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The "broken windows" theory of public safety teaches that disorder fosters crime and that untended property fosters disorder. Indeed, many urban problems are tied to property. For example, the drug dealer usually depends on a house or apartment for his base.
Policing is important to maintaining public order but it is not sufficient by itself. The Richmond drug "hot spots" demonstrate this principle: The police have made arrest after arrest at places like Milton & Maryland, but the drug markets there have continued to flourish. The reasons for this are clear: Arresting dealers requires resources in time, money, and people. There is little reward for the expenditure (aside from seeing the wretch in jail), however, because removing one drug dealer merely creates a place for another one.
CAPS ("Community Assisted Public Safety") approached these issues from the direction of abandoned and unkempt properties. The City quickly noticed that the same techniques that work on ratty property also work on larger problems up to an including drug activity. The principles are simple:
Use citizens to identify and prioritize the problems and give legitimacy to the entire process;
Use all the available tools (including policing, Code enforcement, health department, tax, zoning, licensing, ABC, et al.);
Recognize that making the arrest or writing the Code violation is not success. Success is resolving the problem; and
Keep going until the problem is solved.
None of that is revolutionary. Indeed, Norfolk has been using a similar process for about ten years. However, cooperation with citizens and with other City agencies is revolutionary in Richmond, and this is Good News.
CAPS grew out of the thinking and involvement of Richmond citizens, notably Zoe Anne Green from the Museum District and Meg Lawrence from Ginter Park. Connie Bawcum made it work in the City bureaucracy. And other City people, notably Lt. John Dixon of the 3d Precinct and Mark Bridgman of Code Enforcement, became enthusiastic supporters when they saw how a cooperative approach could solve problems that formerly resisted their best efforts.
As of early 2002 Council has provided a budget for CAPS to go city-wide. The City now has a nice brochure and, more to the point, a functioning process. They just got a nice award from HUD.
We have a page of reports of recent court and other activity under CAPS.
Last updated
04/17/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher