MENU TITLE: Teleconference Videotape Participant's.
Guide
Series: OJJDP
Published: Summer 1996
32 pages
73,497 bytes
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention
Participant's Resource Packet
for the
Youth-Oriented Community Policing
National Satellite Teleconference
Teleconference produced by:
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention
U.S. Department of Justice
633 Indiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20531
in association with
Juvenile Justice Telecommunications Assistance
Project
Training Resource Center
Eastern Kentucky University
301 Perkins Building
Richmond, KY 40475-3127
Michael A. Jones, Project Manager
Juvenile Justice Telecommunications Assistance
Project
606-622-6270
------------------------------
Greetings from OJJDP
Today's satellite teleconference, will provide an
overview of the concepts and tenets concerning
youth-oriented community policing. Through
youth-oriented community policing, the police and
community work together to address juvenile crime
and victimization problems that impact on the
quality of life in neighborhoods.
Communities confronted by the problems of juvenile
delinquency, crime, and drugs are looking for new
solutions. Traditional methods of law enforcement
are limited in their effectiveness to halt
deterioration of many urban neighborhoods into
havens for drug dealers and drug addicts, while
families watch helplessly as their children are
recruited by drug traffickers. Meanwhile, human
service professionals find themselves frustrated by
the poverty, unemployment, disease, and family
disruption that coexist with crime and drugs. As a
result, police departments and human service
agencies are turning to new approaches. A growing
number of police departments are implementing
community policing. For human service agencies, the
new focus is collaboration and service integration.
This satellite teleconference examines how three
programs are taking these innovations a step
further by bringing together community policing and
human service initiatives in troubled
neighborhoods. In New Haven, Connecticut; Lansing,
Michigan; and Norfolk, Virginia, police and human
service providers are working in partnership with
neighborhood residents, especially the youth, to
reclaim communities and improve the quality of life
for all individuals.
These approaches to service delivery complement
OJJDP's commitment to a strategy to prevent
juvenile delinquency. A fundamental principle of
this comprehensive strategy is the need to address
the multiple factors that place children at risk.
The programs described in today's broadcast seek to
ameliorate multiple risk factors, placing
particular emphasis on families and communities as
primary points of intervention.
We hope that today's teleconference provides you
and your agency some critical and informative ideas
around which to initiate similar efforts in your
community. If your local police department and
human service agencies are already collaborating,
then we hope this program validates their efforts
and encourages them to continue their work in
improving the lives of the community's young
people. Only through your continued dedication and
commitment can long-term, positive changes be made
to the juvenile justice system.
To this end, OJJDP will continue pursuing
initiatives regarding youth-oriented community
policing. Furthermore, plans for training and
technical assistance to communities are underway
and will be available in the near future through
OJJDP funded programs.
We hope you enjoy today's teleconference!
------------------------------
This satellite teleconference was developed through
the collaboration and hard work of numerous
individuals and agencies. Special thanks for the
commitment and dedication displayed by each agency
in their involvement. Key contributors include:
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
U.S. Department of Justice
1100 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington DC 20530
202-616-6694
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention
U.S. Department of Justice
633 Indiana Avenue
Washington, DC 20531
202-307-5940
Child-Centered Community-Based Policing Project
Yale University
P.O. Box 2503A
Yale Station
New Haven, CT 06520
203-785-3377
Neighborhood Network Center
735 East Michigan Avenue
Lansing, MI 48912
514-485-6884
PACE Support Group
302 City Hall Building
Norfolk, VA 23501
804-664-4626
------------------------------
Broadcast Objectives
o to provide information concerning the
characteristics of youth-oriented community
policing and how it differs from general
community-oriented policing;
o to provide information on three unique and
effective youth-oriented community policing
programs; and
o to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas
concerning the replication of some effective
elements of the highlighted programs.
Thank you for your dedication to the nation's
youth!
------------------------------
This document was prepared by the Eastern Kentucky
University Training Resource Center under grant
#95-JN-MU-0001 from the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice
Program, U.S. Department of Justice.
Points of view or opinions stated in this document
are those of the authors and not necessarily
represent the official position or policies of the
U.S. Department of Justice.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice
Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the
National Institute of Justice and the Office for
Victims of Crime.
------------------------------
OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference
Youth-Oriented Community Policing
Table of Contents
Agenda
Yale University, Yale Child Development - Community
Policing, New Haven, Connecticut
The Neighborhood Network Center, Lansing, Michigan
Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE),
Norfolk, Virginia
Program Panelists'
------------------------------
OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference
Youth-Oriented Community Policing
AGENDA
December 8, 1995
Broadcast Time
1:30 p.m. (ET)
12:30 p.m. (CT
11:30 a.m. (MT)
10:30 a.m. (PT)
Items below are listed in this order:
Activity
Time Length
Approximate Time (all times are EDT)
Pre-Teleconference Activities (Conducted by local
facilitator)
Pre-teleconference activities should include
familiarization with site surroundings,
introduction of other participants, an introduction
and program overview provided by
the site facilitator, preliminary discussion of
issues surrounding conflict resolution
education, and review of Participant Packet
materials.
30 minutes
1:00-1:30
Test Signal (Youth-Oriented Community Policing)
15 minutes
1:15-1:30
Broadcast Begins
1:30
Teleconference Introduction (Bonnie Krasik,
Moderator)
1 minute
1:30-1:31
OJJDP Welcome (Shay Bilchik, Administrator)
3 minutes
1:31-1:34
New Haven Introduction
1 minute
1:34-1:35
New Haven Roll-In
12 minutes
1:35-1:47
Panel Discussion/Call-in
22 minutes
1:47-2:09
Lansing Introduction
1 minute
2:09-2:10
Lansing Roll-In
12 minutes
2:10-2:22
Panel Discussion/Call-In
21 minutes
2:22-2:43
Break/Activity
10 minutes
2:43-2:53
Norfolk Introduction
1 minute
2:53-2:54
Norfolk Roll-In
12 minutes
2:54-3:06
Panel Discussion/Call-In
22 minutes
3:06-3:28
Upcoming OJJDP Events
1 minute
3:28-3:29
Closing Credits
1 minute
3:29-3:30
Broadcast Ends
3:30
Post-Teleconference Discussion (Conducted by local
facilitator)
Post-teleconference discussion should focus on key
issues discussed in the program.
30 minutes
------------------------------
OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference
Youth-Oriented Community Policing
Featured Program Overviews
Yale University Child Development-Community
Policing Program
New Haven, Connecticut
In 1992, the New Haven Police Department and the
Yale Child Study Center implemented the Child
Development-Community Policing (CD-CP) program to
respond to their shared concerns about urban
violence and its devastating effects on children,
families and the community. The aim of the CD-CP
program is to help children and families cope with
stress caused by violence, and to prevent violent
crime in the community. The program focuses on
youth violence prevention and intervention, and
targets one of the most vulnerable population
groups: at-risk children.
