Bridgeport Police Department
Source: www.copsreportsfromthefield.org
Topic: Graffiti
Sort Desciption: “free zones” (where graffiti art is permitted), and developing art programs for offenders. The graffiti officer and the abatement crew established radio ...
Content Inside: Bridgeport Police Department Grant Program: Problem-Solving Partnerships Problem Type: Vandalism Project Summary: In 1997, the Bridgeport Police Department received a COPS Problem Solving Partnerships (PSP) grant to develop an innovative approach to a graffiti problem. Throughout the project, the police partnered with the city’s Anti-Blight Task Force and several other agencies. Using a problem-solving model, the department provided alternative outlets for the creative inclinations of the graffiti “artists,” enhanced its graffiti database, improved abatement procedures, and assigned an officer full time to the graffiti problem. After the grant period ended, the graffiti officer founded the United Youth Arts Partnership Inc. (an urban arts center) and developed the Bridgeport Police Graffiti Arts Initiative, which includes data gathering and follow-up work with graffiti artists in a four-state area. Problem Addressed: Bridgeport experienced an increase in a number of graffiti-related crimes, such as assaults, robbery, larceny, and burglary. The department recognized that graffiti was an indicator of other crime and disorder problems and contributed to urban blight. Although the city had addressed these issues in the past, the police department and its partners believed their responses could be more effective if they first gathered more information about the graffiti subculture. Objective: The department’s objective was to decrease the amount of graffiti through community partnerships and a problem solving approach. Approach/Methods: The Bridgeport Police Department applied the S.A.R.A. (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) problem solving model to the citys graffiti problem. The scanning phase included creating a Graffiti Problem-Solving Committee, assigning an officer to the project full-time, reviewing the departments information system with regard to data on graffiti, holding problem-solving meetings with community police officers, and ...
graffiti scanning analysis response