Community Oriented Policing Strategy (COPS)
Although the CPD is often credited for advancing community policing through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy, or (CAPS) program, it was the Chicago Housing Authority Police Department who pioneered the advance of these techniques in the City of Chicago through their Community Oriented Policing Strategy, or (COPS) program, in public housing years before it was implemented by Chicago Police Superintendent Matt L. Rodriguez. The COPS Team was created as a special unit to establish a rapport with the residents of public housing that the regularly assigned mobile and foot patrols units that answered calls for service could not.
Because of the design of the buildings, clusters of row houses, three story dwellings, or varying high-rise structures, CHAPD’s COPS team members were encouraged to engage this densely populated community on a daily basis. It was the mandate of the COPS Team to instill a constant sense of security in the residents that would not end when patrol units left the area.
The COPS Team was involved in sporting programs and after school events with local youth and worked to build relationships unrelated to arrest and detainment. Bicycles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) were also utilized to place officers in close contact. The presence and accessibility of the COPS Team allowed discourse between the community leaders, the Local Advisory Council (LAC), and better initiatives to deter crimes.
The COPS Team regularly attended the CPD Beat Community Meetings to allow community members to become familiar and more comfortable with the officers in an attempt to make the police more approachable when they need to ask for help.
Read more about this topic: Chicago Housing Authority Police Department
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