The New Haven Police Department has long recognized
the importance of early intervention and crime
prevention. Through community-oriented policing,
the Department has moved away from a reactive,
incident-based response mode to a community-based,
proactive approach to problem solving and crime
prevention. Problem solving emphasizes prevention,
intervention, and deterrence, as well as community
involvement, networking and social service
referral. Police officers, placed on long-term
assignments in specific neighborhoods, work closely
with citizens to prevent crime and address local
needs. Their visible and continual community
presence has helped them develop positive
relationships with citizens, provide a sense of
security and safety within the community, and
become positive role models for youth.
Like many other cities, New Haven witnessed the
devastating impact of crime and violence in the
community. Not only did this cycle of violence
result in visible changes to their community, but
its impact on families and children was often
overwhelming, silent and invisible. Many families
who worried about becoming the next victims of
crime had in fact become victims as they hid behind
closed doors. A study of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders
in the New Haven schools in 1992 revealed that
about 40% of the students said they had witnessed
at least one violent crime in the previous year.
At the same time, only a small number of children
received psychological support to cope with the
effects of violence and crime. The Yale University
Child Study Center Outpatient Clinic reported that
almost one-third of the children seen by staff were
exposed to aggression or involved in its
consequences.
For children, the impact of crime can be both
devastating and long lasting. Continued exposure to
violence can cause disturbed eating patterns,
disorders, depression, fear, and helplessness.
Continued exposure to violence also may influence
children into becoming the next perpetrators of
violence and crime.
Police and clinicians in New Haven shared common
concerns about these youth and the spiraling cycle
of violence and antisocial behavior. To address
these concerns, to better serve youth at-risk of
victimization and trauma from community violence,
and to prevent these youth from becoming the next
generation of perpetrators, the New Haven Police
Department and Yale University Child Study Center
designed and implemented the Child
Development-Community Policing program.
The foundation of the Community
Development-Community Policing Program is based on
the philosophy of the New Haven Police Department's
community-oriented policing approach. Through the
CD-CP program, mental health professionals,
psychiatrists, and police officers work together in
the community to assist, protect and intervene on
behalf of children and families who are most
affected by community violence. This approach has
led to a greater understanding of the effect of
violence on children, families, and the community;
has broadened perspectives, knowledge, and respect
for agency roles and responsibilities; has enhanced
awareness of the multiple issues that relate to
crime and violence; and has resulted in a greater
opportunity for community crime prevention and
intervention through joint ownership of problem
solving.
CD-CP gives police officers an array of strategies
to help them respond to community violence. In
turn, this has led to "an increased sense of
effectiveness, personal safety and better law
enforcement. The collaboration allows mental health
professionals to deliver psychological services
more directly and immediately to those members of
the community who are most vulnerable and for whom
traditional mental health services have been least
accessible. The partnership between police and
mental health provides a unique opportunity to
investigate the relationship between violence,
traumatic stress symptoms and antisocial behavior,
as well as to develop more effective ways of
delivering better police and mental health services
to our communities."
CD-CP has enhanced police officer interactions with
children, and has increased their level of
confidence and competence as they work with
children. As a result, officers are able to
recognize a child's emotional needs, understand the
family dynamics, and effectively intervene. This
also has helped to optimize the psychological roles
they play as provider of security, authority, and
positive role models. CD-CP also has enhanced the
role of mental health professionals as they
intervene with children and families exposed to
violence. Though CD-CP, clinicians can intervene at
the time of crisis, and have a better understanding
of the community factors and problems that lead to
violence and crime.
There are four components of the CD-CP program 
Child Development Fellowship, Training Seminars,
Consultation Service and Program Conferences. These
components are described below:
Child Development Fellowship
The Child Development Fellowship (CDF) gives
clinicians and police officers the opportunity to
share information about their own roles,
responsibilities, experiences, and knowledge. This
exposure and training promotes a more effective,
collaborative response to child and family needs.
The Child Development Fellowship:
o Provides psychological training and expertise to
leaders in the police force to enable them to
support and advise other officers in crime
prevention, early intervention, and relationship
building activities with children, adolescents,
families, and community agencies;
o Develops a group of specially trained, respected,
veteran officers to disseminate the CD-CP Program
philosophy, approach, and methods within the police
department;
o Provides knowledge and information about police
practices to mental health professionals to enable
them to work effectively with their counterparts in
law enforcement; and
o Develops close, trusting relationships between
police supervisor and clinicians in order to
facilitate the training and consultative aspects of
the program.
The law enforcement and mental health professionals
who participate in the Child Development Fellowship
have a leadership role in their respective agency.
Police "Fellows" typically come from supervisory
positions in child and family related units, such
as Juvenile Services, Family Violence and Sex Bias,
or Narcotics. Three or four new officers
participate in the CDF every 4-6 months. Mental
health professionals work includes clinical
assessments and psychotherapy work with persons
exposed to violence; home, school and/or other
community-based modes of clinical intervention; and
familiarity with mental health and social service
resources in the community. Approximately 3-4
mental health professionals comprise the core
mental health group.
Police "Fellows" spend several hours each week in
the mental health setting. Mental health
professionals introduce and familiarize officers
with developmental concepts and patterns of
psychological disturbances, methods of clinical
intervention, and settings for treatment and care
by guiding them through various training
activities.
Clinical rotations enable officers to observe and
discuss mental health services for children and
families. Services for children and families
include observations of out patient evaluations,
home based services, and family preservation
program case conferences, students in public school
settings and emergency room child psychiatric
evaluations.
In addition to these rotations, Police Fellows meet
regularly with clinicians for post-observation
discussions to examine and discuss underlying
psychological principles, clinical services aspects
of child behavior, or other questions or concerns
that arise.
Clinical Fellowship activities are designed to
increase clinician awareness and familiarity with
police operations, local neighborhoods, and the
day-to-day experiences in the community. The two
main elements of this training are Ride Alongs and
Observation and Consultation in Other Police
Settings.
Clinicians accompany police on ride alongs to
observe officer response to calls, engage in casual
encounters with neighborhood residents, and
collaborate with officers. Ride alongs occur in
different neighborhoods to help clinicians become
more familiar with police work and more visible to
the rank and file officers.  Ride alongs also
promote positive relationships among clinicians and
police officers.
Clinicians also observe and consult with officers
on different aspects of police work, such as
juvenile matters, narcotics, or family violence.
This gives the clinicians an opportunity to learn
more about police operations and police work, and
helps to foster relationships among mental health
and law enforcement staff. This opportunity for
ongoing observation and communication gives
clinicians and officers a chance to informally
discuss cases or situations where police activity
may have a psychological impact on children.
Training Seminars
The second major component of the CD-CP program is
training and education for law enforcement to
prepare officers to handle "mental health" issues
that will surface through community-policing.
Training is aimed at teaching officers how to deal
with the psychological impact of family violence,
help children and youth in situations of high risk,
divert potential offenders, collaborate in
neighborhood improvement, and assist victims of
crime.
