Police say crime ‘hot spots’ shift resources
By Kevin Johnson
USA Today
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Police departments across the United States say they have been forced to abandon community-oriented policing to control flare-ups in crime.
The popular community policing strategy, which increases the law enforcement presence across all neighborhoods, was widely credited with contributing to a decade-long decline in violent crime. But police officials say that officer shortages and sudden crime surges have forced agencies to resort to triage responses in crime “hot spots.” In September, the FBI reported that violent crime was up slightly in 2006 for the second straight year.
“The resources that were used to create vibrant communities have totally evaporated,” says Arturo Venegas, public safety director in Camden, N.J. “It’s easier to get money to build up the infrastructure of Baghdad than it is to get help for Camden, N.J.”
Budget problems and rising crime in some neighborhoods forced the Camden Police Department to close four neighborhood precincts that had allowed officers to respond more quickly to incidents across the city.
In Cleveland, Lt. Thomas Stacho says his department has not recovered from the 2004 layoffs of 250 officers. The cuts forced the closure of 21 neighborhood operations aimed at improving relations between police and residents.
Pittsburgh Deputy Chief Paul Donaldson says local businesses and residents are urging the department to restore 86 officers removed from neighborhood duties three years ago, when the city was paralyzed by an unprecedented budget crisis and threatened by increasing crime.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., author of a new crime bill to restart a federal hiring program that provided money for 100,000 additional officers in the 1990s, says he is worried that departments are drifting away from a concept that helped drive crime to historic lows.
“I see community policing going away,” says Biden, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a presidential contender. “Some departments are turning back on that concept because (cities) are ... requiring them to do more with less.”
Others don’t believe departments are being forced to abandon community policing. “Hogwash,” says David Muhlhausen, a crime analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation. Muhlhausen, a critic of community policing, says police chiefs are trying to “shake down” the government for more money.
Pittsburgh’s Donaldson, however, says the long-term effect of a sustained, increased police presence in communities is critical to reducing crime. He says his department became fairly adept at shifting officers to crime hot spots. That strategy, though, has met with mixed results: Homicides dropped 8% in 2006 but jumped 18% this year.
In Dallas, police plan to return to community policing. Police Chief David Kunkle says the department drove down violent crime by targeting hot spots. The city’s 187 killings last year was the lowest number since the late 1960s.
Kunkle believes a broader deployment of his 3,200 officers would bring long-term benefits. As a result, the city will hire 200 officers in each of the next four years. “We really have to be in all of our neighborhoods,” he says.
Copyright 2007 USA Today