Innovative Policing in Houston

Abstract

To address crime, we must solve the social and economic problems facing the poor and minorities in our cities. Until the nation accepts this proposition, we can still work toward becoming more responsive, by refining the presently reactive role of police, among other initiatives. In Houston, police beats have been redesigned to reflect natural boundaries and officers have been assigned to specific neighborhoods on a permanent basis. Through the Directed Area Responsibility Team program, officers learn as much as they can about their neighborhoods and meet with community leaders. A complementary innovation, Project Oasis, assumes that, in a bad neighborhood, residents are good people who must take responsibility for local improvement, building on supportive services from government. In these and other new strategies in Houston, the use of community resources is the umbrella under which all policing activities are conducted.