Training also helps police officers understand the
basic principles of child development and human
functioning and how these principles can be useful
in daily police work. Seminars capitalize on
officers' skills and knowledge and expand officers
field of observation to include child and
adolescent behavior as well as child/parent
interactions. The seminars also help officers
understand how their own reactions to anxiety,
stress, and frustration can affect their
performance.
Seminars are led by a core team of mental health
and police "Fellows." The 9 week course covers the
various developmental stages of children, from
infancy through adolescence. They include such
topics as the effects of separation and trauma on
children, issues of race and class in child
development, and community-policing and community
mental health resources.
Officers sometimes must make dispositional
decisions when there is no clear cut solution or
response to the problem, such as when a child
witnesses violence, fears gang membership, or faces
some other type of trauma. This occurs more
frequently when officers work closely with
neighborhoods and citizens through community
policing. These officers are in prime position to
intervene to ameliorate the psychological
consequences of children's chronic experience of
violence, and offer a sense of security and safety
to distressed children and parents.
Many parents who suffer from the effects of
violence are unable to cope with or recognize the
psychological effects and impact of violence on
their child. Officers play an important role in
helping adults recognize that exposure to violence
is upsetting for the parent and the child; that the
child's reaction may manifest itself in behavior
rather than words; that some children may have a
delayed expression of their feelings. Clinicians
also play an important role by engaging families
with mental health services and providing home
visits and follow-up telephone calls.
Consultation Service
Through the Consultation Service clinicians are
available 24 hours a day, providing officers with
immediate access to clinical services and
consultation. Officers can discuss available
options for the child, such as emergency services
or referrals, and can access immediate mental
health services for the child in his or her home,
at the police station, in the hospital, or wherever
appropriate.
The consultation service provides:
o On-Call Availability of at least one officer and
one clinician at all times to consult with officers
in the field.
o Crisis Response in acute crises to children and
families at home, in police stations, schools,
other community settings, or wherever necessary and
appropriate.
o Coordination of Community Response and services
when there are serious incidents involving large
numbers of children.
o Clinical Referrals to other services such as
emergency rooms, inpatient facilities, and
outpatient clinics.
o Inter-Agency Collaboration with other service
providers (e.g., schools, therapists,
pediatricians, and child welfare professionals)
that are already involved with the child or family.
o Home-Based Follow-Up visits to children and
families as needed.
o Officer Support on an ongoing basis to support
officers who are continually exposed to violence
involving children as victims, witnesses and
perpetrators.
Police officers refer children to the consultation
service if the child was present at the scene of a
violent incident, and if a member of the child's
immediate household died due to unnatural causes.
Officers also make referrals for children who are
at risk of or have already been victimized or
traumatized, such as a child who is considering
going or withdrawing from a gang, a child who tells
an officer about his or her emotional distress, a
child who is habitually truant, or a child who
lives in a household where adults abuse drugs or
engage in other disturbing behaviors. Emergency
referrals are made through telephone, beeper or
radio, while non-emergency referrals are made by
telephone or in writing.
Program Conference
The fourth component of CD-CP is the Program
Conference, which gives officers and clinicians an
opportunity to discuss broad program issues,
difficult and/or perplexing cases, reasons for law
enforcement interaction, types of services needed
or required, and problems. This ongoing
coordination and discussion provides a structured
and consistent way to integrate diverse program
elements into a coherent process and helps to:
o coordinate planning on individual case basis as
well as the overall program level;
o generate a better understanding of how violence
affects children and families;
o integrate and apply police and mental health
principles and strategies to improved methods of
collaboration and response;
o support collaboration and enhance program
effectiveness through continual assessment of
program strengths and weaknesses;
o identify and address systemic, institutional and
policy issues affecting and impacting on the
ability of the program to achieve its goals;
o address program management, administration, and
housekeeping issues (such as training session
agendas, personnel and budgetary issues and policy
and procedural issues); and,
o build personal, trusting relationships between
police officers and clinicians which is essential
to program success.
Case reviews are led by senior clinicians, with
major input from the clinician and officer who had
direct contact with the child. Police provide
information about the initial report (what
happened, who was affected), family history (what
is known about the children and family through past
involvement with the police), the immediate effect
of incident on the child and family, the police
response (what was done, who was involved, was
referral made, why or why not), and recommendations
for case planning. Clinicians provide a review of
known information, including the nature and timing
of the clinical contact; the child's presentation
at the time; information about the child's earlier
functioning in school, community, home, and with
peers; information known about medical, behavioral,
and psychological functioning; nature of family
relationships; the impact of the incident on family
unit; family strengths and needs; and
recommendations for case planning.
The case review process integrates the work of the
officer and clinician, delineates agency roles
regarding intervention and follow-up, and enhances
understanding of the case. The review process also
helps agencies coordinate services and resources;
identify additional resources that are needed by
the child and family based on psychological,
development, medical, and educational needs; and
identifies who will take primary responsibility for
the case. This ongoing review also helps to ensure
that services are flexible and responsive to the
changing needs of the family, and that they are
sustained for as long as needed by the child and
family.
In the first two years of the program, officers
placed 150 calls to the Consultation Service
relating to 350 children between the ages of 2 and
17. Children and families who might not have
received support and treatment are now being
referred for mental health services as a result of
CD-CP. Mental health professionals have followed
community-oriented policing practice by moving
their work into the community.
CD-CP has helped to generate a greater awareness of
the specific needs and concerns of children and
families who have been victimized by community
violence. Strong relationships between police and
mental health professionals have been established,
and joint strategies have been developed for
interrupting and minimizing effects of violence.
Clinicians and police now share important
knowledge, experiences, and information about
children, family, and inner-city life and violence.
This has enabled both police officers and
clinicians to understand more fully the
circumstances surrounding the child's behavior,
reactions, and patterns of adaptation. It also has
resulted in a greater understanding about needs of
inner-city youth, and how the system can best
respond to these needs.
Officers state that as a result of CD-CP, they are
more effective in their work in the community,
particularly when confronting the tragedy of
violence. Officers believe they have a new way to
take control because they are supported in their
efforts to confront the tragedy, deal with the
emotional needs of the child and family, and offer
direct services. CD-CP not only serves children and
families who are the victims of community violence,
but it also aids the professionals who work on
these cases. Through ongoing communication and
consultation, officers and mental health
professionals have received the necessary support
and assistance to cope with the day-to-day trauma
associated with crime and violence on the streets.
----------
During the coming year, the CD-CP Program with
OJJDP funding assistance, will provide consultation
and training and technical assistance to
police/mental health partnerships in four
communities which are interested in replicating the
CD-CP Program. The primary activities planned for
the program replication project are (1) selection
of the sites that will receive training and
technical assistance; (2) completion of training
for New Haven police supervisors and clinical
faculty to act as providers of training and
technical assistance; (3) implementation of a
5-phase replication protocol in four sites around
the country; (4) beginning data collection and
analysis for the replication sites based on a
standardized program evaluation protocol; and (5)
beginning work on a casebook that describes in
detail various aspects of the New Haven program's
collaborative work and serves as a companion to the
CD-CP Program Manual, developed with previous OJJDP
support.
