The Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) is a

nationwide crime prevention and crime control initiative established by the Bureau of Justice Assistance

(BJA) in 1994. The CCP model stresses crime reduction and enhancement of public safety as vital elements

to improving the quality of life in our nation’s cities.

CCP uses a simple approach that

❑ Brings together people most affected by crime 

problems.

❑ Gives each stakeholder a meaningful role in solving

problems.

❑ Applies a deliberate planning and implementation

process.

CCP’s two primary components—community policing

and community mobilization—bring together community residents and police officers to develop solutions 

to local problems. Other components of the program

include community prosecution, drug courts, crime prevention through environmental design, youth involvement initiatives, and community corrections.

Program Goals

CCP provides a framework in which community residents, government agencies, and private organizations

can work together to improve the quality of life in a

community. The goals of the program are to

❑ Suppress violence and restore the sense of community well-being needed to recapture the security of

neighborhoods.

❑ Focus on the problems and concerns of communities

and their neighborhoods by initiating comprehensive

planning and improving government–community

relationships.

❑ Develop a comprehensive, multiagency strategy

within each community to identify the causes of 

violence and to control and prevent violent and

drug-related crime.

❑ Use community policing and other efforts to 

encourage citizens to take an active role in problem

solving.

❑ Coordinate and concentrate existing federal, state,

local, and private agency resources in the program

communities to maximize their impact on crime

reduction.

Program Principles

The following are key principles that underlie CCP

goals:

❑ Partnership and collaboration.

❑ Shared problem identification and problem solving.

❑ Commitment to change how public safety works.

To date, 15 jurisdictions have participated in this public

safety initiative. Although the sites differ in area, population, culture, politics, and resources, they all adhere to

CCP principles in tailoring their program to meet their

community’s needs.

Program designers in Hartford, Connecticut, established

Problem Solving Committees (PSCs) in each of the

Comprehensive Communities Program:

A Unique Way To Reduce Crime and

Enhance Public Safety 

Nancy E. Gist, Director

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance
city’s 17 neighborhoods to reduce crime and enhance

the quality of life. Each PSC is composed of leaders of

neighborhood groups, congregations, business associations, clubs, and local agencies. Representatives from

each PSC participate in the citywide Community

Planning and Mobilization Committee, created to share

information and promote shared problem solving. The

city’s community court, which was developed in 1998

and is the nation’s second such court, evolved from

Hartford’s PSC efforts.

In Salt Lake City, Community Action Teams (CATs)

operate in the city’s seven council districts. CATs core

groups of government agency representatives meet

weekly to address local crime and disorder problems.

The diversity of CAT membership and the range of

expertise and resources they bring has helped make this

problem-solving mechanism an ongoing city function.

Critical Elements

In addition to its underlying principles, CCP is characterized by certain critical elements:

❑ Strategic planning. Ongoing planning by all key

stakeholders is essential for any progress in developing this public safety strategy.

❑ Management and operations. An individual or team

coordinator must be given authority to oversee this

multifaceted strategy throughout its development.

❑ Evaluation. A sound public safety strategy must

include an evaluation component to help determine

whether goals are being met and to improve or modify the strategy if needed.

❑ Sustainment. The strategy must be viewed as a

long-term effort, requiring ongoing commitment and

support from stakeholders.

Boston initiated its CCP by engaging neighborhood residents and police officers in a citywide strategic planning process. The focus of this effort is to reduce crime

problems that interfere with residents’ quality of life.

Two significant programs, replicated in other cities,

grew out of this joint planning process—the Youth

Service Providers Network, which links at-risk youth

and their families with social services, and Operation

Night-Light, which teams up probation and parole officers with police officers to monitor probationers and

parolees. 

Officials in Phoenix, Arizona, focused on one neighborhood, the Greater Coronado Historical District. Here,

community groups, residents, police, and local agency

representatives identified local problems and developed

solutions. These stakeholders collaborated with the

University of Arizona to evaluate local conditions,

measuring the fear of crime perceptions of residents

before and after CCP activities. The evaluation guided

efforts to modify the jurisdiction’s crime prevention

strategy.

