Difference between revisions 121842216 and 121842218 on dewiki

{{Infobox Police Department
| name            = Boston Police Department
| logo            = [[Image:Boston Police patch.jpg|250px]]
| motto           = 
| established     = 1631—1635
| jurisdiction    = Municipal
| sworn           = 2,015
| non-sworn       = 808
(contracted; show full)

== Community Policing ==
In the 1990s the Police Department resurrected an old idea, the Walk & Talk strategy. Police Officers assigned to patrol cars are required to walk a particular area for up to 45 minutes or longer per their tour of duty. The establishment of other initiatives like "Same Cop Same Neighborhood" and "Safe Street Beat Teams" have contributed widely to the continued suc
cess of community policing. These types of direct patrol are used even more widely today under the leadership of Police Commissioner Davis. Under his command Police Officers that are even assigned normally to administrative duties or Patrol Supervisors are encouraged to perform a foot patrol. This type of patrol assignment is referred to as a Code 19.

With the renewed emphasis on placing the Police Officer back in the community through the use of foot patrols and other community related police initiatives the city of Boston saw a drastic decline in part one crimes and other crimes. The community policing philosophy that the Boston Police so well integrated into its daily operation is now used across the city and the nation.

Sections of Boston,such as [[Allston]] had an established walking and bicycle patrol in the late 90's and continued this type of patrol indefinitely. It was eventually expanded to all three patrol shifts. Other areas of Allston and Boston also received similar patrols with the establishment of the newer initiatives such as Beat Teams. Each part of the city assigned one or more Police Officers to these areas as dedicated foot or bicycle patrol officers.On Harvard Avenue the department's effort to keep the same Police Officer in the same neighborhood paid off tremenduously. One aspect of Community Policing program is for the Police Officers on patrol to come up with new and effective ways to resolve concerns or problems in their area. By keeping the same Police Officer in the same neighborhood the department allowed creative problem solving methods to be utilized by motivated Police Officers.

In Allston, Police Officer Relerford developed the Person of Concern List or "[[POC List]]". A list was developed of only those indiviuals that impacted the Police Officers area of patrol in a negative way. Their impact had to be frequent and correspond to the hours or shift the Police Officer patrolled primarily. The list was then prioritized by the type of crime and how frequent the Police Officer either received complainants or interacted with the POC List memeber through patrol. For example:  If a Police Officer routinely walked through a particular intersection during patrol and the same person is standing there each day, several hours a day outside a liqouor store without just cause there could be a problem. This observation, coupled with reports of alleged drug dealing and conversations with other Police Officers about this indiviual would make this person a viable target for the POC List. Once an individual(s)are identified and listed then the Police Officer would focus his attention toward the top 5-10 POC List members. Everything possible must be learned about these individuals, including criminal habits, schedules, family, friends and their association w(contracted; show full)
 
As a result of this effective manner of patrol public drinking, loitering and homelessness is no longer an acceptable social behavior at those specific locations of concern. Graf
fitti still remains a problem. The end result are fewer 9-1-1 calls, fewer Citizen Conversation Complaints(CCC) and once acceptable social behaviors that occurred at the busy intersetion of Harvard Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue are no longer tolerated by the community. Still other problems may arise and new faces will always appear. It was only with the motivation, skills and experience of police supervisors that their subbordinates can institute effective ways to engage problems in their area of patrol.

== Demographics ==
*Male: 87%
*Female: 13%
*White: 68%
*African-American/Black: 24%
*Hispanic: 6%
*Asian: 2%<ref>[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/lemas00.pdf Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers]</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts]]

==References==
*[[Francis Russell]]. [http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1744 ''A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike''] (Boston: Beacon Press, 1975).
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/police/default.asp Boston Police Department official web site]
*[http://www.bpdnews.com Boston Police Department blog, BPDNews.com]
*[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/13/police_union_to_fight_merger/ Boston Globe Article on the Merger]

[[Category:Government of Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Municipal police departments of the United States]]

[[es:Departamento de Policia de Boston]]