------------------------------
The Neighborhood Network Center
Lansing, Michigan
In January 1990, Lansing, Michigan, launched its
first community policing effort in one of the
city's most troubled neighborhoods. Within a few
months, Sparrow Estates, the pilot neighborhood
produced positive results. The community police
officer had already contributed to some noticeable
improvements, including the closing of several
crack houses and a neighborhood cleanup.
In spite of his successes, the officer's inability
to handle many of the neighborhood's underlying
problems frustrated him. Health care, social
services, substance abuse treatment, good housing,
and jobs were inadequate. Struggling to find
solutions, the officer contacted other
organizations in the community. One of them was
nearby Bingham Elementary School, where the
principal used a multiagency team to target her
most troubled students and their families. The idea
for the multiagency team originated with an
Inter-Agency Group, composed of top administrators
from the school district, public health, social
services, mental health, and the probate (juvenile)
court.
Attracted by the team approach, the community
police officer and two of his superiors began
meeting with the Inter-Agency Group to determine
whether the concept could be applied on a
neighborhood level. Robert Trojanowicz, Director of
the National Center for Community Policing at
nearby Michigan State University, soon joined the
discussion. Mr. Trojanowicz wanted to expand the
concept of community policing in Sparrow Estates
into Neighborhood Network Centers in which
community police officers and social service
providers worked together.
Although the Inter-Agency Group, neighborhood
residents, and police were enthusiastic about the
idea of a Neighborhood Network Center, they needed
to find a site and convince agencies to assign
personnel to the Center. Fortunately, the community
police officer persuaded a local landlord to donate
the use of a floor in one of his buildings.
Neighborhood residents helped clear up and renovate
the space and in January 1991, the officer moved
in. At the same time, he expanded his territory to
a second neighborhood, Green Oaks. The Neighborhood
Network Center was located right on the main street
dividing Sparrow Estates from Green Oaks.
However, bringing other agency representatives into
the new Neighborhood Network Center (NNC) proved
difficult. Michigan was experiencing a budget
crisis and public agencies were reluctant to assign
personnel to new ventures. Rather than wait
indefinitely for government agency officials to
commit staff, NNC offered rent-free space to any
agency that would provide services to the
neighborhood. Still, it was not until August 1991
that a second partner, the Lansing School District,
moved in and brought a contract provider, Gateway
Social Services.
Gradually, over the next 2 years other public and
private agencies claimed most of the remaining
space. Although the city of Lansing expanded
community policing to 15 neighborhoods during that
time, Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks remains the only
community policing area in Lansing served by a
Neighborhood Network Center.
Mission and target area. Essentially, the NNC is a
group of public and private service agencies that
share office space and have overlapping target
areas and interests. The structure is informal,
with agencies falling into two groups -- core agencies
and supporting agencies -- according to their roles in
the Center. The NNC's goals are the following:
o Use an interagency approach to intervene with
individuals and families in the neighborhood.
o Access all available resources, public and
private, on behalf of the community.
o Improve the social, health, education, and
physical environment of neighborhood residents, and
make the area a better and safer place to live.
o Involve neighborhood residents and families in
the problem-solving process.
In the target areas for the core team are the two
neighborhoods covered by the community police
officer. Sparrow Estates and Green Oaks consist of
about 20 blocks, with about 1300 residents. The
neighborhoods are composed of caucasians,
Hispanics, African Americans, and Southeast Asian
residents.
Sparrow Estates, the smaller of the two
neighborhoods, was chosen as one of the city's
first community policing areas because of its crime
and housing profiles. Of particular significance
were several known drug houses and the presence of
prostitutes on the street. The area's many zoning
and housing code violations and its high percentage
of rental properties were important considerations.
When the community police officer arrived, no
neighborhood association existed in Sparrow
Estates. Green Oaks had experienced many of the
same problems as Sparrow Estates, but to a lesser
extent. Unlike Sparrow Estates, Green Oaks already
had a neighborhood association and a block watch
organization.
Although the core team works primarily in Sparrow
Estates and Green Oaks, imposing a strict boundary
limitation on the agencies in the Center proved to
be impractical. The population of Sparrow
Estates/Green Oaks is too small to generate a
sufficient caseload for some of the providers, and
each agency defines service territories
differently. Willingness to work in the
neighborhoods surrounding the Center is a
requirement for operating in the NNC, however, and
most supporting agencies have come there at least
in part because they have a concentration of
clients in the vicinity.
Core agencies and core staff team. The core
agencies assume the primary responsibility for
administering the facility and carrying out the
Center's mission. The core agencies include the
Lansing Police Department, the School District, and
Gateway Social Services, a private agency that
provides social services to the School District
under a contract. Together, these three agencies
supply the NNC's informal core staff team,
consisting of the community police officer, a
school program administrator, a social worker, and
a secretary.
The community police officer and the school program
administrator are the unofficial management team
for the NNC. They decide which agencies can have
space in the building, supervise the secretary, and
handle the limited finances-consisting mainly of
petty cash and rental income from a few of the
tenants.
Besides providing the core staff, core agencies
have placed other personnel at the NNC who can
assist in handling neighborhood problems but who
are responsible for a wider geographic area.
Lansing Police support a police detective at the
NNC whose territory includes Sparrow Estates, Green
Oaks, and an adjoining neighborhood. The school
system supports several additional social workers,
a nurse supervisor, a learning specialist, and
several child health advocates who work with
children throughout Lansing.
Supporting agencies. The Center provides a base for
several other agencies that pursue their own
district agenda. These supporting agencies accept
referrals from core agency staff and others in the
Center and help with community events as their time
and resources permit.
The supporting agencies include:
o Lao Family Community, Inc., which works with Lao
families in the Lansing area, including an
estimated 200 people near the Center. The
organization often provides translator and
interpreter support for others in the NNC.
o Legal Aid, which assigns a staff attorney to
spend two days a month at the NNC helping
neighborhood residents on housing, domestic
problems, social security benefits, and other civil
legal matters.
o Michigan State University (MSU), which uses the
NNC as a site for bachelor's degree nursing
students serving their community health practicum.
Each semester, 18-20 students work out of the NNC,
serving clients referred by NNC partners.
o Community Mental Health and Child Abuse
Prevention Services, which use the NNC as an
administrative base for a parent training/mentoring
program and a preschool program.
o The Neighborhood Youth & Parent Prevention
Partnership, a federally funded initiative that
organizes neighborhood coalitions of youth and
adults to work on substance abuse prevention.
o The Lansing Neighborhood Council, which provides
a community/landlord organizer to work on
identifying and upgrading problem rental properties
in community policing neighborhoods.
o The Lansing Reinvestment Corporation, which
rehabilitates rundown properties in Green Oaks and
helps low-income residents obtain subsidized
mortgages.
