MEGA-LIST OF COMMUNITY POLICING
AND PROBLEM SOLVING PROGRAMS

ACAR--Assigned Community Area of Responsibility. Uses a self-managed, fixed team of officers who do not have to respond to routine calls for service and only meet with a project manager once a week. Nontraditional weekly effort reports are also filed.

ACCREDITATION PROGRAMS--National-level recognition for accomplishment in meeting a set of 438 CALEA standards, complying with written policy requirements, and passing a site review. Not necessarily CP, but usually associated with positioning for change.

ADOPT-A-COP--Residency-type program in which community residents get to take care of and know the beat officer like a family member. Similar to 1996 federally funded Adopt A Police Agency program. (Torrance, CA PD)

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS--Selective recruitment mechanisms which increase application or acceptance rate for minorities thru 5 year plans, 4/5ths rule, or dipping down standards.

ARE YOU OK? PROGRAM-- Checks on the welfare of senior citizens once a week; affiliated with the national Triad program.

ART PROGRAMS--Every quarter, police station hangs artwork by juveniles and community residents throughout the station. Police also organize other art exhibits and local cable access channel coverage. Murals painted in multi-ethnic neighborhoods also work well.

ASAP--After School Activities Programs; hobby, sports, or other activities. Makes use of school facilities late into evening, sometimes called "Midnight Basketball" programs.

AWARDS PROGRAMS--Special awards given to Good Citizens who perform honorary deeds or assisted with law enforcement, or were just simply observed displaying good manners while driving.

BASIC CAR PLANS--A type of team policing where city is subdivided by computer-generated crime occurrence data and team of nine officers given 24-hour responsibility for specific subdivision on permanent assignment to develop proprietary interest thru formal and informal meetings with public.

BEAT COMMANDER SYSTEMS--Police sergeant given command of 20 men including detectives who only investigate crimes in the beat command area on permanent assignment and closely monitored for job satisfaction and efficiency at improving citizen satisfaction.

BEST COP ON THE BLOCK PROGRAM--Local recognition by residents or merchants of officer who avoids a shooting or talks a suspect into custody, reinforcement of non-aggressive, violence-reduction behavior.

BILINGUAL PROGRAMS--Various efforts at bilingual public announcements, education programs, or incentive pay for dual language officers. The Houston Experiment, for example, showed the benefits of police newsletters published in Spanish.

BLUE CREW--Officers who rap, form a band, and throw parties in the community at teen dances or at skating rinks. (Middletown, Conn. PD)

BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS--Basing pre-employment standards on duties that job audit or scientific research shows related to job. Requires Job Task Analysis. Not necessarily CP, but important process required to change job descriptions.

BOY SCOUT EXPLORER TROOPS--Special scouting organizations interested in police-related subjects offering escort services, Christmas parties, dinners for those fearful of crime, ride-alongs. Almost every big city police department has an Explorer Troop.

BUMPER STICKER PROGRAMS--Distribution of car stickers to make public responsive to police perception of problems such as "Support law enforcement"' or the obviously outdated "Next time you need help, call a hippie". Sound bites, jingles, and slogans.

CAPS--Chicago's Alternative Policing Strategy. An ambitious program based around monthly meetings between community residents and beat officers; uses problem solving and partnership building as well as involvement with other city agencies to address quality of life issues. (Chicago PD)

CARY--Cooperation for At Risk Youths. A delinquency prevention program in which police help identify and assess youth who are at risk due to antisocial behavior, drug involvement, gang activity, and/or parental neglect. Police, schools, and counseling centers then jointly coeducate these youth and tailor individualized treatment plans. (Monrovia, CA PD)

CAST--Community Action Support Team. Medical analogy for weed-and-seed type program in which raids and crackdowns are used to "break" the troubled neighborhood and then anti-drug rallies and other programs help "heal" or provide the cast.

