Miami Police Department School-Based Partnership (SBP) Project (1999)[1]
By Shellie Solomon and Craig D. Uchida
(Edited by C. Stuewe-Portnoff)
21st Century Solutions, Inc.
Miami Edison Middle School serves a distressed community populated predominantly with Haitian immigrant families, many living in poverty. The Miami Police Department attempted to address juvenile crime in the area by collaborating with Miami Edison on a School Based Partnership (SBP) project, beginning in 1999. Their objective was to identify and eradicate the root causes of serious misbehavior among the middle school students. The project encountered numerous institutional and situational obstacles, but due to the dedication and persistence of key SBP participants, it was eventually completed, with good results.
The Miami (1999) SBP Project
Funding for this effort came from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), U.S. Department of Justice. The COPS Office supports community problem-solving strategies to complement traditional law enforcement activities. The Miami SBP team applied the SARA methodology -- scanning, analysis, response and assessment -- to structure their project:
Scanning. Using the “crime triangle” (identifying offenders, victims and locations related to a crime) to structure the field of inquiry, team members surveyed the range of problems attributed to middle school students. Eventually, the team narrowed its focus to issues surrounding a group of twenty-one students identified by school officials as having a history of suspensions, primarily for fighting and/or excessive truancy.
Analysis. Reviewing data from school and police records, among other sources, team members isolated three factors that they believed would support the project’s objective: (1) improving school attendance, (2) eliminating behaviors that led to arrests, and (3) motivating individual students to remain and perform well in school.
Officers rotated shifts continuously for two weeks to complete an around-the-clock 14-day environmental survey. They documented every relevant factor within a two block area surrounding the school on 15-page coding forms, identifying every situation and condition that might detract from the safety and orderliness of neighborhood streets and vacant lots where students spent time. The resulting data were analyzed by researchers, to provide the basis for actions, including long-neglected code enforcement, to clean up the area. This was an extraordinary effort of its kind.
Response. The SBP team recommended and implemented specific responses that they believed might influence individual students and increase student safety in areas surrounding the school. In this project, officers in particular devoted much time and effort to advising, assisting and mentoring students and their families in practical ways, with the goal of improving their students’ school attendance, performance and behavior. Within the wider community, the team also initiated enforcement of property codes and ordinances along the school perimeter, increased Saturday night law enforcement to keep the neighborhood environment healthier for youngsters, and retrieved Monday morning truants, returning them to school. In addition to the formal responses enacted by SBP team members, some individual members went “above and beyond,” devoting their personal time and even out-of-pocket cash for special expenses, in an attempt to make a positive difference for these children.
Assessment. The team relied on continuous feedback about school attendance, school performance and criminal activity status, using data for course correction throughout the project period. They sought information from records, directly from the students and their parents, and from community members, such as small business owners, who had a stake in student behavior. They also continued periodic environmental surveys to assure that code enforcement occurred and improvements were maintained.
During and after the project, evaluators conducted extensive record reviews, surveys and interviews to determine the outcome of the Miami partnership. While there were shortcomings and disappointments, the overall positive impact on individual students, their families, school and neighborhood, and -- most surprisingly -- on the officer participants, was unmistakable.
Conclusion
The 1999 Miami SBP project was somewhat unwieldy and perhaps overly ambitious, considering its resources and surrounding circumstances. Among other things, it was easy to project but impossible to document what might have happened with the students, individually and collectively, if the project had not been in place. For those and other reasons, quantifiable results are scarce. There are lessons to be learned from this. However, the outcome for several targeted middle school students and therefore, for peers, the school, families and community, was unquestionably positive. One of the more compelling stories from this project, as well, is the change that occurred in the attitudes and lives of some officers, and in their working relationships with their counterparts in the school. The police department, school and the community will continue to benefit.
21st Century Solutions, Inc. Page 1
[1] This report and project were supported by Grant No. 1999-CK-WX-K005 awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice to 21st Century Solutions, Inc. Points of view in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or the law enforcement agency involved in the study. Copyright © by Craig D. Uchida and 21st Century Solutions, Inc. The U.S. Department of Justice reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use, this document for Federal Government purposes. No part of this document may be reproduced in any forms, by any means (including electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the U.S. Department of Justice and the authors.