Baltimore Police Department Neighborhood Policing Initiative

The BPD published a Community Policing Plan (CPP) as part of the Third Consent Decree Year Monitoring Plan.  A major component of the CPP is the implementation of Neighborhood Policing Plans (NPPs). A Neighborhood Policing Plan is a public safety strategy to address quality of life challenges in community spaces that lead to crime and disorder. These plans are co-produced by the community members, city agencies and the Baltimore Police Department. The strategy involves targeting resources and activities to those places where crime is most concentrated. The problem analysis will follow the P.O.P. (Problem Oriented Policing) model which is a preventative approach that seeks to understand the underlying conditions of why crime and disorder repeats in certain geographies.

Neighborhood Policing Plan Partners are being piloted in two geographies – Fayette Street Outreach and Brooklyn/Curtis Bay. In 2022 BPD and its partners have progressed in developing NPPs in both pilot sites. BPD, the Mayor’s Office, City agencies, and Community partners meet bi-weekly to move the plans forward. The plans are being developed and refined following the SARA process (Scan, Analyze, Respond, Assess).

Following an impact evaluation in the two pilot neighborhoods, NPPs will be expanded in 2023 to additional neighborhoods. The goal is to learn from the experiences in the pilot neighborhoods to improve impact and efficiencies in the NPP process. The funding will support the completion of the pilot in 2022 and the expansion to additional neighborhoods in 2023.

Specifically the funding will support University of Baltimore will support community surveys and focus groups, a process evaluation and impact evaluation of the Neighborhood Policing effort. The University of Baltimore will also provide fellows to support the research efforts. The second partner for this funding, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), will support community capacity building of organizations partnering on the Neighborhood policing effort. This will include: the development of a capacity building program, on-site technical assistance to sites and sub-award grants to community-based organizations and resident groups to implement place-based safety projects.