CAT--Combat Auto Theft (Example #2) Residents sign agreement asking officers to stop their vehicle if it is being driven during target hours (e.g. 1am-6am). Vehicles have window sticker or other marking to indicate participation in the program.

C.C.P.P.--Citywide Crime Prevention Program, use of block watches, home security checks, and property identification. The Seattle Experiment showed this was especially helpful with renters.

CASE AUGMENTATION PROCEDURES--Specialized units such as major crime bureaus or career offender units to enhance detective performance; also called "Habitual" or "Career" Criminal Units. Not necessarily CP, but can be problem-solving oriented. Involves numerous constitutional issues.

CITIZEN POLICE ALERT PROGRAMS--Efforts to involve citizens in reporting suspicious behaviors, finding missing or wanted persons, and similar to block watchers and crimestoppers programs but often including citizen patrols after training and task force formation along with the occasional rewards program.

CITY-WITHIN-A-CITY--Program in which neighborhoods are rated fragile or threatened, based on infrastructure and housing conditions, and creation of satellite city halls in those neighborhoods to provide better access to city services. (Charlotte, NC PD)

CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEYS--Interviews are conducted with citizens randomly selected who had recent contact with system and asked how well they were served, or alternatively, opinion forms sent out with tax bills. (Philadelphia, PA)

CIVILIAN REVIEW AND CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT BOARDS--Blue ribbon or cross sectional representation of community leaders, independent of department, selected by mayor, have direct oversight on the proper punishment of police misconduct, use of force complaints, and policy recommendations. Three classes of civilian boards exist.

CLERGY-POLICE PROGRAMS--Central committees of representatives from different denominations established to universally condemn gang violence, for example, and discuss ways police can prevent gang delinquency or recruit people interested in police work. (NYC 73rd Precinct)

COFFEE KLATCH PROGRAMS--Two-person teams or a commander who arranges neighborhood couples or city council members together for an informal morning or evening of coffee and conversation, sometimes showing short presentations. An old program regularly featured on Dragnet TV show, and replaced mostly today by email and Internet discussion groups. "Klatsch" is German for "gossip".

COMMUNITY-ORIENTED SCOOTER PROGRAMS-- Crime prevention-oriented scooter patrol assigned to work with scout cars and connected by CB, and used primarily by campus, corporate, or forestry police.

COMMUNITY RADIOWATCH PROGRAMS--Citizens with CB or HAM radios urged to report suspicious characters and events. (London UK Police)

COMMUNITY-RELATIONS TRAILER PROGRAMS--Specially-equipped house trailers or mobile vans towed or driven to various neighborhoods and schools generally following a civil disturbance or for public education. Also called Mobile Command Posts. (San Diego SD)

COMMUNITY RESOCIALIZATION or RENTRY PROGRAMS--Efforts at establishing interagency cooperation and coordination for delinquency prevention and control without relying upon schools, police, or courts exclusively; liaison and referrals with mental health and other social service agencies, and use of ex-offenders as counselors. (Bridgeport, CT)

COMSTAT--Complaint Statistics--New technique where weekly community policing meetings are held all around city, and precinct commanders and other police executives are rotated on a regular basis, and immediate accountability is required every 5 weeks from the executives in front of the others at staff meetings to see if crime goes down under their watch.

C.O.M.S.E.C.--Community Sector Team Policing--Decentralized program based on organizational change & community involvement but focusing on index crimes. First developed in Cincinnati about the same time Team Policing was experimented with.

COP ON CAMPUS PROGRAMS--Similar to "officer friendly" programs, but on campus one or two days a week during lunch hours answering questions and discussing issues aimed at students interested in law enforcement careers. (Hampton, VA PD)

C.O.P.E.--Citizen Oriented Police Enforcement--1982-94 program which used door-to-door fear of crime surveys to target problem solving efforts, intensive foot or small vehicle patrol and other door-to-door proactive contacts also used. (Baltimore Co. PD)

COP'RZ--Use of officers who can rap or play rock music to form a band that throws parties in the community at teen dances or at skating rinks. (Dayton, Ohio PD)

COPS & JOCKS--Program that breaks down barriers between high school athletes and law enforcement officers. (Los Angeles Co. SO)

C.O.R.T.--Community Organizing Response Team, police help citizens organize council or block meetings where they devise their own programs.

