NCJ Number
139522
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 40 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: 97-100
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
As a central part of its program of total quality management and community policing, the police department of Lawrence (Mass.) conducts surveys to determine citizens' fear of crime and perceptions of disorder.
Abstract
A citizen's advisory committee formed in November 1989 used the nominal group technique to determine citizen needs and concerns. As a result, the agency decided to focus on community policing and selected the Arlington neighborhood, a 45-block area consisting mostly of multiple-family housing, for its initial efforts. Residents enthusiastically welcomed community policing. To measure attitudes and progress, the department prepared a 60-item questionnaire to measure fear of crime and social disorder. The questionnaires were printed in both English and Spanish. Surveys conducted in 1990 and 1991 revealed decreases in disorder and fear of crime in the Arlington and Back Bay neighborhoods. In contrast, both indexes increased in the rest of the city. The surveys provide a means to go beyond traditional measures such as reported crimes and arrests and to measure citizen concerns and perceptions. Figures and 3 references