Taking Stock: Community Policing in Chicago

• NCJ Number: 189909
• Author(s): Wesley G. Skogan; Lynn Steiner; Jill DuBois; J. Erik Gudell; Aimee Fagan
• Date Published: July 2002
• Length: 39 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research Report
• Grant Number(s): 94-IJ-CX-0046
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report describes Chicago’s community policing program, the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), its elements, and a brief evaluation.

Abstract

In April 1993, Chicago announced the implementation of its new community policing program, the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS). This report describes the program itself and details some of the changes that have taken place in the city’s neighborhoods during the course of the evaluation. The report identifies the challenges that CAPS continues to confront and describes new initiative that were launched by the city as community policing entered the new millennium. It is directed towards criminal justice practitioners and community residents who are interested in knowing about the changes that took place in America in the 1990's when community policing was founded. The first section examines five key features of Chicago’s community policing initiative and how these features work. The second section analyzes CAPS' impact on neighborhood life, such as perceptions of police service, trends in recorded crime, and neighborhood problems. The report concludes with a look at the remaining challenges for CAPS which include energizing the program, the growing immigration population, resource allocation, finances, and leadership transition. 9 Notes