Chairman Evans, distinguished members of the Committee and other guests, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning to share with you my thoughts, my impressions and my plans for the future regarding the PSA model. Introduced just over a year ago, the PSA model is the cornerstone of the MPDC's community policing strategy. So it is important and appropriate that we take the time to step back and assess our past progress, as we continue planning for the future.
One year may seem like a long time for some things. For me, personally and professionally, the last year has been a time of incredible change. But one year is a relatively short period of time in the evolution of a new policing strategy and in the organizational changes that are part of that evolution. Today, one year after its introduction, our PSA model remains a work-in-progress, not a finished product. It is critical that we maintain this perspective as we examine the past, present and future of the model.
Four years ago, I appeared before bodies such as this one, as well as community groups and the media, to report on the progress of community policing in Chicago at the one-year mark. CAPS—the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy—was rolled out with great fanfare in April 1993, and people wanted to know, at the one-year milestone, Is it working? Or, more specifically, What is working with CAPS, and what isn't? In the nearly three months I have been in the District of Columbia, I have been asking the same questions about the PSA model to a lot of different people—to myself, to my command staff, to police officers and field supervisors, to community leaders and residents. Just yesterday, I convened a group of about 70 field officers and officials at all ranks to get their perspective on the effectiveness of the PSAs.
What I find interesting is that many of the things I heard and saw in Chicago four years ago, I am hearing and seeing in the District of Columbia today. One year into its evolution, the PSA model has shown significant progress and even greater promise for the future. But to achieve that promise, there are certain problems that must be corrected and certain obstacles that must be overcome. I recognize that. And I am committed to correcting the problems and overcoming the obstacles that stand in our way at this stage of the model's development.
So what's working with the PSA model? I think we can point to some important changes over the last year:
- Barriers between the police and the community are beginning to come down.
Residents are beginning to identify with their police officers, just as police officers are beginning to identify with the communities they serve. This has been particularly important in our more troubled, higher-crime neighborhoods where relations between the police and the community have traditionally been the most strained.
- The visibility of uniformed police officers has increased overall.
We have a greater level of "beat integrity" today—officers who are able to stay on their assigned PSAs so they can get to know the people, the problems and the resources in the community.
- Greater beat integrity is translating into greater responsibility and accountability for the crime conditions on their PSAs.
Many of our officers and their supervisors report a new sense of pride in their areas and a new sense of ownership of the problems in their PSAs.
- The PSA model has led the Department to refocus its energies and efforts on what is truly important to our customers: fighting crime and restoring order, in partnership with the community.
Over the past year, serious crime in the District of Columbia has declined—and declined sharply—in all crime categories and in all seven police districts. While it would be premature to attribute this decline to the PSA model, the numbers suggest that the model is certainly compatible with significant crime reductions.
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