COURTEOUS FIELD INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES--A type of field training in which non-harassing, courteous, and efficient interrogation is used on suspicious individuals, with officers monitored by supervisor and officers leaving cards bearing their name and badge number.

CPOP--Community Patrol Officers Program, use of volunteers or vigilantee groups such as Guardian Angels or Ministers of Islam to reduce fear of crime

CPTED--Crime Prevention Thru Environmental Design, use of security surveys, security devices, lighting projects, landscape design, and other "Target Hardening"; sometimes called Operation Safe Streets and by other names.

CRIME CONTROL TEAMS--Decentralized unit relieved of routine, noncriminal duties, and given responsibility for controlling serious crime, apprehending offenders, conducting investigations, and increasing clearance rates in a small area of city.

CRIME PREVENTION CLINICS--Public relations-style presentations to encourage preventive steps citizens can take themselves, inform about police services, and promote mutual understanding and cooperation.

CRIMESTOPPERS (Example #2)--Crime reporting or secret witness program that offers cash rewards for anonymous phoned-in tips.

DANGEROUS TOYS TURN-IN DAY--Also known as gun buy-back programs.

D.A.R.E.--Drug Abuse Resistance Education--Brings police into fifth or sixth grade to instruct children about dangers of drug abuse for several times throughout the semester. Numerous police departments have DARE programs.

D.A.R.T.--Directed Area Responsibility Teams--Encouragement of innovation problem-solving with team policing in areas experiencing rapid population growth.

DEAR JOHN LETTERS--Anti-prostitution program in which each person convicted of soliciting a prostitute receives a letter from the Chief, stamped confidential and mailed to home address, reminding the individual that patronizing is a crime and about the dangers of being exposed to disease (St. Petersburg PD). Other departments post pictures on a website (St. Paul PD). 

DEMILITARIZATION--Abolishing uniforms and substituting blazers or civilian clothing, often upgrading job requirements to require college education, changing job titles to community service officer as reflected in nameplates and numerous other pins on clothing.

DETACHED WORKER PROGRAMS--Professional social workers given arrest powers and having personal relationships with gang members act in unstructured program to redirect gang activities, involve parents, and reestablish relationships between gang and other community groups.

DETAIL CARS--Patrol units not tied to the radio but to the target area, staffed during busiest times of day, to attend scheduled community meetings and make proactive citizen contacts. (Buffalo, NY PD)

DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE--Procedures for screening out/stacking up calls for service that are nonemergencies, often with software programs like Computer Aided Dispatch which analyze if immediate response needed.

DIRECTED PATROL--Called Operation Maximum Effort in some places, D-runs in other places; involves patrolling and parking in trouble spots when not committed to other calls.

DISCRETION EXPANSION/RESTRICTION--Written procedures expanding or restricting (encouraging/discouraging) conditions of officer decision-making beyond the usual guidelines and standard operating procedures. Restrictions tend to be heavy on use of force and hot pursuit, but fairly loose on misdemeanor and disturbance situations.

DRUG WATCH--Like Neighborhood Watch but citizens usually more active with notepads, cameras, CB radios, or whistles to alert authorities to drug dealing.

E.A.R.S.--Enforcement And Rescue Surveillance--A national group that provides police and paramedic training to citizens who then act as eyes and ears of police and assist with emergency services.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS--Computerized complaint tracking systems on problem officers. After certain number of incidents, officers have review for hearing and/or performance evaluation.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS--Programs to detect and help officers with alcohol/drug problems, counseling referrals, and stress leave.

EX-OFFENDER EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS--Efforts to recruit screened ex-offenders to criminal justice work.

