Andrew L. Giacomazzi

Fear of crime in a nonurban setting

The present research develops a perspective that focuses on perceptions of crime and disorder in a rapidly growing nonurban setting. Model hypotheses are: (1) perceptions of drug and gang problems are associated with a wide variety of police order and crime problems; (2) increases in problem perceptions are associated with fears of victimization; (3) fears of victimization are associated with declines in social and recreational activity frequency; (4) perceptions of a high degree of social infrastructure will mitigate the effects of victimization fears on recreational activity frequency. Findings supported Hypotheses 1 and 3, but were mixed for Hypotheses 2 and 4. Model weaknesses suggested the inapplicability of a broken windows/disorder perspective in this research setting.

Research Note: Cops, Kids, and Community Policing—An Assessment of a Community Policing Demonstration Project

This article presents evaluation findings from a community policing demonstration project undertaken during the summer months of 1992 in Spokane, Washington. Police officers assigned to the project were involved with youths in brief, nonthreatening weekly interactions, which they expected might improve the image of the police, promote law-abiding behavior, and instill in the youths a conventional work ethic. Data from three sources (observations, focus group interviews, and survey research) indicate positive program outcomes for participating youths, their parents, and the officers involved with the project.

Community Policing and Family Violence Against Women: Lessons Learned from a Multiagency Collaborative

Although traditional attitudes and policies toward family violence are now changing to reflect its magnitude and severity in the United States, multiagency collaborative partnerships have emerged in an effort to develop a system that promotes the safety and welfare of victims of family violence and to prevent further abuse. This study analyzes the process of a multiagency collaborative involving a large, municipal police department and other service providers as an attempt to find meaningful solutions to family violence against women in a southwestern metropolitan area. The results suggest that even in an era of multiagency collaboration, one cannot presume that personnel of relatively autonomous organizations have the organizational capacity and/or the willingness among personnel to truly collaborate. Formidable barriers toward effective collaboration abound and result in a less effective process of negotiation rather than collaboration.

Community-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention: An Evaluation of the Neutral Zone

This article presents an assessment of the Neutral Zone, a community-based gang prevention and intervention program developed in Mountlake Terrace and now operating in several other Washington communities. The Neutral Zone offers youths at risk of joining a gang or already gang-affiliated an attractive and safe alternative for productively spending their time. An evaluation suggests that this late evening program provides viable recreational and social service activities to some 190 youths each Friday and Saturday night. Data from direct observation, focus group interviews with participants and program staff, and official crime statistics indicate that the Neutral Zone is an effective alternative to traditional law enforcement approaches which typically rely on police crackdowns and curfews to regulate gang activity.

Areal policing and public perceptions in a non‐urban setting: one size fits one

Purpose – A neighborhood‐based notion of the distribution of policing services is a hallmark of community policing philosophy. The purpose of this research is to focus on two policy issues: are there significant differences in important policing issues among the different communities, and what factors within the Sheriffs control might account for these differences?Design/methodology/approach – In 2002, the Ada County Sheriffs Office (ACSO), servicing the area around Boise, Idaho, carried out a survey of citizens stratified across four areas: two contract communities, one non‐contract community, and the unincorporated remainder of the county.Findings – The survey found significant variation in perceptions of crime and disorder, in perceptions of safety, in social cohesion, and in attitudes toward deputies and to the sheriffs office. Findings suggested the importance of local policy through the tailoring of services to local needs. However, some community factors appeared to provide limits on the extent t...

The effectiveness of external assessments in facilitating organizational change in law enforcement

Police departments across the USA have been challenged in their efforts toward broad implementation of community policing. This paper examines the level of change at five law enforcement agencies in the western USA. The changes at these agencies were precipitated by an independent, external, on‐site assessment of each department conducted by the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), one of 28 regional community policing institutes funded by the US Department of Justices COPS Office. The nature of the on‐site assessment is discussed, along with reasons as to why the process tends to promote rather significant organizational changes in some law enforcement agencies, but only cursory changes in others.

Reducing Disorder, Fear, and Crime in Public Housing: A Case Study of Place Specific Crime Prevention

Despite the proliferation of programs developed to address crime at a neighborhood level, our knowledge base on the effectiveness of these efforts remains quite limited. This is particularly true of crime prevention efforts in and around public housing facilities. The present study is intended to shed light on the nature and effectiveness of a crime prevention effort centered in a public housing facility in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood in Spokane, Washington. Unlike most prior research on crime in public housing that has focused on large facilities, the present study focused on a small facility where the crime problems were centered on the streets surrounding the facility as opposed to crime within the facility itself. The findings suggest that collaborative efforts at reducing fear, crime, and disorder in and around public housing facilities hold promise for improving the quality of life for residents living in smaller public housing sites. These findings are particularly relevant when considering that most public housing facilities are relatively small and in light of the move away from the construction of large, high-rise, public housing facilities for the nations poor.

Juvenile Waiver, Boot Camp, and Recidivism in a Northwestern State

The waiver of juveniles to adult criminal court, an increasing phenomenon in recent years, transfers young offenders out of the juvenile system and into the adult criminal justice system, where the range of sanctions is presumably greater. Boot camps, one such sanction, are an intermediate response that are typically designed for youthful, first-time offenders, making waived youth likely candidates for placement there. The authors examine the effectiveness of a boot camp program in terms of recidivism for juveniles waived to criminal court in a northwestern state. They compare juveniles in the boot camp program to juveniles waived to criminal court and sentenced to probation using a 2-year follow-up period.

A Sheriffs Office as a Learning Organization

The purpose of this article is to describe a strategic methodology, which is developed from learning organization theory and used to assess a Western Sheriff ’s Office. The authors use learning organization theory to augment four programmatic innovations carried out by the Ada County Sheriff ’s Office in Idaho. The learning model is mixed method: Quantitatively, it makes use of a stratified citizen survey and a deputy survey. Qualitatively, citizen and sheriff ’s deputy focus groups provide meaning from the point of view of environmental actors. The primary products of this method are presented here as narratives that present a comprehensive perspective on the way in which environmental actors viewed programs carried out by the Sheriff ’s Office.

Drug Court Program Monitoring Lessons Learned About Program Implementation and Research Methodology

Drug courts were established in the United States as part of an effort to deal with the problems of drug-related criminal offending and the resulting overloading of the courts. Drug courts are purported to offer considerable hope for positive change in offenders, largely because of the balance between intensive supervision and rehabilitative services offered through such programs. This article reviews the implementation of one such drug court in a southern state, discusses noted implementation benchmarks for effective programs from the drug court literature, and examines the findings and lessons learned about program implementation and research methodology from a process evaluation that used multiple methods to assess program implementation.