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Thefts From Cars in Center-City Parking Facilities: A Case Study in Implementing Problem-Oriented Policing (From Problem-Oriented Policing: From Innovation to Mainstream, P 257-298, 2003, Johannes Knutsson, ed. -- See NCJ-199807)

NCJ Number
199816
Author(s)
Ronald V. Clarke; Herman Goldstein
Date Published
2003
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the problem-oriented policing project in the center-city of Charlotte, NC, targeting thefts from cars in parking facilities, and provides discussion on implementation difficulties of problem-oriented policing and contributions to the development of theories and concepts on effective implementation.
Abstract
Across the United States and the United Kingdom, the concept of problem-oriented policing has been widely endorsed. Despite these endorsements, advocates of problem-oriented policing have expressed disappointment with these projects. This paper describes a problem-oriented policing project in the center-city of Charlotte, NC, under the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), designed to reduce thefts from cars parked in center-city parking facilities. The major benefit of the project has been the deeper understanding acquired of the administrative and technical difficulties encountered by police in implementing problem-oriented policing. The purpose of the paper is to: (1) illustrate what is involved in a full implementation of problem-oriented policing by taking on a comprehensive, in-depth effort to address a specific piece of police business; (2) having focused on the problem of theft from vehicles, to develop specific strategies designed to increase the effectiveness of the CMPD in dealing with that problem; and (3) more broadly, to gain new insights into the complexities of introducing problem-oriented policing into a police agency. References