West 6th Street Neighborhood Rescue

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The approach taken by the police department to address the problems plaguing the West 6th Street neighborhood in Racine, Wisconsin was a dedicated one. The neighborhood was severely over run with crime, drugs and abandonment. Residents live in fear and had little faith the police department was able to get a hold of the situation and turn it around.
The first step was to identify the problems. This was possible by analyzing the criminal statistics of the area as well as conducting surveys, interviews, neighborhood meetings (www.ncjrs.gov. 2000). Besides high crime rates, other issues identified affected directly the quality of life in this area. To the outsider, this community was the perfect example of the Broken Windows theory (Kelling & Wilson, 1982) with run down properties, trash everywhere, abandoned cars, etc. (add source) all contributed to a total sense of ambivalence where residents did not care because no one seemed to care.
Next, The Racine police department went to work, first they reach out to the community, which at first was reluctant of any efforts put forward by a...

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