NNC tenants meet monthly to share information, to
brainstorm about community problems, and to assign
people to clean the facility.
Interventions. Identifying families or properties
in trouble is one intervention approach NNC uses to
help residents. The following components comprise
the intervention process:
o The Problem-Solving Team. This group, composed of
the community police officer, the detective, the
school administrator, the social worker, a city
code enforcement officer, a representative of the
police drug unit, and several local patrol
officers, meets weekly. Team members discuss
families or properties that concern them and
consider how best to intervene. Those diverse
problems may involve drug dealing, vandalizing
vacant houses, skipping school, drinking on the
street corner, feuding among families, or leaving a
child unattended. In response, police may increase
patrols, code enforcement officials may offer
critical repairs, while the social worker may
decide to investigate a family's situations. In the
case of a suspected crack house for example,
several agencies may need to coordinate efforts to
close it down.
o Case management and follow-up. The school program
administrator keeps track of problem families and
properties, which are reviewed at subsequent
meetings. To help troubled families, the
administrator and the social worker may for
example, ask the NNC nurse supervisor to schedule a
visit or consult with a child's school principal.
Although it is often convenient and appropriate to
call upon their colleagues at the NNC, the team
also works routinely with service agencies outside
the organization.
o Exchange of referrals. Besides the formal process
of problem solving, case management, and follow-up,
agencies in the NNC often trade informal referrals.
For instance, the community police officer and his
colleagues routinely refer families with
health-related problems to the MSU nursing team.
Providers who need to contact a Lao family can call
upon the Lao service agency to help overcome
language and cultural barriers. The police officer
can accompany service providers on home visits,
when staff safety is a concern or when the officer
can assist in getting the family to open their
door.
Typically, providers see families who need services
in their homes, or they visit a child's school, or
sometimes families visit the NNC office to receive
services.
Community wide interventions. Another important
facet of the NNC effort is working with the
community-at-large to address community problems.
o Initial community organization. The community
police officer began the process of community
organization during the first year discussing with
residents their needs and concerns. Gradually, the
officer identified a nucleus of residents who
formed Sparrow Estates' first neighborhood
association. Eventually, the officer used
information from neighbors and help from other
police units to close several crack houses in the
neighborhood. The officer also began organizing a
series of community projects, beginning with a
community trash cleanup in which residents filled
more than 24 huge city dumpsters. This effort was
followed up by neighbors planting flowers purchased
with federal beautification funds. Each new project
was celebrated with a community party or picnic.
Other early efforts included a voter registration
drive and a contest that produced the neighborhood
name. In January 1991, when the community police
officer added Green Oaks to his beat, he began
working closely with that neighborhood's resident
associations.
o Working with neighborhood associations and
neighborhood watchers. Continuing the pattern set
by the community police officer, NNC team members
regularly attend meetings of the neighborhood
associations and block watch groups in Sparrow
Estates/Green Oaks, and have begun to work with a
third association organizing in nearby Oak Park.
The team works with Caring Area Residents (CARS),
an umbrella organization formed in 1993 to
coordinate social activities across the three
individual neighborhoods. These community
organizations function as vehicles for
communicating with the NNC team and for community
problem-solving. For example, CARS recently met
with the principal of the nearby high school to
express concern about students loitering and
littering in the neighborhood during lunch hour.
Residents also successfully lobbied the city to
purchase and close down a convenience store that
had become an eyesore and a persistent trouble
spot.
o Community social events. The team works with
neighborhood groups to organize holiday parties,
cookouts, neighborhood beautification,
school-community fairs, and other activities that
bring area residents together, including
fundraising events to pay for future projects. In
addition, every month at the NNC they provide
either neighborhood potlucks or free dinners and
have childcare available. The dinners are followed
by CARS meetings, which may include such
educational programs as seminars on mortgages,
presented by a local bank officer. Originally, the
community police officers were responsible for most
of these activities. As the NNC developed, other
team members and residents have shared the
responsibility.
o Other special projects. NNC team members also get
involved in special projects, often developed in
cooperation with residents and targeted to special
needs. Last year, for example, the social worker
worked with a parent/child summer program funded by
another NNC tenant, the Neighborhood Youth & Parent
Prevention Partnership. Team members also organized
a community garden project that was particularly
important to Southeast Asian residents. Other
projects have included a food and community
services cooperative and a breast cancer detection
clinic.
Youth activities. Youth programs, which include
community socials, are a special concern of the
NNC. Two youth programs are noteworthy:
o The High Adventure Group. In 1990 the police
officer organized a club for up to 10 boys in grade
5. A girls' program has since been added. The clubs
target children from single-parent families, who
are identified through the local elementary school.
The groups meet every other week and have an
adventure outing once a month. Originally, the
program operated without liability insurance, but
this problem disappeared when the Boy Scouts, and
the Girl Scouts welcomed the clubs under their
organizational umbrellas. The latest partner in the
High Adventure effort is Big Brothers/Big Sisters,
which is recruiting adult volunteers to work with
children in the newest groups. The Boys Scouts,
Girl Scouts, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters have been
flexible about their standard proceduresfor
example, no uniforms are necessary. For them, the
High Adventure Groups are an innovative way to
reach inner-city children.
o Community service placements. The NNC now ranks
as one of the probate court's most used community
service placements for juvenile delinquents. The
NNC accepts individual youth and teenage work crews
relying on college interns to help with
supervision. Individual youth generally perform
janitorial and secretarial duties at the Center,
while work crews do cleanup, repairs, and yard work
in the neighborhood. The NNC team believes that
besides the direct labor the youth provide, the
neighborhood benefits indirectly because youth
placed at the NNC will develop a sense of community
ownership and be less inclined to vandalize or
commit other crimes there.
Results
The Neighborhood Network Center has not been
formally evaluated, but city officials and
neighborhood residents are enthusiastic about the
positive changes in the Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks
area.
First, the physical appearance of the neighborhood
is much improved. Second, residents are better
organized and are actively solving their own
problems. One city official noted that residents
now seem to better understand how to make
government work for them. For example. voter
registration and voter turnout are up.
Third, crime rates, particularly in Sparrow
Estates, have dropped precipitously. In 1989, 121
reported crimes occurred in the area. This number
climbed to 156 in the first year of community
policing, a common pattern in neighborhood where
police become more accessible and trusted. However,
reported crimes dropped to 110 in 1991 and 67 in
1992. Police expect reported crimes to fall below
50 in 1993.
Conclusion
NNC has no official budget for its operations. All
personnel, including the core team, are funded
through regular agency budgets, outside grants, or
a combination of the two.
The NNC uses about 5,000 square feet of space,
which includes offices, a reception area, and a
large meeting room. The space is donated, but a few
agencies contribute rent and the neighborhood holds
fund-raisers to help defray utility costs. The
School District contributes a copying machine and
office supplies for common use.
