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Summary

Bazemore, Gordon and Cole, A W (1994). "Police in the ëLaboratoryí of the Neighborhood: Evaluating Problem-Oriented Strategies in a Medium-Sized City." American Journal of Police 13(3):119-147

A study evaluates the Lawrence (MA) Police Department's use of problem-oriented policing in a densely populated, high-crime area. Data were gathered in 1990-92 from pre- and post-program citizen surveys. Overall, the community policing initiative shows initial signs of at least partial success. General, though not conclusive, support emerged for the hypothesis that the intervention had a positive impact in the target neighborhoods on perceptions of fear and disorder. Contrary to expectations, citizen perceptions of police in the target neighborhood did not improve significantly relative to the rest of the city.