COPS program funds were to be used in hiring more officers, buying new technology, or hiring civilians to provide more time for officers on the beat. However, because how to use the funds was left to each funded agency to decide, there were nearly as many different community policing initiatives as there are communities.

The diversity in the very definition of community policing made measuring the program's impact difficult.* Still, impacts in several areas emerged from the study:

• More "Cops on the Beat."
• Civilianization.
• Increased use of technology.
• Increased level of problem solving.
• Increased participation in community prevention programs.
• Changes in organization and staffing of departments.

Trends and Impacts

More "Cops on the Beat." Perhaps the most dramatic impact of the COPS program is the increased police presence in communities. Study estimates are that by 2003, between 62,000 and 83,000 full time officers will be added to community policing around the Nation and 39,600 full time equivalents of officer time through productivity gains. A future study will provide a better estimate as to the actual number of police officers added from the program.

"Civilianization," the hiring of civilians to free trained police officers to work in the field, was a key part of the COPS program. In June 1998, more than 80 percent of the COPS grantee agencies had completed their civilian hiring, and all expected to be completed hiring by the end of 1999.

Civilianization has:

• Offloaded routine tasks from sworn officers.
• Filled new or existing specialist positions, such as computer technicians, that assist officers.
• Staffed new community policing positions such as community coordinators, domestic violence specialists, or crime prevention planners.

Increased use of technology. Some jurisdictions used COPS funds to acquire new technology, mostly computers and wireless communications devices. (See Technology's Role in the COPS Program.) Wireless query and response improve field reporting and recordkeeping, resulting in some immediate benefits:

• Improved officer safety and security from scanners.
• Elimination of waits for clear voice radio channels.
• Fewer demands on dispatchers.
• More information sharing across shifts.

Increased level of problem solving. Many COPS-funded law enforcement agencies have implemented problem-solving tactics; for example, more than 96 percent of large agencies began working with the community to analyze problems. Problem-solving tactics were usually community specific, but some measurable tactics were identified, such as:

• Systematic monitoring of the problem.
• Analyzing residents' comments to identify recurring patterns.
• Considering neighborhood values.
• Analyzing problems with probation and parole officers.

About two thirds of the sites visited by the study team have set up specialized units or split force units where officers are dedicated to problem solving, developing partnerships, and generalized jurisdiction patrolling rather than answering calls for service.

The COPS program also increased police participation in prevention programs:

• Officers were assigned to drug education programs in schools, and police/youth programs increased. Preventive patrols and late night recreation programs were established.

• Hotlines to report drugs and guns, mediation to resolve disputes, and cooperative programs with schools to reduce truancy increased.

• Law enforcement agencies increased participation in victim assistance, battered women programs, and graffiti eradication programs.

Changes in organization and staffing of departments. Many COPS program grantees made three main organizational changes:

• New dispatch rules to increase officers' time on beat.
• New rules to increase beat officers' discretion.
• Revised employee evaluation measures.

The organizational changes and diversity of emerging community policing strategies among COPS program grantees are detailed in 10 Case Studies. Each case study summary shows the varying degrees of success of jurisdictions in making the transition to community policing.

*The study did not address the question of whether the COPS program had an effect on crime, in part because the program "meant something different in each jurisdiction." Efforts are underway to measure the effects of the adoption of new policing tactics through links with statistical crime statistics.

More on impact of the COPS program:
The COPS Program After 4 Years—National Evaluation, Research in Brief, September 2000.

"Chapter 6: COPS and the Nature of Policing" from the National Evaluation of the COPS Program: Title I of the 1994 Crime Act, Research Report, September 2000.