Violence Reduction in Joliet, Illinois: An Evaluation of the Strategic Tactical Deployment Program
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to assist them in their shooting investigations. Police officers also became additional, around the clock, eyes and ears for probation and parole authorities.
The results of the use of probation/parole information by field personnel were also integrated into future Strategic Tactical Deployment meetings in order to implement an evidence-based policing approach to the gun violence problem in Joliet. This “feedback loop” allowed Joliet to evaluate their successes and failures and to apply what they learned on a real- time basis. For example, a number of specific applications of sharing probation and parole information were utilized:
Gang-involved parolees and probationers were identified, monitored, and cross-checked on a regular basis with shooting incidents.
they conducted sweeps of parolees.
Top ten lists of problem individuals were collectively created increasing information among participating agencies,
enabling them to attend STD meetings and share additional information on these persons.
Attending STD meetings apprised probation and parole officers of current hotspots in Joliet, thereby increasing probation and parole officer safety.
after a court conviction, thereby reducing the number of weapons available on the street.
Probation and parole violations were used to apprehend suspects and witnesses in homicide and shooting investigations who might be willing to provide information once they were in custody.
Joliet police officers cooperated in building cases on parolees and probationers who had violated the terms of their release. 5
These and other applications of probation/parole information were continually analyzed at the STD meetings in order to determine the best practice use of probation and parole information as well as other collaborative approaches to addressing gun violence. Finally, community policing has demonstrated the importance of involving citizens in law enforcement efforts. Whether the police are successful or not, citizens are often more satisfied with police efforts that include the local community. As such, Joliet’s Strategic Tactical Deployment program was expanded to include a marketing campaign to enlist the cooperation of local residents. This campaign not only sought citizen input, but also targeted community members who witnessed shootings and were reluctant to come forward with information.
While violent crime in Joliet has decreased following the national trend, the purpose of this study is to determine what percentage of this reduction can be attributed to the STD process. Before beginning the evaluation, Joliet personnel and Loyola University researchers reviewed the relevant academic research in order to gain a greater understanding of evidence-based and hot-spot policing, as well as police corrections partnerships. A review of this research is contained in the following section. Literature Review
The Joliet Strategic Tactical Deployment (STD) initiative is a crime reduction strategy aimed at reducing gun violence. The STD process involves identifying areas with the highest rates of violent crime and allocating additional police resources to these areas in an effort to reduce gun-related crime. The STD effort is supplemented by an exchange of information with probation and parole authorities in an effort to identify and remove violent offenders from the community. Thus this effort not only targets geographic areas, but also active offenders. As such, the STD process combines both elements of hot-spot policing and police/probation partnerships. 6
This research follows an evidence-based approach. The goal of evidence-based policing is to turn research into practice. This section provides an overview of the literature on hot-spot policing, police/probation partnerships, as well as a review of evidence-based policing. Hot-Spot policing
A hot spot is an area that has a greater than average number of crimes or where people have a greater than average risk of victimization. Hot-spot policing is a police strategy that directs additional police resources to these areas to suppress crime through preventive patrol and criminal apprehension. Hot-spot policing has become a core strategy of American policing. Directed patrols, problem-solving, and proactive arrest strategies are all routinely used by police agencies to apprehend criminals in high-crime areas. Hot-spot policing emerged from a body of research suggesting that crime is not spread evenly across the urban landscape, but concentrated in high-risk places (Sherman, Gartin, and Buerger, 1989; Weisburd, Maher, and Sherman, 1992).
The emergence of hot-spot policing contrasted with earlier views of crime control. Studies such as the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment (Kelling et al, 1974), research on calling the police in Minneapolis (Spelman and Brown, 1984), and the RAND Criminal Investigation Study (Greenwood, Chaiken, and Petersilia, 1977) all challenged the ability of the police to control crime. Recent research, however, has shed new light on the effectiveness of the police. For example, Weisburd and Sherman (1995) conducted research that challenged the findings of the Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment. Working with the Minneapolis Police Department, the authors studied the effect of increases in patrols at 55 of 110 crime hot spots within the city. Hot spots were defined as small clusters of addresses with frequent calls for police service. After one year of study, the authors concluded that substantial increases in patrol reduced crime and disorder in high crime areas. Yüklə 3,69 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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