Patrol Area 14 PDF Download

This text describes the criteria used to evaluate a neighborhood foot patrol program and discusses the results of that evaluation. Three methods of data gathering and evaluation were used: (1) several hundred interviews were conducted with community residents, block club leaders, business people, clergy, foot patrol officers, and others; (2) members of the research team talked with community residents and police officers informally; and (3) the daily, weekly, and monthly reports of the foot patrol officers were sampled to determine how they had used their time. Results reveal that in the year before the inception of the Foot Patrol Program, there were 4,085 crimes reported in the 14 experimental areas. In 1981, the year of the final evaluation, there were only 3,730 crimes reported in these areas. Further, almost 70 percent of the citizens interviewed during the final year of the study felt safer because of the Foot Patrol Program. Of the 280 residents interviewed during the third year, 42 percent said they knew exactly what the duties of the foot patrol officers were; additionally, more than 64 percent said they were satisfied with the program, and more than 61 percent said that protection for women, children, and the aged had been increased. Finally, more than 90 percent of the 280 residents interviewed were aware of the Foot Patrol Program; most agreed that foot patrol officers were more effective than motorized officers.