The Police-Civilian Foot Patrol: An Evaluation of the PAC-TAC Experiemnt in Rochester, New York (June 1975)
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A look at the origins of the PAC-TAC program.
From the abstract:
PAC-TAC was an experimental Pilot City demonstration program, conducted in 1973-74, which paired Rochester police officers and local citizens walking beats in selected Rochester neighborhoods.
This report presents an analysis of data collected and analyzed under the supervision of Pilot City staff, as part of the overall evaluation of the PAC-TAC I-II program. Three kinds of evidence about the program are examined -- ethnographic data on the teams' work in various neighborhoods; an analysis of the attitudes
of team members and their reported work; and an analysis of the effects of the experimental stimuli on records of offenses and arrests during the period o f the program.The report indicates that the PAC-TAC experiment did not have a consistent effect upon crime, and may have operated both to deter crime and to increase reporting in same instances. A tendency to displace reported offenses in both time and space was also observed. Ethnographic observations suggest that the police partner in police- civilian teams consistently dominated, determining team style and division of labor; significant differences cmung officers' approaches to their role were noted, however. The report concludes that while foot patrols cannot be expected to produce much impact on crime, the PAC-TAC experience can provide a basis for further experimentation in the use of foot patrols to reduce police-community estrangement.
Smith, T. S., Williams, J. E., & Smith, R. L. (1975). The police-civilian foot patrol: An evaluation of the Pac-Tac Experiment in Rochester, New York (Report No. 33). Rochester, NY: Rochester-Monroe County Criminal Justice Pilot City Program.
