Infusing Community Policing Strategies into Hot Spots Policing Practices: The Impacts on Police-Community Relations in a Mid-Sized City, Urbana, Illinois, 2018 (ICPSR 38669)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this project was to study the implementation of hot spots policing in Urbana, Illinois. "Hot spots" policing refers to a range of strategies which use crime-mapping technologies to concentrate police resources to high crime areas. The goal was to evaluate two different hot spot policing strategies, targeted patrol versus community policing, and measure their effects on police-community relations and police legitimacy.

The research team consisted of social scientists from the University of Illinois, the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois, and the police department of Urbana, Illinois (UPD). The project was designed to address three main questions:

1. Will hot spots policing utilizing different strategies (targeted patrol vs. community policing) have a different effect on citizen's perceptions of police within those hot spots?
2. Will hot spots policing utilizing different strategies (targeted patrol vs. community policing) have a different effect on reported crime and crime perceptions within those hot spots?
3. What are the mediating and moderating mechanisms (i.e. multiple groups' identifications, intergroup relationship perception, etc.) behind the changes in citizen's perceptions of police (police legitimacy), reported crime, and crime perceptions within those hot spots?

The researchers attempted to address these questions by testing two hypotheses. First, that hot spot policing utilizing community policing strategies would improve police-community relations in those areas more than targeted patrol areas. Second, that hot spot policing utilizing different strategies will result in a similar decrease in crime within the treatment areas when compared to the control hot spots.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The project was originally designed for three phases: before, treatment, and after. Phase one spanned January 1, 2018 to August 31, 2018 and consisted of the following:

1. Implemented crime mapping and identified hot spots
2. Assessed citizens' perceptions of the police and crime perceptions
3. Created the implementation strategy for introducing hot spots policing in different neighborhoods, evenly split between those utilizing (1) targeted patrol and (2) community policing
4. Selected and trained the community policing officers.

ArcGIS was used to select 90 street segments or apartment complexes with at least 20 serious incidents within the last year. Serious incidents were categorized based on FBI Part 1 and Part 2 crime definitions. Sites were narrowed down based on being predominately residential, and allowing for greater visibility between citizens and the police. This produced a final list of five apartment complexes and eight residential streets. These sites were assigned to the three different experimental categories: control, directed patrol, and directed patrol + community policing using a hat draw.

While the hot spot experiment was being implemented, the team worked to design the community survey to collect the "before" data sample. The Chicago Neighborhood Crime and Justice Survey created by the Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) at the University of Illinois Chicago was used as a prototype, then modified for the project. Once the survey was completed, SRL fieldworkers made up to five attempts to contact each sampled household, to explain the study, leave behind study materials, and collect a telephone number. Then the SRL telephone center in Chicago would contact the resident for the interview.

Researchers began the second "treatment" phase in September 2019 for select neighborhoods. However, field activities were suspended in March 2020 because of COVID-19, and the George Floyd killing created an untenable political and organizational environment for the UPD to participate in the project. Therefore, the team was not able to re-launch the treatment phase, which, in turn, did not allow for the third "after" phase to be conducted. So only the first phase was completed.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Residents of Urbana, Illinois during 2018.

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Response Rates View help for Response Rates

In total, 1,461 letters were mailed to residents in and immediately surrounding selected hot spots, with 256 phone survey interviews completed for a response rate of 17.5 percent.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2025-06-12