Research Partner for Seattle COMPASS Initiative

Project summary for 2000-IJ-CX-0016 Northwest Crime and Social Research,Inc.will serve as the research partner to the first pilot site for the Community,Mapping,Planning,and Analysis for Safety Strategies (C)MPASS) initiative.COMPASS will employ data-driven tools and an action-based research model to further Seattle's problem-oriented approach to community government.COMPASS emphasizes routine collaboration with City,County, and community agencies to identify,understand,resolve, and monitor high-priority public safety problems. Key components of COMPASS will include: (1)collaborative policy groups spanning a broad array of governmental agencies and community interest; (2) partnerships with community-based organizations to identify problems and develop collaborative,community-driven responses to neighborhood public safety issues; (3) a comprehensive data center that will house social indicators and other public safety data; (4) strategic analysis of data spatially and temporally ,through the use of a user-friendly information system; and (5) a research partner. The role of the research will be to: 1) participate in and evaluate the process of COMPASS team and stakeholder group formation,dynamics, and action; 2) provide exoertise and assist in the creation of the data warehouse adequate for analysis and evaluation; 3) use the warehouse,together with the COMPASS team,to identify location,types, and contextx of public safety problemsp; 4) assist the COMPASS team in the search for interventions that will reduce the occurence of selected public safety problems; 4) assist the COMPASS team in the search for interventions that will reduce the occurence of selected public safety problems;and, 5) evaluate the effect of these interventions using an action research model.