But Meara is determined that that won't happen. She has framed an infrastructure to support the complete decentralization of police headquarters. Eventually, according to her plan, captains will command from nine policing districts across the city with the authority to direct foot patrol officers and command backup when they need it, but be accessible and accountable to the neighborhood as never before. She has made a mark. Police captains can be found pedaling bicycles.
Rookies are now routinely on foot or bikes.
The department issued mock baseball cards for officers with pictures and profiles of their careers, making them real to kids in the neighborhoods they patrol. A new youth assessment center, combining the efforts of police officers, social workers and psychologists, seeks to screen teen-agers in trouble or on the verge. The idea is to break their cycle of behavior and keep them out of the court system. Of the 630-member force, about 100 are now involved in community policing, including 20 assigned to a public school system where most students are members of minority groups and live in poverty. Commerce High School's football coach, Anthony Gladden, is a community policeman.