Winning the Hearts and Minds of Police Officers: An Assessment of Staff Perceptions of Community Policing in Chicago

• NCJ Number: 150659
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: special issue (July 1994) Pages: 315-330
• Author(s): A J Lurigio; W G Skogan
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 90-DB-CX-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Because research has found that the success of community policing depends upon the police officers who are responsible for its implementation, this survey examined attitudes of police officers toward Chicago's community policing program.

Abstract

Initiated in 1993, basic features of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) include neighborhood orientation, increased geographic responsibility, structured response to police service calls, a proactive problem- oriented approach, community and city resources for crime prevention and control, and an emphasis on crime problem analysis. Police officials envision that CAPS will improve police response to service calls, increase police officer presence in the streets, focus police efforts on the underlying conditions that lead to neighborhood crime and disorder, expand police capabilities by improving access to other resources, and reduce crime. To evaluate police officer views of CAPS, a survey containing 22 scales was administered that included such components as job satisfaction, police officer relationships with peers and supervisors, and police officer attitudes toward police work and community policing. A total of 1,405 completed surveys showed that police officers were very ambivalent about CAPS. They supported some CAPS-related activities (solving noncrime problems), but not others (foot patrol), and were dubious about the program's effects on crime and neighborhood relations. Minority, older, and higher-ranking police officers expressed more favorable attitudes toward community policing and were more inclined to endorse CAPS- related police activities. Most respondents were looking for a job that allowed them to exercise independent thought and action, to be creative and imaginative, and to learn about new things. Less than half of the police officers reported that their jobs actually gave them independence and control over how they did their work. 8 references and 2 tables