The NNC relies heavily on volunteers: neighborhood
residents, area churches, businesses, and student
interns to carry out its many activities. It uses
space in the community. Particularly churches, for
parties, meetings, and youth recreational programs.
One of the churches rents a house to the community,
which serves as a clubhouse where residents can
hold meetings or family parties.
Program Costs
NNC has no official budget for its operations. All
personnel, including the core team, are funded
through regular agency budgets, outside grants, or
a combination of the two.
The NNC uses about 5,000 square feet of space,
which includes offices, a reception area and a
large meeting room. The space is donated, but a few
agencies contribute rent and the neighborhood holds
fundraisers to help defray utility costs. The
School District contributes a copying machine and
office supplies for common use.
The NNC relies heavily on volunteers: neighborhood
residents, area churches, businesses, and student
interns to carry out its many activities. It uses
space in the community, particularly churches, for
parties, meetings, and youth recreational programs.
One of the churches rents a house to the community,
which serves as a clubhouse where residents can
hold meetings or family parties.
Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE)
Norfolk, Virginia
During the late 1980's, Norfolk, Virginia, began to
see disturbing signs of increased drug use and
trafficking. Responding to growing public concern,
Norfolk's mayor appointed a Task Force on Drugs,
co-chaired by city council members, to make
recommendations. Consistent with Norfolk tradition,
this task force comprised a broad cross-section of
public officials and private citizens.
Consequently, a Community Forum of more than 300 of
these local leaders produced a report emphasizing
that solutions to drug problems had to involve the
entire community -- families, neighbors, volunteers,
religious groups, and civic leagues, as well as
city agencies.
Meanwhile, city officials considered how a shift to
community-oriented policing might create a closer
partnership between police and citizens in the drug
war. However, it was apparent that Norfolk would
need new funding to dramatically change its
approach to policing. When attempts to find outside
funding for the program failed, the Mayor urged the
City Council to increase the local real estate tax.
The Council agreed and with $1.8 million in new
revenues from the tax hike, the city enacted its
plan in July of 1990.
The new program effort was called Police Assisted
Community Enforcement, or PACE, a name deliberately
chosen to convey the initiative's underlying
philosophythat communities must play the lead role
in solving problems and that police (and other
public agencies) were their helpers.
PACE devoted its first six months to planning,
training police officers for their new roles,
hiring personnel, and educating city employees and
citizens about the new effort. The city manager had
recently placed public safety (police and fire
services) and human services under the supervision
of an assistant city manger, who soon organized an
interagency PACE Support Services Committee to
oversee the program.
By January of 1991, Norfolk Police had targeted
their first two PACE neighborhoods. Within a couple
of months, community police officers were assigned
to each targeted neighborhood, and teams of city
employees and citizens were established to work
with them. By the end of 1991, bolstered by
additional funding from the Department of Justice's
Bureau of Justice Assistance, PACE had moved into
seven more neighborhoods.  The final target
neighborhood was included in July of 1992.
By early 1993, after 2 years in operation, PACE was
viewed as the embodiment of Norfolk's commitment to
"community-oriented government." A new Mayor's Task
Force on Violence and Crime Reduction praised PACE
not only as an effective program for the target
neighborhoods, but as an exemplary model of
government. Consequently, the group recommended
that PACE be extended citywide.
Although PACE participants agreed in principle, it
took time to develop a structure for citywide
expansion. By mid-1993, the group decided to use
the city's six police sectors as a framework and to
establish sector-level PACE teams in each area.
Up to this point, PACE has been primarily a
targeted initiative, focusing on ten specific
neighborhoods. The next sections describe how that
targeted program has operated, reserving discussion
of the new citywide organization for later.
PACE mission and target areas. PACE's mission is to
resolve community problems and to improve the
quality of life through partnerships between city
government and city residents. Although PACE's
tactics evolved through trial and error, from the
beginning city officials were clear on one
principleTo engage citizens in effective
partnerships, they would have to demonstrate that
city employees were accessible and responsive to
citizen concerns.
PACE target neighborhoodsplagued by drug
trafficking and high crimeswere selected by police
officials. One of the first target areas was Grandy
Village, a predominantly African-American public
housing community with about 1,500 residents. The
other initial target area was East Ocean View, a
community that had also suffered the ravages of
drugs and crime. This community, which is near
Norfolk Naval Base, is an extremely transient area
with much absentee-owned rental property. It has
more than 9,000 residents and is 68 percent white.
Of the eight neighborhoods that were subsequently
selected as PACE targets, five were public housing
communities, ranging in size from about 800 to
1,900 residents. The other three neighborhoods,
with populations ranging from 3,200 to 7,500, were
mixed residential and commercial areas, exhibiting
the familiar symptoms of urban decaypredominance
of rental housing, deterioration of the physical
environment, open-air drug selling, and crime.
Organizational structure. Norfolk has a
Council-City Manager form of government. Within
that structure, PACE is assigned to the Assistant
City Manager for Public Safety and Services, who
provides administrative support and acts as an
interpreter and flagbearer for the initiative among
city employees and in the community.
PACE consists of several different committees and
staff working at multiple organizational levels.
The organization has three main types of
committees:
o The PACE Support Services Committee (PSSC) is the
key policymaking body. It began with members drawn
from a dozen city agencies but has since expanded
to represent additional agencies and include
neighborhood groups and the business and religious
communities. Police, the Health Department, Social
Services, Juvenile Court, Youth Services, the
Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Planning and
Codes Administration, Code Enforcement, Parks and
Recreation, the Community Services Board
(responsible for mental health, mental retardation,
and substance abuse services), the Office of Drug
Awareness, and the School District are all
represented, typically by middle managers, although
some department heads attend. The committee meets
monthly, providing a forum for information sharing,
policy decisions, and problem solving around
specific community issues identified through PACE.
Ad hoc subcommittees are appointed to look at
particular problemsfor example, the proliferation
of used needles and other drug paraphernalia on the
streets in one neighborhood.
o The Neighborhood Environmental Assessment Team
(NEAT) has the task of responding to environmental
concerns in the targeted neighborhoods, such as
vacant or dilapidated housing, abandoned vehicles,
trash, and overgrown lots. This team, chaired by
the PSSC representative from City Planning and
Codes Enforcement, includes representatives from
Environmental Health, Public Works, Parks and
Forestry, Police, the Redevelopment and Housing
Authority, Existing Structures, and civic leagues.
The team calls upon line staff from the various
agencies and community representatives to carry out
many neighborhood-based activities.
o Family Assessment Services Teams (FAST's) address
the needs of multi-problem families in the targeted
neighborhoods and serve as a vehicle for
information sharing and problem solving at the
neighborhood level. Members generally include line
staff from Social Services, the Police, the
Community Service Board, Parks and Recreation,
Public Health, and the Public Schools. Other
members include the Redevelopment and Housing
Authority, non-profit service agencies, leaders
from civic leagues, tenant management
organizations, and the business and religious
communities. Each neighborhood has its own team,
although in one case, two adjoining neighborhoods
share a team. FAST's meet monthly and choose
co-chairs who rotate responsibilities every 6
months.
