Criminology Against Crime: Criminologists and Crime Control for the Indianapolis Police Department

• NCJ Number: 172253
• Author(s): A Weiss; E F McGarrell
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 43 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-IJ-CX-0077
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report describes the collaboration among the City of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Police Department (IPD), the Hudson Institute, and Indiana University for the purpose of enhancing the crime-control capabilities of the IPD.

Abstract

There were two major components of the collaboration. First, members of the research team provided statistical and other analytical support to the IPD as well as the Department of Public Safety, an agency responsible for the overall management of the city's police and fire departments. The second component was the Indianapolis Management Accountability Program (IMAP), an effort to replicate the New York Police Department's COMPSTAT program of weekly crime-control strategy sessions. The principal partners in the collaboration were the IPD and the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based policy research organization. Under contract with the Department of Public Safety, Hudson provided staff for analytical support to IPD. As a result of the relationships developed through IMAP and the commitment to problem-solving and evaluation, IPD has worked with the researchers to develop studies of a number of crime-control strategies. These include an NIJ-funded evaluation of directed patrol, an assessment of a anti-gang initiative, and studies of a police-probation home detention program. These efforts indicate that through the IMAP project, NIJ has increased the capacity for research and evaluation in Indianapolis. The most telling evidence of the success of IMAP is its continuation and enhancement under a new police administration.