This newsletter issue from Fall 2016 informs readers of efforts by the Smart Policing Initiative, noting the addition of new SPI sites and their site collaborators, target problems and strategies; it also includes a section highlighting training and technical assistance efforts, community and Google Consumer surveys, and reports on perceptions of safety and police.
This quarterly newsletter issue provides details on the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) activities for the year 2016. It announces the addition of six new SPI sites that joined the community of practice: Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; Lowell, Massachusetts; Madison, Wisconsin; and Sacramento, California. Those sites would focus on addressing gun crimes, including fatal and nonfatal shootings and armed robberies, opioid addiction and related crime, and homelessness. The newsletter discusses those sites’ targeted problems and interventions, with sections written by SPI analysts, they name each site’s collaborators, targeted problems, and site strategies for addressing those problems. The document also provides a section spotlighting training and technical assistance (TTA) for crime analysis, noting that a core principle of Smart Policing is to make better use of intelligence and other data information systems. The newsletter also highlights efforts to effectively and efficiently address community members’ concerns and needs; it describes in-person surveys, telephone interviews, and web surveys among other efforts, and the ultimate selection of Google Consumer Surveys as an innovative tool that has potential for helping departments or researchers to assess community attitudes quickly and rigorously.