NCJ Number
169696
Journal
Telemasp Bulletin Volume: 1 Issue: 9 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1994
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This bulletin describes the basic tenets of the Houston Police Department's crime-specific policing strategy.
Abstract
While a mayoral candidate, current Houston Mayor Bob Lanier promised an additional police officer for every square mile in the Houston city limits, the 655 square miles providing a significant but attainable benchmark to measure enhanced police presence. The term "655" has come to mean more than increased police staffing. It is now a code word for the dramatic change in policing style in Houston. The new policing style is a product of the complex intersecting of a philosophy, several strategies, and a multiplicity of programs. Under the crime-specific policing philosophy, the broad police mission remains peacekeeping or order maintenance, but crime is recognized as the central focus of policing. Wholesale neighborhood restructuring, as well as generic community quality of life issues, are regarded by the Houston police as outside the police mission. A crime-focused macro strategy subsumes several "embedded," long-term micro strategies. These endemic strategies include proactive, aggressive patrol; proactive and crime-specific investigative efforts; and community communication centered on neighborhood security. Within the context of the endemic strategies may be a multiplicity of programs. Since January 1992 the Houston patrol division has engaged in a parole-violator apprehension program, saturation patrol in targeted areas, directed patrol, and zero- tolerance patrol. The change in Houston from a community-oriented to crime-specific strategy has apparently resulted in a substantial decrease in suppressible crime. Definitive answers regarding the relative effectiveness of various policing styles are not yet available, however; but documentation of the effects of efforts such as Houston's 655 program contributes considerable insight. 11 figures