EXPERIMENTAL POLICING--generally refers to any kind of victim recontact program, foreign language requirement, team policing, TQM, Comsec; but often involves ministation idea of electronic town hall. In "electronic" model, police act as broker or information desk for city services using e-mail system.

FAMILY CRISIS INTERVENTION PROJECTS--Patrol officers are encouraged and trained in proper skills for dealing with immediate family problems and referring persons in need of assistance to the appropriate agency.

FEAR OF CRIME PROJECTS--Broken windows approach to public incivilities, litter, and nuisances, combined with surveys and/or door-to-door interviews.

FOOTBRIDGE PROGRAMS--New arrivals to city are greeted by uniformed beat officer similar to welcome wagon programs, aimed at elderly who live alone and provides information about city services and crime prevention programs.

FOOT PATROLS--Use of walking beats during all or part of shift, and multi-speed bicycles for silent patrol, better community contact and mobility as burglary-prevention technique in areas not accessible to motor patrol.

GANG INTELLIGENCE UNITS--Inter-agency liaisons often involving citizens, incarcerated offenders, file keeping, and electronic surveillance. Not necessarily CP, but can be part of problem-solving approach.

GOTCHA CARDS--Use of cards left for owners when crime-prone spots are encountered; e.g. "If I was a criminal, I could have entered your house easily..."

GUARDIAN ANGELS--Police auxillaries who patrol, assist, and provide role models for delinquent youth.

HIGH INTENSITY PATROL--An active type of split force policing where some officers disguise themselves as civilians in taverns, for example, and follow or report potential DUI offenders as they leave.

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS--Hiring of college educated personnel in social science specialties or various education incentive pay systems.

HOOD IN THE WOODS--Outward Bound-type program in which inner-city youths spend time out in the woods to learn social and interpersonal skills. (Hartford PD)

HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION TEAMS--Specially trained units of police psychologists to resolve dangerous situations without force; often involved in community relations work.

HUMAN RELATIONS TRAINING PROGRAMS--Forty hours or more of classroom instruction in social science principles and theories of poverty, discrimination, small group dynamics, and individual differences; or alternatively preservice and inservice training in community policing using ethical scenario approach. Sometimes called Diversity or Sensitivity Training.

INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY POLICING--Fully automated process of implementing and evaluating community policing using field laptop computers and a mainframe geotracking program formatted for reporting the most commonly performed community policing activities. Activities are rated in terms of public interest, economic development, and overall effectiveness.

INTERACTIVE PATROL PROJECTS--Combining patrol zones on the basis of good or bad relations with police and conducting surveys or experiments to obtain citizen feedback on perceptions of neighborhood problems; used as citizen input on planning for future patrol tactics.

JUST SAY HI PROGRAMS--Membership cards given to students who wave or yell hi to police officers as they see them; advertised by popular sports figures, comic or coloring books, often referred to as grin and wave squads.

JUST SAY NO PROGRAMS--Use of media role models to get the Partnership for a Drug Free America message out.

LANDLORD-TENANT COMPLAINT PROGRAMS--Specially trained officers or deputies who deal with rights of individuals in landlord-tenant conflicts, consumer-fraud complaints, and other civil situations who explain rights and procedures to disputants, attempt some mediation, advise consultation with attorneys, and move conflict out of the courtroom.

LIVE DISPATCH FEEDS--Radio or Internet simulcasts of police channel so citizens can listen to police operations in real time. Not necessarily CP, but represents an openness to the community and creative use of technology, mainly Internet technology.

LOFT--Learning Opportunities For Teens. Recreational and educational activities designed for after school hours, at night, and on weekends. (Benton Harbor, Mich. PD)

McGRUFF TAKE A BITE OUT OF CRIME CAMPAIGN--Public service announcements aiming to do for crime prevention what Smokey the Bear did for fire prevention.

