Highlights
68% of Chicago’s “fragile community” (i.e., low income) residents want a greater police presence.
54 percent of low-income communities nationally want more police officers.
74% of fragile-community residents think people like themselves are treated “very fairly” or “fairly” by their local police.
The challenge is addressing violent crime through strategies high crime residents support. That remains tragically elusive.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.
Article
For the purposes of this article, fragile, low-income and high-crime communities can be synonymous.
Gallup summarizes the challenges of policing in low-income neighborhoods. Residents understand that they need (and want) a greater police presence. At the same time, some have negative views regarding law enforcement contacts.
Low-income communities are traditionally associated (via Bureau of Justice Statistics data) with higher (or much higher) crime rates. When media or politicians or residents demand lower rates of crime and violence, it often means concentrating police in high crime communities.
Proactive or aggressive policing lowers crime per the National Institute of Justice. But that means more police-citizen contacts that create tensions, Proactive Policing.
The demonstrations-protests-riots of the recent past created approximately two billion dollars (or more) in insurance claims. Protestors also sent a clear message that some citizens want dramatically less police contact. I doubt if that’s possible if crime reduction is the goal.
But for cities with protests, it’s a moot point considering that cops are leaving (per numerous media reports), recruitment is down 63 percent per the Police Executive Research Forum, and remaining cops refuse (or greatly limit) proactivity. In the minds of officers, they are giving communities exactly what they asked for, CNN.
Many Low-Income Communities Rate Law Enforcement Highly
It needs to be understood that low income does not mean animosity or negative feelings towards law enforcement. There are thousands of low-income communities throughout the country (i.e., Applichaia) that rank law enforcement officers highly. Traditionally, stranger to stranger crime in these communities is low, so there is a limited need for proactive policing.
Citizen Satisfaction With Law Enforcement
Most polling data indicates a relatively high level of approval or satisfaction with law enforcement. There may be differences in race or ethnic backgrounds but regardless, most (regardless of background) indicate a high level of support, Police Public Opinion.
74% of fragile-community residents vs. 87% of Americans overall think people like themselves are treated “very fairly” or “fairly” by their local police. The results vary by racial group: Black (65%) and Hispanic (72%) residents of fragile communities are less likely than white residents (87%) to say people like themselves are treated fairly by police, Police And Low Income Communities.
Gallup (edited for brevity)
Reflecting widespread concern among Chicago residents about crime, 68% of adults living in Chicago’s low-income neighborhoods — called “fragile communities” in a new report from Gallup and the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO) — say they would like the police to spend more time than they currently do in their area.
That compares with 54% of fragile community residents nationwide who want a greater police presence where they live, and 29% of Americans overall.
The current CAO/Gallup study finds that almost half of black residents in Chicago’s fragile communities (47%) say they either have witnessed a situation in which someone was injured or killed, or have been in a situation in which they feared they themselves would be injured or killed.
That proportion is higher than the study found in other racial groups in Chicago’s fragile communities (39%) or among fragile community residents nationwide (36%). About half of Chicago’s fragile community residents (49%) say crime in their area has increased in recent years, while just 11% say it has decreased.
Perceptions of Police Treatment of Residents of Chicago’s Fragile Communities
At the same time that Chicago’s fragile communities need greater protection, these residents are also among the least trusting of their local police and criminal justice system of any fragile community in the country.
Conclusions
As stated, there’s no direct relationship between all low-income or fragile communities and animosity towards law enforcement. But decades of aggressive and proactive policing (initially supported by residents, community organizations, politicians, and the media) have left some feeling over-policed or disrespected.
The recent demonstrations-protests-riots have sent a clear message, stop aggressive police tactics. Cops have listened and the current conversation is about police officers doing routine patrols and responding to calls “but” not doing (or greatly limiting) proactive policing.
Violence has risen dramatically in cities throughout the country. Violent crime increased by 28 percent since 2015 per the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Serious violence has increased. Fear of crime is at all-time highs. Firearm and security device sales are skyrocketing. People are leaving cities. The FBI’s latest report shows dramatic increases in homicides. Aggravated assaults and overall violent crimes are up, US Crime Rates.
Cops are reacting to the negative publicity and wildly conflicting priorities by leaving the job. Police recruitment is down dramatically. Response time in some cities is increasing dramatically. Some cities (i.e., Minneapolis) don’t have enough officers and are relying on other jurisdictions.
It seems that we are at an impasse as to policing “some” low-income communities. Residents want and need a greater police presence but they reject widespread proactive policing. Pre the data, there are no reasonable substitutes. There is limited to no research indicating that social programs reduce violent crime.
The challenge of our time is addressing violent crime in a way that high-crime residents support. To my knowledge, that remains tragically elusive.
See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
An Overview Of Data On Mental Health at Mental Health And Crime.
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