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Fort Worth's Comprehensive Communities Program: A Case Study

NCJ Number
178563
Author(s)
Wesley G. Skogan; Dennis P. Rosenbaum
Date Published
1998
Length
60 pages
Annotation
The Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) in Fort Worth, Texas, sought to expand the city's community policing and community mobilization plans into three new police districts, and the case study of Fort Worth's CCP approach is based on site visits to various CCP projects and interviews with CCP participants during 1996.
Abstract
Over the past decade, the Fort Worth Police Department has been recognized as a leader in community policing and community mobilization by decentralizing its organization and introducing new police roles consistent with community policing principles, creating new partnerships with citizens that include opportunities for input and service, and coordinating and funding preventive social services for at- risk youth and known offenders. CCP funding has facilitated the implementation and expansion of these plans. Fort Worth's CCP initiative includes several key features: decentralized neighborhood policing districts; a special neighborhood police officer in every beat whose time is dedicated to addressing root causes of neighborhood problems and working with community residents; opportunities for citizen participation in anti-crime surveillance through a citizens patrol program; opportunities for citizen participation in neighborhood problem-solving through community advisory committees; and unique social service programs that can serve as models for other cities. Preventive services target youth involved in gangs, young offenders facing adjudication, drug offenders, and spouse batterers, with the common goal of reducing their chances of reoffending. The case study includes information on new developments and issues in CCP, synergistic effects of CCP, and CCP sustainment. Appendixes contain supplemental