COMMUNITY CONTROL AND GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS - THE CASE OF POLICE IN BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS

• NCJ Number: 15411
• Author(s): E OSTROM; G P WHITAKER
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5 R01 M1 1911-02; GS-27383
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare; National Science Foundation
• Corporate Author: Indiana University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: REPRINT

Annotation

STUDY WHICH COMPARES THE CALIBER OF POLICE SERVICES IN FIVE SMALL AND LARGE SCALE GOVERNMENTS IN THE CHICAGO METROPOLITAN AREA.

Abstract

THE AUTHOR REVIEWS STUDIES WHICH SHOW THAT BLACK RESIDENTS, CITING INSUFFICIENT POLICE PROTECTION AND POLICE BRUTALITY AND HARASSMENT, ARE CONSISTENTLY DISSATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL POLICE, PROFESSIONALIZATION AND COMMUNITY CONTROL (REDUCING THE SIZE OF LOCAL POLICE JURISDICTIONS AND BRINGING THEM UNDER CONTROL OF THE CITIZENS LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY SERVED) ARE BOTH EXAMINED AS WAYS TO INCREASE POLICE RESPONSIVENESS IN BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS. TO EVALUATE THE CONSEQUENCES OF COMMUNITY CONTROL, THE POLICE SERVICES RECEIVED BY RESIDENTS LIVING IN TWO SEPARATELY INCORPORATED POOR BLACK COMMUNITIES WAS COMPARED TO THAT PROVIDED TO RESIDENTS OF MATCHED NEIGHBORHOODS WITHIN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, COMMUNITY CONTROL WAS ASSESSED IN RELATION TO ITS EFFECTS ON RACIAL SEPARATISM, COST, LACK OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION, AND PROFESSIONAL LEVEL OF POLICE PERSONNEL. STUDY RESULTS SHOWED THAT, IN GENERAL, CITIZENS LIVING IN THE INDEPENDENT COMMUNITIES RECEIVED EQUAL OR HIGHER LEVELS OF POLICE SERVICE - WITH POORLY TRAINED STAFF AND WHILE SPENDING LESS MONEY - THAT RESIDENTS OF SIMILAR NEIGHBORHOODS IN CHICAGO, THE AUTHORS CONCLUDE THAT COMMUNITY CONTROL SHOULD BE ADOPTED FOR NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE LARGE CITIES, A LIST OF REFERENCES IN ALSO PROVIDED.