“Bürgernähe Bringt Erfolg,” Der Überblick, January 1998, 28-30.
Chicago’s community policing program features a number of crime prevention elements, one
of the most important of which is “problem solving.” Problem solving policing rejects the
traditional police practice of treating each emergency telephone call as an isolated event that is
best resolved by driving quickly to the scene of the crime and arresting someone. Instead,
using police databases and discussion with community residents, Chicago police attempt to
focus their efforts on specific problems and places where they may actually make a permanent
change. A “problem” is defined as a group of related incidents that concerns a significant
portion of those who live or work in a particular neighborhood. The links between incidents can
arise from common victims, offenders or methods of operation, but most are defined by their
concentration in specific locations. Problems are also persistent: they are unlikely to disappear
without an intervention of some magnitude, because they typically have already survived routine
police attempts to resolve them. Because problems are persistent, the repeated incidents
probably share causes, so dealing with these underlying conditions may prevent future
problems. It is also important that problems potentially can be solved using the resources that
police and the community can bring to bear on them; not everything is in their power. Finally,
problems need not be serious criminal matters. While dealing with crime remains at the heart
of the police mission, it was envisioned from the beginning that the responsibilities of the
Chicago police would expand to cover a much broader range of community concerns. These
included minor social disorders, municipal service problems, and a broad range of
enforcement matters that were handled by civil courts and administrative hearings. Problems
may not be legal offenses at all; they can (and do) range from noise to the dilapidated condition
of many of the city’s older buildings in poor neighborhoods. Chicago’s model for problem
solving involves a significant expansion of the police mandate.
Chicago’s community policing program features a number of crime prevention elements, one
of the most important of which is “problem solving.” Problem solving policing rejects the
traditional police practice of treating each emergency telephone call as an isolated event that is
best resolved by driving quickly to the scene of the crime and arresting someone. Instead,
using police databases and discussion with community residents, Chicago police attempt to
focus their efforts on specific problems and places where they may actually make a permanent
change. A “problem” is defined as a group of related incidents that concerns a significant
portion of those who live or work in a particular neighborhood. The links between incidents can
arise from common victims, offenders or methods of operation, but most are defined by their
concentration in specific locations. Problems are also persistent: they are unlikely to disappear
without an intervention of some magnitude, because they typically have already survived routine
police attempts to resolve them. Because problems are persistent, the repeated incidents
probably share causes, so dealing with these underlying conditions may prevent future
problems. It is also important that problems potentially can be solved using the resources that
police and the community can bring to bear on them; not everything is in their power. Finally,
problems need not be serious criminal matters. While dealing with crime remains at the heart
of the police mission, it was envisioned from the beginning that the responsibilities of the
Chicago police would expand to cover a much broader range of community concerns. These
included minor social disorders, municipal service problems, and a broad range of
enforcement matters that were handled by civil courts and administrative hearings. Problems
may not be legal offenses at all; they can (and do) range from noise to the dilapidated condition
of many of the city’s older buildings in poor neighborhoods. Chicago’s model for problem
solving involves a significant expansion of the police mandate.
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