Besides committee and team units, the following key
individuals keep PACE operating day-to-day:
o A full-time FAST Coordinator, provided by Social
Services, who works with FAST's in all 10 target
areas.
o Fifteen community police officers assigned to the
ten target areas. Three neighborhoods have
two-officer teams and one neighborhood has three
officers. The remaining six neighborhoods are
divided into two groups, each group sharing three
officers.
o A PACE Coordinator, police captain, who oversees
all PACE activities for the Norfolk Police.
Intervention Sequence. In each targeted
neighborhood, PACE adopted a three-phased approach
to intervention.
o In Phase I, Norfolk Police made a sweep of the
neighborhood to arrest suspects identified through
previous undercover operations and searches.
o During Phase II, police increased motorized
patrols and assigned one or more PACE officers to
work in the area. Moreover, city officials reached
out to citizens through community meetings to
identify their concerns and assembled the
neighborhood's FAST team. Usually a month passed
between the initial sweep and the first FAST
meeting.
o In Phase III, the community partnership phase,
PACE officers worked daily in the targeted area and
FAST teams met monthly.
Recognizing that partnership-building is a
long-term process, participants see the final
community partnership phase as open-ended. They
point out that partnerships are much stronger in
some neighborhoods than in others.
Specific intervention approaches. As the previous
discussion suggests, PACE incorporates a variety of
tactics.
Law enforcement tactics include the following:
o Traditional law enforcement tactics such as
undercover narcotics operations, increased patrol,
and sweeps are employed. Although a sweep initiates
activity in targeted neighborhoods, police can
still do "minisweeps" later. Police also work with
citizens on establishing block watchers.
o Targeted area officers. Although Norfolk's entire
police force has been trained in community
policing, specific officers are assigned to PACE
neighborhoods and relieved of routine patrol
duties. Although they answer some service calls in
their area, they spend considerable time walking
through the neighborhood, talking with citizens
informally, and attending community meetings.
Police officers participate in NEAT and FAST, where
they can refer specific problems for intervention.
Officers also seek solutions to some problems on
their own. For example, they notify owners about
illegal drug activity on their property and ask
them to post "no trespassing" signs, which allow
the police to order nonresidents to leave.
o Bicycle patrols. Another aspect of community
policing in Norfolk is bicycle patrol. Although
bike patrols are not assigned exclusively to PACE,
several of the bike officers spend a substantial
amount of their time in targeted areas.
o Collaboration with landlords and property
managers. Before PACE began, police had been
meeting with property managers in one neighborhood
to discuss solutions to problems such as
neighborhood deterioration and drug trafficking,
which threatened the value of rental property. Now
similar groups in several neighborhoods hold
monthly meetings on ways to effectively screen out
drug-dealing tenants, to control on-street dealing
and disorder, and to assist landlords in effective
property management.
NEAT is the primary tool for intervening in the
physical environment, where several tactics have
been used:
o Neighborhood tours. As each new PACE neighborhood
was targeted, NEAT members and civic leaders toured
the area with the beat officers. The team compiled
a list of problems and addresses and assigned them
to team members who could seek solutions. In
general, NEAT found that these initial neighborhood
tours were particularly useful in nonpublic housing
neighborhoods as public housing areas were fairly
well maintained.
o Follow-up tour. The tours often resulted in
towing abandoned cars, clearing trash-filled lots,
taking action on code violations or, in extreme
cases, tearing down buildings. Teams tried to speed
up the normal procedures, although there were
obstacles. Because of the high backlog of abandoned
cars, for example, the city found that it needed to
contract with more private towing firms.
o Continuing partnership. NEAT continues to respond
to environmental issues in PACE neighborhoods as
they are identified through FAST, residents, or
other sources. NEAT agencies either collaborate on
solutions or work with FAST. For example, in one
case, PACE officers videotaped the activities
around a vacant house, helping code enforcement
staff to quickly make the case for razing the
property as a public nuisance. In another instance,
a church leader recruited volunteers to help a
family clean up its dwelling. Another activity
spearheaded by NEAT was a needle-awareness program
designed to alert children and parents to the
dangers associated with discarded drug
paraphernalia.
FAST takes the lead in addressing the social and
human service needs of targeted neighborhoods
through the following:
o Initial community forums. As PACE entered each
new area, community meetings were scheduled as a
way to build rapport with citizens of the targeted
neighborhoods and to get them involved in the PACE
partnership. PACE soon discovered that in some
areas the meetings were the only vehicle for
residents and agency representatives to get
together and trade views. These meetings served to
identify the community's most pressing concerns.
o Regular town meetings. Community meetings became
a regular part of PACE, with a town meeting held in
place of the regular FAST meeting each quarter.
FAST generates the best turnouts when town meetings
combine refreshments and fun, such as door prizes
or contests, with discussion of serious
neighborhood issues. City officials attend to hear
community concerns firsthand. However, in some
neighborhoods it has been a challenge to keep
residents involved. One FAST eventually joined
forces with the area civic league, which decreased
the number of meetings competing for residents'
time and gave every FAST meeting a town meeting
component. On the other hand, separate town
meetings proved so popular in one area that they
are now held every other month rather than
quarterly.
o Case staffings. From the outset, FAST expected to
receive referrals of troubled families from member
agencies and neighborhood residents. The plan was
that FAST representatives from all the relevant
city agencies would then hold a "case staffing" and
work out a coordinated response. In fact, most FAST
were preoccupied with organizing residents and did
not do staffings in the first year. By the second
year, several FAST were staffing cases, but
referrals were sparse although the service had been
well publicized. At the end of 1992, seven of the
nine FAST were monitoring a total of 14 cases.
Staffings usually are held after FAST meetings and
are confidential; police and community residents do
not attend. Typically, the referring agency retains
responsibility for case management, even though
several agencies may be involved in working with
the family. Referrals require a special referral
form and a signed release from the family involved,
authorizing the FAST agencies to share information
about the case among themselves.
o Crisis intervention. East Ocean View's FAST
recently began testing another method of working
with individual families. Under this program, PACE
officers trained patrol officers to refer troubled
families to FAST, focusing on cases where they had
been called to a home but no arrest or summons had
resulted. FAST members from city agencies take
turns working in pairs to handle referrals of
civilians. However, Navy families are referred to
the Navy's Family Advocacy Center, which also
participates in FAST. A public health nurse and a
juvenile probation officer took the first month's
rotation, handling eight referrals. Four other
referrals were handled by the Navy. Most referrals
were initiated by domestic disturbance calls,
suicide threats, or children left unattended.  In
all cases, the goal is to link families with
services quickly. Feedback is provided to the
referring officer.
o Other special projects. Individual FAST have
worked on several special efforts, either on their
own or in collaboration with other community
groups. For example, one FAST obtained some small
grants to support children's recreational
activities and arranged for a GED class to be
offered at the local recreation center. Another set
up a tutoring program that serves more than 409
children a day. A third successfully lobbied the
city to open a miniservices center in the
neighborhood and a fourth is planning to train FAST
members and resident volunteers to counsel families
traumatized by violence.