A Positive Approach With Positive

Results

By using the CCP approach, 15 jurisdictions across

the country have made great strides in reducing crime,

improving the quality of life, and improving the delivery of services in their neighborhoods. They have 

mobilized community members, police, social service

agencies, faith communities, city departments, and a

host of other partners to prevent, intervene in, and control crime. Each collaborative was designed for a specific area, showing the flexibility and uniqueness of the

CCP approach.

Baltimore, Denver, Fort Worth, Hartford, Salt Lake

City, and Wichita have witnessed up to 50-percent

reductions in violent crime in their CCP neighborhoods.

Atlanta, Columbia, the District of Columbia, Oakland,

and Seattle have also made measurable progress. The 

following are some success stories:

❑ Phoenix closed more than 70 drug houses.

❑ Omaha drastically reduced its juvenile truancy 

problem.

❑ Wilmington initiated a model juvenile drug court.

❑ Boston had only one gun-related juvenile death in a

4-year period.

For Further Information

The following jurisdictions have implemented and 

sustained CCP’s crime prevention and public safety

approach. 

Arizona—Phoenix

Commander Kim Humphrey

Arizona Regional Community Policing Institute

2643 East University

Phoenix, AZ 85034

602–223–2514

California—East Bay

Maria Theresa Viramontes Campbell, Director

East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership

1222 Preservation Park Way

Oakland, CA 94612

510–832–7071

2
Colorado—Metropolitan Denver

Lance Clem, Director

Division of Criminal Justice

700 Kipling Street, Suite 1000

Denver, CO 80215

303–239–5717

Connecticut—Hartford

Rae Ann Palmer, Director

Comprehensive Community Partnership

525 Main Street

Hartford, CT 06103

860–543–8681

Delaware—Wilmington

Debbie Crisden-Boone, Coordinator

Department of Planning and Development

Louis L. Redding Building

800 French Street

Wilmington, DE 19801–3537

302–571–4178

District of Columbia

Dionne Reeder, CCP Coordinator

Program Office of Grants Management

717 14th Street NW., Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20005

202–727–6537

Georgia—Metropolitan Atlanta

Andrew Copassaki, Director

Metro-Atlanta Project Pact

127 Church Street, Suite 270

The Brumby Building at Marietta Station

Marietta, GA 30060

770–528–4607

Kansas—Wichita

Tom Smith, Grants and Aid Coordinator

City Hall

455 North Main Street, 12th Floor

Wichita, KS 67202

316–268–4271

Maryland—Baltimore

Patricia Smith, Director

CCP/HotSpots

10 South Street

Baltimore, MD 21202

410–396–4370

Massachusetts—Boston

James T. Jordan, Director of Planning

Boston Police Department

One Schroeder Plaza

Boston, MA 02120

617–343–5863

Nebraska—Metropolitan Omaha

Mary Lopez, Director

Department of Public Administration

Peter Kiewit Conference Center

1313 Farnam Street, Room 232

Omaha, NE 68182

402–595–1213

South Carolina—Columbia

Roland Smallwood, Community Liaison

City of Columbia

1225 Laurel Street

Columbia, SC 29201

803–733–8635

Texas—Fort Worth

David Garrett, Director

Fort Worth Police Department

Research and Planning Unit

350 West Belknap

Fort Worth, TX 76102

817–877–8067

Utah—Salt Lake City

Jeanne Robison, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor

Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office

349 South 200 East, Suite 500

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

801–535–7767

Washington—Seattle

Colleen Laing, Director

Community Policing Bureau

700 Third Avenue, Suite 540

Seattle, WA 98104–1886

206–386–0057

For additional information regarding BJA programs and

initiatives, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

202–514–6278

World Wide Web: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA

3
Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

1–800–688–4252

World Wide Web: www.ncjrs.org

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through 

Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be

placed on the BJA mailing list.

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center

1–800–421–6770 or 202–307–1480

Response Center staff are available Monday through

Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time.

Comprehensive Communities Program:

A Unique Way To Reduce Crime and

Enhance Public Safety Fact Sheet 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJA

PERMIT NO. G–91

This document was prepared by Criminal Justice

Associates, under grant number 95–DD–BX–K017,

awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of

Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or

recommendations expressed in this document are

those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S.

Department of Justice.

FS 000267 

December 2000