NCJ Number
162092
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 65 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 17-22
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In order to address community crime problems within a limited budget, the Garland Police Department (Texas) helped develop the Neighborhood Service Team (NST), a unique cooperative effort that combines the resources of the police deparment and other municipal agencies with the assistance of community residents.
Abstract
Although the NST consists of all city departments, the majority of projects involve personnel and resources from 15 agencies, including the police and fire departments, the planning department, and housing and neighborhood services. According to its mission statement, the goal of the NST is to "build and maintain a partnership between the community and the city that will encourage cooperative problemsolving and improve quality of life." The core of the NST effort involves field-level personnel who interact directly with community members to identify problems. Prior to implementation of the NST project, instructors trained all police personnel involved with the program. The emphasis of the training was cooperative team work and the implementation of problem-oriented policing concepts. Team coordinators selected a 5-square-mile area in east-central Garland as the first community to be served by the NST. A community survey helped identify those problems perceived by community members to be the most significant. Once team members identify a neighborhood problem, they initiate a project to eliminate its underlying cause. They complete a short form to track the NST project from inception to completion. NST projects have included cleaning up a neighborhood, closing crack houses, closing down a drug operation in an apartment complex across from an elementary school, and the renovation of a former residence to become a meeting place for various community-improvement projects. Crime data show that criminal activity has been reduced in the target area, and the program is to be expanded in September 1994 to include an 8-square-mile area of west Garland. 4 notes