Executive abstract & highlights
A Preliminary Report to the Spokane Police Department: An Assessment of Implementation and Program Satisfaction for a Human Resource Officer Demonstration Project
To date there is little existing evidence concerning the successful implementation of community oriented policing. While many scholars, police executives, and politicians say that they endorse the concept of community-oriented policing, few are able to define what it is or how it might be applied, or provide any data relevant for discerning whether or not it works. This report, although preliminary in nature, seeks to provide timely information concerning the implementation of a recent community oriented policing demonstration project in two economically disadvantaged sectors of Spokane, Washington.
Data gathered during the first eight months of 1992 using three separate forms of data collection suggest that Spokane's Human Resource Officer Demonstration Project sponsored by the Spokane Police Department is responsive to the needs expressed by local leaders from West Central and East Central Spokane. Opinions of middle school administrators and local community center directors just prior to the beginning of the project indicated high initial expectations for what the Human Resource Officers (H.R.O.s) might accomplish; data collected eight months later suggest that these groups continue to be supportive of and enthusiastic about H.R.O. efforts in their communities.
Respondents representing both West Central and East Central Spokane favored developing better lines of communication between the Spokane P.D. and local residents, promoting the image of law enforcement in their respective neighborhoods, and encouraging cooperation among residents to solve crime-related problems in their areas. Furthermore, both sets of respondents agreed that solving old crimes in their neighborhood, and maintaining a strong law enforcement presence in the community generally was less important as a H.R.O. priority than efforts spent to improve communication and cooperation. Similarly, survey results from a second questionnaire administered to the same school officials nearly eight months later re-affirms that local leaders believe in the appropriateness of a general philosophy of community-oriented policing and regard on-going H.R.O. efforts as highly beneficial.
Data collected from direct observations of the H.R.O.s on the job suggests that demands placed upon their time are considerable. Both officers often work extra-long days and often without break to fulfill their perceived commitments as the primary agent of community-oriented policing responsible for a sizable neighborhood population (approximately 10,500 people).
A variety of people from the community, as well as Spokane P.D. representatives seek input and/or action from the H.R.O.s on a continual and daily basis. Time is split between visiting families of troubled youth, instructing classes about the risks associated with gangs, drugs, and alcohol, attending meetings where either crime or crime-related problems are a specific focus or where the officer is a featured speaker at a civic function, patrolling for abandoned cars and other eyesores that might be corrected, serving as a back-up for other patrol officers, looking for crime suspects, and interacting with local residents one-on-one.
Observations of the H.R.O.s working in the schools suggest considerable support for the officers among teachers, counselors, and students alike. Teachers view the H.R.O.s as educational resources who can be used to promote refusal skills relating to the temptations of gangs, drugs, and alcohol. Counselors also view the H.R.O.s as welcome influences in dealing with the parents of at-risk youth. Their presence seems to increase the awareness of parents as to the seriousness of a student's problem as well as to prevent home visits from becoming argumentative and counter-productive. Students see the H.R.O.s as approachable about problems they are having and also seem quite willing to share information with the H.R.O.s about criminal activity in their communities.
Information recorded by the H.R.O.s using newly designed contact sheets suggests that the overwhelming majority of contacts with the H.R.O.s were favorably received by the public. While the location of the H.R.O. assignment varied geographically (according to either West Central or East Central Spokane) and by primary assignment within a sector (according to either a middle school in the case of West Central Spokane or a community center in the case of East Central Spokane), data from the contact sheets indicated that the H.R.O.s perceived citizens to be either "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their interaction with the H.R.O. in 85 percent of the recorded cases.
These data also suggest that satisfaction was highest when the citizen personally sought the services of the community police officer, and lowest when the person was contacted by the officer at the request of someone else, or as part of an officer-initiated inquiry. Furthermore, citizens were recorded as being most satisfied when the H.R.O. indicated that he would solve their problem directly, and less often satisfied when he indicated that he would keep an eye on the situation.
In sum, we note that all indications from these preliminary data suggest that H.R.O.s are in high demand in the communities that they serve. In particular we find that: (1) both previous expectations of what they might accomplish prior to the program's start and expectations for the future remain high, (2) the officers appear deeply committed to what they are doing, and (3) levels of public satisfaction with H.R.O. efforts according to officer perceptions, key informants, and direct observation indicate that program implementation has been successful.
What remains for future research is to document the lasting effects of community-oriented policing demonstration projects like this one in terms of citizen satisfaction, fear reduction, and an actual reduction in crime. In the interim, we conclude that interventions like this one can be implemented successfully as a response to critical needs in a community when implementation consists of the application of dedicated and talented personnel who are given the flexibility to identify and solve problems within a given geographical boundary.
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Executive highlights
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Data from key informants, direct observation, and citizen contacts indicate considerable implementation success and a favorable public response to the H.R.O.s in both West Central and East Central Spokane.
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Key informants representing West Central and East Central Spokane enthusiastically endorsed the Spokane Police Department's H.R.O. Demonstration Project prior to its inception, and some eight months later, view it as a necessary and highly beneficial program.
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Key informants view the mission of H.R.O.s to promote communication, cooperation, and engage in community-wide problem solving as a much more important emphasis than maintaining a traditional law enforcement image.
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Teachers view the H.R.O.s as educational resources who can be used to promote refusal skills relevant to gang involvement, illegal drug use, and alcohol abuse.
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School counselors view the H.R.O.s as a welcome influence in dealing with parents of at-risk youth: an H.R.O. presence seems to increase the awareness of parents as to the seriousness of a student's problem as well as to prevent from home visits from becoming argumentative and counter-productive.
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Students (especially those with A.W.A.R.E. or D.A.R.E. exposure) see the H.R.O.s as approachable and seem quite willing to share information with the H.R.O.s about criminal activity in the community.
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Direct observations of the H.R.O.s on the job indicates that the H.R.O. assignment is acutely demanding in both time and intensity--both officers often work extra-long days, and often without break, performing a wide-range of educational, counseling, and public support activities.
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Citizen satisfaction from contacts with a H.R.O. (as perceived by the officers themselves) was generally high (in nearly 85 percent of the cases the H.R.O.s recorded that the citizen was either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied).
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Satisfaction with the H.R.O.s was highest when citizens personally sought the services of the community police officer and lowest when citizens were contacted by the officer at the request of others, or as part of officer-initiated inquiry.
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Citizens were most satisfied when the H.R.O. agreed to solve their problem directly and least satisfied when the H.R.O. indicated that he would monitor the situation.
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Michael Erp
Executive Director
E-mail: erpmj@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.358.7951
Rachel Young
Administrative Assistant
E-mail: reyoung@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.358.7950