Youth partnerships. Youth partnerships are a
particular priority for PACE because they offer a
way to involve neighborhood youth in positive
activities with positive role models and to
intervene early with children and youth at risk.
For example, PACE collaborates with the following:
o The Norfolk Interagency Consortium, which sets
policy on placements for high-risk youth and uses
interagency assessment teams to make placements.
o The Truancy Action Program, another multiagency
initiative which refers cases to FAST in one target
neighborhood.
o The PACE Athletic League and the PACE/NCAA
Program, a collaboration of Norfolk Police, the
Boys and Girls Clubs, Norfolk State University, and
other groups to provide opportunities for young
people to participate in team sports.
o The Norfolk Youth Forum, an event involving more
than 250 high school students who spoke out and
proposed solutions to youth and community problems.
o The Berkley/Campostella Early Childhood
Development Center, an innovative preschool and
multiservice center, which has programs for
students and their parents.
Other linkages. PACE partnerships are not limited
to youth activities. PACE and its partners serve on
each other's committees, volunteer for each other's
activities, and sometimes share the same PACE logo.
Over time, PACE has developed partnerships with a
long list of initiatives spearheaded by community
residents or city agencies. For example, PACE works
with the following:
o Police mini-stations, established and staffed by
citizens and local businesses in several parts of
the city.
o The Diggs Economic Empowerment Demonstration,
which focuses on increasing tenant self-sufficiency
in one of the PACE public housing areas.
o PACE-ALERT, a training program to develop
community leadership in two areas.
o PACE-SAFE, a coalition of religious organizations
that works to build partnerships with the city and
the entire community and also sponsors block
parties, music and other activities.
The PACE program has not been systematically
evaluated. However, statistics show that crime has
dropped markedly in the targeted neighborhoods.
Crime decreased by an estimated 29 percent in these
areas, according to one 1993 report, and violent
crime has declined citywide. Police report fewer
service calls in certain target areas and a
significant drop in on-street drug trafficking and
gunfire.
PACE participants believe the program has reduced
fear of crime in their neighborhoods. City
officials and private citizens are enthusiastic
about other aspects of PACE. They contend that it
has cut red tape, greatly improved communication
among city agencies at all levels, and made city
officials more accessible to citizens.  Several
citizens commented that their initial skepticism
about the program was overcome when they saw how
rapidly the program responded to pressing community
concerns. Others commented approvingly that they
were now on a first-name basis with police officers
in their neighborhood. Police mention that they get
a warmer reception in these areas.
City officials link the community meetings and
committees initiated by PACE to the implementation
of other multiagency service initiatives, including
the establishment of two public health clinics in
the community and the development of a multiservice
center at an alternative school.
PACE costs are difficult to estimate because it is
virtually impossible to disentangle them from other
city activities. The police portion of the program
depends on support from the city real estate tax
increase, which generates $1.8 million dollars
annually. In addition, State and Federal grants
have contributed to the community policing effort.
As a result, the department has trained the entire
force in community policing, hired 38 more officers
and 11 civilians, and assigned 15 targeted-area
officers to PACE.
Personnel from other city agencies are involved in
PACE at all levels, serving on committees,
following up with troubled families, and attending
community meetings and events on the city's behalf.
Two key roles in PACE, the police department's PACE
Coordinator and Social Services' FAST Coordinator,
have become full-time efforts, although many other
agency staff contribute substantial time. In
addition, residents and private organizations
volunteer significant support.
Other than equipment for the targeted-area
officers, PACE has not required any special
facilities or equipment. Meetings are held at
churches, multiservice centers, housing complexes,
or schools, and city employees work out of their
city offices.
Program Costs
PACE costs are difficult to estimate because it is
virtually impossible to disentangle them from other
city activities. The police portion of the program
depends on support from the city real estate tax
increase, which generates $1.8 million dollars
annually. In addition, State and Federal grants
have contributed to the community policing effort.
As a result, the department has trained the entire
force in community policing, hired 38 more officers
and 11 civilians, and assigned 15 targeted-area
officers to PACE.
Other than equipment for the targeted-area
officers, PACE has not required any special
facilities or equipment. Meetings are held it
churches, multiservice centers, housing complexes,
or schools, and city employees work out of their
city offices.
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OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference
Youth-Oriented Community Policing
Program Panelists
Shay Bilchik, Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC
Mr. Bilchik was confirmed by the United States
Senate as Administrator of the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1994. Prior
to that time, he served as Associate Deputy
Attorney General. Mr. Bilchik's career began in the
State of Florida where he worked nineteen years as
a prosecutor. As a prosecutor, he served as the
coordinator of many special programs including the
Police-Juvenile Prosecutor Liaison and the
School-Juvenile Prosecutor Liaison Projects.
Benjamin Tucker, Deputy Director
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services,
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC
Mr. Tucker is the newly appointed Deputy Director
of the Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services. He has an extensive background in law
enforcement, local government, and working with
community-based organizations. He began his
seventeen year career in law enforcement with the
New York City Police Department.
Steven Marans, Ph.D., Project Director
Child Development-Community Policing Program, Yale
University
New Haven, CT
Dr. Marans is the Director of the Yale Child Study
Center and Coordinator of the Child
Development-Community Policing Program which works
in close collaboration with the New Haven Police
Department. Dr. Marans' program has received
funding support from OJJDP. In addition, Dr. Marans
has written numerous articles on youth-focused
community policing.
Ruth S. Price, Major
Juvenile Division, Atlanta Police Department
Atlanta, GA
Major Price works in the Juvenile Section of the
Atlanta Police Department where she has been
employed since 1973. She is a member of the Fulton
County (GA) Stop the Violence Campaign and the
Mayor's Youth Council. Her professional
opportunities have allowed her to see firsthand the
importance of a youth-focused approach to law
enforcement and human service integration.
Don Christy, Police Officer
Neighborhood Network Center
Lansing, MI
Officer Christy is the coordinator and liaison
between the Neighborhood Network Center and the
Lansing Police Department. Mr. Christy's hard work
and dedication have enabled the Neighborhood
Network Center to be a national model of success in
the collaboration and service integration of
policing and human service agencies.
George Crawley, Assistant City Manager
Norfolk, VA
Mr. Crawley has been the Assistant City Manager of
Norfolk since 1983. His current responsibility is
public safety which includes police, fire and
paramedical services, public health, human
services, 911 dispatching, emergency preparedness,
and the coordination of the City's Police Assisted
Community Enforcement (PACE) initiatives.
Bonnie Krasik, Moderator
Ms. Krasik is the Managing Editor of the
NBC-affiliate WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky. She
has hosted all four OJJDP satellite
teleconferences.