NCJ Number
186490
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 67 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2000 Pages: 78-80
Date Published
November 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Phoenix Police Department created the Community Efforts to Abate Street Violence Program (Wake Up!) in 1996 to target students in seventh and eighth grades throughout the city; a recent assessment of the program indicated that it has been beneficial.
Abstract
The police initiated this interagency collaboration in response to pleas from a community in south Phoenix for a new program to address youth crime and violence. The program created a partnership between the schools, area businesses, the Phoenix Police Department, and community leaders. The program placed Wake Up! clubs in the schools. All children could join the clubs. However, to remain members they had to abide by its rules forbidding gang involvement and criminal activity while behaving well at school and home. Police officers teach students in the clubs to make better choices in the lives. The clubs help youth improve their attitudes toward the police. Each club meets about 1 hour each week at the school. Children receive the opportunity to attend a summer camp as a reward for their continued good behavior during the school year. Data from more than 1,500 students and 242 individuals in the clubs during the 1999-2000 school year revealed that the club members displayed better behavior than did the other students in all the assessed areas. In addition, a comparison of a school with the program and a school without the program revealed that the school with the program had rates of personal and property crime that were 40 percent and more than 70 percent lower, respectively, than those of the other school. In addition, the Wake Up! school had a greater impact on standardized test scores than did the other school. Findings indicated that the program has had a positive effect. Photograph