Follow beat of Campbell cops in re-establishing foot patrols

THERE IS NO DENYING that 21st- Century technology has revolutionized and enhanced the effectiveness of criminal justice in this country. Information technology advances have led to detailed crime-mapping strategies for protecting the public. Dashboard cameras aboard police cars and body cameras worn by cops have yielded concrete evidence of crimes as they unfold. Sophisticated DNA analysis has reopened thousands of cold cases and has brought many murderers to justice decades after their grisly crimes.

Yet in spite of such advances, there’s still much to be said about tried-and-true crime-fighting practices dating back centuries. Just ask Campbell Police Chief Drew Rauzan.

“We cannot lose sight of the fact that simple solutions can solve simple problems,” he said. That spot-on assessment has led the men and women in blue in that gritty urban suburb of Youngtown to recently reinstitute police patrols in city neighborhoods.

The results have been eye-opening. For example, the department’s five-member foot patrol netted a felony drug arrest and two disorderly conduct citations in the span of four hours recently. It has made a significant dent in battling petty thefts and other crimes committed by — in the words of the chief — “derelicts” roaming the streets at all hours of the night.

Such benefits, however, are not isolated to Campbell. In-depth research from across the nation has shown that police foot patrols often bring a triple whammy of benefits. They succeed in decreasing fears of neighborhood residents, increasing morale of police officers and, most importantly, reducing crime and improving the quality of life for all.

As such, police departments in communities with densely populated neighborhoods such as Campbell throughout the Mahoning Valley should consider their value and their implementation.

BENEFITS OF BEATS

First, consider the Philadelphia story. A 2011 scientific study led by Jerry H. Ratcliffe and published in the journal Criminology concluded that re-establishment of police beats in The City of Brotherly Love resulted in the prevention of at least 53 violent crimes and a much higher level of nonviolent crimes over a 12-week period.

Second, foot patrols benefit police officers themselves. According to a report titled “Foot Patrol” by the National Institute of Justice within the U.S. Department of Justice, the recent trend of reinstituting walking police beats has given participating officers a greater appreciation of the values of neighborhoods and, as a result, they have “greater job satisfaction, less fear and higher morale than those who patrol in automobiles.”

Other benefits surface as well. Given today’s exorbitantly high prices for gasoline, significant reductions in fuel costs from fewer motorized patrols have significant effects on the bottom lines of budgets for police departments large and small.

Perhaps most importantly, foot patrols improve police-community relations. A 2012 study by Veronyka James for Academia found that such patrols help to reduce or eliminate the view of police as alien occupying armies. Frequent face-to-face interactions with residents of high-crime neighborhoods have enhanced community perceptions of cops, have built stronger bonds of trust and have produced far more valuable tips about criminal activity.

Collectively, giving police officers their marching orders into neighborhoods with dense populations and high-crime records makes Campbell’s decision to re-establish foot patrols strong and promising on so many fronts. Other departments with similar community demographics should strongly consider following its beat.