NCJ Number
69833
Date Published
1967
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report documents the 3-month summer effort (1967) of the Washington, D.C. community to improve police-community relations with a 30-person field staff and volunteer alert councils.
Abstract
The origins of the project are traced, with attention to Washington, D.C., Urban League involvement in generating the formation of a response to strained police-community relations. The Police Community Alert Council that emerged from area discussions is described with respect to its staff responsibilities, recruitment, and selection. The staff training program is outlined, with reports on the effects of the program's various components, i.e., films, informal visits, discussions. The objectives and procedures involved in the project's operation are examined, with case examples of how those procedures worked and how the objectives were met. Legal services available to the project are reported, along with the process of bail bond, job outreach for youthful job seekers, and referral for such persons. Recommendations are provided that expand on the needs for full cooperation from all working segments of such a project, for long-range planning, for stronger field worker abilities, and for stronger field supervision. Finally, the overall organization of each of the Alert Councils is outlined.