Building a Safer Rogers Park Together

Safety is something every neighbor in Rogers Park deserves — walking down the street, sending our kids to school, and living without fear.

I’ve heard the concerns — from parents worried about their children, seniors feeling unsafe in their own homes, and business owners hoping for a secure environment to thrive.

For years, I’ve worked alongside community groups, local police, and residents to find real solutions — neighborhood watches, youth programs, and improved communication.

Some have asked if I’m thinking about running for Alderman. I am considering it, because I believe leadership means taking on tough issues like public safety head-on, with honesty and accountability.

If I run, I want to build stronger partnerships between residents and law enforcement, invest in prevention programs, and make sure every voice is heard.

Together, we can make Rogers Park not only vibrant but safe for everyone.

— Bill Morton

Neighborhood Safety is Non-Negotiable

Safety is the foundation of a thriving community. Yet, too many in Rogers Park feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods. We need more resources, better policing, and community programs that protect all residents.

I’m committed to pushing for real solutions that keep our streets safe for families, seniors, and kids.

—
Bill Morton
Rogers Park Resident & Advocate

Community policing

Community policing

Community policing or neighbourhood policing is a policing strategy and philosophy based on the notion that community interaction and support can help control crime, with community members helping to identify suspects, and bring problems to the attention of police.[1]

With community policing, the police and police department are involved as members of the community. Cities and counties that subscribe to this philosophy tend to do much more community work than traditional police departments. This often includes having more police officers who "walk the beat" as opposed to driving around in police cars. The basic idea is to create bonds of trust and reliance between police and the public.

This approach requires officers to be open minded, unbiased, and sensitive to the concerns and problems of others; also known as the new policing paradigm. Even if officers do not agree with a complainant's viewpoint, they should try to listen and understand the problem. Police should display empathy and compassion with sincerity, not in a rehearsed way. Police must also develop skill in planning, problem solving, organization, interpersonal communications, and perhaps most importantly critical thinking.

At the heart of the police transition to community policing is the question: "How do the police identify and deliver high-quality services to the community?" In the past, the delivery of police services was accomplished in a reactive and unscientific manner, with little attention given to proactive policing. Today, the efficient delivery of police services requires a systematic process to:

1) assess the needs of the public and
2) translate those needs into police services and programs that can be efficiently and effectively delivered to the community. In this way, police are becoming more sensitive to the needs of the community. They also have a better understanding of how their work affects the social environment.

Some believe Tom Potter, the former police chief of Portland, Oregon, developed the philosophy while he was walking the beat as a young police officer, though others credit Sir Robert Peel, who came up with 9 principles of policing that form the basis of modern policing.



See also

Community Oriented Policing Services

Police Community Support Officer

Crime mapping

Crime mapping

Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis and the CompStat policing strategy. Mapping crime, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), allows crime analysts to identify crime hot spots, along with other trends and patterns.


Overview

Using GIS, crime analysts can overlay other datasets such as census demographics, locations of pawn shops, schools, etc., to better understand the underlying causes of crime and help law enforcement administrators to devise strategies to deal with the problem. GIS is also useful for law enforcement operations, such as allocating police officers and dispatching to emergencies.

Underlying theories that help explain spatial behavior of criminals include environmental criminology, which was devised in the 1980s by Patricia and Paul Brantingham, routine activity theory, developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson and originally published in 1979, and rational choice theory, developed by Ronald V. Clarke and Derek Cornish, originally published in 1986. In recent years, crime mapping and analysis has incorporated spatial data analysis techniques that add statistical rigor and address inherent limitations of spatial data, including spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Spatial data analysis helps one analyze crime data and better understand why and not just where crime is occurring.


Applications of crime mapping

Crime analysts use crime mapping and analysis to help law enforcement management (e.g. the police chief) to make better decisions, target resources, and formulate strategies, as well as for tactical analysis (e.g. crime forecasting, geographic profiling). New York City does this through the CompStat approach, though that way of thinking deals more with the short term. There are other, related approaches with terms including Information-led policing, Intelligence-led policing, Problem-oriented policing, and Community policing. In some law enforcement agencies, crime analysts work in civilian positions, while in other agencies, crime analysts are sworn officers.

From a research and policy perspective, crime mapping is used to understand patterns of incarceration and recidivism, help target resources and programs, evaluate crime prevention or crime reduction programs (e.g. Project Safe Neighborhoods, Weed & Seed and as proposed in Fixing Broken Windows), and further understanding of causes of crime.



See also

Public Participation GIS



External links

Mapping & Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS) - National Institute of Justice (NIJ)

Crime Mapping & Analysis Program - National Law Enforcement Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)

Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science

International Association of Crime Analysts