Community-oriented Policing in a Multicultural Milieu: The Case of Loitering and Disorderly Conduct in East Arlington, Texas

• NCJ Number: 204580
• Journal: International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 245-264
• Author(s): Raymond A. Eve; Daniel G. Rodeheaver; Susan Brown Eve; Maureen Hockenberger; Ramona Perez; Ken Burton; Larry Boyd; Sue Phillips; Sharon L. Walker
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study examined the implementation and impact of a community-oriented policing project in Arlington (Texas) designed to address loitering and disorderly conduct.

Abstract

Under the parameters of the Federal grant that funded the project, grantees were required to use a community problem solving approach to address criminal behaviors. Grantees were also required to use the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment) in the problem solving approach. Scanning involved working with community residents to identify and select the problems to be addressed. The analysis phase of the project attempted to analyze the loitering and disorderly conduct problem with a view toward designing interventions to counter the problem. The response phase involved a review of the data on the perceptions of the problem and the development of specific responses tailored to address the problems. The impact assessment used measures that paralleled those measures used in the scanning and analysis phase of the project. These included data from the police calls for service, focus groups, and participant observation reports from apartment residents. The study found that the community-oriented policing project was successful in a number of ways. First, the project was largely successful in developing a community problem solving model that involved cooperation among community residents, the police, and other civil servants. Second, the project was successful in calling attention to the changing racial and ethnic composition of East Arlington. Third, at least one successful volunteer organization has been formed by the Hispanic police officers, which shows promise for bridging the cultural barriers between the Anglos and Mexican-Americans on one hand and the new Mexican immigrants on the other hand. One of the major strengths of the project was its implementation within the context of a larger effort at urban renewal in the city of Arlington, an effort that had already achieved broad-based political and community support. Because of this ongoing project, the effort did not end when the grant ended. 2 tables, 5 notes, and 27 references