How Does CAPS Work?
Chicago is divided into 25 police districts and further divided into 281 police beats. Beats are small geographic areas to which police officers are assigned. Rather than changing beat officers daily, with CAPS the same officers are assigned to a beat for at least a year.
This is to encourage partnerships and problem solving at the beat level. However, not all officers are beat officers, and some police units still use forms of the traditional method for emergency and rapid response.
Each month, community beat meetings are held in all 279 beats. This allows individual residents to sit down with their beat officers and other police personnel to discuss neighborhood problems and hopefully develop strategies to address them.
Beyond the community, CAPS relies on city agencies and services to prevent crime. The City of Chicago has set up cooperative efforts with the Mayor’s Liquor License Commission, the Department of Streets and Sanitation, the Department of Buildings and other agencies to ensure the police have support from the city to tackle smaller problems like abandoned buildings and graffiti before they lead to more serious crimes.
In 1993, the CAPS Implementation Office was created. This office is staffed by civilian community outreach workers who organize court advocacy programs and coordinate city services in support of CAPS related programs.
Read more about this topic: Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy
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