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EVANSTON, Ill. --- Chicago's community policing program, underway for nearly six years, has made tremendous strides toward involving the public in securing neighborhood safety, according to a new study from Northwestern University.
A large majority of the city knows about the program. Actual involvement remains high, with attendance at monthly beat meetings averaging 6,000 citywide during the first 11 months of 1998. And, though the rate of programmatic innovation has slowed, significant structural changes have been made in the police department and city government to accommodate Chicago's community policing strategy. Community policing and problem solving is integrated into the department's recruit training, and virtually all city departments have been re-engineered to ensure they can be responsive to service requests filed by police officers.
"Chicago has carved out a meaningful role for the key players in problem-solving policing -- the community, the police, and city services -- and engaged them as well," said Wesley G. Skogan, professor of political science at Northwestern University and faculty fellow at the University's Institute for Policy Research (IPR). "The public's sustained involvement and interest has eluded many other police agencies." An internationally known criminologist, Skogan spearheads the evaluation.
"These robust involvement figures are impressive, especially in a year when there was a change in administration at the Chicago Police Department as well as some challenging, high- profile cases on the minds of Chicagoans," added Susan M. Hartnett, an IPR research associate and director of the evaluation project.
The findings are part of a multiyear evaluation of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) program, funded by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the U.S. Department of Justice and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The report is the fifth in a series examining community policing in the city. "Community Policing in Chicago, Years Five-Six: An Interim Report" describes community activists' attitudes about CAPS progress; the effectiveness of the city's marketing campaign to raise program awareness in the neighborhoods; and the extent to which the various components of the program are being implemented. The report also delineates a new community organizing initiative that aims to rebuild the capacity of city neighborhoods to resolve their problems.
CAPS was instituted in 1993 in five experimental districts. In autumn 1994, elements of the program such as the coordination of city services, officer training and new dispatching procedures began to be introduced in police districts throughout the city.
Among the findings in years five and six of the CAPS evaluation:
* Since 1996, recognition of CAPS has grown from 53 to 79 percent. Awareness of the program increased the most among young adults, and the least (but still grew by more than 15 percentage points) among older Chicagoans and Spanish speakers. Gaps between groups have not been erased, however. The largest cleavages are between high school graduates and those with less education, between English- and Spanish-speakers and moderate- versus low-income people. Differences among racial groups are relatively small, with African-Americans the most likely to know about the program.
* The greatest source of information about the program is television; in 1998, nearly 40 percent of Chicagoans recalled hearing about CAPS on television, compared to 16 percent in 1996. Word of mouth, from a neighbor or friend, was second. Learning about CAPS via posters or signs, and from brochures, flyers, or newsletters also showed noticeable increases. Radio was a more common source of awareness between 1996 and 1997, and held steady in 1998. Television and personal communication were most frequently cited as a source of CAPS information by people with less formal education; newspapers were mentioned by more educated respondents. Television was most frequently cited by young people. Latinos relied on television; whites read about CAPS in newspapers; African-Americans heard about it from other people, by a smaller margin. Men heard about CAPS on television; women via personal conversations. Neighborhood newspapers were principally a source of information for homeowners.
* Involvement continued to be strong among some of the city's poorest and most crime-ridden communities. Compared to many other programs, participation in CAPS has been sustained in many of the places needing it most. Beat meeting attendance rates were highest in predominately African-American areas, while rates of participation in largely white areas were lower. Participation among Latinos was highest where substantial numbers of Latinos reside, but this does not represent a large number of beats. In general, attendance rates were higher in lower income areas where people do not have much education. Participation was highest in areas with high levels of violent crime.
* Overall, 14 percent of Chicagoans said they attended a beat meeting during the past year, with an average attendance of nearly four meetings. Attendees thought the meetings were productive and led to constructive action. However, evaluators' observations of a large sample of these meetings led to a somewhat more pessimistic conclusion. A good number of gatherings were adequate in meeting mechanics: they had clear agendas, information was distributed about crime patterns, a civilian co-leader frequently helped run the meetings and a majority were effectively run. Though local issues were nearly always aired, the meetings were weak at finding solutions toproblems. Most actions were proposed by the police rather than residents, and the percentage of meetings at which solutions were discussed actually declined between 1995 and 1998. Residents were particularly ineffective at reporting back to the group about their recent problem-solving efforts. Volunteers were seldom recruited, and residents rarely left a meeting with a clear commitment to action.
* A repeat of a 1997 study of community activists from throughout the city found they were satisfied with the program. Though activists did not observe many recent program additions or changes, they generally were satisfied with the program both times they were questioned. Substantial majorities think the police effectively fostered resident involvement in the program, that their district commander was doing a good job and that their district advisory committee was effective.
* Police officers who attend beat community meetings also reported satisfaction with the effectiveness of the meetings. More than three-quarters were happy with levels of attendance, and nearly all felt welcomed by the community members who were present.
