Reducing Disorder, Fear, and Crime in Public Housing: An Evaluation of a Drug Crime Elimination Program in Spokane, Washington, Final Report

Project ROAR (Reclaiming Our Area Residences), established in January 1994, was a public-private, inter-agency collaboration that sought to empower public housing tenants in an effort to produce a safer neighborhood. Key elements of the program included: opening a "Cop Shop" within the public housing area and assigning community policing officers to the area; coordinating efforts with the city's Crime Prevention Center, located in the public housing unit; hiring a resident resource coordinator; creating an "adopt the tenants program" with local businesses; and addressing physical target hardening and neighborhood improvements. Survey research to assess the impact of Project ROAR examined: (1) residents' familiarity and involvement with project activities; (2) perceptions of one another, and neighborhood satisfaction; (3) physical and social changes in the neighborhood; (4) perceptions of safety; and (5) attitudes toward the police department. References, figures, tables, appendixes, notes