSONAL OR PROPERTY SAFETY, ALTHOUGH VICTIMIZATION RATES DECLINED SLIGHTLY IN 1977. THE CRIME RATE WAS VIEWED AS STABILIZING. CROSS-STUDIES DONE OF DIFFERENT SUB-GROUPS SHOWED MORE NEGATIVE OPINIONS ABOUT THE POLICE AMONG THE POOR, RACIAL MINORITIES, AND CRIME VICTIMS. POSSIBLY, ANTIPATHY TOWARD POLICE OF MINORITIES AND THE POOR REFLECTED THEIR GENERAL DIFFICULTY IN COPING WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THE NEW POLICE UNITS MAY ALSO BE VIEWED BY CITIZENS, ESPECIALLY THE DISADVANTAGED, AS REPRESENTING A COSMETIC RATHER THAN A SERIOUS CHANGE IN POLICE SERVICE, I.E., POLICE ARE THOUGHT TO BE FRIENDLIER BUT DO NOT EFFECT A SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN THE CRIME RATE. RESULTS OF THE POLICE SURVEY SHOWED LOWERED MORALE, GREATER COMMUNITY MISTRUST, AND GREATER ANTIPATHY TOWARD NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING AFTER THE UNIT WAS ESTABLISHED. YOUNGER POLICE FARED BETTER IN THE PROGRAM THAN OLDER, PERHAPS DUE TO BETTER PROGRAM ORIENTATION FOR NEW RECRUITS, EXPERIENCED OFFICERS' RESISTANCE TO PROCEDURAL CHANGES, AND PROGRAM UNCERTAINTIES. RECOMMENDATIONS, TABULAR DATA, AND FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. THE APPENDIX CONTAINS SURVEY QUESTIONS FOR POLICE AND CITIZENS.