* A preliminary look at a new community organizing initiative that aims to strengthen the problem-solving ability of neighborhoods revealed that there is considerable work to be done. The city's CAPS Implementation Office is coordinating the efforts of about 40 organizers working in approximately 90 target beats throughout the city. Some work directly for the city, while others are on the staff of community-based organizations that have received contracts to conduct organizing projects. Residents of the targeted areas are disproportionately poor, many do not have much education and few own their own home. A survey conducted in a sample of targeted beats reveals that most lie below the city average on every relevant dimension. They are characterized by low levels of informal social control and relatively low levels of organizational involvement. Most were below the city average in their ability to mobilize politically to protect their interests. Residents of nearly all the beats were pessimistic about the quality of police service in their community; they did not think police were doing a very good job at controlling crime and disorder, and they felt that police were not particularly responsive to the concerns of residents.
* In important respects, community policing has become a routine aspect of the city's life. Within the police department, the program is no longer described as "just smoke and mirrors," nor is it expected to disappear after a mayoral election. Indeed, there is widespread consensus from within that the department will continue to keep CAPS on course. Evaluation surveys document that significant numbers of officers who were dubious about the program during the early years have now come to accept it as a feature of their daily life. Many officers at all levels of the organization believe that the increased interaction, information sharing and sometimes joint action by police and residents have greatly improved their relationship with the public, especially among knowledgeable, involved and vocal neighborhood activists.
* A comprehensive assessment of how key dimensions of CAPS have been implemented indicated that, on average, Chicago's 25 police districts are fielding an adequate program, most satisfactorily in district management and beat teamwork and planning, and less so in district teamwork and planning . Community partnerships were deemed to be operating at passable levels. The evaluation of district performance revealed that 17 of the 25 districts were carrying out satisfactory or better CAPS efforts, while the remaining eight districts fell below the acceptable threshold.
* After nearly six years, it appears that the impressive pace of innovation has moderated. The program lost one of its key architects in 1998, and the lack of a sworn manager with line authority within the organization seemed to shift the program's gears into neutral. Some senior managers adopted a "wait and see" attitude with respect to the future of CAPS; others just waited for direction. Progress in implementing existing elements of the program subsequently suffered. For example, during the study period there was limited follow-through to rectify deficiencies in the department's planning process, a hallmark of Chicago's brand of community policing. Problem-solving plans made at the beat level are supposed to drive the formulation of district plans and the reallocation of resources from above to implement them, but this elaborate new system ground to a halt. Progress in the development of new organizational processes also suffered. There was little progress on the widely recognized problem of evaluating unit, team or individual performance, a key factor in reshaping any organization. In addition, despite the department's vision for itself, CAPS remains a Patrol Division program that has not significantly affected the work of other important units in the department.
* In recent months, the police department has moved to respond to many of these concerns. A new senior management team has been created with explicit responsibility for pushing CAPS implementation forward, and a senior police official who shares co-directorship of the program with an experienced civilian executive has been appointed. Commanders who demonstrated their ability to implement the program have been given new, higher level responsibility for the program.
The Research and Development Unit has been transferred into the part of the department that manages the patrol division and other field activities to draw it closer to actual operations. Work is underway to develop a new "command accountability" system that will reinforce the department's expectation that the districts will identify and solve problems. This includes an increase in the responsibilities of area deputy chiefs that in turn will require an increase in theirstaff and analytic capabilities. It will also draw upon the analytic capacities of the modules of the department's new information systems that are available to managers.
The detective division is again considering ways to get involved in CAPS. A new effort will be made to redraw the boundaries of the department's beats and districts, in order to better focus resources on the city's underlying problems. This process will face technical, bureaucratic and political hurdles of great magnitude. A senior staff member has been designated to manage the details of implementing all of these multiple streams of change within the organization.
The department also announced that it will continue its commitment to the program through ongoing training. Training is being planned this year for beat team leaders, sector managers and district commanders. It will be conducted both in the classroom and in the districts to further program implementation.
"CAPS continues to be a flagship community policing program," Skogan said. "It is distinguished by the outstanding opportunity for involvement offered to the community through monthly beat community meetings and by its ongoing commitment to training residents as well as police officers. Chicago is well-positioned to remain at the forefront because of CAPS's comprehensive infrastructure and the department's considerable programmatic accomplishments. Ideally, the Chicago Police Department's recent reorganization and remedial initiatives will breathe new life into its impressive policing strategy."
The new report is available without charge from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 120 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL 60606 (312-793-8550). A comprehensive look at problem solving in Chicago's neighborhoods can be found in "On the Beat: Police and Community Problem Solving," a soon-to-be released book by Skogan, Hartnett and four members of the evaluation team.
5/3/99
Project paper summaries can also be accessed by clicking here.Many of the papers may be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader.