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"Adopt
A Block" ... an adjunct to Community Policing and the Ideal
Basic Car
A Hollenbeck program first conceived almost four years ago, "Adopt
A Block" was reviewed by the Police Commission, then by Hollenbeck's
C-PAB, and approved as a pilot project well worth trying.
Captain Tom Moselle (retired), the Area Commander back then, was
enthusiastic that "Adopt A Block" would encourage a better
partnership with the local residents, since all the Basic
Car Officers were requested to step out of their vehicles every
day ... and get within arm's length of the public.
Hollenbeck began to implement the program. The first batch of pamphlets
were printed and stuffed with materials ... and into the cars they
went.
Then, before the Deployment Period was over, the Senior Lead Officers
were put back into patrol.
That halted everything.
Now that the Hollenbeck SLOs are back full time, and the compressed
work schedule has allowed full deployment of the area's Basic Cars,
the "Adopt A Block" program is being resurrected. It has
the go-ahead and support of Central Bureau.
The program costs almost nothing, yet fosters a working partnership
between the Basic Car Officers and the community they serve where
it's needed most ... at the street level.
You'll find a full description of the program at a link below, as
well as a facsimile of the pamphlet Hollenbeck C-PAB produced almost
four years ago.
This is a refreshingly easy to understand concept, but one that
makes a lot of sense.
And you know, not all Community Policing programs need extensive
studies or massive funding ...
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