Columbia's Comprehensive Communities Program: A Case Study, 1998

• NCJ Number: 178562
• Date Published: 1998
• Author(s): George L. Kelling
• Length: 47 pages
• Grant Number(s): 94-IJ-CX-0065; 96-DD-BX-0098
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation; Case Study

Annotation

The Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) in Columbia, South Carolina, centers around the city's philosophy of "people helping people" through close collaboration among government organizations, representative neighborhood groups, private agencies, and churches, and the case study of Columbia's CCP approach is based on site visits to various CCP projects and interviews with CCP participants between January 1996 and March 1997.

Abstract

Although governmental agencies are closely linked, and the administrative agency for CCP is the city's Planning Department, the lead operative agency in CCP is the Columbia Police Department. At the heart of the CCP approach are community mobilizers, police officers who operate out of community-based offices and link police, other city government agencies, social service agencies, and volunteers with citizens who are either experiencing serious neighborhood problems or creating them. Neighborhood problems are generally associated with disorder, fear, serious crime, and quality of life issues. The CCP approach in Columbia combines effective city leadership, government agencies with a common purpose, and mature citizen organizations and emphasizes community policing and community mobilization. The case study includes information on synergistic effects of CCP and CCP sustainment. Appendixes contain supplemental information on CCP projects in Columbia and the network analysis strategy used at CCP sites. 9 references, 1 table, and 2 figures