MANDATORY ENTRY AGE RESTRICTIONS--Restricting entry level candidacy to applicants age 25 or older to screen out those in violence prone years.

MENTORING FOR RETENTION--Providing support to new officers. Usually focused on females and minorities.

MISSING CHILDREN PROGRAMS--Use of milk cartons, flyers, web sites, to display missing children's photos, wanted fugitives, rewards. Already numerous web sites for Missing Persons and Wanted Persons.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT-once a year, citizens leave outside light on in symbolic unison over need for crime prevention. Tends to involve inter-city competitions.

NEIGHBORHOOD ADVISORY COUNCILS--Community leaders invited or elected to explore community needs and meet with assigned police officers to consider specific patrol tactics and manpower scheduling and to voice complaints and commend personnel; council members given compensation, clerical and communication assistance.

NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE TEAMS--Similar to beat commander system but with patrol officers taking greater investigative initiative with goal of increased job motivation and quick response time.

NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE CENTERS--The idea of one-stop shopping for citizens using police substations to serve as alternative to bureaucratic government. (Miami PD)

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH (Example is Sheriff Harry Lee's page, see example #2)--Police instruction of citizens in home-security measures and enlisting their assistance in watching neighbors' homes; sometimes call blockwatch programs if signs put on block.

NON-EMERGENCY NUMBERS (Like 311) - Chicago, Dallas, and Las Vegas, for example, use it with some effectiveness. Read about the evolution of it at this link.

OFFICER FRIENDLY PROGRAMS--Patrolmen with specialized training and skills visit classrooms and other speaking engagements during periods of little activity on shift or during lunch hours, sometimes reinforced by coloring books. (Clearwater, FL PD)

OPEN COMMUNITY MEETINGS--Regularly-scheduled public meetings with prepared agenda and time for general discussion but not a pre-packaged public relations presentation. Often aimed at ethnic communities or neighborhoods. (San Diego PD)

OPEN HOUSE PROGRAMS--Annual invitations to public to tour offices with special demonstrations of equipment, canine corps, or defense tactics designed to show people that they are welcome and can make friendships, often aimed at university students majoring in criminal justice. (Hoffman Estates, IL PD)

OPERATION 25--Saturation patrol which doubles levels at target times, usually around bars when closing, or at any community nuisance.

OPERATION 100--Violence reduction/avoidance training programs aimed at how to avoid shooting, how to round up illegal firearms (Operation Ceasefire), or how to do more hostage negotiating with offenders. Also a term used to describe drug raids.

OPERATION CEASE FIRE--An anti-gang "hot spot" program aimed at eliminating deaths of young people by guns which taps the knowledge of a wide range of stakeholders, including clergy, community leaders, academics, and gang members themselves. 

OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP--Sweeps, raids, jump-out squads aimed at supply reduction in war on drugs targeted to problem streetcorners, often used with Weed & Seed programs.

OPERATION HELP PROGRAMS--Social worker on police call to help with juvenile problems, provide help with remedial work on socioeconomic problems.

OPERATION HOT WHEELS--Use of stickers saying "This vehicle paid for by use of seized drug assets" or "confiscated by narcotics unit". They look good in parades, but some opinion says police driving confiscated vehicles puts the department in a bad light.

OPERATION IDENTIFICATION--Police provision of engraving tools and stickers for citizens to mark valuables for burglary prevention.

OPERATION NIGHT LIGHT--An enhanced supervision program involving police and correctional agencies in joint supervision or joint performance of functions such as neighborhood patrols or information sharing for persons on probation or parole and/or gang problems. Police/probation teams go out after curfew in various parks and street corners to demonstrate that probation and police officers are working together. (Boston PD)

OPERATION NIGHTSIGHT--Use of loaned, donated, or military-obtained nighttime video surveillance equipment to monitor hot spots or street corners; use of citizens by day to record license plates & use cameras, with or without film.

