The Seattle City Council invites you to a discussion of the science of policing with a special focus on the concentration of crime in “hot spots” and the innovative approaches police and others can take to reduce it. Research shows that over a 14-year period fully 50% of reported crime in Seattle was committed on just 4.5% of our street segments or blocks. What do these facts mean for policing? What is the role of the community to reduce crime? What prevention strategies are most effective? How can city governments and community partners collaborate to make neighborhoods safer by reducing crime? (Get the specific details after the jump . . .)
Monday, May 2
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. City Council Chambers, City Hall
10:30 to 11:30 Public Forum, Bertha Knight Landis Room, City Hall
These sessions will provide us with vital information about how we can apply the power of science to urban policing and be more just and effective by focusing on where crime occurs more than on individual offenders and by integrating and better coordinating a range of public and community resources that responds to the places where crime occurs. The research also suggests that police resources can and should be applied more judiciously and that police-community relations can be strengthened by partnering police with a host of public agencies and community organizations in the effort.
David Weisburd is the winner of the 2010 Stockholm Prize in Criminology for a series of experiments showing that intensified police patrol at high crime "hot spots" does not merely push crime around. The findings from this research suggest that crime prevention efforts which target micro-places where much urban crime occurs will reduce crime, and not just displace it.
Cynthia Lum researches primarily in the area of policing. A former patrol officer and detective with the Baltimore City Police Department, she has worked to develop tools for police practitioners to better institutionalize and utilize research of "what works" in policing into their strategic and tactical portfolio. For her work on the influence of race, ethnicity and immigration on police decision making, she was awarded the National Institute of Justice W.E.B. DuBois Fellowship in 2007.
Charlotte Gill’s current research studies have focused on the intersection of law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, such as probation and experiments in restorative justice. Dr. Gill has served for four years as the managing editor of the Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Group, an international network that prepares and disseminates high-quality systematic reviews of crime prevention programs and justice issues.
For more information on this topic, please see these materials:
“Police Science: Toward a New Paradigm,” by Weisburd and Neyroud: http://1.usa.gov/hkLwoh
“The Importance of Place in Policing,” by Weisburd, Telep and Braga: http://bit.ly/hLoSGq
Geography and Public Safety Bulletin, March 2011: http://bit.ly/fvQ8hC
“Addressing Crime and Disorder in Seattle’s ‘Hot Spots’: What Works?” Seattle City Auditor Report: http://1.usa.gov/gjoFWu
“Controlling Drug and Disorder Problems: Oakland’s Beat Health Program,” by Mazerolle and Roehl: http://1.usa.gov/eZgqQ2
Weisburd, Lum and Gill are coming to Seattle for a series of visits with policymakers, law enforcement officials and community stakeholders. Bringing these researchers to Seattle is part of a continuing effort by the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee to stimulate discussion about emerging trends in public policy related to crime and policing. Previous guests include Professor Mark Kleiman from UCLA, the author of When Brute Force Fails, and David Kennedy from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, author of Deterrence and Crime Prevention.
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