Power to the People: Mapping and Information Sharing in the Chicago Police Department (From Crime Mapping and Crime Prevention, P 113-130, 1997, David Weisburd and Tom McEwen, eds. - See NCJ-170277)

• NCJ Number: 170281
• Author(s): M Buslik; M D Maltz
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This chapter describes the way the Chicago Police Department has reorganized its information system and changed its policies regarding sharing information, in support of a full implementation of community policing.

Abstract

The chapter claims that sharing information with the public will not only increase cooperation and develop trust in the police, but will aid in analyzing and interpreting the data included in maps. People who live in a community may be able to explain clustering of points on a map, based on their own experiences in the neighborhood, leading to more effective crime prevention efforts. Similarly, patrol officers gain insight from their direct experiences in the community. The chapter emphasizes the importance of bringing computer applications to those who are closest to problem-solving efforts. In order for community policing to work, decentralization of the dissemination of information must occur. This requires police departments to think seriously about the way they deal with information, with whom they share information, and the positive and negative results of that sharing. Figures, notes, references