OPERATION PRESSURE POINT--reverse buy-bust stings aimed at demand reduction in war on drugs, develops list of users and snitches. (St. Clair, IL SD)

OPERATION SAFE STREETS--A weed and seed type program in which police use undercover tactics to remove undesirable people, and then move in with community organizing and development tactics.

OPERATION SENIOR SAFE SHOPPING--escort services for senior citizens, also called TRIAD programs for the elderly, which tends to be monopolized by Sheriff's departments.

PACE--Police Assisted Community Enhancement, refers to any sort of graffitti removal program where criminal justice employees and citizens work together.

PALS--Participate and Learn Skills or Police Awareness Learning Safety, a family-based program targeting a housing project, recruiting parental talent, and offering 20 or so after-school programs, such as basic skills, sports, music, dancing, hobbies.

PARENTAL REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAMS--Parents reimburse taxpayers for cost of processing and jailing repeat juvenile offenders. Also called parental accountability or responsibility programs, which sometimes jail the parents, and the movement for this first got started in Silverton, Oregon in early 1995.

PAROLE NOTIFICATION PROGRAMS--Use of door-to-door flyers or a web site database registry to notify community about returning ex-convicts for certain crimes. Also called sex offender notification programs, or Megan's Law, and don't generally apply to offenders released before 1997.

PATROL ACTIVITY CARDS--Rural/small town program in which night shift officers leave business cards in residents' newspaper boxes indicating date and time the area was patrolled and that all was quiet, and often combined with Neighborhood Watch on Patrol (NWOP). (Sagamore Hills, Ohio PD)

PEP--Parent Education Programs. Monthly meetings in which parents and extended family members of at risk youth participate in analysis of household structures, behavioral management strategies, and citizenship responsibilities. (Toledo, OH PD)

PEPKIDS--Parents, Educators, Police, Kids, involves a kind of scared straight program where everyone but the kid know its a mock arrest.

PERSONNEL REASSIGNMENTS--Officers with difficulty controlling their emotions, cannot endure verbal abuse, or who exhibit strong racial or class bias are reassigned to sectors where community relations are good, off the street, or to station house assignment.

POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUES--Volunteer programs in conjunction with boys clubs or other business/fraternal organizations; solicit funds for baseball, football, basketball, track, boxing, and swimming teams. (Minneapolis PD)

POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS INSTITUTES--Week-long meetings with various leaders to discuss in-depth problems; usually held in a university setting as administration of justice or brotherhood week; Public Education activities also called Symposiums.

POLICE CORPS--Federal loan guarantees, modeling after ROTC programs where 4-year college scholarships offered in return for 3-year obligation of police service.

POLICE MINISTATIONS--Establishment of decentralized neighborhood-based precincts in run-down storefronts around the city to guide confused citizens thru bureaucratic maze of municipal government and handle complaints such as uncollected garbage that require attention from other agencies; serve as little city halls; can also be placed in shopping malls. Varieties include the Koban model. 

POLICE-PROBATION-YOUTH DISCUSSION GROUPS--Informal peer group interactions similar to psychodrama where actual cases are discussed to provide knowledge of law and adequate explanations for police actions in specific incidents so that misunderstandings can be clarified before they become compounded.

POLICE TRADING CARDS--Decks of cards with information about individual officers handed out to 12 year olds as collectibles and to open lines of communication with youth. (Escanaba, WI PD)

POLICE WEEK PROGRAMS--Annual media events usually sponsored by Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. and designed to awaken the public to the role played by police in the community; uses tours, talks, and demonstrations; sometimes called "Law Enforcement Day".

PREVENTIVE PATROL--Avoidance of predictability, police told to patrol unsystematically to increase visibility; basis of Kansas City Experiment which showed this didn't work very well.

PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING--use of crime problem analysis, proactive contacts and creative thinking, focuses on community decay and problems that can only be solved using nonarrest options.

PROJECT PATHE--Positive Action Thru Holistic Education, a typical school-based program involving student input, basic skills tutoring, change in disciplinary climate, career and mental health counseling.

PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS--Attempts at generating support for more police, salary increases, or equipment, telling how cooperative citizens can avoid becoming a victim and showing how to work more effectively with police thru dissemination of information to the media via news conferences or media ride-alongs.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS--PIOs are assigned full-time to public relations duties, or in small departments as the juvenile officer; they establish police-media guidelines and funnel op-ed pieces to the media. Most of the issues surrounding media relations relate to access and videotaping at crime scenes.

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMS--Billboards, slogans, bumper stickers, and much more, including programs-of-the-month intended to serve needs of police and information needs of the public. (St. Marys, PA PD)

QUALITY SERVICE AUDITS--Callback programs to users of police services to elicit feedback on citizen satisfaction with services. Often used as part of personnel decisions.

RIDE-ALONG PROGRAMS (Example is Carbondale, see Example #2)--Hostile or critical members of community invited to accompany patrol officers to observe the complexities of police work and evaluate the experience, officers, and the department as a whole; often a standard part of university internship experience.

ROADS (Realistic Options, Alternatives and Decisions) PROGRAM--an educational tour which is intended to allow area youth the opportunity to witness first hand the consequences of criminal activity and the harsh reality of incarceration.

SAFE HOUSE PROGRAM--Houses in high-crime neighborhoods with signs of helping hand in windows where children can duck into in case of trouble or upon seeing suspicious characters.

SECTOR PATROL--Small town program in which city is divided into sectors based on common attributes such as population density, occupant age, housing style, etc., and an officer is assigned to each sector responsible for holding meetings to identify problems.

SELECTIVE RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS--Psychological tests given to police applicants to examine if desirable for police work; includes sentence completion tests, authoritarianism scales, preference schedules, personality inventories to test for emotional or character disorders such as a desire to legitimatize criminal impulses.

SENIOR/CHILD I.D. PROGRAM--gives citizens a permanent record of identifying information to their family members. The ID card provides fingerprints, height, weight, eye color, hair color, distinguishing marks, and other descriptive information. It is recommended that this card be kept with a family’s important documents

SOUND BITE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS--Efforts to come up with snappy, little sayings that get the police message across, like "You Booze, You Lose" or "Click It or Ticket". (Alabama Click It or Ticket)

SPEAKERS BUREAU PROGRAMS--Departmental offers to provide list of different speakers on specialized topics such as narcotics, canine corps, or traffic control for any community group, leaving behind topical pamphlets but avoiding debates.

SPLIT FORCE POLICING--Idea of using one portion of force for responding to calls regularly and another portion assigned to directed patrol.

SPOUSE SUPPORT GROUPS--Group counseling for officers and their spouses that acknowledge marital problems and provide help to avoid divorce.

STOREFRONT OFFICES--Police ministations to reach out and touch the public, often coupled with foot patrol; sometimes used in sting operations where police pose as fence.

STRATEGIC PLANNING--Planning to achieve an organization's potential; is both a document and a process that consolidates mission, defines new roles for everyone, focuses upon changing the organizational culture, and remains flexible.

STREET LIGHTING PROJECTS--Fear of crime reduction strategies involving citizen-officer cooperation on design and placement of street lights.

STRICT GUIDELINES ON USE OF EMERGENCY TECHNIQUES--Supervisors enforce elimination of superfluous police cars at crowd-attracting scenes and the abuse of sirens, flashers, and high-speed driving to attract unnecessary attention.

SWAT--Social Weapons and Tactics. A program designed for multifamily housing areas that educates landlords/managers/rental owners about CPTED principles and strategies so that steps can be taken to remove problem residents before police action is necessary. (Aurora, Colo. PD)

TALKING CORVETTE--Police corvette, with car seized from drug dealer, that is equipped with tape recorder so passerbys can listen to the story about how the car came into police hands. (San Jose PD)

TALKING MOTORCYCLE--Police motorcycles equipped with tape recorder in saddlebags so parked motorcycle can carry on a conversation about cycling safety and the police role to passerbys.

