Problems of Community Policing: the Example of the Houston Project (From Police and the Community: Contributions Concerning the Relationship Between Police and the Community and Concerning Community Policing, P 117-130, 1990, Thomas Feltes and Erich Rebscher, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 129779
• Author(s): W Skogan
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Felix-Verlag
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: German
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

This paper describes and evaluates three types of community policing programs conducted in Houston in 1986 and 1987.

Abstract

The first program established small, easily accessible police stations in Houston neighborhoods; police officers responded to citizen calls for help, organized monthly community meetings, and patrolled dangerous areas. In the second project the Community Organizing Response Team established citizen groups that regularly joined the police in addressing neighborhood problems. In the third project, the Citizen Contact Patrol encouraged patrol officers to meet residents through house-to-house interviews. The programs were evaluated through interviews that explored citizen satisfaction and whether public order had been improved. All three programs showed some success in both areas. However, the programs had limited impacts in that the main participants were white homeowners. Much smaller percentages of blacks and renters knew the locations of the neighborhood police stations. Results indicated the need for greater efforts to involve all community members and the possibility that community policing may be ineffective in areas with significant economic and racial divisions. 17 references