Columbia's Comprehensive Communities Program: A Case Study

• NCJ Number: 204625
• Author(s): George L. Kelling
• Date Published: January 2004
• Length: 48 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1998-IJ-CX-0053
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This paper presents an overview and description, based on site visits of a U.S. Department of Justice funded crime prevention program in Columbia, SC, the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP).

Abstract

In 1995, Columbia, SC implemented the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) and was one of 16 sites invited by and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to combat crime. Columbia’s CCP proposal was to build administrative mechanisms and community infrastructure which facilitates community policing. Columbia’s CCP maintained several goals: reorganizing police operational systems, conducting job task analysis and revising job descriptions, performance evaluations, and promotional policies, and automating central records and operations. Programmatic goals included: continued partnerships, creating shared responsibility with police and youth through prevention programs, and continuance of Police Homeowners Loan Program. The lead operative agency in CCP is the Columbia Police Department, and at the heart of the program are three “community mobilizers.” These are police officers who operate out of community-based offices and link police, other city government agencies, social service agencies, and citizen volunteers with citizens who are experiencing serious neighborhood problems. Additional elements in the program entail community policing, the drug court, the community mobilization, and alternatives to incarceration. This paper, supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, is a case study of Columbia’s CCP program and written as a result of site visits made to various CCP programs and interviews with CCP participants between January 1996 and March 1997. Data are incorporated from BOTEC’s CCP Coalition Survey and Community Policing Survey and information contained in several documents. Appendix A-B