The institute will be overseen by a board of directors made up of representatives from Johns Hopkins, law enforcement executives and community leaders throughout the region. It will provide education and training to approximately 3,400 police employees and community leaders during the coming year. We are enthusiastic about the opportunity this grant provides us in helping to support and shape new community policing initiatives. Another aspect of the institute, the regional problem-solving clearinghouse, will allow police officers facing similar problems to help each other without leaving their own jurisdictions. Essentially, the clearinghouse is a database of information on neighborhood crime problems successfully addressed in the region.
Police officers enter information into the database on various problems they encounter.
Any other officer in the region facing a similar problem simply calls a toll-free number or accesses the clearinghouse on the Internet. If a Washington, D.C., officer deals with a vacant house that is a nuisance and public health problem, he or she enters the experience into the database. The clearinghouse prevents police officers from reinventing the wheel when they get a call for service. It also provides a higher level of interaction among officers throughout the region. The aim of the Justice Department's effort is to forge a national community policing network based on these institutes.