TASK FORCE--Participative, horizontal and vertical planning and team-building process that reduces the traditional distance between ranks, jurisdictions, solicits street-level ideas, reactions, and promotes organizational change and development; also used to describe various committee formations.

TEAM POLICING-- Combining patrol, traffic, investigative operations into teams mixed with generalist and specialists permanently assigned to specific geographic area with total responsibility for crime control, community relations, manpower allocation; wearing of uniforms is often made optional and job titles can be changed to anything the officer wants to be called.

TRAFFIC SAFETY AIDES--Use of trained citizen paraprofessionals in handling of traffic problems, similar to traffic warden programs but no weapons and no responsibility for non-traffic calls; often involves high school students.

TRIAD--A national program bringing law enforcement together with community organizations, businesses, and senior citizens to build partnerships in order to help older adults in two areas: improving quality of life and reducing criminal victimization.

UNIFIED INVESTIGATOR & PATROL OFFICER--Expansion of patrolman's duties by permitting follow-up investigations of crime occurring on beat and discretion regarding when and how detectives will be called.

URBAN COALITION AND JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAMS--Inner-city youth summer initiatives for students under 17 and unemployable who start their own company & function under own management with help of teacher-director.

URBAN PROTEST SQUADS--Team of officers screened for even temperament and awareness of social problems who patrol high-crime projects, orienting investigations to social causes of crime concentrating on keeping teenagers in school and public services such as rat control & preventing exploitation of poor by businesses.

VERTICAL POLICING--Foot patrol in hi-rise buildings, but can refer to bicycle patrol in some cities, usually found where lots of skyscrapers or CBD office buildings. Everyone in the building becomes the eyes and ears of the police department.

VICTIM SUPPORT PROGRAMS (Example #2)--Police-initiated self-help groups, such as "Survivors of Homicide Victims".

VICTIM-WITNESS PROGRAMS--Efforts by police or courts to notify concerned parties about progress and disposition of case; also involves protection, compensation, and referral to other services.

VOLUNTEER POLICE AUXILIARY UNITS--Carefully screened volunteers organized into neighborhood patrol teams to alleviate problems of inadequate manpower; often used at special events such as disasters, riots, or disturbances. (Glendora, CA PD)

VOLUNTEER POLICE ENHANCEMENT UNITS--Volunteers used to enhance shorthanded divisions of the agency, such as school resources, and used to prepare crime info bulletins, document crime trends, process requests for traffic accident reports, provide info on student involvement with crime, analyze false alarms, review 911 calls, monitor noise violations, and assist with data entry and/or centralized records. (Oceanside, CA PD)

WEED AND SEED (Example is Tacoma, see example #2)--Use of operations such as clean sweeps, raids, jump-outs to rid area of drug supply problem, then setting up programs such as ASAP and job fairs to focus on demand problem.

YOUNG ADULT POLICE COMMISSIONERS--Students elected by their respective student bodies serve as police commissioners, are sworn in by the mayor, and meet monthly with city officials. (New Haven, Conn. PD)

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS--Private and public sector initiatives involving cooperation between probation & schools to provide work-study opportunities usually during summer with guidance counseling, instructor reachout, guaranteed employability; sometimes called neighborhood youth corps, job corps, or VISTA.

YOUTH SERVICE BUREAUS--Diversion programs for youth in trouble who need social services, employment, training, education, housing medical care, family counseling, psychiatric care, or welfare; should be voluntary participation and not coercive mandate or part of probation surveillance.

Last updated: July 12, 2006
Not an official webpage of APSU, copyright restrictions apply, see Megalinks in Criminal Justice
O'Connor, T.  (Date of Last Update at bottom of page). In Part of web cited (Windows name for file at top of browser), MegaLinks in Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/rest of URL accessed on today's date.