Neighborhood Team Policing in Boulder, Colorado - A Case Study

• NCJ Number: 81420
• Author(s): T W White; R A Gillice
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 229 pages
• Grant Number(s): 76-NI-99-0030
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: The Urban Institute
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Contract Report 5054-11

Annotation

Findings are presented from an evaluation of Neighborhood Team Policing in Boulder, Colo.

Abstract

In 1975, LEAA awarded grants to six sites to demonstrate the concept of full-service neighborhood team policing. Boulder, Colo., was one of those sites. Generally speaking, full-service neighborhood team policing involves decentralizing police work to the community level, where groups of 20 to 40 officers become familiar with area residents and handle cases from start to finish. The outcome objectives for team policing listed in Boulder's grant application were to improve community relations, increase officer job satisfaction, increase Part I arrests, decrease Part I crimes, and decrease citizen fear. The process by which Boulder sought to implement the team policing concept is described. The chief of police ordered the patrol division to start operating in a team policing mode in July 1975. The city was divided into a north team area and a south team area. The University of Colorado Police Department continued to have jurisdiction over the university campus. The element that called for the detectives to be assigned to teams was the only one not implemented. By January 1977, the major elements of team policing were still under study by a new police chief who assumed command in May 1976. This chief returned the patrol division to the previous watch system. Under the team policing system, Part I crime decreased by 12 percent and arrests for Part I crime increased. The changes cannot be attributed to team policing, however. While the demand for community programs was found to be high, the department did not have enough personnel to meet the operational goals. Police officer job satisfaction probably suffered a net decline. Although the basic concepts of team policing were accepted by the majority of officers, the mode of implementation was generally unpopular. Lessons to be learned from the Boulder experience with team policing are listed. Tabular data are provided.